The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Rules
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1364
INTRODUCER: Rules Committee; Agriculture Committee; and Senator Calatayud
SUBJECT: Everglades Protection Area
DATE: February 26, 2024 REVISED:
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Hunter Ryon CA Favorable
2. Becker Becker AG Fav/CS
3. Ryon Twogood RC Fav/CS
Please see Section IX. for Additional Information:
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE - Substantial Changes
I. Summary:
CS/CS/SB 1364 requires any proposed comprehensive plan or plan amendment by a county as
defined in s. 125.011(1), F.S., or any municipality located therein, applying to land within, or
within 2 miles of, the Everglades Protection Area to be reviewed pursuant to the State
Coordinated Review Process.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is tasked with determining whether the plan
or plan amendment will adversely impact the Everglades Protection Area or the Everglades
restoration and protection objectives in state law. It has 30 days after receipt of the plan or plan
amendment to issue a written determination identifying any adverse impacts.
Before adoption, DEP must coordinate with the Department of Commerce and the local
government to identify any planning strategies or measures that the local government could
include in the proposed plan or plan amendment to eliminate or mitigate any adverse impacts. If
any portion of the proposed plan or plan amendment will result in adverse impacts, then the local
government must either include planning strategies or measures to eliminate or mitigate the
adverse impacts, or not adopt that portion of the proposed plan or plan amendment.
The bill provides that the act may not be construed to limit the Right to Farm Act.
The bill takes effect July 1, 2024.
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1364 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
The Everglades/Florida Bay Ecosystem
The Everglades/Florida Bay system covers approximately two million acres in South Florida and
contains the largest subtropical wetland in the United States.1 The area is generally described as a
vast sawgrass marsh dotted with tree islands and interspersed with wet prairies and aquatic
sloughs.2
Historically, the Everglades covered over seven million acres of South Florida, and water flowed
down the Kissimmee River into Lake Okeechobee, then south through the vast Everglades to
Florida Bay.3 The present Everglades system has been subdivided by the construction of canals,
levees, roads, and other facilities as part of efforts to drain the system for agriculture,
development, and flood control. As a result, the Everglades is less than half the size it was a
century ago, and connections between the central Everglades and adjacent transitional wetlands
have been lost. This separation and isolation can impair the Everglades’ wildlife communities
and the sustainability of the ecosystem.4 Over time, the construction of canals and water control
structures along with urban and agricultural expansion contributed to unintended consequences.5
In 1994, to address these issues, the Legislature passed the Everglades Forever Act (Act).6 The
Act established numerous long-term goals and environmental standards to restore and protect the
Everglades ecosystem, addressing issues including water quantity, water quality, and excessive
levels of phosphorus. The Act contains measures for constructing stormwater treatment areas for
water entering the Everglades, sets standards for best management practices to address
phosphorous pollution loading, and establishes numeric criteria for water quality in the
Everglades.7 Generally, the Act outlines Florida’s commitment to restoring the Everglades
ecosystem, and it authorizes programs for achieving this restoration.8 These programs work in
cooperation with the multi-billion-dollar, multi-decade Comprehensive Everglades Restoration
Plan that is a 50-50 partnership between the state and federal government.9
1
South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), Everglades, https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/everglades (last
visited Feb. 5, 2024).
2
Id.
3
Id.
4
Id.
5
SFWMD, Everglades Restoration Progress, 1 (2017), available at https://www.sfwmd.gov/sites/default/files/
documents/spl_everglades_progress.pdf (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
6
Chapter 94-115, ss. 1-2, Laws of Fla.; Section 373.4592, F.S.
