FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 30, 2025
Contact:
Colleen Zimmerman, 202-464-2293, [email protected]
Florida Eco-Enforcement Sees Modest Uptick in 2024
Anti-Pollution Enforcement Efforts Well Below Historic Averages
Washington, DC — In 2024, Florida saw a modest uptick in anti-pollution enforcement actions, but levels remained well below the state’s historical average, according to a new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
Despite improvements last year, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) current number of annual environmental enforcement actions are only a fraction of what they were over the past twenty-five years. Some of the trends this report documents are that:
- Last year, anti-pollution enforcement actions under the DeSantis administration rose from 579 to 699.
- Between 1988 – 1995, Florida DEP had an average of 1,048 cases each year;
- Between 1996 – 2010, Florida DEP had an average of 1,303 cases each year;
- Between 2011 – 2018, Florida DEP had an average of 431 cases each year; and
- Between 2019 – 2024, Florida DEP had an average of 638 cases each year.
- Not surprisingly, a growing number of the state’s water bodies, including estuaries and lakes, do not meet water quality standards.
The report determined Florida’s enforcement activity by calculating the total number of Notices of Violation, Final Orders, Consent Orders, and cases reported to the Office of General Counsel each calendar year.
This small increase comes during a time of significant population growth which has put greater pollution pressure on Florida waters, air, and soil.
“By any measure, Florida’s environment remains in steady decline, and water quality is a significant problem,” stated PEER Staff Counsel Colleen Zimmerman, a former Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in New York, who compiled the report. “It is nice to see an increase in enforcement actions, but much work remains to be done to ensure compliance with environmental laws.”
The state’s weak anti-pollution posture was perhaps best highlighted by Gov. DeSantis’ veto of the bipartisan 2024 Safe Waterways Act, which would have required public warnings about dangerous levels of pollution in their waterways and improved environmental enforcement.
PEER has issued similar annual reports on the state of Florida’s environmental enforcement every year since 2004.
###
