2024 Bill Tracker – Water & Environmental Sustainability

Sponsor: Garcia/Mooney 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

SB 32 

Requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to adopt rules for mangrove replanting and restoration. To this end, DEP is also directed to conduct a statewide study, assessing the value of mangrove forests and other nature-based solutions to coastal flooding.  

Rulemaking is required to include or address the following components: 

• Erosion, particularly in areas of critical state concern 
• Barrier islands 
• Everglades and Biscayne Bay revitalization 
• Vulnerable properties 
• Intracoastal navigation and markers 
• Permitting incentives, particularly for living shorelines/nature-based features 
• Local partnership opportunities through the Resilient Florida grant program 

Sponsor: Stewart

Status: Support

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:

-SB 36

Directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to develop a comprehensive statewide recycling and waste-reduction plan by July 1, 2025. To develop the plan, DEP is to convene a technical assistance group to assess the conclusions and recommendations of the previous statewide recycling plan, which sunset in 2020. Among the minimum provisions of the plan are:  

• A statewide recycling goal based on sustainable materials managements and waste diversion  
• A 3-year plan addressing recycling education and outreach, local recycling assistance, and market expansion strategies for recyclable materials  
• Reporting requirements to the legislature  

Sponsor: Berman/Eskamani 

Status: Monitor 

Prohibits the drilling, exploration for, or production of petroleum products on state lands and waters, and prohibits the permitting of associated structures.  

Removes landfill gas from the statutory definition of “biomass.” Removes waste heat from the statutory definition of “renewable energy,” and replaces it with “tidal energy.”  

Establishes a statewide goal for 100% of the state’s electricity to be renewable energy by 2050; similarly, sets a goal of net-zero statewide carbon emissions by 2051. The bill directs the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services to develop a plan for achieving these goals, including interim targets every ten years.   

Sponsor: Gossett-Seidman

Status: Monitor

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:

-HB 163 

Requires an environmental impact analysis conducted by an independent contractor as a condition of any dredging or beach restoration project permit. The independent contractor performing the analysis must pass a conflict check with the local government’s project contractor—specifically, they may not have worked together on a project within the past year, or for one year following conduction of the analysis.

Additionally, the local government seeking a permit must notify adjacent local governments of its intent to perform an environmental impact study, with a penalty of 10% of project costs for violations of this section. Dredging projects in ports maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are exempt from this requirement.

Effective date July 1, 2024.

Sponsor: Berman/Gossett-Seidman

Status: Monitor

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:

HB 165

Transfers authority over bacteria sampling of public bathing waters from the Department of Health (DOH) to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). To prepare for this transfer, the bill requires the following:

• DOH is to provide a report to the Governor and the Legislature, detailing the volume of bacteria samples they process, costs and staffing levels associated with sampling, and the frequency of associated public health advisories.
• DOH and DEP are to submit consolidated recommendations regarding the transfer of this authority.
  • This includes the continued role, if necessary, of County Health Departments in sampling activities
• By June 30, 2025, DOH and DEP are to enter into an interagency agreement addressing all aspects of coordination between the two agencies.
• Requires DEP to adopt and enforce rules concerning procedures and timeframes for bacteriological sampling, as well as minimum health standards for public bathing waters. Minimum procedures include:
  • Owners of beach waters or public bathing waters are to notify DEP within 24 hours of a sample that fails to meet these minimum standards
  • DEP is required to issue a health advisory following a deficient water quality test
  • DEP must require the closure of any impacted waters if it deems it necessary to public health and safety. Closures must remain in effect until the waters’ quality has been restored according to Department standards.
• Counties are to immediately notify DEP regarding any incident that may compromise the quality of beach or public bathing waters
• Following a deficient water quality test, DEP is directed to investigate wastewater facilities and ocean outfalls within a 1-mile radius of the affected waters.
• Counties and municipalities are made statutorily responsible for posting and maintaining appropriate signage in the event of a water quality health advisory.

Sponsor: Polsky/McFarland

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 298 

Authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to award grants to coastal counties for saltwater vulnerability assessments under the Resilient Florida grant program. Grants under this section are to include a 50% state cost-share. Cost-sharing requirements are waived for coastal counties with a population under 50,000.  

Such assessments are expected to analyze the impact of saltwater intrusion on the county’s water supply, as well as the county’s preparedness for a saltwater intrusion event. Saltwater intrusion represents a movement of coastal saltwater into inland freshwater aquifers and is often associated with sea level rise.  

