Florida DEP Testifies in U.S. House on 404 Permitting
FDEP Deputy Secretary John Truitt testified before a U.S. House subcommittee on Sept. 16 in support of H.R. 9017, the Restore Florida Water Independence Act of 2026. The bill would resolve the Endangered Species Act issue that led federal courts to vacate EPA’s 2020 approval of Florida’s Clean Water Act Section 404 permitting program.
The Battle Over Wetlands Permitting Authority Continues in Florida
A long battle over wetland permitting jurisdiction in Florida may be extended for another round as the U.S. EPA (EPA), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and the State of Florida filed petitions in August for the case over Florida’s wetlands permitting program to be reheard before the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Restoring Apalachicola Bay is Slow and Expensive
State wildlife officials cut Apalachicola Bay’s oyster harvest limit nearly in half for the coming season after an unexplained die-off closed the East Hole reef, even as Florida continues multi-million-dollar reef restoration efforts following the bay’s 2012 population collapse.
Floridians Are Ready to Help With Pythons – They Just Need a Way In
A new Sachs Media survey of 1,000 Florida voters finds 89 percent call Burmese pythons a serious problem and support state removal efforts, but fewer than one in 25 Floridians have ever taken part in python removal activities themselves.
Blast Aids EAA Reservoir Project
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detonated 140,000 pounds of explosive material in May to advance construction of the EAA Reservoir, part of a new state-federal agreement that cuts the project’s construction timeline in half and targets completion by 2029.
Around the Gulf
Around the Gulf rounds up regional energy and environmental news from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, including new gas- and solar-power plant proposals, a floating LNG terminal green light and a proposed revision to Alabama’s coal ash regulations.
Returning Fire to the Landscape: The Restoration Story of Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area
The St. Johns River Water Management District has used three decades of prescribed burning, thinning and native replanting to restore Lochloosa Wildlife Conservation Area, work that helped firefighters contain a wildfire on the property in May 2026.
Florida Notes
Florida Notes rounds up regional environmental news from around the state, including expanded SJRWMD springs monitoring, a paused Port Everglades dredging project, The Reef Institute’s coral biobank visit and Mote Marine’s Keys-wide coral rescue effort.
Preserving What Matters: Sustainability in Action at The Breakers Palm Beach
The Florida Recycling Partnership Foundation hosted an exclusive sustainability program at The Breakers Palm Beach, highlighting the resort’s water management, oyster shell recycling and waste diversion programs.
Section 404 and the Limits of Cooperative Federalism
As Florida’s Section 404 wetlands permitting case heads toward a possible rehearing, this editorial argues the dispute exposes a deeper sequencing problem in how federal law lets states assume delegated environmental programs while satisfying the Endangered Species Act.
In Memoriam: James “Jim” R. Maher
The Florida Specifier remembers James “Jim” R. Maher, a longtime Florida Department of Environmental Protection engineer who retired from the agency’s Northeast District Office in 2023 after 35 years of service, following his death on Aug. 15, 2026.
Lake Yale Alum Application Update, Phosphorus Reducing
The Lake County Water Authority’s four-year alum treatment program at Lake Yale, the first large-scale project of its kind on state-owned submerged lands in Florida, has cut total phosphorus from 37 ppb to under 10 ppb in post-treatment samples.
