Protection of the Eastern Gulf Test and Training Range

HB 1317 2026

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A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to protection of the Eastern Gulf Test 2
and Training Range; creating s. 377.713, F.S.; 3
providing legislative findings and intent; defining 4
terms; prohibiting a person from constructing, 5
installing, operating, maintaining, or expanding a 6
covered oil and gas facility near specified areas; 7
prohibiting certain facilities from crossing state 8
waters or submerged lands; prohibiting the Board of 9
Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or 10
state or local agencies from issuing an authorization 11
for specified prohibited activities; prohibiting 12
certain agreements from authorizing certain 13
infrastructure developments if a specified entity is 14
the owner or lessor of the property or facility; 15
prohibiting state grants or financial assistance from 16
being awarded for certain purposes if a specified 17
entity is the owner or lessor of the property or 18
facility; prohibiting the permitting or construction 19
of heliports or helistops under certain circumstances; 20
prohibiting state aviation grants from being used for 21
certain purposes; providing that specified provisions 22
are enforceable policies of the state's coastal 23
management program; requiring the Department of 24
Environmental Protection to take certain actions 25

HB 1317 2026

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regarding certain federal agency activity; providing 26
an exception; requiring the department to adopt rules 27
and guidance to implement federal-consistency review; 28
providing exceptions; providing construction; 29
providing enforcement; amending s. 253.77, F.S.; 30
prohibiting the Board of Trustees of the Internal 31
Improvement Trust Fund from authorizing certain real 32
estate transactions for specified prohibited 33
activities; requiring state agencies to deny certain 34
applications; providing an effective date. 35
36
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 37
38
Section 1. Section 377.713, Florida Statutes, is created 39
to read: 40
377.713 Oil and gas facilities; sitings and crossing 41
prohibited east of the Military Mission Line.— 42
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.— 43
(a) The Legislature finds that: 44
1. The Eastern Gulf Test and Training Range (EGTTR) 45
provides unique over-water air and sea space used by the United 46
States Armed Forces to test and provide training on advanced 47
systems vital to national security and particularly relevant to 48
newer systems with higher speeds and extended ranges. 49
2. The United States Department of Defense and this 50

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state's military installations have long relied on the area east 51
of the Military Mission Line (MML) remaining free of fixed 52
offshore energy infrastructure and associated logistics. 53
3. This state exercises jurisdiction over state waters in 54
the Gulf of America extending 9 nautical miles from the 55
coastline and controls sovereign submerged lands therein, 56
administered by the Board of Trustees of the Internal 57
Improvement Trust Fund. 58
4. It is in the public interest to preclude facilities and 59
crossings on state waters and submerged lands which would 60
support offshore oil and gas exploration or production east of 61
the MML. 62
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature to prevent 63
encroachment from shore-based and near-shore oil and gas 64
facilities and crossings that would support offshore exploration 65
or production east of the MML, consistent with state authority 66
over lands, waters, and funding and with federal law. 67
(2) DEFINITIONS.— 68
(a) "Covered oil and gas facility" means any facility, 69
fixture, or improvement used to stage, fuel, provision, crew-70
change, repair, maintain, or otherwise support offshore oil or 71
natural gas exploration or production, including docks, wharves, 72
piers, berths, moorings, dolphins, loading arms, offshore or 73
nearshore transfer buoys, storage tanks, fuel farms, warehouses, 74
maintenance shops, laydown yards, heliports or helistops, and 75

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any pipeline, flowline, gathering line, export line, riser, 76
umbilical, or power or communications cable, and any associated 77
crossings, attachments, or appurtenances. 78
(b) "Federal-consistency review" means the process by 79
which the state may review certain federal activities affecting 80
land or water uses or natural resources of its coastal zone for 81
consistency with its comprehensive management program, 82
including: 83
1. Activities conducted by or on behalf of a federal 84
government agency; 85
2. Federal licenses or permits; 86
3. Permits issued under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands 87
Act for offshore minerals exploration or development; and 88
4. Federally funded activities. 89
(c) "Military Mission Line" means the north-south line at 90
longitude 86°41′ W in the Gulf of America. 91
(d) "Sovereign submerged lands" means those lands, 92
including, but not limited to, tidal lands, islands, sand bars, 93
shallow banks, and lands waterward of the ordinary or mean high 94
water line, beneath navigable fresh water or beneath tidally 95
influenced waters, to which this state acquired title on March 96
3, 1845, by virtue of statehood, and which have not been 97
heretofore conveyed or alienated. 98
(e) "State waters" means the waters of the Gulf of America 99
within 9 nautical miles in the Gulf of America and 3 nautical 100

