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CS/CS/HB 1457 2026
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to stormwater treatment; amending s. 2
311.106, F.S.; prohibiting certain stormwater 3
treatment and net improvement activities; prohibiting 4
certain water quality enhancement areas from conveying 5
enhancement credits to provide stormwater treatment or 6
achieve net improvement; amending s. 373.403, F.S.; 7
defining terms; amending s. 373.413, F.S.; defining 8
the term "regional stormwater management system"; 9
requiring that the Department of Environmental 10
Protection or a water management district require an 11
applicant to provide certain documentation of adequate 12
financial responsibility in order to meet certain 13
requirements; providing requirements for such 14
financial responsibility; providing construction; 15
requiring an environmental resource permit authorizing 16
a regional stormwater management system to establish 17
and include a specified graphic depiction; authorizing 18
certain environmental resource permit applicants to 19
purchase and use pollution reduction allocations from 20
a regional stormwater management system to meet 21
certain performance criteria; requiring the department 22
or water management district to use a specified 23
identifier to establish the drainage area; providing 24
an exception; amending s. 373.4134, F.S.; revising 25
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
legislative findings; deleting the definition of the 26
term "enhancement credit"; authorizing water quality 27
enhancement credits to be used by governmental 28
entities to meet environmental resource permit 29
stormwater treatment performance standards or achieve 30
net improvement, pursuant to specified provisions; 31
providing that the use of enhancement credits from a 32
water quality enhancement area constitutes 33
compensating stormwater treatment under the 34
environmental resource permitting program; requiring 35
the boundaries of the enhancement service area to 36
include a certain type of sub-basin; prohibiting the 37
term "credit" from being used to refer to pollutant 38
reduction under certain circumstances; requiring the 39
department to adopt rules by a specified date; 40
requiring the department to take certain action 41
pending the adoption of certain rules; requiring the 42
department to issue a provisional permit under certain 43
circumstances; authorizing enhancement credits to be 44
used from certain water quality enhancement areas; 45
providing construction; authorizing the department to 46
modify permits after the adoption of rules; requiring 47
the department and water management districts to 48
recognize any enhancement credit used from a water 49
quality enhancement area established pursuant to a 50
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
provisional permit; amending s. 373.414, F.S.; 51
clarifying the types of mitigation measures for 52
compensating stormwater treatment which the department 53
or a water management district governing board must 54
consider under certain circumstances; making technical 55
changes; reenacting s. 373.4136(6)(d), F.S., relating 56
to establishment and operation of mitigation banks, to 57
incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.414, F.S., in 58
a reference thereto; providing an effective date. 59
60
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 61
62
Section 1. Section 311.106, Florida Statutes, is amended 63
to read: 64
311.106 Seaport stormwater permitting and mitigation.— 65
(1) A seaport listed in s. 403.021(9)(b) is authorized to 66
provide for onsite or offsite stormwater treatment for water 67
quality impacts caused by a proposed port activity that requires 68
a permit and that causes or contributes to pollution from 69
stormwater runoff. Offsite stormwater treatment may occur 70
outside of the established boundaries of the port, but must be 71
within the same drainage basin in which the port activity 72
occurs. A port offsite stormwater treatment project must be 73
constructed and maintained by the seaport or by the seaport in 74
conjunction with an adjacent local government. In order to limit 75
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
stormwater treatment from individual parcels within a port, a 76
seaport may provide for a regional stormwater treatment facility 77
that must be constructed and maintained by the seaport or by the 78
seaport in conjunction with an adjacent local government. 79
(2) For a proposed port activity with water quality 80
impacts that causes or contributes to pollution from stormwater 81
runoff from a seaport not listed in s. 403.021(9)(b), and not 82
including ports in Citrus or Putnam Counties, a regional 83
stormwater management system, as defined in s. 373.413(7)(a), 84
operated by a non-local governmental entity independently or 85
under contract with a seaport or local government, may not 86
provide stormwater treatment or achieve net improvement under s. 87
373.414(1)(b)3. For a proposed port activity with water quality 88
impacts that causes or contributes to pollution from stormwater 89
runoff from a seaport not listed in s. 403.021(9)(b), and not 90
