By JEFF LITTLEJOHN
This July, the Environmental Permitting Summer School (EPSS) will celebrate its 40th anniversary. What began as a small permitting short course in Tallahassee has grown into Florida’s largest and most influential environmental conference, bringing together more than 1,400 regulators, attorneys, engineers, consultants, developers, utility professionals, policymakers and environmental leaders each year.
The growth of EPSS mirrors the growth of Florida itself.
When the first conference was held in 1985, Florida was entering a new era of environmental regulation and growth management. Wetlands permitting, stormwater regulation, water supply planning, hazardous waste management and growth management were rapidly evolving. Environmental professionals needed a place to learn from one another, exchange ideas and better understand a changing regulatory landscape.
Forty years later, those same themes remain at the center of the conference’s courses, although the challenges have become more complex. Today, conversations at EPSS include resilience, ecosystem restoration, alternative water supplies, nutrient reduction, permitting reform, environmental markets and emerging contaminants. The issues have changed, but the need for informed dialogue has not.
One of the reasons EPSS has endured is that it has always been more than a conference. It is one of the few places where regulators, permit applicants, consultants, attorneys, local governments, utilities and environmental advocates can gather in the same room to discuss difficult issues, learn from one another and build professional relationships that often last for decades.
Many of Florida’s most significant environmental policy discussions have either started at EPSS or continued in its hallways, meeting rooms and networking events. The conference has become a place where ideas are tested, perspectives are challenged and solutions are developed.
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary, it is worth reflecting on how much Florida’s environmental profession has accomplished. The state has experienced extraordinary growth while continuing to advance environmental protection, water resource management and ecosystem restoration. That progress has required collaboration among people with different perspectives but a shared commitment to Florida’s future.
EPSS has been part of that story for four decades.
As the conference enters its fifth decade, its mission remains unchanged: bringing together Florida’s environmental community to learn, collaborate and prepare for the challenges ahead.
Jeff Littlejohn is a Senior Policy Advisor at Adams and Reese and an organizer of the Environmental Permitting Summer School