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miles off the Atlantic coast and the lands underlying such 101
waters and all inland rivers, lakes, streams, and wetlands 102
extending to their natural boundaries. 103
(3) PROHIBITIONS ON STATE WATERS AND SOVEREIGN SUBMERGED 104
LANDS EAST OF THE MML.— 105
(a) A person may not construct, install, operate, 106
maintain, or expand a covered oil and gas facility on, in, over, 107
or across state waters or sovereign submerged lands east of the 108
MML. 109
(b) A pipeline, flowline, umbilical, cable, or similar 110
linear facility that would serve, connect to, or facilitate 111
offshore oil or natural gas exploration or production east of 112
the MML may not cross state waters or sovereign submerged lands. 113
(c) The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement 114
Trust Fund or any state or local agency may not issue a lease, 115
easement, right-of-way, consent of use, dredge-and-fill 116
authorization, coastal construction control line permit, or 117
other authorization for any activity prohibited by this 118
subsection. 119
(4) MARKET PARTICIPANT LIMITS ON STATE PROPERTY AND 120
FACILITIES.—Where the state, a state university, a water 121
management district, a port authority, or a state agency acts as 122
owner or lessor of real property or facilities: 123
(a) New or amended leases, concessions, or facility-use 124
agreements may not authorize dedicated build-outs or similar 125

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infrastructure primarily for covered oil and gas facilities 126
serving offshore operations east of the MML, including offshore 127
crew-change terminals, helicopter support bases, or fuel and 128
storage dedicated to such operations. 129
(b) State grants or financial assistance may not be 130
awarded for design, construction, or expansion of facilities 131
whose primary purpose is a covered oil and gas facility serving 132
offshore operations east of the MML. 133
(5) AIRPORTS, HELIPORTS, AND HELISTOPS.— 134
(a) Heliports or helistops on state-owned lands east of 135
the MML may not be permitted or constructed if their primary 136
purpose is to stage or support offshore oil or natural gas 137
operations east of the MML. 138
(b) State aviation grants may not be used to plan, design, 139
or construct facilities whose primary purpose is to support 140
offshore oil or natural gas operations east of the MML at 141
public-use airports. 142
(6) CONSISTENCY WITH THE FEDERAL COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT 143
ACT.— 144
(a) The policies in this section are declared enforceable 145
policies of the state's approved coastal management program for 146
purposes of 16 U.S.C. s. 1456. 147
(b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall issue 148
objections, consistent with 16 U.S.C. s. 1456, and implement 149
regulations for any federal license or permit activity, outer 150

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continental shelf plan, or federal agency activity that is 151
inconsistent with this section, unless the activity is modified 152
to achieve consistency. 153
(c) The department shall adopt rules and guidance to 154
implement federal-consistency review under this section and 155
shall coordinate with affected ports, local governments, and 156
federal agencies. 157
(7) EXCEPTIONS.—This section does not prohibit: 158
(a) Emergency response or pollution-control actions 159
necessary to protect public health, public safety, or the 160
environment. 161
(b) Activities of the United States Department of War. 162
(c) Scientific surveys by governmental entities not 163
conducted for the purpose of hydrocarbon exploration or 164
production. 165
(d) Repair, integrity digs, or decommissioning of pre-166
existing facilities west of the MML which do not increase 167
capacity to serve operations east of the MML. 168
(8) CONSTRUCTION.—This section may not be construed to do 169
any of the following: 170
(a) Regulate or restrict routes, services, or operations 171
of aircrafts. 172
(b) Impose flight curfews or access limits at public-use 173
airports. 174
(c) Regulate vessel design, construction, manning, or 175

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routing preempted by federal law. 176
(9) ENFORCEMENT.—The Secretary of Environmental 177
Protection, or his or her designee, or the Attorney General may 178
seek injunctive relief and assess civil penalties for violations 179
of this section. Each day of a continuing violation constitutes 180
a separate offense. 181
Section 2. Subsection (5) is added to section 253.77, 182
Florida Statutes, to read: 183
253.77 State lands; state agency authorization for use 184
prohibited without consent of agency in which title vested; 185
concurrent processing requirements.— 186
(5) The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement 187
Trust Fund or any state or local agency may not issue a lease, 188
easement, right-of-way, consent of use, dredge-and-fill 189
authorization, coastal construction control line permit, or 190
other authorization for any activity prohibited by this 191
subsection. State agencies with permitting authority shall deny 192
applications for activities that are inconsistent with s. 193
377.713. 194
Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 195