THE BILL ITSELF
CS/SB 636
Beach Management
Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 636 By the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government; and Senator Leek 601-02526-26 2026636c1
1
A bill to be entitled
2
An act relating to beach management; amending s.
3
161.101, F.S.; requiring the Department of
4
Environmental Protection to review certain data when
5
designating certain beaches as critically eroded and
6
in need of restoration and nourishment; requiring that
7
certain beaches, whose local government preserved
8
funds for a certain purpose and which possess
9
specified features, be designated as critically
10
eroded; authorizing the secretary of the department to
11
require coastal local governments to develop local
12
strategic beach management plans; requiring that such
13
plans include an analysis of certain information;
14
making a technical change; amending s. 161.161, F.S.;
15
conforming a provision to changes made by the act;
16
amending s. 380.05, F.S.; revising the list of areas
17
that may receive designation as an area of critical
18
state concern; reenacting s. 380.045(1), (3), and (5),
19
F.S., relating to resource planning and management
20
committees and objectives and procedures, to
21
incorporate the amendment made to s. 380.05, F.S., in
22
references thereto; providing an effective date.
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
26
Section 1. Subsections (1) and (2) of section 161.101,
27
Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
28
161.101 State and local participation in authorized
29
projects and studies relating to beach management and erosion
30
control.—
31
(1) (a) The Legislature recognizes that beach erosion is a
32
statewide problem that does not confine its effects to local
33
governmental jurisdictions and that beach erosion can be
34
adequately addressed most efficiently by a state-initiated
35
program of beach restoration and beach nourishment. However,
36
since local beach communities derive the primary benefits from
37
the presence of adequate beaches, a program of beach restoration
38
and beach nourishment should not be accomplished without a
39
commitment of local funds to combat the problem of beach
40
erosion.
41
(b) Accordingly, the Legislature declares that the state,
42
through the department, shall determine those beaches which are
43
critically eroded and in need of restoration and nourishment and
44
may authorize appropriations to pay up to 75 percent of the
45
actual costs for restoring and nourishing a critically eroded
46
beach. The local government in which such a beach is located is
47
responsible for the balance of such costs. In designating
48
beaches as critically eroded, the department shall review data
49
related to beaches that have been preemptively and repeatedly
50
repaired to avoid complete erosion and for which private
51
funding, local government funding, and state and federal grants
52
have been expended to stop or mitigate such erosion.
53
(c) If a local government with jurisdiction over a beach
54
that possesses all of the following features has a financial
55
plan that ensures the preservation of funding for inclusion in
56
the state strategic beach management plan, such beach must be
57
designated as critically eroded:
58
1. The local government possesses a perpetual easement that
59
contains language stating the local government must assume
60
maintenance responsibilities for shoreline parcels and must
61
develop and implement a design whereby shoreline retreat is
62
sufficiently managed to protect high value inland developments;
63
and
64
2. Geological features of the dune, beach, and seabed
65
combined with insufficient spacing between the erosion control
66
line to upland assets, which results in repeated inland flooding
67
or structural damage The local government in which the beach is
68
located shall be responsible for the balance of such costs .
69
(2) (a) To carry out the beach and shore preservation
70
programs, the department is hereby constituted as the beach and
71
shore preservation authority for the state. In this capacity,
72
the secretary of the department may at his or her own initiative
73
take all necessary steps as soon as practicable and desirable to
74
implement the provisions of this chapter.
75
(b) The secretary of the department may, as he or she deems
76
necessary, require coastal local governments to develop local
77
strategic beach management plans. Local strategic beach
78
management plans must include, but are not limited to, an
79
identification of the most visited shoreline recreational
80
facilities, university research centers, and shoreline
81
protection areas and an analysis of all of the following:
82
1. Compound flooding near the county’s beaches.
83
2. Assessed values of upland properties and developments.
84
3. Environmentally sensitive lands and waters.
85
4. Any recommendation from a certified coastal engineer or
86
coastal engineering specialist.
87
5. Any recommendation from the United States Army Corps of
88
Engineers.
89
Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
90
161.161, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
91
161.161 Procedure for approval of projects.—
92
(2) The comprehensive long-term management plan developed
93
and maintained by the department pursuant to subsection (1) must
94
include, at a minimum, a strategic beach management plan, a
95
critically eroded beaches report, and a statewide long-range
96
budget plan. The long-range budget plan must include a 3-year
97
work plan for beach restoration, beach nourishment, and inlet
98
management projects that lists planned projects for each of the
99
3 fiscal years addressed in the work plan.
100
(a) The strategic beach management plan must identify and
101
recommend appropriate measures for all of the state’s critically
102
eroded sandy beaches and may incorporate plans prepared at the
103
regional level, including plans developed pursuant to s.
