DeSantis Vetoes Bill Promoting Clean Water & Public Health

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House Bill 165 aimed to expand the responsibilities of the Department of Health (DOH) to include monitoring water quality at beaches and other public bathing spaces for the purpose of promoting public health, yet it was rejected by Governor DeSantis.

The bill outlined that, if passed, the DOH would be required to take on and execute rules protecting the welfare, safety, and health of people in regard to the water quality in public spaces where people might swim or engage in watersports. Under this bill, it would be mandatory for the DOH to release a health advisory by the next business day, or within 24 hours, in the event that the water quality of an area was below a certain set standard.

If necessary, under conditions of poor water quality, the DOH would also be required to close the affected beaches and public bathing spaces. The closure would be in place until the water quality was improved to the set standard level.

In addition, this bill provides that if a water quality test is failed, then the owners of the respective beach or public bathing space must notify the DOH within 24 hours. In the event that an incident impacting water quality takes place in the waters surrounding structures like a public marina, dock, or pier, then the owner of the structure must notify their county or jurisdictional municipality.

Counties and municipalities must also notify the DOH in the event of an incident that would impact water quality. In turn, the DOH needs to notify national television network’s local affiliates when releasing the resulting health advisories against swimming.

Furthermore, this bill would require the DOH to utilize a sign denoting that a health advisory had been issued at that location. The use case for this sign would be when water tests positive for a high level of Escherichia Coli (E. coli).

The sign would have to be a specific size decided upon by the counties and municipalities around the waters that they own or by the Department of Environmental Protection around the waters that the state owns. These groups would be responsible for maintaining their own signs accordingly.

House Bill 165 was originally prepared by the Health Policy Committee, filed on October 16, 2023, and then passed unanimously in the Senate and House with votes of 40-0 and 113-0, respectively. After that, it was presented to the Governor on June 17, 2024.

However, Governor DeSantis vetoed this bill on June 26, 2024. In his official veto letter, DeSantis wrote that while he acknowledges the Florida DOH’s value, he believes that it should not be granted “the power to supersede local jurisdictions regarding the operation of beaches”.

Despite the fact that he finds it “ill-advised” to permit the DOH the powers described in House Bill 165, DeSantis notes that he is prioritizing the protection of Florida’s natural resources and water quality.

The Surfrider Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization that is committed to protecting the oceans of the world, commented on the veto. In an official statement, it said that this “bill would have kept beachgoers safe and informed regarding the risks of swimming when recreating in Florida's beach waters”. It also stated that because of the veto, Floridians and tourists “will not know if it is truly safe to go in the water”.

As such, the organization plans to continue its fight for higher water quality in the interest of protecting public health. In 2025, it plans to try again to get something like House Bill 165 passed.

Meanwhile, the Surfrider Foundation says that it celebrates “the incredible work and grassroots efforts of our volunteers and partners in the Florida network to propel this bill to unanimous passage in the Florida legislature”.

If you want to get involved, then you can apply to be a volunteer at the Surfrider Foundation here or donate to its mission here.

For complete details on the content of House Bill 165, click here. For the official summary of the bill, click here.
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Article by Ema Tibbetts