Environmentalists and local leaders are lining up against legislation that would  take away local community zoning power over oil drilling, a proposal that even proponents say is a response to proposed bans on oil fracking such as the one passed in Bonita Springs over the summer.

It is a battle that appears destined to be fought on two grounds, the right of local communities to decide land use issues and the environmental debate over fracking.

A bill filed earlier this month by state Sen. Garrett Richter and state Rep. Ray Rodriques gives the state sole authority to regulate oil exploration, drilling and recovery. It would wipe out city or county power to implement zoning rules covering drilling for oil or natural gas.

The restriction, a version of which was proposed last year, comes in response to what Rodriques sees as an effort by local governments to "expand their jurisdiction as a platform" for fracking foes.

In July, Bonita Springs enacted a ban on fracking, a process of breaking rock far beneath the ground to extract oil and gas. The Estero Village Council is considering taking up a similar ban.

Rodriques said anti-fracking groups have urged local communities to ban the procedure through zoning ordinances, which he claims is improper local regulation of the oil and gas industry.

"They were taking a limited jurisdiction granted by statute and expanding their jurisdiction in areas that they were not allowed to, by putting outright bans on it,"  Rodriques said. "We made the (bill) as clear as possible so that municipalities cannot be confused over where the authority for oil and gas regulation resides."

Mayor Ben Nelson Jr. defends the Bonita anti-fracking ordinance as an exercise of a  fundamental local responsibility.

"We're not telling them that they can't do the particular thing and we're not trying to regulate them," Nelson said. "We're just saying, 'No thanks, not here.'"

An Estero official who has asked for more legal and environmental information before considering a fracking ban for the village said zoning power that gives a municipality the right to say what can be built on a certain site doesn't necessarily mean it can regulate the process used underground

"Regulation of land use, like zoning lots, should be left up to the municipalities," said Estero Vice Mayor Howard Levitan. "It would be crazy for every single town, city or village in Florida to have a separate regulation on something like this."

The Conservancy Southwest Florida, has been a prime supporter of the fracking ban in Bonita Springs and in the proposed ban in Estero. Its director of land use policy, Jennifer Hecker, said oil and gas facilities should fall under the same zoning regulations as other industrial land.

"There are a lot of zoning concerns the community might have, with those activities being sited too close to residential neighborhoods or environmentally sensitive land."  Hecker said. "The state permitting process doesn't address those zoning issues — noise, truck traffic and land use incompatibilities."

The industry opposes limits on fracking and claims that with more than 400 units of local government across the state, uniform standards for oil exploration make sense because it is a field cities and counties don't have the capacity to regulate.

"Oil and gas regulation in Florida is traditionally vested in state government," said David Mica, executive director of the Florida Petroleum Council. "Consider the efficiency of having highly technical oil and gas professional regulators at the local level across the state."

Mica claims that  state agencies and local governments have  "plenty of opportunity" to become involved in  the permit-granting process.

"All the agencies and entities have the opportunity to make comment," he said.  "I think you see a pattern of land use that is consistent with what most local officials would expect."

Bontia Springs' Nelson counters that a local community has a duty to impose regulations that affect the fundamental quality of life.

"Look, this comes under the heading of what we do, if we don't do this kind of thing, then why are we a city," he said. "We don't allow hog rendering plants, chicken plucking factories and that type of thing — fracking isn't all that much of a stretch."

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