The bill also includes language concerning coastal construction control lines. Current law allows a local government’s building/zoning codes to deviate from the Department of Environmental Protection’s construction control line regulations, conditional on Department approval. This would prohibit counties from such deviation going forward, though codes in place before December 1, 2023, are grandfathered in.  

Sponsor: Rodriguez 

Status:  

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 406 

Prescribes a 4:1 side slope ratio for any surface water management systems. Existing rules by the Department of Environmental Protection, water management districts, or local delegates, are superseded by this bill and may be repealed without further rulemaking.  

Sponsors: Burton/Bell

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

HB 451 

SB 452 

Provides for an annual appropriation of $20 million from the state’s Land Acquisition Trust Fund to fund implementation of 2017’s Heartland Headwaters Protection and Sustainability Act. The 2017 Act directed the Polk Regional Water Cooperative to submit an annual report identifying water resource projects in its jurisdiction as priorities for state funding. The Legislature declared the waters of this region to be of strategic importance, given their relative vulnerability and future water demands of the region. The appropriation in HB 451/SB 452 is to be used for financial assistance for projects identified within the annual report.  

Sponsor: Stewart 

Status: Support 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

HB 498 

Repeals the current preemption on the regulation of certain recyclable materials. Repeals the current preemption on the regulation of polystyrene products.  

Sponsor: Stewart 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

SB 510 

Creates a new part of Ch. 211, F.S. addressing “water extracted for commercial or industrial use,” and amends the title of the chapter to reflect this expansion.  

Sponsor: Burgess/Maggard

Status:  

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 527 

SB 664 

Preempts the regulation of dredge and fill activities to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). Also requires a local government to acquire, through eminent domain, any buffer zones for which the county land or water delineations exceed delineation determinations by DEP or the water management districts.  

Sponsor: Rodriguez 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

HB 566 

Provides for an annual appropriation of $20 million from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to implement the Florida Keys Stewardship Act. Funds may be used by the Department of Environmental Protection for the following purposes: 

• Projects that promote the protection of the Florida Bay, Florida Keys, or nearby marine ecosystems 
• To acquire land within the Florida Keys area of critical state concern 

Funds may NOT be used to fund wastewater treatment projects.  

Sponsor: Rodriguez 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

SB 698 

Directs the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct and submit reports every five years on use trends and developments of retail shopping bags.  

Also authorizes coastal municipalities under 500,000 persons to conduct a pilot program regulating single-use plastics, conditional on pertinent data collection and submission of a report by 2027. The program may not impose new taxes or fees in the process of regulating single-use plastics.  

Sponsors: Calatayud/Busatta-Cabrera

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below:  

HB 723 

SB 1364 

Requires that any comprehensive plan or plan amendment applying to land within 2 miles of the Everglades Protection Area be reviewed pursuant to the State Coordinated Review Process. This includes a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determination of adverse impacts; in the event of adverse impacts, DEP is directed to coordinate with the Department of Commerce and the relevant local government to identify planning strategies to mitigate or eliminate the potential adverse impacts. The local government is then required to either adopt the mitigation strategy or not adopt that component of the comprehensive plan or amendment. 

Sponsors: Burgess/Overdorf 

Status:  

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 738 

HB 789 

Provides for the recovery of costs and attorney fees by a prevailing party challenging a Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or water management district rule or action.  

Similar to language in SB 406, the bill prescribes a 4:1 side slope ratio for any surface water management systems. Existing rules by DEP, water management districts, or locally delegated programs, are superseded by this bill and may be repealed without further rulemaking. 

Directs DEP and the water management districts to conduct a holistic review of their coastal permitting processes, with a focus on improving efficiency and reducing duplicative processes. DEP and the water management districts are to submit a report of their findings to the legislature by December 31, 2024. 

Sponsors: Basabe/Rodriguez 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 749 

SB 1766 

Establishes the maximum freeboard requirements for new construction—local governments are in turn preempted from establishing more stringent freeboard requirements. The bill also directs the Florida Building Commission to initiate rulemaking for minimum freeboard requirements.  

Sponsor: Gruters 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 784 

Requires all waterway markers pursuant to this section to be affixed to a plastic breakaway structure or floating buoy. This expressly preempts a state or local government entity from affixing a waterway marker to a steel beam or wood piling. These preempted structures must be replaced with an eligible structure by January 1, 2025.  

Additionally requires that any application for marking state waters include information regarding the structure or buoy to which the marker will be affixed.  

Sponsor: Simon 

Status: 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 836 

Current law requires the Department of Environmental Protection and the water management districts, in their capacity as the state’s administrators of environmental resource permitting programs, to adopt by rule a uniform method for mitigation assessments of wetlands and surface waters. The uniform method must consider the degree of financial risk involved in mitigation activities.  

