National Audubon Society

Florida Legislative Session and Policy Update

The last week of the regular Legislative Session ended late Friday night with a flurry of amendments, bill passages, and bill deaths. With the chambers failing to complete a budget, legislators will be back in a week to focus only on the state budget.

This week’s policy highlights:

- STATE PARKS BILL AMENDED & PASSED! Now headed to the desk of Governor DeSantis.

- Sprawl bill improved before passage by House and Senate.

- Mitigation banking bill improved and passes both chambers—but still bad for wetlands.

- Bill affecting Water Management Districts doesn't pass.

- Good coastal community resilience bill runs out of time, dies.

- Protections for Apalachicola from oil and gas exploration heads to Governor’s desk.

- “Renter beware” protections for flood-prone properties heads to Governor.

- Waste incinerator bill did not pass before the session ended.

House and Senate Finally Make Progress on the Budget

On Friday night, House and Senate leaders announced that they’d reached an agreement on a top line amount, allowing them to set out budget “allocations”—the amount each broad section of the budget would get.

The House filed Concurrent Resolution 1631 that extends the 2025 legislative session until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, June 6, 2025. The legislature may only consider items related to the budget and SB 110, the Rural Renaissance bill. All other measures in both the House and the Senate are indefinitely postponed and withdrawn from consideration as of 12:00 a.m., Saturday, May 3, 2025. On their return, the chambers will work only on the budget and budget conforming bills, appointing conference committees on each section of the budget to work out differences in the details, starting the week of May 12.

Bald Eagle. Photo: Richard White/Audubon Photography Awards

You Did It! State Parks Bill Passes both House and Senate

Good news! In a win for grassroots advocacy, HB 209, the State Parks Preservation Act, has passed the Legislature. On Thursday, the Senate took up the House bill, amended it to eliminate the occupancy cap on cabins, among other changes, and returned it to the House where it was passed on final reading. Even with these changes, this legislation represents a big step forward, strengthening protections for all 175 of our award-winning state parks while preserving the best of Florida's diverse landscapes and ecosystems.

Thank you to sponsors Sen. Gayle Harrell (R-Stuart) and Rep. John F. Snyder (R-Stuart). The bill was filed in response to an unpopular proposal last year that called for golf courses, pickle ball courts, and resort-style lodges at multiple state parks.

Thursday’s vote in the House bill was unanimous, as it was the previous day in the Senate—delivering a resounding victory to all park advocates. The bill will be headed to Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature. Stay tuned for strategic opportunities from Audubon to lend your voice to this bill.

Urban Sprawl Bill Passes - But with Improvements

SB 1080 and SB 1118, by Sen. McClain (R-Ocala) and the Community Affairs Committee (Chair, Sen. McClain), proposed numerous changes in local government planning and zoning laws, generally to reduce permit review times and impact fee expenses for developers.

Why Audubon Worked to Improve these Bills

For much of the legislative session, these bills included very destructive “agricultural enclave” provisions that would have made the conversion of farmlands into urban sprawl development virtually automatic.

County efforts to protect rural lands, open space, and agriculture—such as those in eastern Orange and Seminole counties and the Farmland Preservation Area in Marion County—would have been invalidated. Good decisions like Sarasota County’s recent denial of a rezoning for a subdivision on agricultural land adjacent to the “Celery Fields” conservation area would have been reversed. An additional amendment added to SB 1080 late in the session would have also reversed an important court decision impacting Everglades restoration; that retroactive amendment would have allowed the massive South Dade Logistics Center to be built within a proposed Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan project area.

Legislation Improvements: Ag Enclave and South Dade Logistics Reversal Removed

Audubon and others worked hard to convince legislators to remove this language from the bill. During the last days of the session, the most objectionable parts of the bill were removed, and, for now, rural area protection and efforts to control sprawl will remain within the grasp of local governments and voters.

SB 1118 was never passed in either chamber, and SB 1080 was stripped of bad amendments before final passage.

Thank you to former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo (R-Naples), Representative Lindsay Cross (R-St. Petersburg), and Senate and House bill sponsors Sen. McClain and Rep. Toby Overdorf (R-Palm City) for working with us to produce a less harmful version of this legislation.

Hermit Thrush. Photo: Sujata Roy/Audubon Photography Awards

Wetland Mitigation Bill Improved Before Passage, but Still Threatens to Reverse Recent Water Quality and Resilience Improvements in South Florida

HB 1175 (Rep. Duggan (R-Jacksonville)) and SB 492 (Sen. McClain) would allow impacted wetlands to be replaced far away and years after the impacts are approved. As a consequence, these bills as originally written would have exacerbated wetland loss in the communities that can least afford it—places like coastal South Florida and the Indian River Lagoon.