7
Section 373.4592, F.S.; University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF-IFAS), Michael T. Olexa et.
al., 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Florida Everglades Forever Act, 1-2 (2021), available at
https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE60900.pdf (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
8
See SFWMD, Long-Term Plan for Achieving Water Quality Goals, https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/wq-stas/long-term-
plan (last visited Mar. 1, 2023); see SFWMD, Restoration Strategies for Clean Water for the Everglades,
https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-work/restoration-strategies (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
9
(UF-IFAS), Michael T. Olexa et. al., 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Florida Everglades Forever Act, 1
(2021), available at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/pdffiles/FE/FE60900.pdf (last visited Feb. 5, 2024); The Water Resources
Development Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-541, Dec. 11, 2000); SFWMD, CERP Project Planning, https://www.sfwmd.gov/our-
work/cerp-project-planning (last visited Feb. 5, 2024); DEP, Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP),
https://floridadep.gov/eco-pro/eco-pro/content/comprehensive-everglades-restoration-plan-cerp (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1364 Page 3
The Act establishes monitoring and
protection for the “Everglades Protection
Area,” defined as “Water Conservation
Areas (WCAs) 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B, the
Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National
Wildlife Refuge, and the Everglades
National Park.”10 WCA 1 is the Arthur R.
Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife
Refuge, and it is managed by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service.11 Water
Conservation Areas 2 and 3 are managed
by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.12 Everglades
National Park is managed by the National
Park Service.13
The WCAs are mainly large expanses of
Everglades marsh habitat, which are
closed off with control levees and
canals.14 As part of the Central &
Southern Florida Project first authorized
by Congress in 1948, central portions of
the Everglades were diked to create the
WCAs.15 The WCAs have provided
numerous benefits for the Everglades and
south Florida, including: providing a
detention reservoir for excess water from
the agricultural area and parts of the lower east coast region, and for flood discharge from Lake
Okeechobee; providing levees to prevent Everglades floodwaters from inundating the lower east
coast and provide water for agriculture and Everglades National Park; recharging the Biscayne
10
Section 373.4592(2)(i), F.S.; see also FLA. CON. art. II, s. 7(b). Those in the Everglades Agricultural Area who cause water
pollution within the Everglades Protection Area are primarily responsible for the abatement costs. Id.
11
SFWMD, Water Conservation Area 1 (Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge),
https://www.sfwmd.gov/recreation-site/water-conservation-area-1-arthur-r-marshall-loxahatchee-national-wildlife-refuge
(last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
12
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Everglades Water Conservation Areas,
https://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/sites-forecasts/s/everglades-water-conservation-areas/ (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
13
National Park Service, Everglades National Park, https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm (last visited Feb. 5, 2024);
SFWMD, 2016 South Florida Environmental Report, 3 (2016), available at https://issuu.com/southfloridawatermanagement/
docs/2016_sfer_highlights_final?e=4207603/33817547 (last visited Feb. 5, 2024). This document contains the map found on
this page.
14
SFWMD, Water Conservation Areas 2 and 3 (Everglades & Francis S. Taylor Wildlife Management Area),
https://www.sfwmd.gov/recreation-site/water-conservation-areas-2-and-3-everglades-francis-s-taylor-wildlife-management-0
(last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
15
United States Army Corps of Engineers and SFWMD, Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review
Study, Final Feasibility Report and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, 1-1 (Apr. 1999), available at
https://www.sfwmd.gov/sites/default/files/documents/CENTRAL_AND_SOUTHERN_FLORIDA_PROJECT_COMPREHE
NSIVE_REVIEW_STUDY.pdf (last visited Feb. 5, 2024).
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1364 Page 4
Aquifer for east coast communities; retarding salt water intrusion in coastal well fields; and
benefitting fish and wildlife in the Everglades.16
The long-term water quality objective for the Everglades is to implement the optimal
combination of source controls, stormwater treatment areas, advanced treatment technologies,
and regulatory programs to ensure that all waters discharged to the Everglades Protection Area
achieve water quality standards consistent with the Act.17 DEP implements a range of
responsibilities under the Act, including coordinating programs on research, monitoring, and
permitting activities.18 The Act requires the state of Florida to pursue certain objectives,
including all of the following:
Restore and protect the Everglades ecological system.
Authorize the South Florida Water Management District to proceed expeditiously with
implementation of the Everglades program.19
Reduce excessive levels of phosphorus.
Pursue comprehensive and innovative solutions to the issues of water quality, water quantity,
hydroperiod, and invasions of non-native species that affect the Everglades ecosystem.
