RYAM Fix Exposed: Why is Florida Ignoring Fernandina Beach's Community Voice?

Commentary

Fernandina Beach citizens thought they had won a hard-fought victory. They ardently stood against a proposal by Rayonier Advanced Materials (RYAM) to build a bioethanol production plant just outside the city’s historic downtown — a project that would have violated the city’s Comprehensive Plan and a local ban on chemical manufacturing.

The people organized creating No Ethanol Fernandina. They attended meetings, raised cash and concerns, and made their voices heard. And their city government responded based on a legal finding as it should in a democracy: it said no. The proposed plant was denied.

But now, that local decision is under threat — not by local officials, not by the courts, but by the Florida Legislature itself.

In a deeply concerning move, state lawmakers are blatantly attempting to override Fernandina Beach’s authority and the will of its citizens by quietly rewriting the rules midgame.

Tucked into House Bill 579, at the eleventh hour and without public notice, lawmakers inserted language that redefines ethanol production as “fermentation,” not chemical manufacturing. The definition was added at 7 p.m. Monday and the committee passed the bill 13 hours later.

No notice was given to the public in order to avoid any organized opposition to the bill's amendment.

The change would be made retroactive, effectively nullifying Fernandina Beach’s legal basis for denying the RYAM facility.

And it doesn’t stop there.

On Wednesday, the Florida Senate was expected to add the same definition — again as a last-minute floor amendment to unrelated bill 1080 on the Special-Order Calendar to compare it with House bill 579. As of 2:30 p.m. no ethanol definition had been attached.

That doesn't mean the shenanigans are over. More than likely some action will be taken and there will be no committee debate, no testimony, no opportunity for the citizens most affected to speak. The people of Fernandina Beach are being shut out of a decision that will reshape our community.

This is not just legislative maneuvering. It’s a blatant circumvention of democratic process.

As all of this takes place, our Northeast Florida state legislature representatives, State Senator Clay Yarborough and State Rep. Dean Black remain idle and mute on the sidelines. So far, no one in the legislature is defending the citizens of Fernandina Beach.

The citizens of Fernandina Beach did what democracy demands: they engaged, they participated, they made their objections known. Their local government followed the law. And now, rather than respect that process, lawmakers in Tallahassee are attempting to erase it with a few strokes of the pen — on behalf of one company, RYAM, in one community, for one $53 million project to enrich RYAM's profits.

This is not government “of the people.” It is government in service of power and corporate greed, cloaked in the language of legislative procedure. It sets a dangerous precedent, one where community standards and local laws are brushed aside for Rayonier's convenience, and where the voices of citizens are drowned out by backroom legislative lobbying tactics.

Floridians around our state — regardless of their position on chemical manufacturing adjacent to neighborhoods, industrial development, or this particular bioethanol facility — should be deeply concerned. If the Legislature can retroactively rewrite the rules to overrule Fernandina Beach’s decision, it can do the same to any Florida community, on any issue.

The people of Fernandina Beach have repeatedly stood up. They may have to do it again and again. And this time, the rest of Florida should be standing alongside them.