Scott, who has promised to rid the state of “job-killing” regulations, named Billy Buzzett, a land-use lawyer who has worked for one of the largest developers in Florida, to lead the state Department of Community Affairs, the state’s top agency for regulating developers.

Scott has also indicated his support for diminishing the role of the DCA by merging it into several other agencies, including the Department of Transportation.

At the Department of Environmental Protection, the state’s top environmental agency, involved in issues including restoration of the Everglades and oil drilling, Scott tapped Herschel Vinyard, a lawyer and executive with a Jacksonville ship-building company. Vinyard has previously represented businesses in environmental cases.

The appointments, which drew praise from some business groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce, are an indication that the new administration may be ready to significantly scale back growth-management and environmental regulations, such as laws requiring developers to pay for new roads or requiring major developments to go through a regional-impact review.

Growth control advocate Dan Lobeck calls Buzzett’s pick to lead DCA a “radical” choice, arguing that a developer should not be in charge of development regulations.

“If there every was a case of the fox guarding the hen house, this is it,” Lobeck said. “This is a full-scale abandonment of growth management in Florida.”

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