After a promising first few years under Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida is right back to its dirty old ways of going soft on environmental violators, a nonprofit watchdog group says.
Anti-pollution enforcement sharply declined in 2022, according to a new analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility. PEER found Florida Department of Environmental Protection enforcement actions were 59% below 2010 figures — the watershed year when enforcement peaked before former Gov. Rick Scott drastically cut environmental enforcement, after taking office in 2011. And despite an initial increase under DeSantis, DEP enforcement actions remained well below long-term averages, PEER’s report shows.