March 21, 2022
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Updated: On May 3, 2022, Florida Gov. Desantis signed the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience bill into law. Read on to learn how the law will build resilience to flooding and sea level and rise in the state.
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For Florida, higher seas, stronger storms, and more frequent flooding is not the distant future. It’s already happening.
Last year, the state took big steps to address this reality with the passage of the landmark “Always Ready” legislation, sponsored by Rep. Demi Busata Cabera and Sen. Ray Rodrigues and championed by Speaker Chris Sprowls.
This month, elected officials in the Sunshine State, recognizing more must be done, overwhelmingly passed the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience bill (HB 7053/SB 1940).
The bill, which permanently establishes a statewide resilience office and creates the official position of Chief Resilience Officer, is sitting on the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis for signature to become law. The American Flood Coalition was proud to provide input on the drafting of this legislation.
“States like Florida continue to take concrete action to decrease the impact of existing flooding, while adapting to future flood risk,” said AFC Executive Director Melissa Roberts. “The American Flood Coalition is proud to work with and be a resource for leaders that wish to address flooding and sea level rise challenges in their communities.”
Notably, the bill, once signed into law, will do the following:
- Establish a permanent statewide resilience office and create the official position of Chief Resilience Officer under the Executive Office of the Governor. Florida is one of 10 states with such a position.
- Require the Department of Transportation to create a resilience action plan for the state’s highways and other projects, which would include priorities, costs, and timelines.
- Require the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation to serve as a tidal and storm surge flooding data repository for local governments. The upcoming budget proposes $5.5 million for the hub’s operations.
- Authorize the Department of the Environment to fund pre-construction projects for small local governments. This helps communities that can’t afford the pre-development costs of infrastructure projects access funding early on.
“Flooding affects communities of all sizes,” said AFC Florida Director Kate Wesner. “The newly available grants for pre-construction will allow smaller communities on the frontlines of flooding to scope and plan resilience projects, with an eye toward the future. This is a big missing piece of flood resilience.”
The bill comes less than one year after the landmark “Always Ready” bill was signed into law. That law already established a statewide resilience plan and budgeted at least $100 million annually toward resilience projects.
AFC worked with state leaders on both bills. Along with the well over one billion dollars in the budget dedicated to resilience funding, these bills will further establish Florida as a leader in flood adaptation and resilience.
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Credit for photo at top: David Wilson/Flickr