Under the bill, a method may not consider the risk in the event that a permittee assumes financial responsibility in one of the following forms: 

• Cash or cash equivalent in escrow 
• Irrevocable letter of credit 
• Performance bond 
• Trust fund agreement 
• Guarantee bond 
• Insurance certificate 

The bill also prohibits the requirement of a conservation easement or similar encumbrance to real property if mitigation has been determined to be unsuccessful.  

Sponsors: Burton/Killebrew

Status:  

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 863 

SB 986 

Current law preempts the regulation of environmental restoration and water quality improvement activities on lands classified as agricultural, provided that the Department of Environmental Protection or the jurisdictional water management district has determined the activities to have an insignificant impact on the state’s water resources. This bill expands the exempted activities to include environmental “enhancement or creation.” 

This expressly includes activities that alter the topography of the land, divert or impede surface water flow, or impact wetlands, provided there is a net increase in wetland resource functions. However, the exemption does NOT provide for mitigation banking activities.

Sponsors: Truenow/Brodeur 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 1073 

SB 1532 

Expands the availability of mitigation credits under this section to include private entities. The bill requires a governmental entity to consider unsolicited proposals from private entities for mitigation projects on public lands. It also authorizes a governmental entity to solicit such proposals at their discretion. A private entity operating a mitigation bank on public land is required to serve as the “project sponsor” and pay a usage fee to the government entity.  

Sponsors: Truenow/Collins 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 1075 

SB 1772 

Dissolves 9 soil and water conservation districts and transfers their assets and liabilities to the counties in which they operate. Dissolves 49 other soil and water conservation districts and transfers their assets and liabilities to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. In their stead, the state will be divided into 7 regional soil and water conservation districts.  

The bill also prescribes that the supervisors of a soil and water conservation district be appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture rather than elected.  

Sponsors: Trumbull/McClain 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 1136 

HB 1163 

Revises the criteria for licensing as a water well contractor to require a certain threshold of permitted contracting experience within the state of Florida. The bill also prohibits a person or business entity from advertising well contracting services if they do not employ a full time, licensed water well contractor.  

Sponsors: Cross/Berman 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

SB 1153 

HB 1304 

Directs the Department of Environmental Protection to submit a report regarding treatment data for any advanced wastewater treatment facility with a permitted capacity of greater than 1 million gallons per day.  

Sponsors: Cross/Rodriguez 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 1187 

SB 1250 

Creates the Carbon Sequestration Task Force adjunct to the Department of Environmental Protection, to provide recommendations for the development of a statewide carbon sequestration program. The duties of the task force are to include the following: 

• Identify and inventory terrestrial and aquatic environments suitable for carbon sequestration 
• Consider possible carbon sequestration opportunities in the state’s land and marine resource use policies 
• Establish baseline carbon levels 
• Recommend long- and short-term benchmarks for carbon sequestration activities  
• Identify existing carbon markets  
• Identify funding mechanisms to encourage carbon sequestration practices in the state 

The bill also appropriates $350,000 for FY2024-25, for administrative costs of the task force. 

Sponsors: Gruters/Grant 

Status: Monitor 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 1459 

SB 1680 

The Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative is currently performing laboratory testing of algal bloom prevention and mitigation technologies. This bill directs the initiative to progress into the field trial deployment phase for technologies with successful laboratory tests. The bill also appropriates $2 million for FY2024-25 to the Department of Environmental Protection to implement this section.  

Represents the 2024 Department of Environmental Protection agency package.  

The bill provides that a representative of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) may at any reasonable time enter and inspect any property, except a building which is used exclusively for a private residence, that has an OSTDS to ascertain compliance with applicable law, rules, and regulations. Under current law, DEP personnel must have reason to believe noncompliance exists and must first obtain permission from the owner or occupant of a residence of private building to secure an inspection warrant.  

The bill requires all applicants for permits to construct and operate a domestic wastewater treatment facility to prepare a reuse feasibility study. Domestic treatment facilities that dispose of effluent by certain means must implement reuse to the extent feasible and consider the ecological or public water supply benefits afforded by any disposal.  

The bill makes revisions to facilitate the transfer of the OSTDS program including:  

• Creating new procedures for DEP regarding the processing and enforcement of septic tank requirements.  
• Directing DEP to adopt rules for a general permit for projects which have, individually or cumulatively, a minimal adverse impact on public health or the environment.  
• Directing DEP to establish an enhanced nutrient-reducing OSTDS approval program.  

Regarding domestic wastewater treatment facilities and wastewater treatment plans, the bill: 

• Requires certain public and private facilities to participate in developing the domestic wastewater treatment plan including providing certain information to the applicable local government. 

