Associated Industries of Florida Praises Passage of Fracking Bill

A bill to ban local governments from prohibiting fracking passed through the Senate Environmental Preservation & Conservation Committee Wednesday, much to the approval of the Associated Industries of Florida. 

 today released the following statement attributable to its Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs Brewster Bevis regarding the passage of Senate Bill 318, sponsored by Senator Garrett Richter (R-Naples), in the Environmental Preservation & Conservation Committee.
 
“We believe [the legislation] is a strong regulatory bill which would institute commonsense policies to govern the onshore oil and gas industry, including creating an additional level of oversight for advanced techniques, above and beyond what is in place now, to ensure Florida’s environment is preserved for future generations," said AIF Senior Vice President of State and Federal Affairs Brewster Bevis. 
 
“The oil and gas industry has been operating in the State of Florida for more than seven decades safely, contributing to the state’s bottom line, creating jobs and lessening our dependence on foreign sources of oil; and, for these reasons, AIF firmly believes it should be allowed to continue to operate within the regulatory framework that SB 318 creates."

Bevis said AIF has some hesitations over the proposed $1 million study on how fracking chemicals would impact Florida's drinking water supply in the bill, but ultimately stood beside the legislation as an "important issue" for the 2016 legislative session.