An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors

At first glance,

An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors looks like it deals only with the environmental regulations that Florida contractors must contend with. And, indeed, the Handbook describes in detail the requirements for complying with regulations at the federal, state, and local levels. But the book goes much further, explaining the reasoning behind these regulations. The result is a clever mix of information that should be interesting and instructive to contractors well beyond Florida’s borders.

The authors, Dr. Charles Kibert and Dr. D. Linda Waller of the University of Florida in Gainesville, do an outstanding job of outlining the practical steps that contractors are required to take to meet regulations in each of the general areas of environmental concern. After an overview of the environmental permitting process, they present each topic as a separate chapter, complete with a comprehensive listing of sources for further information. The topics covered include: wetland protection, solid waste management, air quality, noise pollution, hazardous materials on the job site, and historical site considerations.

Because the content of the book is tied closely to environmental regulations, environmental issues that are not subject to regulation get shortchanged a bit. For example, although the national commitment to the CFC phase-out is mentioned in the chapter on air quality, there is no discussion of choices a contractor can make to avoid CFC based products. On the other hand, job site recycling is promoted as a way of reducing waste disposal costs, easing the landfill burden, and saving resources and energy.

An Environmental Handbook for Florida Contractors is available in manuscript form free of charge from the Executive Secretary, Building Construction Industry Advisory Committee, FAC 101, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, (904/392-5965); and should eventually be available as a published book.