Regarding reclaimed water, the bill:  

• Directs the water management districts and DEP to develop rules to promote reclaimed water and encourage potable water offsets that produce significant water savings.  
• Authorizes extended permits for those applicants or permittees that propose a development or water resource development project using reclaimed water.  

Regarding the Resilient Florida Grant Program, the bill:  

• Authorizes DEP to provide grants to counties or municipalities to fund:  

• An update of their inventory of critical assets, including those that are currently or reasonably expected to be impacted by flooding and sea level rise;  
• Development of strategies to enhance community preparations for threats from flooding and sea level rise, including adaptation plans; and  
• Permitting for projects designed to achieve reductions in the risks or impacts of flooding and sea level rise using nature-based solutions.  

• Requires vulnerability assessments to use data from the Florida Flood Hub that is certified by the Chief Resilience Officer.  
• Requires certain data and planning horizons to be used in the assessment.  

The bill requires the Comprehensive Statewide Flood Vulnerability and Sea Level Rise Data Set and Assessment to include the 20- and 50-year projected sea level rise at each active NOAA tidal gauge off the Florida coast as derived from statewide sea level rise projections.  

Regarding the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan, the bill:  

• Authorizes the plan to include projects not yet identified in the comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise assessment at DEP and the Chief Resilience Officer’s discretion.  
• Expands the types of projects can be submitted by local or regional entities. 

The bill directs the Department of Revenue to distribute 96% of the 2021 gaming compact revenues to land conservation and water infrastructure projects. To guide water projects under this section, the bill creates a 5-year water quality work program and water quality revolving loan fund. Specifically, 32% of the gaming compact revenues are allocated to projects of this nature.  

The bill also appropriates $5 million for planning of project criteria and priorities under the water quality work program.  

The House bill, HB 1417 by Rep. Buchanan, does not provide for program planning or creation of the revolving loan program; the bill only provides for the gaming compact distributions. The bill has not been heard.

Sponsors: Joseph/Torres 

Status: Support 

To view the latest bill actions, please see below: 

HB 1531 

SB 1718 

Directs the Department of Environmental Protection to create the Blue Communities program, to provide technical/financial assistance grants and loans to eligible local governments for reduction of nutrient pollution and ocean acidification. Eligible “Blue Communities” must meet the following criteria:  

• File an application 
• Adopt no less than 5 of the water initiatives listed in this section 
• Develop a plan to implement the chosen initiatives, and outline benchmarks for each initiative  
• Submit a report including expenditures and results of each initiative  

Establishes the Ocean State Climate Adaptation and Resilience (OSCAR) Grant Fund within DEP. Grant funds are to be used for planning, design, and implementation of adaptation and resilience projects recommended by an advisory council within DEP. DEP and the advisory council are directed to establish a process for solicitation, evaluation, and award of grant funds.  

The House bill also directs DEP or a county health department designee to monitor the levels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in community water systems using the latest national primary drinking water regulations. By September 1, 2024, DEP is directed to adopt rules concerning this subsection, including an enforceable maximum contaminant level for PFAS compounds.  

The bill creates the Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and 1,4-Dioxane Pretreatment Initiative within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), to coordinate wastewater facility industrial pretreatment programs. Wastewater facilities with industrial pretreatment programs are directed to do the following:  

• Complete an inventory of industrial users to identify potential sources of PFAS contamination and 1,4 dioxane by July 1, 2025 
• Provide notice by March 1, 2025, to the identified industrial users that they may become subject to PFAS and 1,4 dioxane permitting standards  
• Issue a permit, order, or similar measure to enforce applicable pretreatment standards and requirements for 1,4-dioxane and certain types of PFAS, including specific discharge limits; and  
• Between July 1, 2026, and January 1, 2027, complete a grab sampling at each identified industrial user’s facility and other at-risk sites that are probably sources of 1,4-dioxane and certain types of PFAS and implement appropriate corrective action before July 1, 2027, to reduce or eliminate these contaminants. 

The bill also provides interim discharge limits and surface water quality standards for 1,4-dioxane and certain PFAS compounds for industrial users until new specific limits are adopted. The committee substitute language revised the effective date of these interim standards from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 2025.  

For context, the 2020 Clean Waterways Act directed DEP and the water management districts to initiate rulemaking regarding stormwater infrastructure and the associated environmental resource permitting process. Proposed rules with an aggregate 5-year economic impact estimate over $1 million trigger the statutory requirement for legislative ratification—the 5-year impact of this rule is estimated to be over $1 billion.