Floridas top environmental official contends that the federal Clean Water Act conflict-of-interest disqualification does not apply to him, but two environmental groups are calling him on it. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is deciding whether Herschel Vinyard, secretary of Florida's Department of Environmental Protection, must recuse himself from all water permit and standards actions because of his ties to industry.

Florida TaxWatch released its annual list of state budget "turkeys" Tuesday, totaling $203 million in potential savings, but Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, the vice chair of the Budget Committee, has taken issue with the list, labeling it a "fading media gimmick."

With former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi staying out of the Republican presidential race, the field of candidates to take on President Barack Obama seems a bit shallow in one of the GOPs strongest bases -- the South. Despite a rough start to his presidential campaign this month, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich looked to play up his Georgia roots on Tuesday when he named three veteran politicians from the Peach State to lead his campaign.

Gov. Scott signed HB 283 Tuesday in the Port of Tampa, which eliminates state security measures at Florida's 14 seaports that duplicated federal security regulations.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota hit the Sunshine State on Tuesday, a day after announcing his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, and won some warm words from a favorite son of Sunshine State Republicans -- former Gov. Jeb Bush.

Two candidates for the Republican presidential nomination -- former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum -- are hitting the Sunshine State on Tuesday and Florida Democratic Party Chairman Rod Smith showed on Monday that he is taking one of them seriously. Smith attacked Pawlenty -- and also threw a jab at former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts -- for hemming and hawing on backing the proposed budget crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and backed by congressional Republicans.

The Florida Public Service Commission has formally accepted the resignation of executive director Timothy Devlin, which he submitted Monday under pressure from commissioners. Commission chair Art Graham, who reportedly helped to push Devlin out, praised his 35-year tenure with the PSC.

Florida TaxWatch said Tuesday that $203 million in "turkeys" are ready for Gov. Rick Scott to pluck from this year's state budget The list of 105 questionable appropriations, the most since 2007, was announced by Florida TaxWatch President and CEO Dominic Calabro at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables. Read the full story now.

During a press conference on Florida's emergency operation preparations ahead of hurricane season, Gov. Rick Scott was asked if he would run for president in 2012, with the news of Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels staying out of the race dwindling the Republican field further. He swiftly shut down the notion. "I'm not running for president, I don't intend to run for president. There's a lot of great candidates, and it looks like there'll probably even be more," Scott said. Scott added that he is focused on his main job of getting the state back to work.

Although Florida hasn't been hit with a major hurricane in five years, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday, at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, highlighted the importance of advanced preparation ahead of a storm. "It's is important to remain prepared. Disaster response is a team effort; local organizations play a vital role in assisting Floridians during response and recovery," Scott said. But apart from disaster response, it is residents who can do the most to protect themselves in the event of a storm.

Big win last week for conservative leader John Stemberger, best known for his role with the Florida Family Policy Council. The Florida Bar dismissed a complaint brought against Stemberger who is the attorney for Rifga Bara, who converted from Islam to Christianity and fled her family and community up in Ohio. Omar Tarazi, an Ohio attorney and Muslim who represents Baras parents, filed a $10 million defamation lawsuit and a complaint with the Florida Bar against Stemberger for comments the Florida conservative made on Fox News.

Joe Biden 2016? The vice president, who would be 74 in 2016, surprised the political world by telling prominent Democratic donors last week that he would be interested in making a third run at the White House. With the exception of George H.W. Bush, no sitting vice president has successfully run for the presidency since Martin Van Buren held off three Whig candidates in 1836. Two other vice-presidents -- Richard Nixon in 1960 and Al Gore in 2000 -- won their partys nomination but lost in the general election.

Gov. Rick Scott and Enterprise Florida are looking for a few good businessmen who are looking to tap into a nation to which Florida exported more than $13.7 billion in products in 2010 -- Brazil. Enterprise Florida will be leading a delegation, headed by Scott, toS Paulo from Oct. 23-27, promoting the Sunshine State. Enterprise Florida is looking to fill up the Florida contingent at the Florida Expo Trade Show in S Paulo.

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota will announce on Monday that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination -- and take aim at President Barack Obama. We live in the greatest country the world has ever known, Pawlenty will say in his announcement scheduled for later on Monday. But, as we all know, America is in big trouble, and it won't get fixed if we keep going down the same path.If we want a new and better direction, we need a new and better president.