Under Scott Florida DEP Undergoes Drastic Change

"One accomplishment Scott singled out: making it easier than ever to obtain a permit for filling in wetlands, pumping water out of the aquifer or pouring pollutants into the water and air.

"Recently Florida has successfully reduced its environmental permitting time down to just two days, and that's great!" Scott said. "We take care of our environment, but when we know we're going to give a permit, give it to them quickly."

When Jeb Bush was governor, it took an average of 44 days for the DEP to approve a permit. Cutting that to two days means it's now as easy to get a pollution permit from Scott's DEP as it is to buy a Coke from a vending machine, said Jerry Phillips, a former DEP attorney who's now in charge of the Florida chapter of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility."

Craig Pittman reports for the Tampa Bay Times October 18, 2014.