Despite worries from environment groups, DeSantis opts to halt new fertilizer bans

Standing behind a lectern at a press conference in Fort Pierce Thursday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touted the incoming cash injection for Florida’s environment that he would set into motion by signing the state budget.

“I think this is probably the strongest environmental budget we’ve ever had in the history of Florida,” he said from Pelican Yacht Club. The governor underscored some big numbers, including $1.6 billion for Everglades and water quality projects and $100 million for the ailing Indian River Lagoon, where a human-caused seagrass famine has sparked an unprecedented manatee die-off.

But less than 50 miles away from the fanfare, an environmental crisis of its own was taking shape: Toxic blue-green algal blooms covered more than half of Lake Okeechobee, Florida’s liquid heart and largest freshwater lake.

Not mentioned by DeSantis during his press conference highlighting his environmental successes was his decision Thursday to prevent cities or counties from adopting new fertilizer bans — a water quality tool designed to curb the type of toxic algae currently flaring up on Lake O. Fertilizer is nutrient-heavy, so when it runs off into nearby waterways it can act as fuel for algal blooms. Fertilizer bans in summer months are meant to prevent that from happening.

Despite the public outcry from dozens of Florida environment groups, Gov. DeSantis failed to use his line-item veto on a measure that will suspend cities or counties from adopting or amending seasonal fertilizer restrictions after June 30 and until July 1, 2024. During that yearlong period, University of Florida researchers will use $250,000 to study the effectiveness of rainy season bans and submit their findings by the end of this year, before the start of next year’s wet season.

Critics of the measure, which was introduced in the final days of the legislative session with no opportunity for public hearings or lawmaker scrutiny, said the “sneak attack” is a waste of taxpayer dollars to study what the science already makes clear: Curbing fertilizer use during the rainy season is an effective tool to reduce urban stormwater pollution.

The head of the same organization who stood behind DeSantis at Thursday’s press conference said he was upset by the governor’s decision.

“We are, of course, disappointed,” said Capt. Daniel Andrews, a Fort Myers-based fishing guide and executive director of Captains for Clean Water. The organization last month urged DeSantis to use his line-item veto power on the measure.

Andrews said he’s overall pleased with Everglades investments and projects to help the Indian River Lagoon, but he added: “Although the moratorium to allow for greater fertilizer regulation by local governments is only for one year, it was nonetheless a missed opportunity.”

Here’s what it all means: Cities or counties that are considering adopting a fertilizer ban will now have to wait until at least next July as researchers compile their findings. But for governments who already have a ban in place, like Pinellas, Hillsborough and Manatee counties and the cities of St. Petersburg and Tampa, the new measure won’t affect how they continue to tackle water quality woes.

In a text message, DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern underscored that existing bans are still in place, but said pausing new bans “ensures that fewer variables are introduced during the study period.”

As a result of the legislation, the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences will focus on a literature review of more recent studies looking into urban fertilizer and environmental impact, according to Michael Dukes, director of the UF Institute’s Center for Land Use Efficiency.

Dukes said he anticipates their findings will show more studies are needed to determine the relationship between nutrient losses and the use of fertilizer in urban areas.

Existing studies on the effects of fertilizer leaving landscapes during the rainy season or otherwise, “are lacking,” Dukes said in a statement.

“If science-based information is to be used to make policy, this needs to be understood in order to understand the effect of ordinances related to fertilizer,” Dukes said. “Also, this work will define gaps in knowledge and further research questions.”

More than 100 municipalities across Florida, including more than 20 local governments in Pinellas, have used rainy season fertilizer bans as a tool to prevent souring the state’s waters.

The TruGreen lawn care company hired former Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli to lobby for the proposal, according to the Florida Phoenix.

In a statement last month to the Tampa Bay Times, TruGreen did not deny the lobbying efforts, and said: “We support the scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and trust its team of professionals will best understand the issues and how to handle fertilization, no matter the season.”

Scores of environmental groups who signed letters urging the governor to veto the measure said they disagree with that.

The governor’s failure to veto the fertilizer measure “will mean more nutrients and more toxic algae in our waterways, particularly if the Legislature uses the results of this study to justify longer-term or even a permanent ban on fertilizer ordinances with summer blackout provisions,” said Gil Smart, executive director of the VoteWater advocacy group.

“The way this provision was snuck into the budget bills in the first place, at the behest of a fertilizer lobbyist, was dishonest,” Smart said in an email.

“DeSantis just validated that dishonesty.”