OPINION — Addressing ecological issues

The phrase “ecosystem management” means many things to many people. Much of its use is an outgrowth of the debate over the health of natural systems and the efficacy of our federal and state environmental programs.

To some, ecosystem management means extending the regulatory grasp of government deeper into the operational and decision-making processes of business. To others, it means making an effort to accommodate present and future uses of the environment.

One thing is certain, the degradation of our natural systems continues despite the morass of protective regulations that are imposing an ever-increasing burden on the economic resources of our country. Unfortunately, few are willing to put rhetoric aside to allow a fair examination of the potential benefits of major changes to our system of regulation.

Florida has embarked on an effort to develop the concept of ecosystem management as a means of addressing this problem.

We have concluded that regulation, while necessary, has carried us as far as we can expect to go. An extension of the traditional command and control process will provide only incremental improvements, and at an extreme cost. It is time for government to become less reactive and more participative. We must strive to develop a true partnership with all citizens, environmental groups and the business sector to meet our common responsibility for the environment.

What does this mean for mining? Mining could and should lead the way in embracing the concept of ecosystem management. Mining is long-term and involves substantial acreage, so experimentation is feasible. Experience with reclamation and mitigation is advanced. Failure to demonstrate adequate concern for the protection of the environment will erode further the status of mining in the eyes of the public.

The Florida phosphate industry and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) have been involved in an informal, co-operative effort that serves as an example. Phosphate mining has been subject to a plethora of regulatory programs since the early 1970s. Included in these are permitting requirements for wetlands, as well as reclamation regulations that require the acre-for-acre replacement of wetlands, the replacement of forests and the creation of wildlife habitats.

In 1990-91, DEP conducted an assessment of the quality of its mine reclamation efforts and, afterwards, undertook to redesign our program to improve the quality of our environmental product. Our goal was to provide maximum environmental value without increasing cost to industry. Our guiding principles were to improve the likelihood of long-term protection of reclaimed and unmined resources, to facilitate mine and reclamation planning, and to reduce regulatory uncertainty.

In July, 1992, DEP published “A Regional Conceptual Reclamation Plan for the Southern Phosphate District of Florida,” which incorporated regional water resource considerations, a balance of intensive and non-intensive land uses, and replacement-protection of critical, native plant and animal habitats . . . What does all this mean? DEP dared to proposed an innovative idea to address some of the most significant ecological issues of the region. The industry was willing to work with a regulator’s idea that lacked detail, rather than just criticize. The result has been adoption and enhancement of the concept by industry in its reclamation planning efforts. No contentious rule hearings; no debates of scientific validity. Instead, we have witnessed an unprecedented period of co-operation that is now extending into a re-engineering and streamlining of mining regulation.

— Jeremy Craft is director of the division of resource management, Florida Department of Environmental Protection. This article appeared in a recent issue of “AMC Journal.”