National Audubon Society

Florida Legislative Session and Policy Update

We don’t want to sugarcoat it—there are headwinds ahead. Filed bills for consideration in next year’s Legislative Session could devastate local control critical to smart, common-sense growth management. In addition, newly filed legislation could convert conservation lands to agriculture—when we need natural landscapes more than ever.

What are we asking you to do?

For now, stay informed, but soon we will need your voice to write to your local elected officials. Tell your friends and neighbors about these issues, and encourage them to follow us on social media or sign up for our email list. Together, we can protect quality of life in the Sunshine State.

aerial view of development next to a protected area

UPDATE: Conservation Lands Facing One-Two Punch This Session

The Problem

Conservation land acquisition through the Florida Department of Environment Protection’s Division of State Lands has nearly exhausted Florida Forever funds following last year’s limited appropriation, leaving more than $40 million in strong, ready-to-move projects still waiting.

How to Fix the Problem

To keep pace with development pressures on Florida’s last remaining natural areas, renewed and meaningful appropriations by the Legislature to fund Florida Forever will be essential. In recent years, the state’s agricultural easement program—to protect working farms from development pressure—has been funded at extraordinary levels, with Florida Forever receiving only a fraction of what is needed to safeguard state priorities like the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

Additional Trouble on the Horizon

At the same time, legislation proposed by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) in SB 290 (see more below) would create a pathway to surplus certain state conservation lands (excluding state parks, wildlife management areas, and state forests) for agricultural use, with the resulting revenue directed not back into land acquisition but into the Rural and Family Lands Protection Program (RFLPP).

While RFLPP is a valuable program that helps protect working landscapes, it is not a substitute for the broader suite of tools we rely on to safeguard Florida’s natural heritage. Importantly, it does not create the parks, wildlife management areas, or state forests that provide public access, recreation, and long-term ecological stewardship.

Together, these decisions will shape the future of Florida’s landscapes, making it all the more important to balance agricultural needs with a strong, sustained commitment to natural habitat conservation.

Photo: Sydney Walsh/Audubon

a green wetland with water in the center

Florida’s Conservation Lands and Resilience Update: SB 302 Advances

This week SB 302 passed the Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee (Chair, Sen. Rodriguez (R–Doral)).The bill, sponsored by Sen. Garcia (R-Miami), would direct the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to adopt statewide rules and guidelines promoting “green infrastructure,” hybrid natural/engineered shoreline solutions, mangrove restoration, wetland and dune restoration, living shorelines, reef and marsh restoration, and other nature-based methods to reduce erosion, flooding, and restore coastal habitat.

While the stated intentions are good, Audubon will monitor SB 302’s progress with an eye to ensuring it does not drive coastal armoring and other harmful erosion control practices.

Sweetwater Wetlands in Gainesville is an example of green infrastructure - cleaning water and providing a recreational resource.

We Could Lose Conservation Lands under SB 290

The Senate Agriculture Committee, chaired by Sen. Truenow (R-Tavares) met this week to discuss his bill SB 290, Agriculture. SB 290 bills itself as a broad omnibus agriculture and regulatory bill under the umbrella of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS). Tucked inside are major changes that could undermine land conservation, public-land protections, and environmental safeguards in Florida.

Why SB 290 Matters — and What’s In It

Section 3 of the bill would require the Acquisition and Restoration Council (ARC) to review lands owned by cities, counties, and special taxing districts (including water management districts) that are declared “surplus” and decide whether they are “suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes.” If the land is deemed suitable for agriculture, the bill prohibits local governments or districts from transferring future development rights—effectively preventing long-term protections that might guide future use or conservation, such as deed restrictions or conservation easements.

More concerning, the bill gives DEP and FDACS the power to surplus state-owned conservation lands other than state parks, wildlife management areas, and state forests that are deemed agriculturally suitable—potentially converting lands previously set aside for conservation into private agriculture.

