It's been two weeks since the Florida Legislature enacted legislation amending the Everglades Forever Act to provide for continuing restoration beyond December 2006. The same doomsday claims expressed by environmentalists when the act was passed in 1994 are being screamed at us now.

After almost 10 years, Floridians have yet to be credited for the time, money, effort and responsibility we have poured into Everglades restoration. In 1994, environmentalists denounced the Everglades Forever Act despite participating in the development of the legislation, and the same thing is happening now.

Did environmentalists participate in the development of the recent legislation? Maybe not in the original bill, but certainly in the development of the final product. From the moment the Florida Senate first workshopped Everglades legislation, environmental organizations led by Audubon of Florida were invited to participate and to offer amendments that were adopted to address their concerns. Make no mistake - the final product adopted by the Florida Legislature has environmental handprints all over it.

Everglades restoration is more than the stormwater treatment areas of the Everglades Construction Project, the implementation of best management practices to reduce phosphorus levels in runoff from agricultural lands, and programs that evaluate the effectiveness of the Everglades Forever Act. Nothing proves that more than the partnership between Florida and the federal government under the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, also known as CERP.

CERP is the most ambitious public works plan ever undertaken with an estimated total cost of $8 billion over at least the next 30 years. Let me emphasize that - the completion of all projects funded under CERP will take at least 30 years. That is well beyond the December 2006 deadline set by the state for completion of the projects authorized in the Everglades Forever Act. It is very clear that restoration will take a long time.

Ever since the introduction of legislation this year, there has been an outcry that our CERP funding is in jeopardy, and that changes to the Everglades Forever Act will forever damage the trust established between the state and its federal partners. We are still waiting for someone to tell us how or why that is true.

Not one environmentalist has publicly admitted that while CERP projects may be constructed in the Everglades Protection Area, none of the projects under the Everglades Forever Act are part of CERP. Not one environmentalist has publicly admitted that the only federal funds Florida will receive for projects in the Everglades Forever Act is $232 million for the construction of one stormwater treatment area. Funding for Everglades Forever Act projects comes from property taxes in the Okeechobee Basin, agricultural privilege taxes, bond proceeds distributed under the Preservation 2000 and Florida Forever programs, and Alligator Alley toll revenues.

Why won't environmentalists admit that Floridians fund the Everglades Forever Act, and not the federal government? Does CERP rely on the water quality commitments established in the Everglades Forever Act? Absolutely. Does the Everglades Forever Act depend on CERP? Not at all and it never has. It is time that someone makes is clear that CERP and the Everglades Forever Act are two separate programs.

It is the federal government that is threatening to back off its commitment to Florida, and not Florida that is breaking trust. The Everglades Forever Act was the result of lawsuits filed after a settlement agreement was executed by the state, the water management district, and the federal government in 1992 to resolve the 1988 lawsuit. However, even the Everglades Forever Act was the subject of a lawsuit. The Miccosukee Indian Tribe filed a lawsuit to invalidate the Everglades Forever Act and enforce the terms of the original settlement agreement. It took until July 2001 for that lawsuit to be resolved in the state's favor.

Most of the newspaper articles that talk about the Everglades legislation mention a phosphorus criterion of 10 parts per billion. Florida does not have a criterion of 10 parts per billion as part of our state water quality standard. We don't have a numeric criterion for phosphorus at all. We won't until the Environmental Regulation Commission adopts a rule establishing that numeric criterion.

Nothing in state law requires that Florida adopt a 10 part per billion standard, yet that is what the commission is expecting to do. The adoption of a numeric phosphorus criterion no later than Dec. 31, 2003, was part of the original Everglades Forever Act. That requirement remains unchanged.

Florida has a responsibility and a duty to continue restoration efforts implemented under the Everglades Forever Act. All of the projects required to be completed by Dec. 31, 2006, to meet state water quality standards, including a numeric phosphorus criterion, must still be completed by Dec. 31, 2006. Our efforts won't stop there, and that is the purpose of this year's legislation.