Under Gov. Bush, state officials had an invitation from Palm Beach County to study the future of the Everglades Agricultural Area. They accepted before they declined.

Now, the Legislature appears intent on overriding the county's modest effort to perform a far less ambitious study. Overreacting to a county moratorium on approvals of rock mining, the House will consider a bill that would usurp local control. Supporters say the Legislature is acting in the legitimate statewide interest of ensuring a supply of road-building materials. The real reason to fight the county's moratorium, which could last two years, is to avert a study with unfavorable results for landowners. The legislation, PCB ENRC 07-12, would let landowners seek mining permits before those results are known, but the public should see the study before more mining is permitted.

Last year, U.S. Sugar won the right to mine rock from 4,000 acres in the Everglades for 40 years. That prospect for the muck lands between Lake Okeechobee and the populated coast persuaded Palm Beach County commissioners to order the moratorium and put staff to work on a study. Commissioners were driven by concern over how mining would affect Everglades restoration - also a legitimate statewide interest.

Restoration anticipates farmland, not mines, in the region. The study could determine how mines would limit the potential for flowways or additional water storage in the Everglades Agricultural Area. It could examine mining's impact on underground drinking water supplies and help determine where mines should be allowed. Existing county rules provided little defense against the piecemeal splintering of the EAA.

To pass the moratorium, the county allowed expansion of existing mines. Landowners without mines anticipated losing their competitive edge. When they couldn't stop the moratorium, they turned to the Legislature. Legislators still can strip the bill of its worst and most unnecessary condition - override of local control - in negotiations with House Democrats. Left would be a reasonable proposal for a task force to ensure the availability of rock for road construction.

Palm Beach County's moratorium, though, isn't going to strain the state's rock supply, despite judicial limits on rock mining in Miami-Dade County. U.S. Sugar expects its land to produce rock for 40 years. Existing mines in the county can expand. The moratorium affects only landowners who never have applied for the right to mine.

The overreaching bill reveals a Legislature too willing to be used by development forces while ignoring Everglades restoration. The state could have been a leader on this study two years ago. Now, the state should get out of the way.