Florida SB 1422: Unmanned Aircraft or Unmanned Aircraft Systems

Bill Text

1422 
Coral Reefs 
2026-02-04T04:30:44Z 
Revising legislative findings; providing a legislative designation, etc. 
Committee Substitute 1 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
c1 

 Florida Senate - 2026 CS for SB 1422 

 By the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; and 
 Senators Garcia and Jones 

 592-02472-26 20261422c1 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to coral reefs; amending s. 403.93345, 
 3 F.S.; revising legislative findings; providing a 
 4 legislative designation; providing an effective date. 
 5 
 6 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 7 
 8 Section 1. Present subsections (5) through (12) of section 
 9 403.93345, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6) 
 10 through (13), respectively, a new subsection (5) is added to 
 11 that section, and subsection (4) and present subsections (7) and 
 12 (8) of that section are amended, to read: 
 13 403.93345 Coral reef protection.— 
 14 (4)(a) The Legislature finds that coral reefs are valuable 
 15 natural resources that contribute ecologically, aesthetically, 
 16 and economically to the state. Therefore, the Legislature 
 17 declares it is in the best interest of the state to clarify the 
 18 department’s powers and authority to protect coral reefs through 
 19 timely and efficient recovery of monetary damages resulting from 
 20 vessel groundings and anchoring-related injuries. 
 21 (b) The Legislature further finds that coral reefs can help 
 22 mitigate the risks and related loss and damage from floods, 
 23 climate change, and natural disasters. The Legislature 
 24 recognizes that studies have shown that healthy coral reefs can 
 25 protect coastal properties from climate change-related risks and 
 26 disaster events, including storms, high wave events, sea level 
 27 rise, and flooding. The Federal Emergency Management Agency 
 28 (FEMA) is responsible for responding to natural disasters and 
 29 providing technical and financial hazard mitigation support, 
 30 primarily distributed as grant funding through FEMA’s hazard 
 31 mitigation assistance programs. Coral reef restoration for risk 
 32 reduction, known as CR4, is an active restoration strategy with 
 33 the aim of increasing the structural integrity and complexity of 
 34 coral reef ecosystems to attenuate wave energy and reduce 
 35 coastal flooding. Legislative recognition of coral reefs as 
 36 critical natural infrastructure and a nature-based solution 
 37 demonstrates political support for nature-based solutions. 
 38 (c) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department 
 39 be recognized as the state’s lead trustee for coral reef 
 40 resources located within waters of the state or on sovereignty 
 41 submerged lands unless preempted by federal law. This section 
 42 does not divest other state agencies and political subdivisions 
 43 of the state of their interests in protecting coral reefs. 
 44 (5) The Legislature designates coral reefs as critical 
 45 natural infrastructure and as a nature-based solution that helps 
 46 mitigate climate change-related risks and disaster events, 
 47 including storms, high wave events, sea level rise, and 
 48 flooding. As such, the Legislature further designates the 
 49 protection of corals, coral reefs, and coral reef-associated 
 50 hardbottom in Broward, Martin, Miami-Dade, Monroe, and Palm 
 51 Beach Counties as being in the public interest. 
 52 (8)(7) The department may use habitat equivalency analysis 
 53 as the method by which the compensation described in subsection 
 54 (7) (5) is calculated. The parameters for calculation by this 
 55 method may be prescribed by rule adopted by the department. 
 56 (9)(8) In addition to the compensation described in 
 57 subsection (7) (5), the department may assess, per occurrence, 
 58 civil penalties according to the following schedule: 
 59 (a) For any anchoring of a vessel on a coral reef or for 
 60 any other damage to a coral reef totaling less than or equal to 
 61 an area of 1 square meter, $225, provided that a responsible 
 62 party who has anchored a recreational vessel as defined in s. 
 63 327.02 which is lawfully registered or exempt from registration 
 64 pursuant to chapter 328 is issued, at least once, a warning 
 65 letter in lieu of penalty; with aggravating circumstances, an 
 66 additional $225; occurring within a state park or aquatic 
 67 preserve, an additional $225. 
 68 (b) For damage totaling more than an area of 1 square meter 
 69 but less than or equal to an area of 10 square meters, $450 per 
 70 square meter; with aggravating circumstances, an additional $450 
 71 per square meter; occurring within a state park or aquatic 
 72 preserve, an additional $450 per square meter. 
 73 (c) For damage exceeding an area of 10 square meters, 
 74 $1,500 per square meter; with aggravating circumstances, an 
 75 additional $1,500 per square meter; occurring within a state 
 76 park or aquatic preserve