including ports in Citrus or Putnam Counties, a water quality 91
enhancement area as defined in s. 373.4134 and operated by a 92
non-local governmental entity independently or under contract 93
with a seaport or local government may not convey enhancement 94
credits to provide stormwater treatment or achieve net 95
improvement under s. 373.414(1)(b)3. 96
Section 2. Subsections (23), (24), and (25) are added to 97
section 373.403, Florida Statutes, to read: 98
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373.403 Definitions.—When appearing in this part or in any 99
rule, regulation, or order adopted pursuant thereto, the 100
following terms mean: 101
(23) "Compensating stormwater treatment" means a method of 102
stormwater treatment for discharges from multiple parcels. 103
(24) "Enhancement credit" means a standard unit of measure 104
that represents a quantity of pollutant removed by a water 105
quality enhancement area. 106
(25) "Pollutant reduction allocation" means a standard 107
unit of measure that represents a quantity of pollutant removed 108
by a regional stormwater management system for purposes of 109
providing compensating stormwater treatment under the 110
environmental resource permitting program. 111
Section 3. Subsection (7) is added to section 373.413, 112
Florida Statutes, to read: 113
373.413 Permits for construction or alteration.— 114
(7) REGIONAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.— 115
(a) A "regional stormwater management system" is a method 116
of compensating stormwater treatment that creates pollution 117
reduction allocations and is designed, constructed, operated, 118
and maintained to collect, convey, store, absorb, inhibit, 119
treat, or harvest stormwater to prevent or reduce flooding, 120
overdrainage, environmental degradation and water pollution or 121
otherwise affect the quantity and quality of discharges within 122
the drainage area served by the regional system which is the 123
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
land or development that is served by or contributes stormwater 124
to the regional system. 125
(b) As part of meeting the requirement to demonstrate that 126
an applicant for an environmental resource permit for a regional 127
stormwater management system has the financial, legal, and 128
administrative capability of ensuring such regional stormwater 129
management system will be undertaken according to the terms and 130
conditions of an issued permit, the department or a water 131
management district shall require such applicant to provide 132
documentation of adequate financial responsibility. This 133
financial responsibility may consist of performance bonds, 134
letters of credit, insurance policies, trust agreements, or 135
similar, ensuring completion of construction; the amount of 136
which shall be based on cost estimates of completing the 137
construction; and an endowment or other long-term financial 138
assurance mechanism sufficient to ensure operation and 139
maintenance for the entire period the regional stormwater 140
management system is anticipated to be relied upon to provide 141
stormwater treatment, attenuation, or regulatory pollutant load 142
reduction allocations, the amount of which shall be based on 143
cost estimates of such long-term operation and maintenance. The 144
cost estimates and associated financial responsibility 145
mechanisms shall be updated every 5 years to reflect current 146
costs. This section shall not be construed to impose additional 147
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financial responsibility requirements on stormwater management 148
systems that are not regional stormwater management systems. 149
(c) An environmental resource permit authorizing a 150
regional stormwater management system shall establish and 151
include a graphic depicting the drainage area to be served by 152
such system. Environmental resource permit applicants located 153
within the drainage area may purchase and use pollution 154
reduction allocations from a regional stormwater management 155
system to meet stormwater treatment performance criteria. The 156
department or water management district shall use Hydrologic 157
Unit Code 12 (HUC 12) sub-basin as set forth by the United 158
States Geological Survey to establish the drainage area, unless 159
the regional stormwater management system applicant provides 160
justification demonstrating the proposed off-site area outside 161
of the HUC 12 would provide the same degree of compensating 162
treatment for a common downstream receiving waterbody without 163
causing or contributing to any localized adverse impact to any 164
downstream waters, through modeling, other evaluations, or a 165
combination thereof. 166
Section 4. Present paragraphs (d) through (g) of 167
subsection (3) of section 373.4134, Florida Statutes, are 168
redesignated as paragraphs (e) through (h), respectively, a new 169
paragraph (d) is added to that subsection, and paragraph (e) of 170
subsection (1), paragraph (b) of subsection (2), paragraph (b) 171
of subsection (3), subsection (5), paragraph (e) of subsection 172
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(7), and subsection (9) of that section are amended, to read: 173