These bills were intended to alleviate the hardship for developers of operating in watersheds with insufficient mitigation remaining; unfortunately, as written, the bills would harm wetland functions in those already highly developed watersheds—which are essential to community health and welfare.

House Version

Thanks to the strong advocacy of Audubon members and our partners, HB 1175 was not voted out of the Florida House of Representatives.

Senate Version

An amended SB 492 with a few improvements was passed last week by the Rules Committee. It included provisions prioritizing mitigation banks that fully cover the impact area, gave state agencies the responsibility to determine if out-of-service area or out-of-kind mitigation is warranted, and limited the window for applicants to rely on out-of-service area credit decisions to six months.

However, issues remain: For example, a loophole in the bill will allow mitigation to occur (in some instances) far from the site of environmental damage without using a multiplication factor. This means that in many instances there is no financial incentive for a developer to find mitigation as close to the impacted watershed as possible.

Up Next

While improved, SB 492 is still a bill that is bad for wetlands. The bill made final passage on Friday afternoon and will be sent to the Governor for his signature.

Gray Catbird . Photo: Ryan O'Meara/Audubon Photography Awards

Everglades Snail Kite standing on a branch

Water Management Districts Bill Doesn't Pass

SB 7002, Water Management Districts (Sen. Brodeur (R-Sanford)), would add additional legislative reviews to water management district funding, budgeting, and business practices, as well as Everglades restoration and project and funding for initiatives north of Lake Okeechobee . The bill, a priority of the Senate President, was filed to increase transparency about the districts’ funding and projects.

Rep. Conerly, sponsor of the House companion, filed a surprising amendment on April 30, adopted in the House, that removed most of the provisions in the bill but retained language revising regulations on lobbying and procedural rules for the water management districts and their governing boards. The amendment also prohibited the districts from using state funds as a local match.

The Senate did not concur with this change and the bill was sent back to the House. The clock ran out for this bill to make it through the legislative process, and as a result it did not pass.

Snail Kite. Photo: Syndey Walsh/Audubon

Bill that Would Have Incentivized Coastal Resilience Stalls

SB 50, Nature-based Methods for Improving Coastal Resilience, sponsored by Sen. Garcia (R-Miami), would have facilitated the broader adoption of nature-based methods for improving coastal resilience in the face of sea level rise and storm surge. Green infrastructure provides a range of environmental, social, and economic benefits—unlike seawalls and grey infrastructure.

The House companion, HB 371, was sponsored by Rep. Mooney (R-Key Largo). SB 50 was voted on the Senate floor and the enrolled bill is in messages to the House, however, HB 371has not yet been read a third time in the House.

Miami

Protections for Apalachicola from Oil Drilling Heads to Governor

HB 1143, Permits for Drilling, Exploration and Extraction of Oil and Gas, was sponsored by Rep. Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) and Rep. Tant (D-Tallahassee). It would update Florida’s oil and gas permitting regulations with improvements for protecting sensitive ecosystems.

On April 30, the Senate approved SB 1300, which restricts oil drilling and exploration within 10 miles of a national estuarine research reserve (NERR) in designated “rural counties of opportunity.” Of Florida’s three NERRs, the only one that meets these criteria is Apalachicola NERR. The bill also requires the Department of Environmental Protection to consider environmental factors before issuing permits for drilling in those areas. The bill aims to protect sensitive coastal areas near the Apalachicola River Basin, from potential harm caused by oil drilling and exploration.

HB1143 passed and will be sent to the Governor to be signed into law.

Flood Disclosure Bill Would Expand Provision to All Renters

HB 1015 (Rep. Hunschofsky (R-Coconut Creek)) and SB 948 (Sen. Bradley (R-Flemming Island)) expand the scope of the flood disclosure bill passed last year that required flood risk disclosures in home sales. The bill expands this provision to all renters.

Landlords must deliver a flood disclosure to tenants prior to signing a rental agreement, including the property's flood damage history, and encourage the purchase of flood insurance. This protects consumers and helps market forces steer communities away from new flood-prone developments.

The bills have passed both chambers and SB 948 will be sent to the Governor for signature.

Waste Incinerator Bill Did Not Pass

HB 1609, by Rep. Weinberger (R-Palm Beach), and its Senate companion bill, SB 1822 by Sen. Martin (R-Ft. Myers), would prohibit new solid waste or waste-to-energy facilities within one mile of homes or schools. A House amendment expanded the buffer zone and added requirements for feasibility studies and public meetings for landfill expansions in populated areas. The amendment also included provisions on recycling alternatives and broadens the definition of items local governments can't regulate, like to-go containers.

HB 1609 passed the House and was sent to the Senate for concurrence. However, it did not pass before the session ended.

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