Radio Campaign

One Rule, One Authority

This year Farm Bureau is working on legislation (HB 1193, SB 1132) that would give the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (DACS) sole authority over the regulation of apiaries.

Honey production contributes a sweet $13 million to Florida’s economy. In addition, there is a $20 million pollination benefit to our major crop industries. This does NOT include the value of local honey production or the pollination services provided by smaller, part-time beekeepers with 10 hives or less.

Florida has the third largest apiary industry in the country. It also leads the nation in honeybee research. DACS houses one of the few Africanized bee labs and employs a specialist to test samples, monitor bee migration, and regularly inspect the more than 600 bait hives spread out across the state.

DACS also requires beekeepers to register and brand their hives and submit to an annual inspection. They have the authority to confiscate, quarantine, and destroy hives as needed. The apiary industry is heavily regulated by the state, no doubt.

Despite this, a growing number of local governments are now beginning to ALSO regulate the industry. They are adding their own layer of regulations and redtape to an industry already struggling to survive. It’s important to note that these ordinances have not been enacted as a result of any incidents where someone has been stung – they’ve been enacted as a knee-jerk reaction to a neighbor’s complaint about hives in the area.

This legislation is intended to prevent overregulation. It gives DACS exclusive authority to regulate beekeeping, apiaries, and their locations. They have the knowledge and the research to do the job properly.

Less is More

Current law prohibits counties, except under specified conditions, from charging an assessment or fee for stormwater management on a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural if the farm operation has a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, environmental resources permit (ERP), or works-of-the-district permit or implements best management practices (BMPs).

The reason behind that prohibition is simple: Water on agricultural land is already being treated under permit requirements or through BMPs. No further treatment is needed so there is no outlay cost by the counties for stormwater management. Common sense dictates that you shouldn’t be able to recoup what you never expend.

Since that law was enacted, however, the City of Palm Coast has adopted and implemented a stormwater fee that affects thousands of acres of timber and agricultural lands. Because the stormwater management assessment provisions described above currently only apply to counties, they do not currently apply to the City of Palm Coast. The property owners are paying unnecessary and unfair fees for services that are not being performed.

As such, Farm Bureau is working to pass legislation (HB 1021, SB 1184) that would expand this prohibition to all local governmental entities. Maintaining ag lands is an environmental solution for local governments, not a problem.

Governments should not be able to duplicate costs or regulations. The extra expenses imposed leads to lost ag lands and water recharge areas, which hurts the environment, as well as to lost jobs, which hurts the economy.
When it comes to protecting what’s best for Florida, less really is more.

Inexpensive Food

Click here to view the percent of household expenditures on food and other items by selected counties.