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Bruce Ritchie - page 6

Bruce Ritchie has 127 articles published.

Court to issue confidentiality in Florida v. Georgia water case

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An official appointed by the U.S. Supreme Court to oversee a lawsuit filed by Florida against Georgia over water use says he will issue an order providing for confidential talks among the states. Robert I. Lancaster, a Maine attorney who is serving as special master in the case, in a conference call also called the media “relentless and ruthless” and said “they will do everything they can to publish everything that they can find out.” Claiming that Georgia’s unchecked growth…

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‘Trust but verify’ on Duke Energy deal, industrial power customers say

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A group of large power customers says that if proposed legislation involving Duke Energy Florida is going to save customers money, then that language should be put in the bill. HB 7109 was amended on Thursday to provide the Florida Public Service Commission with authority to approve bonds that could be issued by Duke to pay for the $1.3 billion shutdown of its Crystal River nuclear plant, which was closed in 2013. State Rep. Kathleen Peters, a Republican from South Pasadena, told…

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Cities, utilities say solar customers would get away without paying under proposed amendment

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A proposed solar energy amendment could unfairly shift the cost of maintaining electricity plants and power lines from homes and businesses with solar energy to other utility customers, representatives of cities and electric utilities said Friday. Floridians for Solar Choice proposes a constitutional amendment establishing that the state’s policy is to promote local, small-scale solar energy production and prohibit barriers to solar energy. The group has collected enough petition signatures for review by the Florida Supreme Court but still needs…

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Solar bills falter in Legislature while ballot initiative rolls on

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With a solar energy constitutional amendment proposed for the 2016 ballot, a pair of bills designed to provide tax savings for residents who install solar on their homes appears dead in the 2015 legislative session. SB 400 by state Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg, would provide a ballot measure to extend a residential property tax exemption for renewable energy, as already is provided in the state Constitution, to commercial property. SB 402 is an implementing bill, also filed…

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Bill delay septic waste ban passes House with calls for study, springs protection

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A bill that delays a ban on the disposal of septic tank waste on farm fields across the state passed the House in anticipation of a state study of the waste disposal practice. Florida has 2.6 million septic tanks scattered across the state that annually produce 100 million gallons of waste, called septage, when they are pumped out. About 40 percent is spread at 88 land application sites across the state, according to the Florida Department of Health. In 2010,…

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House vote could allow septic tank waste to continue spreading on land

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A bill that would allow septic tank maintenance firms to continue spreading waste on fields for two more years is teed up for approval in the House on Thursday. In 2010, the Legislature voted to ban the land application of septic tank waste beginning in 2016 as part of a bill that supporters said would protect springs and waterways from nutrient pollution. Septic tank waste haulers and representatives of rural counties now say the ban could cause the price of septic tank pump-outs…

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Property rights bill clears final House stop with fewer local government concerns

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A House property rights bill prompted by a U.S. Supreme Court case involving a Florida landowner was amended Wednesday to resolve many concerns raised by local governments. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2013 overturned a Florida Supreme Court ruling against the late Coy A. Koontz Sr., who sought to build on 3.7 of his 15 acres in Orange County. He refused when told by the St. Johns River Water Management District to reduce the development size or pay to restore wetlands…

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