Florida Senate Bill would limit oil drilling near coastlines

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A bill in the Florida Legislature would require the Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate how oil and gas drilling blowouts or spills could impact coastal industries. 

Senate Bill 1300 would prohibit drilling on or near most freshwater bodies and within one mile of the coastline and wildlife parks or reserves.

It advanced through the Senate Committee on Rules Wednesday morning.

Republican Senator Corey Simon sponsored the bill. He said it would help protect coastal communities against oil spills like the Deepwater Horizon incident in 2010, which he says devastated his community.

“I think we need to do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen again,” he said.

The bill outlines a balancing test that the Department of Environmental Protection would use as it considers drilling permits. 

It would also prohibit drilling on or near most freshwater bodies, and within one mile of the coastline and wildlife parks or reserves. 

TJ Saunders is a charter fishing captain in Apalachicola who testified to the committee. He said his business relies on tourism. 

“In the event of an oil spill of industrial pollution in the Apalachicola River Basin, I will be faced with a loss of business,” he said. “The guides that I represent will lose business.”

The bill received public support during the session, but many were still concerned that the Senate and House versions of the bill do not match.

Adrianne Johnson is the Executive Director of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association.

She said the bill may not fully protect coastal communities as it is currently written.

“So we ask that, ultimately, whatever bill gets passed does include the language to kill the drill, and protect the folks whose livelihoods depend on the water and a way of life all of us as Floridians enjoy,” she said.