SECTION NEWS Continued from p. 7
Despite the low overall number of bills passed this session, the Governor, as well as leadership in both the House and Senate, were able to pass many of their top priorities. The Governor’s “anti- riot” bill, HB 1, passed early in the session, as did lawsuit immunity for business from COVID- related claims. A long-awaited update to the Seminole Gaming compact was also a top prior- ity of the Governor’s, and will likely be ratified in a special session that begin the week of May 17th. On the legislative side, Senate President Wilton Simpson achieved his goal of passing an update to agritourism, while Speaker Chris Sprowls successfully passed legislation to combat the effects of sea level rise, and a bill to allow home-based businesses to operate without local government regulation. Other high-profile bills that passed included an overhaul to the state elections code, a bill aimed at regulat- ing “big tech” social media companies, and insurance reform. Notably, priority legislation related to data privacy failed
to pass, after significant pressure from business groups.
For FAPG, this was a hugely suc- cessful session. The details are outlined below.
Legislative Review of Occupational Regulations-FAILED
SB 344/HB 471 required that the legislature, over the next five years, review the regulations and licensing structure associated with a wide swath of regulated professions in the state, including PGs. The original version of both bills would have repealed Chapter 492 (regulating professional geologists) on July 1, 2025, unless the legislature acted before then to enact legislation allowing the profession to continue. Other professions, including landscape architects, architects, and engineers, were also subject to the same timeline. This bill was not heard at all in the House, but did receive one hearing in the Senate. During the Senate hear- ing, an amendment was adopted that required that all professions in the bill be reviewed by 2026, but did not require
the legislature affirmatively pass a bill in order for the profession to continue to be regulated.
This amendment was widely sup- ported by groups affected by the bill (including the design professions).
The legislative review of occupations will likely continue to be a priority for Speaker Designate Paul Renner (R-Palm Coast), and will almost certainly return next year.
Petroleum Restoration Program Funding: $125 million in total program funding
During the initial round of appro- priations, the legislature appropriated $75 million in funds from the Inland Protection Trust Fund to the program. During the budget conference process, the budget chairs (Senator Kelli Stargel and Representative Jay Trumbull) agreed to put another $50 million into the program. These additional funds came from the federal stimulus money and are non-recurring.
From the Florida Geological Survey
In case you missed it, Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (FDEP’s) Florida Geological Survey (FGS) has improved access to geoscience data and information through delivery of online maps and datasets, including lithologic and geophysical records.
The Geologic Data Enterprise System (GEODES) offers a cloud-based solution that allows users to drill down into the data by visiting the online interface, or by visiting its associated online map. Upon loading the map, zoom in to view thousands of points representing samples archived in the FGS Geologic Collections Facility. Click on a point and scroll down to select links to additional data, including lithologic descriptions and geophysical logs.
The FGS team is still working to bring forward legacy lithologic data, such as the typewritten descriptions from the 1980’s and earlier. For access to these older descriptions, visit our “Greenbooks” page and search by county and well number. Links to the scanned notebooks are found in the “Volume” column.
Thanks to matching funds from the U.S. Geological Survey - National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program, scans of field notebooks dating back to 1906 are also available, as well as a library of images of geologic information, locations and activ- ities within the FGS ResourceSpace. The latter website recorded more than 1.3M image visits in the last 12 months!
Not everything the FGS accomplishes is published, however, it is indeed use- ful. Among these resources are FGS contract deliverables, including those we receive and those we produce. You are invited to visit our webpages that provide access to coastal-related reports and reports related to Florida's aquifer systems (including aquifer stor- age and recovery), geomorphology and land-based geophysics.
Finally, the link (https://floridadep. gov/fgs/data-maps/content/fgs-geologic- data) provides access to three dozen GIS datasets including potentiometric maps, aquifer vulnerability, STATEMAP geol- ogy, subsurface maps, and more. Happy data and information mining!
1906 FGS field book now available via GEODES online data repository
www.aipg.org
A page from James H. Balsillie’s field book
A view from the FGS GEODES online map portal showing various data
Oct.Nov.Dec 2021 • TPG 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
