The House added a controversial environmental permit provision to an otherwise, routine rulemaking bill Thursday — reversing a stance adopted only days ago by ruling Republicans.

The House voted 76-39 to add a disputed “burden of proof” standard that critics say effectively will block many citizens and organizations from challenging licenses or permits issued to developers, mining firms or others looking to build in environmentally sensitive areas.

The rulemaking legislation (CS/HB 993) now containing the tougher challenge standard heads to Gov. Rick Scott, who is likely to sign it into law.

House Republicans said lifting the ability for far-flung opponents to weigh-in with lawsuits or other challenges to development permits was hurting the state’s economy.

“Advocates have brought a project to a grinding halt, only because they challenge the permit,” said Rep. Jimmy Patronis, R-Panama City.

“Now,” Patronis urged House members, “take a chance to take your state back.”

Rep. Mark Pafford, D-West Palm Beach, successfully got lawmakers last week to strip the “burden of proof” measure from a bill (CS/HB 991) that would prohibit local governments from requiring that state and federal permits be approved before granting local development projects.

Conservationists had derided the measure — approved in seven minutes late Friday night by the House — as among the worst environmental bills in years.

But critics also have said the local government legislation faced long odds in the Senate, where there’s been some resistence to a wide-ranging overhaul of environmental permitting. But with the Senate already embracing the tougher proof standard, the House joined in Thursday and included it in the rulemaking bill.

Rep. Rick Kriseman, D-St. Petersburg, predicted that tightening the legal grounds for challenging land-use permits would not withstand court challenges.

“This is the wrong thing for us to be doing,” Kriseman said.

Legislation that would add financial muscle to the obsure Lake Worth Drainage District — and possibly launch an ambitious South Florida water project — was approved Wednesday without comment by the House.

The House OK’d the legislation 117-0 by first-year Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach, as part of a consent calendar that included almost two-dozen local bills.

The measure (HB 741) would give the drainage district authority to issue taxpayer-backed bonds to pay for canal improvements and construction of a 25-billion-gallon reservoir in western Palm Beach County to hold stormwater.

 The water would then be treated and moved through existing canals to South Florida’s thirsty shoreline communities from Wellington to Fort Lauderdale.

The legislation now awaits a Senate vote.

Supporters have touted the project as a common sense solution to the region’s environmental and growth management problems. But Gov. Rick Scott’s office has raised questions — which still may be unresolved — about taxpayer liability stemming from the plan, called the C-51 Reservoir Project.

Berman was warned earlier this session that Scott was considering vetoing the legislation. But the governor’s office hasn’t shed more light about his views on the project.

Currently, stormwater is wasted — flushed from the C-51 canal into the Lake Worth Lagoon — bringing with it sediments, pollutants and fresh water that seriously damage wildlife in the lagoon.

Instead, the project calls for it to be routed from the new reservoir east through the C-51 canal, then south to the Hillsboro Canal in Broward County. The project would rely on the ability of a patchwork of water managers, utilities and a controversial mining company — all with separate motives — to work together on the estimated $500 million project.

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Florida’s once-vaunted growth management laws would be sharply scaled-back under legislation approved 86-31 Thursday by the Republican-ruled House, in a mostly party-line vote.

Supporters of the bill (CS/HB 7129) said existing laws have grown outdated and prove an obstacle to a state that still looks to development to help drive economic recovery. Also, they said the state should play a reduced role in local development decisions.

“We have one-size fits all growth management that no longer makes sense,” said Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami.

The measure eliminates state oversight of local planning except when proposals with statewide impact are involved.

Standards for citizens challenging development projects also would be toughened, giving builders more leeway to go ahead with projects they can prove will have some positive economic impact.

Concurrency — a provision that requires that schools, parks and adequate roads are in place before development is completed, would be reduced to an option for cities and counties to demand of developers. It’s currently mandatory.

“This will bring us back to the days of poor planning and sprawl,” said Rep. Lori Berman, D-Delray Beach. (more…)