373.4134 Water quality enhancement areas.— 174
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT.— The Legislature 175
finds that: 176
(e) Water quality enhancement areas that provide water 177
quality enhancement credits to applicants seeking permits under 178
ss. 373.403-373.443 and to governmental entities seeking to meet 179
an assigned basin management action plan allocation or 180
reasonable assurance plan under s. 403.067 are considered an 181
appropriate and permittable option. The use of an enhancement 182
credit as specified herein transfers the legal responsibility 183
for complying with the applicable regulatory water quality 184
treatment requirement from the purchaser and user of such 185
enhancement credit to the generator of such enhancement credit. 186
(2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 187
(b) "Enhancement credit" means a standard unit of measure 188
that represents a quantity of pollutant removed. 189
(3) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT AREAS.— 190
(b) Water quality enhancement credits may be sold to and 191
used by governmental entities seeking to meet an assigned basin 192
management action plan allocation or reasonable assurance plan 193
or to permit applicants to meet environmental resource permit 194
stormwater treatment performance standards or to achieve for the 195
purpose of achieving net improvement or meeting environmental 196
resource permit performance standards under s. 373.414(1)(b)3. 197
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
after reasonable assurances have been provided for the design 198
and construction of all onsite stormwater management, as 199
required by law. 200
(d) The use of enhancement credits from a water quality 201
enhancement area constitutes compensating stormwater treatment 202
under the environmental resource permitting program. 203
(5) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT SERVICE AREA.—The department 204
shall establish a water quality enhancement service area for 205
each water quality enhancement area. Enhancement credits may be 206
withdrawn and used only to address adverse impacts in the 207
enhancement service area. The boundaries of the enhancement 208
service area shall depend upon the geographic area in which the 209
water quality enhancement area could reasonably be expected to 210
address adverse impacts and must, at a minimum, consist of a 211
Hydrologic Unit Code 8 (HUC 8) sub-basin as set forth by the 212
United States Geological Survey. Enhancement service areas may 213
overlap, and enhancement service areas for two or more water 214
quality enhancement areas may be approved for a regional 215
watershed. 216
(7) ENHANCEMENT CREDITS.— 217
(e) Reductions in pollutant loading required under any 218
state regulatory program are not eligible to be considered as 219
enhancement credits. In addition, the term "credit" shall not be 220
used to refer to pollutant reduction achieved through 221
compensating stormwater treatment to meet environmental resource 222
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
permitting stormwater performance standards or as a mitigation 223
measure to achieve net improvement under s. 373.414(1)(b)3. 224
outside of enhancement credits generated from a water quality 225
enhancement area. 226
(9) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement 227
this section which shall be filed for adoption no later than 228
October 1, 2026. This section may not be implemented until the 229
department adopts such rules. Pending the adoption of rules to 230
implement this section, the department shall accept, review and 231
take final agency action on applications for water quality 232
enhancement area provisional permits. The department shall issue 233
a water quality enhancement provisional permit in response to a 234
submitted application if the applicant provides reasonable 235
assurance of meeting the statutory criteria in this section. 236
Enhancement credits may be used from a water quality enhancement 237
area established under a provisional permit as provided in this 238
section subject to compliance with s. 373.4134 and the terms of 239
the provisional permit. Notwithstanding any other provision of 240
law or rule, the department or a water management district 241
reviewing an environmental resource permit application that 242
seeks to satisfy stormwater treatment performance standards or 243
achieve net improvement under s. 373.414(1)(b)3. shall allow the 244
use of enhancement credits from a water quality enhancement area 245
with a provisional permit pursuant to the terms of such 246
provisional permit. After the department adopts rules to 247
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
implement this section, the department may modify a water 248
quality enhancement area provisional permit to conform such 249
permit to such rules. Any enhancement credits used from a water 250
quality enhancement area established under a provisional permit 251
shall continue to be recognized by the department and water 252
management districts without change regardless of whether the 253
provisional permit is subsequently modified to conform to the 254
