From left, Policy Associate Allie Pecenka and Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis at the Lee County Legislative Delegation Meeting on Oct. 28, 2025.

As a nonprofit, science-based organization, SCCF is dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Sanibel and Captiva Islands, our watersheds, and surrounding waters. 

Each year during Florida’s legislative session, SCCF’s environmental policy department works to ensure the environment comes first by educating communities on important bills and empowering them to contact lawmakers. The policy team also advocates its priorities to key decision makers at the local, state, and federal levels. 

On Oct. 28, Environmental Policy Director Matt DePaolis presented SCCF’s legislative priorities for Florida’s 2026 legislative session (Jan. 13 to March 13) at the Lee County Legislative Delegation Meeting.

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In addition to asking for continued support for funding for Everglades restoration and other conservation programs, DePaolis expressed excitement at working with the delegation to ensure Florida is well situated to properly address the issues of community self-governance, conservation, ecosystem restoration, water quality, harmful algal blooms, and resiliency.

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2026 Legislative Priorities

Community Self-Governance 

• SCCF supports Home Rule and opposes any statewide pre-emption policies that would restrict the ability of local governments ability to protect our natural resources. 
• SCCF supports a legislative fix to undue the burdensome restrictions from Senate Bill 180 that prevent local leaders from protecting their communities.
• SCCF supports maintaining the public’s ability to meaningfully participate in agency permitting decisions and opposes automatically awarding prevailing parties attorney’s fees in such cases.
• SCCF supports protecting the ability of the public to participate in self-governance.

Conservation 

• SCCF supports statutorily increased dedicated funding for the Florida Forever conservation and recreation lands program. Land conservation is critical for supporting Florida’s tourism and nature-based economy. 
• SCCF supports the protection of existing conservation lands and aquatic preserves. 

Ecosystem Restoration 

• SCCF supports prioritizing funding and expediting the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir and Stormwater Treatment Area. The EAA Reservoir Project is critical for reducing the damaging high-volume discharges to the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries and rehydrating the Everglades. 
• SCCF supports full funding for Everglades restoration to keep projects on track with the Integrated Delivery Schedule (IDS). Everglades restoration is essential to improve the health of the Caloosahatchee. 
• SCCF will strongly oppose any effort to limit, weaken or rollback wetland protection efforts defined in the federal Clean Water Act 404 program. 
• SCCF will strongly oppose introduction or expansion of mitigation programs that allow for the destruction of wetlands, mangroves, seagrass, or other fragile ecosystems. 

Water Quality 

• SCCF opposes weakening permitting requirements for development in wetlands, coastal high-hazard areas and other sensitive locations to ensure that adequate protections remain in place for natural resources.
• SCCF continues to support the passage of the Safe Waterways Act and will work with legislative sponsors and statewide partners to reintroduce legislation to keep Floridians informed about the health of their waterways. 
• SCCF supports further improvements to statewide stormwater standards for development to meaningfully reduce runoff of pollutants such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and suspended solids to protect water quality.

Harmful Algal Blooms 

• SCCF supports the reduction of manmade nutrients into our waterways through voluntary programs such as Best Management Practices (BMPs) and Septic to Sewer Conversions, as well as enhanced regulatory protections for our waters, and increased enforcement of current regulations.
• SCCF supports implementation and funding of the Blue-Green Algae Taskforce recommendations to address nutrient sources and innovative technologies to mitigate blooms. 
• SCCF supports FWC’s Harmful Algal Bloom Task Force and funding for research and monitoring of red tide and other harmful algal blooms in Florida’s coastal waters. 

Resiliency 

• SCCF supports protections to net metering and other incentives to the implementation of rooftop solar for individuals.
• SCCF supports the monitoring of the implementation of the Resilient Florida Program to ensure that grant funding is being spent thoughtfully on solutions to climate change.
• SCCF continues to support a ban on oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and a transition to energy sources that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
• SCCF will support incentivizing diverse energy sources to make our state more resilient.

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