Clean Water Action asks that state policymakers continue to include public health, clean and safe water, and clean energy in the top tier of their 2012 Legislative priorities: 

• Protect our Water: CWA calls upon state lawmakers to protect public health and our water quality from point and non-point source pollution. We need to dramatically reduce mercury, phosphorous, and other toxics from our ground and surface waters. Florida must set and enforce numeric nutrient standards to protect our lakes, flowing waters, and estuaries. Investments in water conservation programs should be high priority, as it is less costly to prevent pollution than to clean it up.

• Protect our Everglades: America's Everglades is one of the world's most precious natural resources. Continued state and federal funding to restore the Everglades will bolster our state's economy by stimulating new construction and recreational jobs, benefitting fishing and hunting industries, and providing safe drinking water for 1/3 of Florida's population. By creating natural storage areas that reconnect the historic flow of the Everglades, we can retain water during the wet season for use during dry seasons. Policymakers should ensure increased or current levels of federal and state funding for restoration.

• Protect our State's Budget: CWA is mindful that state and local governments have finite financial resources. It is critical that key agencies that provide protections for our water and environment like the Water Management Districts receive critical funding to protect our water resources. CWA believes the state and the public should not continue to pay the price of pollution that has been caused by business and industry, and that making polluters pay the cost of cleanup will alleviate the financial burden currently placed on taxpayers and these critical agencies.

• Protect our Environment with Sound Permitting: CWA will fight the creation of "speedy permit" programs that bypass a comprehensive review process and give permittees permission to pollute. We must ensure consumptive use permits protect the state's water; permit holders must demonstrate use of best management practices and provide regular reporting to ensure the protection of our water.

• Protect Local Water Quality Ordinances: Numerous municipalities have taken positive, proactive steps toward improving water quality by initiating urban fertilizer ordinances that place restrictions on the use of toxic fertilizers that jeopardize the safety of our water resources. CWA wants to ensure that state rulemaking will not override pollution-preventing local decisions.

• Protect our Communities from Coal Ash Pollution: Coal ash is a dangerous toxic waste that contaminates our drinking water and poses serious public health risks. CWA will fight to ensure that coal ash is appropriately classified and regulated as toxic waste.

• Protect our Jobs: CWA supports the investment in green jobs by providing incentives for businesses and the public to support energy, water, and waste efficiency, investments in transit, and sustainable manufacturing. We must retrain and redeploy our workforce in jobs that will move Florida's economy.

• Protect our Communities: In 2011, the Legislature dismantled longstanding growth management agencies and passed regulations that failed to protect our resources. CWA will work to ensure that misguided land use decisions will not be permitted and that Florida maintains the integrity of long-term planning with regional and statewide oversight that protected our communities for decades.

• Promote Sound Policy and Collaborative Government: The Legislature should be focused on bolstering Florida's economy, creating jobs and protecting our water resources - not wasting taxpayer money by clouding the constitution with ballot initiatives that don't benefit Florida's families and businesses. There must also be meaningful efforts to increase communication and cooperation amongst local, state and federal agencies to facilitate more effective partnerships.