Why This Is a Problem

What the surplus-land provisions really do is blur the line between conservation lands and “potential farmland.” Once a parcel is re-classified as “suitable for agriculture,” it’s likely no longer part of the state’s conservation toolbox and public access for appropriate uses such as fishing, hunting, or birdwatching would likely be precluded. That undermines decades of work to preserve scrub, longleaf pine, wetlands, and wildlife habitat—and shifts future land-management planning toward short-term agricultural or development interests, regardless of ecological or community value.

Biosolids Also Part of the Bill

Section 11 of the bill attempts to prohibit the land application of Class A and Class B biosolids—the practice of spreading the high nutrient solids left over after wastewater treatment on farm fields and other lands. Only Class AA biosolids—which have been further dried—would be allowed for land application.

However, the language is not aligned with how Florida’s regulatory system for biosolids actually works. Because Class AA biosolids are considered fertilizer, they are neither tracked nor regulated—though they still contain all the phosphorus and nitrogen that fuels harmful algal blooms. The state will still have to dispose of its biosolids however—so the unintended consequence of this bill is that now all biosolids will have to be dried to Class AA standards, at which time they can be applied wherever, without any regulation.

If the Legislature intends to shift the state toward exclusive use of Class AA, the bill must clearly instruct DEP to regulate and track Class AA use, and end the practice of “free giveaway” disposal of biosolids. Without these clarifications, the provision is unlikely to function as intended and may create gaps rather than strengthening environmental requirements preventing biosolids from polluting our rivers, lakes, and groundwater. It’s important to recognize that Class AA biosolids have just as much if not more nitrogen and phosphorus as Class A and B biosolids.

Northern Bobwhite. Photo: John Troth/Audubon Photography Awards

Smart Growth Management at Risk

While many Floridians are concerned about the harmful effects of last session’s SB 180 on growth management, additional measures propose this year could further erode local governments’ abilities to fight sprawl, including Land Use and Development Regulation, SB 208/HB 399, Land Use Regulations, SB 218/HB 217, Agricultural Enclaves, SB 686 (no House companion), Blue Ribbon Projects, SB 354/HB 299, and the enforcement restrictions in Local Government Enforcement Actions, SB 588/HB 105. Combined, these bills represent a coordinated and far-reaching package preempting local communities from protecting themselves from sprawl.

- SB 208/HB 399 would significantly limit the criteria local governments may use in reviewing residential development proposals, essentially allowing new development to override comprehensive plans, neutralize compatibility, ignore inadequate infrastructure capacity, and eliminate surrounding land-use considerations.

- SB 686/no House companion would allow urban development to encroach in agricultural areas.

- SB 218/HB 217 appears on the surface to be a remedy to last year’s SB 180 which forbids local governments from strengthening any land use provision until 2027; however it still maintains restrictions on most of the state (other than the western Panhandle and Dade and Monroe counties) limiting local governments’ ability to adopt growth-management tools that link development approvals to infrastructure readiness—a cornerstone of responsible planning.

- SB 354/HB 299 introduces a new pathway for 10,000 acre and larger mega developments, dubbed “Blue Ribbon” projects, to receive administrative approval even when they deviate from comprehensive plans or bypass public hearings, undermining comp plan consistency and cutting residents out of the process. The bill holds out a hollow promise of setting aside 60% of those big projects as “reserves,” however the reserves are allowed to contain utilities (water and sewer plants), reservoirs, retention ponds, sports facilities – not real preservation.

- At the same time, SB 588/HB 105 exposes local governments to new litigation risks for enforcing their own existing ordinances, forcing cities and counties to second-guess even routine environmental, code, and safety enforcement.

Individually, each bill erodes a different piece of the growth-management framework that has helped Florida communities balance development with infrastructure, conservation, and disaster resilience. Collectively, they represent a sweeping rollback of local authority and a dramatic centralization of land-use decision-making at the state level, more or less wiping out most of the remaining land use controls enacted since 1972.

If enacted, these measures would narrow the scope of comprehensive planning, limit environmental oversight, and incentivize large-scale development with reduced public scrutiny. For advocates, local officials, and residents invested in sustainable growth and community input, the stakes could not be higher.

Photo: Pixabay

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