104
161.101(2)(b), taking into account areas of greatest need and
105
probable federal and local funding. Upon approval in accordance
106
with this section, such regional plans, along with the 3-year
107
work plan identified in subparagraph (c)1., must serve as the
108
basis for state funding decisions. Before finalizing the
109
strategic beach management plan, the department shall hold a
110
public meeting in the region for which the plan is prepared or
111
hold a publicly noticed webinar.
112
Section 3. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
113
380.05, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
114
380.05 Areas of critical state concern.—
115
(2) An area of critical state concern may be designated
116
only for:
117
(a) An area containing, or having a significant impact
118
upon, environmental or natural resources of regional or
119
statewide importance, including, but not limited to, state or
120
federal parks ; , forests ; , wildlife refuges ; , wilderness areas ; ,
121
aquatic preserves ; , major rivers and estuaries ; , state
122
environmentally endangered lands ; , Outstanding Florida Waters ; ,
123
low elevation sections immediately inland of the beach-dune
124
system which have been repeatedly breached or overtopped by
125
seawater flowing into an interconnected stormwater system or
126
which have been designated in a local emergency declaration for
127
a prolonged period; and aquifer recharge areas, the uncontrolled
128
private or public development of which would cause substantial
129
deterioration of such resources. Specific criteria which must
130
shall be considered in designating an area under this paragraph
131
include:
132
1. Whether the economic value of the area, as determined by
133
the type, variety, distribution, relative scarcity, and
134
condition of the environmental or natural resources within the
135
area, is of substantial regional or statewide importance.
136
2. Whether the ecological value of the area, as determined
137
by the physical and biological components of the environmental
138
system, is of substantial regional or statewide importance.
139
3. Whether the area is a designated critical habitat of any
140
state or federally designated threatened or endangered plant or
141
animal species.
142
4. Whether the area is inherently susceptible to
143
substantial development due to its geographic location or
144
natural aesthetics.
145
5. Whether any existing or planned substantial development
146
within the area will directly, significantly, and deleteriously
147
affect any or all of the environmental or natural resources of
148
the area which are of regional or statewide importance.
149
Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
150
made by this act to section 380.05, Florida Statutes, in
151
references thereto, subsections (1), (3), and (5) of section
152
380.045, Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read:
153
380.045 Resource planning and management committees;
154
objectives; procedures.—
155
(1) Prior to recommending an area as an area of critical
156
state concern pursuant to s. 380.05, the Governor, acting as the
157
chief planning officer of the state, shall appoint a resource
158
planning and management committee for the area under study by
159
the state land planning agency. The objective of the committee
160
shall be to organize a voluntary, cooperative resource planning
161
and management program to resolve existing, and prevent future,
162
problems which may endanger those resources, facilities, and
163
areas described in s. 380.05(2) within the area under study by
164
the state land planning agency.
165
(3) Not later than 12 months after its appointment by the
166
Governor, the committee shall either adopt a proposed voluntary
167
resource planning and management program for the area under
168
study or recommend that a voluntary resource planning and
169
management program not be adopted. The proposed voluntary
170
resource planning and management program shall contain the
171
committee findings with respect to problems that endanger those
172
resources, facilities, and areas described in s. 380.05(2) and
173
shall contain detailed recommendations for state, regional, and
174
local governmental actions necessary to resolve current and
175
prevent future problems identified by the committee. A major
176
objective of the proposed voluntary resource planning and
177
management program shall be the effective coordination of state,
178
regional, and local planning; program implementation; and
179
regulatory activities for comprehensive resource management. The
180
committee shall submit the proposed voluntary resource planning
181
and management program to the head of the state land planning
182
agency, who shall transmit the program along with the
183
recommendations of the agency for monitoring and enforcing the
184
program, as well as any other recommendations deemed
185
appropriate, to the Administration Commission.
186
(5) The state land planning agency shall report to the
187
Administration Commission within 12 months of the approval of
188
the program by the commission concerning the implementation and
189
the effects of the approved voluntary resource planning and
190
management program. The report shall include, but shall not be
191
limited to:
192
(a) An assessment of state agency compliance with the
193
program, including the degree to which the program
194
recommendations have been integrated into agency planning,
195
program implementation, regulatory activities, and rules;
196
(b) An assessment of the compliance by each affected local
197
government with the program;
198
(c) An evaluation of state, regional, and local monitoring
199
and enforcement activities and recommendations for improving
200
such activities; and
201
(d) A recommendation as to whether or not all or any
202
portion of the study area should be designated an area of
203
critical state concern pursuant to s. 380.05.
205
The state land planning agency may make such other reports to
206
the commission as it deems necessary, including recommending
207
that all or any portion of the study area be designated an area
208
of critical state concern because of special circumstances in
209
the study area or in the implementation of the approved
210
voluntary resource planning and management program.
211
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.