A quickly growing list of Florida environmental organizations, lawmakers and businesses are urging Gov. Ron DeSantis to veto a budget item that clean water advocates fear could be devastating for the health of the state’s waterways.

In a letter last week, a coalition of 55 groups called on DeSantis to use a line-item veto to cut a proposed $250,000 appropriation for University of Florida researchers to study the impact of preempting local fertilizer regulations for the next year.

Critics of the measure, which appeared at the tail end of the legislative session with no public input, said the “sneak attack” is a waste of taxpayer money that threatens rainy season fertilizer bans, which they say is an effective tool used by more than 100 Florida municipalities to curb urban stormwater pollution.

That list of critics added a prominent name this week: Captains for Clean Water, a nonpartisan water quality organization that has played a major role in DeSantis vetoing controversial environmental legislation in the past. The group’s fishing guides rely on healthy waters across the state.

The organization’s executive director wrote a letter to DeSantis Thursday urging he use his veto authority on the measure, saying it “does nothing to ensure clean and usable waterways” in Florida.

“The potential short and long-term implications of this proposed language on water quality are unknown at this time yet have the potential to result in devastating impacts on waterbodies statewide,” wrote Capt. Daniel Andrews, a Fort Myers-based fishing guide.

If the measure isn’t vetoed, UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences would have until the end of the year to “evaluate the effectiveness of the timing of seasonal fertilizer restrictions” and submit its findings to state lawmakers. If the provision stands, it will make it impossible for local governments to extend or modify existing bans unless those policies are in place before July 1.

Lawmakers used the budget to make the policy change in a way that circumvents public feedback, so the prohibition on fertilizer bans wouldn’t begin until the budget takes effect on July 1. It would expire when the fiscal year budget ends on June 30, 2024.

The TruGreen lawn care company hired former Florida House Speaker Steve Crisafulli to lobby for the proposal, according to the Florida Phoenix.

In a statement to the Tampa Bay Times, TruGreen did not deny the lobbying efforts, and said “we support the scientists at the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and trust its team of professionals will best understand the issues and how to handle fertilization, no matter the season.”

Environmentalists urging the veto from DeSantis worry the UF Institute’s research is biased to protect the turfgrass and agrichemical industries, and that a study’s findings would ultimately favor their industry interests. That would ultimately mean more fertilizer running off into canals, creeks and rivers and fueling toxic algal blooms like red tide and blue-green algae, they say.

Earlier this week, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences director said the existing studies on the effects of fertilizer running off landscapes during the rainy season, or otherwise, “are lacking.”

“This effort will point to further needed studies to determine the relationship between nutrient losses and the use of fertilizer in urban areas,” wrote Michael Dukes, director of the UF Institute’s Center for Land Use Efficiency.

In Pinellas County alone, more than 20 local governments have used rainy season fertilizer bans to curb pollution from dumping into the state’s waters. St. Petersburg adopted its ordinance in 2009, and the following year a Pinellas County ordinance was adopted.

“At a time when we have committed billions of dollars to clean up our water, this is a ridiculous industry giveaway that will only lead to dirtier water and higher costs for Florida’s taxpayers,” said state Rep. Lindsay Cross, D-St. Petersburg.

Cross is also urging DeSantis to slash the fertilizer ordinance language from the budget.

“Florida’s fertilizer ordinances are a necessary part of a comprehensive pollution-prevention strategy,” Cross told the Times in a statement. “This sneak attack will hamstring local communities that have recognized that fertilizer ordinances are cost-effective and that they work.”

DeSantis’ office won’t say whether he intends to veto the measure. On Monday, spokesperson Jeremy Redfern said the governor would be reviewing the entire budget over the next few days. In a text Friday, Redfern said “we will have an announcement soon” about the budget. When asked specifically about whether DeSantis would veto the fertilizer budget language, Redfern replied: “Lol... stay tuned.”

Captains for Clean Water joining the call for a DeSantis veto likely adds more weight for the governor as he reviews the language. Last year, a controversial environmental measure that could have reversed water quality progress, Senate Bill 2508, was similarly tucked into the budget at the end of the legislative session without public input or lawmaker scrutiny.

Scores of enraged fishing charter captains from around the state drove to Tallahassee, their boats in tow, to protest the measure. When DeSantis ultimately announced he was vetoing the measure at a news conference from Fort Myers Beach, Andrews and other Captains for Clean Water leadership were standing behind him at the lectern.

The clean water advocacy organization joining in the call for a DeSantis veto likely “helps a lot”, Cross said.

“This feels a bit like deja vu as, once again, legislators snuck bad water policy into the implementing bill,” Cross said.