ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis made an announcement this week proposing local governments face increased fines for dumping waste water into local waterways.

• Gov. Ron DeSantis wants larger fines for polluters
• DeSantis announced his proposal at Conservancy of Southwest Florida Nature Center
• No details on how often or how much local governments are currently fined
• PREVIOUS STORIES on St. Petersburg sewage spills

Even state officials have been tight lipped about how many local governments are fined every year, but the governor says the fines aren't penalizing enough.

Gov. DeSantis proposed a 50 percent increase in fines for local municipalities and private businesses.

The big dump that made news two years ago was in St. Petersburg during Hurricane Irma.

But last December, the Department of Environmental Protection said St. Pete, Clearwater and Tampa all dumped millions of gallons of sewage into the bay after a big rain event.

DeSantis, in his announcement said, "What we end up seeing happening is you have some of these municipalities, it's cheaper for them to pay a fine and spew all this sewage into the water ways because it's the cost of doing business.

“So they'd rather do that than invest in the infrastructure they need to make sure the water ways surrounding them are safe and clean."

So far local governments have not officially responded to how this will impact their decisions in the event waste water systems are threatened by hurricanes or other natural events.

If the fines are substantial enough, some local governments may start working to upgrade systems.

An overhaul of the waste water in St. Petersburg is already underway.