The end of the Florida Legislature's 16-day special session on May 27 produced a refined law that will ensure that the goals of an agreement between federal and state governments reached in 1992 to clean up the Everglades will be met, says state Rep. Dudley Goodlette.

Goodlette, during a May 21 talk at a Marco Island Police Foundation luncheon at the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort, explained how the then ongoing special session had been called by Gov. Jeb Bush to address concerns that the Everglades bill he signed into law in May could jeopardize federal money earmarked for the cleanup project because the state law contained ambiguous language and pushed back cleanup dates by more than a decade.

After giving the roughly 40 attendees to the foundation's monthly "Lunch With The Chief" meeting a blow-by-blow review on 2003 state legislative action, Goodlette, a Naples Republican, told the group that the bill Gov. Bush signed May 20 was being reviewed before the end of the special session on May 27.

Opponents of the bill also feared that the new law will lessen standards for how clean the ecosystem must be, as far as stipulations regulating allowable levels of phosphorus and other pollutants from sugar plantations and urban sprawl that drain into the Everglades.

One of the main goals of the 1992 agreement is to make sure that phosphorus pollutant levels in the Everglades are reduced by 10 parts per billion by 2006.

Goodlette predicted May 21 that lawmakers would make sure that the intent of the 1992 agreement is achieved by the new law in a timely fashion, protecting the promise of $8 billion in federal support for the project.

"At first there were some Draconian views being tossed around — like changing it to a slower timetable and reducing the phosphorus by 15 parts per billion — but those all fell off the table," Goodlette said. "We will be keeping our promise to clean up the Everglades. It won't be a victory for the sugar industry or any particular segment of society."

Goodlette's prediction on success to protect the Everglades project from adverse changes during the special session held true when the Legislature on May 27 removed ambiguous language from the bill signed by Bush and clarified the original timetable for the cleanup.

"I'm glad the governor both signed the bill on one hand and sought clarification on the other," Goodlette said May 28.

"It's important for the citizens for whom the Everglades replumbing and restoration is important."

The Legislature approved a $53.5 billion budget that included $840 million for the class-size reduction and also an initial $200 million for the Everglades cleanup.

Another issue Goodlette said would be addressed in the special session included the new law that bans smoking in workplaces. The lawmakers compromised on the ban with negotiators agreeing that stand-alone bars could earn up to 10 percent of revenues on food sales without having to go smoke- free.