adopted rules. 255
Section 5. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 256
373.414, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 257
373.414 Additional criteria for activities in surface 258
waters and wetlands.— 259
(1) As part of an applicant's demonstration that an 260
activity regulated under this part will not be harmful to the 261
water resources or will not be inconsistent with the overall 262
objectives of the district, the governing board or the 263
department shall require the applicant to provide reasonable 264
assurance that state water quality standards applicable to 265
waters as defined in s. 403.031 will not be violated and 266
reasonable assurance that such activity in, on, or over surface 267
waters or wetlands, as delineated in s. 373.421(1), is not 268
contrary to the public interest. However, if such an activity 269
significantly degrades or is within an Outstanding Florida 270
Water, as provided by department rule, the applicant must 271
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provide reasonable assurance that the proposed activity will be 272
clearly in the public interest. 273
(b) If the applicant is unable to otherwise meet the 274
criteria set forth in this subsection, the governing board or 275
the department, in deciding to grant or deny a permit, must 276
consider measures proposed by or acceptable to the applicant to 277
mitigate adverse effects that may be caused by the regulated 278
activity. Such measures may include, but are not limited to, 279
onsite mitigation, offsite mitigation, offsite regional 280
mitigation, and the purchase of mitigation credits from 281
mitigation banks permitted under s. 373.4136. It is the 282
responsibility of the applicant to choose the form of 283
mitigation. The mitigation must offset the adverse effects 284
caused by the regulated activity. 285
1. The department or water management districts may accept 286
the donation of money as mitigation only where the donation is 287
specified for use in a duly noticed environmental creation, 288
preservation, enhancement, or restoration project, endorsed by 289
the department or the governing board of the water management 290
district, which offsets the impacts of the activity permitted 291
under this part. However, this subsection does not apply to 292
projects undertaken pursuant to s. 373.4137 or chapter 378. 293
Where a permit is required under this part to implement any 294
project endorsed by the department or a water management 295
district, all necessary permits must be have been issued before 296
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
prior to the acceptance of any cash donation. After the 297
effective date of this act, when money is donated to either the 298
department or a water management district to offset impacts 299
authorized by a permit under this part, the department or the 300
water management district shall accept only a donation that 301
represents the full cost to the department or water management 302
district of undertaking the project that is intended to mitigate 303
the adverse impacts. The full cost shall include all direct and 304
indirect costs, as applicable, such as those for land 305
acquisition, land restoration or enhancement, perpetual land 306
management, and general overhead consisting of costs such as 307
staff time, building, and vehicles. The department or the water 308
management district may use a multiplier or percentage to add to 309
other direct or indirect costs to estimate general overhead. 310
Mitigation credit for such a donation may be given only to the 311
extent that the donation covers the full cost to the agency of 312
undertaking the project intended to mitigate the adverse 313
impacts. However, nothing herein may be construed to prevent the 314
department or a water management district from accepting a 315
donation representing a portion of a larger project, provided 316
that the donation covers the full cost of that portion and 317
mitigation credit is given only for that portion. The department 318
or water management district may deviate from the full cost 319
requirements of this subparagraph to resolve a proceeding 320
brought pursuant to chapter 70 or a claim for inverse 321
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
condemnation. Nothing in This section may not be construed to 322
require the owner of a private mitigation bank, permitted under 323
s. 373.4136, to include the full cost of a mitigation credit in 324
the price of the credit to a purchaser of such said credit. 325
2. The department and each water management district shall 326
report by March 1 of each year, as part of the consolidated 327
annual report required by s. 373.036(7), all cash donations 328
accepted under subparagraph 1. during the preceding water 329
management district fiscal year for wetland mitigation purposes. 330
The report must exclude those contributions pursuant to s. 331
373.4137. The report must include a description of the endorsed 332
mitigation projects and, except for projects governed by s. 333
373.4135(6), must address, as applicable, success criteria, 334
project implementation status and timeframe, monitoring, long-335
