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Florida's Green Lodging program is a shell of itself following significant budget cuts. The staff of four with a $337,000 budget is now down to one employee and $63,000. The program has designated around 500 hotels green, with several hundred more waiting in the wings for their certification. Proponents of the program fear that it will be watered down, with the elimination of initial site visits and annual recertification.
Green Lodging is moving online, though Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which administers the program, assures that it will not be a "self-certification program." Under the reinvented program, a hotel's green certification lasts for three years, with the expectation that the property submit environmental performance data in the categories of water, waste, and energy annually. To renew designation, the DEP says that facilities need to implement at least two new environmental practices and show proof of ongoing employee education on the subject. In addition, the department indicates that it will "conduct facility assessments on a regular basis. If deficiencies are noted, the Florida Green Lodging Program will offer technical assistance [through webinars]. Consistent failure to correct deficiencies will result in removal from the program."
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Budget Cuts Derail Florida's Green Lodging Program
June 16, 2009Florida's Green Lodging program is a shell of itself following significant budget cuts. The staff of four with a $337,000 budget is now down to one employee and $63,000. The program has designated around 500 hotels green, with several hundred more waiting in the wings for their certification. Proponents of the program fear that it will be watered down, with the elimination of initial site visits and annual recertification.
Green Lodging is moving online, though Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which administers the program, assures that it will not be a "self-certification program." Under the reinvented program, a hotel's green certification lasts for three years, with the expectation that the property submit environmental performance data in the categories of water, waste, and energy annually. To renew designation, the DEP says that facilities need to implement at least two new environmental practices and show proof of ongoing employee education on the subject. In addition, the department indicates that it will "conduct facility assessments on a regular basis. If deficiencies are noted, the Florida Green Lodging Program will offer technical assistance [through webinars]. Consistent failure to correct deficiencies will result in removal from the program."
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