Expedite plans and programs for improving water quantity reaching the Everglades.
Pursue the Everglades Construction Project, while maximizing its benefits and using superior
technology when available.
Achieve the water quality goals of the Everglades program through implementation of
stormwater treatment areas and best management practices.20
Comprehensive Plans and Plan Amendments
In 1985, the Legislature passed the Growth Management Act, which required every city and
county to create and implement a comprehensive plan to guide future development.21 A local
government’s comprehensive plan outlines the needs and locations for future public facilities,
including roads, water and wastewater infrastructure, residential neighborhoods, parks, schools,
and commercial and industrial developments.22
All development, both public and private, and all development orders23 approved by local
governments must be consistent with the local government’s comprehensive plan.24 Among the
many components of a comprehensive plan is a land use element designating proposed future
16
Id. at 1-15.
17
DEP, Everglades Forever Act (EFA), https://floridadep.gov/eco-pro/eco-pro/content/everglades-forever-act-efa (last visited
Feb. 5, 2024).
18
Id.
19
Section 373.4592(2)(h), F.S. The “Everglades Program” is defined as the program of projects, regulations, and research
provided by the Act. Id.
20
Id.
21
Chapter 85-55, Laws of Fla.
22
Section 163.3177, F.S.
23
“Development order” means any order granting, denying, or granting with conditions an application for a development
permit. See s. 163.3164(15), F.S. “Development permit” includes any building permit, zoning permit, subdivision approval,
rezoning, certification, special exception, variance, or any other official action of local government having the effect of
permitting the development of land. See s. 163.3164(16), F.S.
24
Section 163.3194(3), F.S
BILL: CS/CS/SB 1364 Page 5
general distribution, location, and extent of the uses of land.25 Specified use designations include
those for residential, commercial, industry, agriculture, recreation, conservation, education, and
public facilities.26
In 2011, the Legislature bifurcated the process for approving comprehensive plan amendments.27
Plan amendments are now placed into either the “Expedited State Review Process” or the “State
Coordinated Review Process.”28 The two processes operate in much the same way; however, the
State Coordinated Review Process provides a longer review period and requires all agency
comments to be coordinated by the Department of Commerce (Commerce), rather than
communicated directly to the permitting local government by each individual reviewing agency.
Most plan amendments are required to follow the expedited process. Plan amendments in any of
the following categories are required to follow the state coordinated process:
Located in an area of critical state concern, which contains or has a significant impact on
certain resources of regional or statewide importance;29
Propose a rural land stewardship area, which is designed to establish a long-term incentive-
based strategy to balance and guide the allocation of land to accommodate future uses for
environmental and economic purposes;30
Propose a sector plan or an amendment to an adopted sector plan, which emphasizes urban
form and protection of regionally significant resources and public facilities;31
Updates to comprehensive plans based on periodic evaluations of compliance with current
state requirements;32
Propose a development of regional impact, which would have a substantial effect upon the
health, safety, or welfare of citizens of more than one county;33 or
New plans for newly incorporated municipalities.34
Under both processes, a proposed comprehensive plan or plan amendment must receive a public
hearing by the local governing body before it may be transmitted to the state for review. First,
the local planning board must hold a public hearing at which it makes a recommendation to the
local governing body on adoption of the plan or plan amendment.35 Then, the local governing
body must hold a public hearing to consider transmittal of the proposed plan or plan
amendment.36 If a majority of the local governing body members present at the hearing approve
such transmittal, the plan or amendment must be transmitted within 10 working days to the
following state and local governmental entities, known as “reviewing agencies”:
The Department of Commerce, designated as the “state land planning agency”;37
The appropriate regional planning council;
25
Section 163.3177(6)(a), F.S.
26
Id.
27
Chapter 2011-139, s. 17, Laws of Fla.
28
Section 163.3184(3) and (4), F.S.
29
See s. 380.05, F.S.
30
See s. 163.3248, F.S.
31
See s. 163.3245, F.S.
32
See s. 163.3191, F.S.
33
See s. 380.06, F.S.
34
Section 163.3184(2)(c), F.S.; see s