term management, provisions for preservation, and full cost 336
accounting. 337
3. If the applicant is unable to meet water quality 338
standards because existing ambient water quality does not meet 339
standards, the governing board or the department must consider 340
mitigation measures, such as compensating stormwater treatment 341
as defined in s. 373.403(23), proposed by or acceptable to the 342
applicant that cause net improvement of the water quality in the 343
receiving body of water for those parameters which do not meet 344
standards. 345
4. If mitigation requirements imposed by a local 346
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
government for surface water and wetland impacts of an activity 347
regulated under this part cannot be reconciled with mitigation 348
requirements approved under a permit for the same activity 349
issued under this part, including application of the uniform 350
wetland mitigation assessment method adopted pursuant to 351
subsection (18), the mitigation requirements for surface water 352
and wetland impacts are controlled by the permit issued under 353
this part. 354
Section 6. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 355
made by this act to section 373.414, Florida Statutes, in a 356
reference thereto, paragraph (d) of subsection (6) of section 357
373.4136, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read: 358
373.4136 Establishment and operation of mitigation banks.— 359
(6) MITIGATION SERVICE AREA.—The department or water 360
management district shall establish a mitigation service area 361
for each mitigation bank permit. The department or water 362
management district shall notify and consider comments received 363
on the proposed mitigation service area from each local 364
government within the proposed mitigation service area. Except 365
as provided in this section, mitigation credits may be withdrawn 366
and used only to offset adverse impacts in the mitigation 367
service area. The boundaries of the mitigation service area 368
shall depend upon the geographic area where the mitigation bank 369
could reasonably be expected to offset adverse impacts. 370
Mitigation service areas may overlap, and mitigation service 371
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areas for two or more mitigation banks may be approved for a 372
regional watershed. 373
(d) If the provisions of s. 373.414(1)(b) and (8) are met 374
and an insufficient number or type of credits from banks whose 375
permitted service area overlays in whole or in part the regional 376
watershed in which the impacts occur, the permit applicant is 377
entitled to a one-time use of credits released from a mitigation 378
bank outside the mitigation bank service area to offset impacts 379
pursuant to s. 373.414(1)(b), as established by the procedure in 380
paragraph (f). The department or water management district must 381
have determined that the mitigation service area lacked the 382
appropriate credit type. Priority must be given to mitigation 383
banks whose permitted service area fully includes the impacted 384
site. If the number of released credits within a mitigation 385
service area only partially offsets the impacts associated with 386
a proposed project in the mitigation service area, the permit 387
applicant may only use out-of-service-area credits to account 388
for the difference between the released credits available in the 389
mitigation bank service area and the credits required to offset 390
the impacts associated with the proposed project. In 391
implementing this subsection, the department and water 392
management districts shall apply a proximity factor to determine 393
adequate compensatory mitigation as follows: 394
1. A 1.0 multiplier shall be applied for use of in-kind 395
credits within the service area. 396
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2. A 1.0 multiplier shall be applied for use of in-kind 397
and out-of-service-area credits when the service area overlays 398
part of the same regional watershed as the proposed impacts only 399
after credit deficiency has been established by the procedure 400
set forth in paragraph (f). 401
3. A 1.2 multiplier shall be applied for use of in-kind 402
and out-of-service-area credits located within a regional 403
watershed immediately adjacent to the regional watershed 404
overlain by a bank service area in which proposed impacts are 405
located only after credit deficiency has been established by the 406
procedure set forth in paragraph (f). 407
4. When in-kind credits are not available to offset 408
impacts in the regional watershed immediately adjacent to the 409
regional watershed overlain by a mitigation bank service area in 410
which the proposed impacts are located, an additional 0.25 411
multiplier shall be applied for each additional regional 412
watershed boundary crossed only after credit deficiency has been 413
established by the procedure set forth in paragraph (f). 414
5. An additional 0.50 multiplier shall be applied after 415
any multipliers required in subparagraphs 1.-4., if the 416
mitigation used to offset impacts entails out-of-kind 417
replacement. 418
Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026. 419