Florida is hoping BP will cut it a check large enough to deal with the consequences of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico every day for close to a month. But it hasnt been exactly generous with its own funds used to keep Florida lands and waters free of oil.
Floridas oil-related trust funds, managed by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, have been cut sporadically and drained frequently to boost the state budget, and some say it has reduced the states ability to clean up after an oil leak.
BP and the federal government may ultimately be responsible for paying for the cleanup of the oil should it reach Florida shores, but some are concerned that Florida is taking a risk by bleeding money from the resources it has to clean up its beaches and waters.
The Coastal Protection Trust Fund gives money to the restoration of beaches contaminated by oil and other pollutants and funds marine law enforcement at certain ports. Its $818,000 budget for the upcoming fiscal year is less than half of last years $1.66 million budget. Parts of it are being allocated for marine investigation patrols and equipment in the proposed $70.4 billion budget now on the governors desk.
And Eric Draper, executive director of Florida Audubon, isnt comfortable with it.
That money is now being used for law enforcement, and I dont know if that was its original purpose, he said.
David Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council, said the Trust Fund, funded with a a tax on imported petroleum, shouldnt be touched to boost the budget. Without sufficient funds, the state would need to rely on federal dollars from the Oil Protection Act, Mica said.
Weve always supported using the trust for its intended purpose, he said. If its not, the tax should be repealed.
The states Inland Protection Trust Fund, funded with an 80-cent per barrel excise tax on petroleum imports, has also been raided as the state sought money with which to shore up budget holes.
Started in 1986, the trust fund is used to cleanup petroleum that threatens underground wells, water sources and land in the state.
In 2009, the state swept $209 million from the trust fund into this years budget and promised it $90 million in gas tax-backed bonded money. In the upcoming year, the state has allocated $120 million of trust fund money to clean up, said Jim Smith, president/CEO of the Florida Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association. The money isnt nearly enough to address all the cleanup projects, he said. It would take 20 years for the state to finish all the needed cleanups if the trust fund only used $120 million annually, he said.
Money offered by BP, which leased the Deepwater Horizon rig that unleashed the Gulf of Mexico oil spill last month, will be used to shore up the two Florida trust funds. But Smith and Mica said that the situation will hopefully persuade lawmakers to leave the trust funds alone in the future.
Reach Alex Tiegen at atiegen@sunshinestatenews.com or at (561) 329-5389
