Debate ended a little later than expected, but the 2024 legislative session officially adjourned at 2:25 p.m. today, with the traditional hanky-drop ceremony in the rotunda between the House and Senate chambers.

STATE BUDGET –

The $117.46 billion State budget authorized by House Bill 5001, the General Appropriations Act and funding from the Seminole gaming compact as authorized through SB 1638 – Funding for Environmental Resource Management both contribute to form the State’s $2.3 billion environmental budget this year.

For a complete list of state and local environmental projects, please check the SCCF Legislative Tracker for updates.

Passed – HB 165 - Sampling of Beach Waters and Public Bathing Spaces is designed to improve public notification of potential hazards as it relates to swimming at beaches and "public bathing places." SCCF strongly supported this bill.

Failed – Early this session SCCF strongly opposed SB 738/HB 789 - Environmental Management, which included the prevailing party’s attorney’s fees for actions taken by both the Department of Environmental Protection and the state’s Water Management Districts. This would have discouraged citizen challenges as it has with previous laws to add that same provision to local zoning actions and comprehensive plan changes.

This bad provision was removed as a result of citizen push-back. Another bad provision in the bill would have shielded large scale polluters from liability on projects that received state approval. An example of such a project would be the massive leak of polluted waste water from the Piney Point phosphate gypsum stack near Tampa Bay. This bill died late in the session but we will watch for these provisions to reappear in future bills.

Failed – SB 1210/HB 957 – Estero Bay Aquatic Preserve would have removed a large section of the waters and submerged lands around San Carlos Island from the aquatic preserve's protection. This bill received a lot of attention both locally and statewide as this would have set a terrible precedent for removing protections from an area of important ecological significance. SCCF worked to clarify the need for this bill and anticipates that this bill will return next year, potentially with an amended area of the preserve to be addressed.

Passed – SB 1624 Energy Resources, which removes the clean infrastructure goals in the State’s energy policy, repeals the Florida Energy and Climate Protection Act which administers renewable energy grants, preempts local community plans regarding the placement of natural gas facilities and bans offshore wind facilities. SCCF opposed this bill as a step backwards in reaching the state's previously approved renewable and clean energy goals.

Failed – SB 1126/HB 1641 Regulation of Auxiliary Containers preempted local governments from regulating re-usable or single use plastics or packaging and required all regulation to be done by the state. SCCF worked to oppose this bill which would have prevented local governments as well as other state agencies, including state parks, from implementing strategies to prevent pollutants from getting into the environment before it becomes a threat to wildlife and clogs stormwater systems.

Click here to subscribe to SCCF's Action Alerts.