Florida to Require 2-Day Public Notification of Pollution Spills

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is poised to sign a bill that will require the public to receive notification of pollution spills within two days of discovery.

The Florida Legislature passed a bill (SB 532) Wednesday that requires polluters to notify the Department of Environmental Protection within a day of a spill. The DEP would then have a day to report it to the public.

The legislation comes in the wake of a massive sinkhole at a fertilizer plant last year near Tampa that sent millions of gallons of contaminated water into Florida’s main aquifer. The incident went unreported for a month.

Companies that don’t comply could face fines of up to $10,000 for each day a spill goes unreported.