Contact: Marilu C. Flores, [email protected]
Kelcey Innes, Save the Manatee Club, [email protected]
TALLAHASSEE, FL, November 13, 2026 — The Endangered Species Coalition, Save the Manatee Club, and Florida coalition partners are raising serious concerns following the U.S. Senate’s advancement of the misleadingly titled permitting overhaul bill, the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act of 2026 (S. 5653), warning that the legislation would weaken longstanding protections for Florida’s endangered wildlife, clean water, wetlands, and coastal ecosystems. These changes will weaken review standards for activities that threaten Florida’s environment, economy, public health, and way of life, particularly poorly regulated data center development and offshore oil drilling.
On November 9, Florida Senators Rick Scott and Ashley Moody both voted to advance the legislation in a 73–25 procedural vote. Florida organizations are calling on both senators to reject passage of the bill, particularly provisions that would undermine the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other bedrock environmental laws such as the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA).
From the Everglades and Florida Bay to the Indian River Lagoon, Biscayne Bay, and the Gulf Coast, Florida’s natural heritage depends on healthy waterways and science-based protections. These ecosystems provide essential habitat for endangered and threatened wildlife, including Florida manatees, sea turtles, American crocodiles, wood storks, and other vulnerable species. They also support fisheries, tourism, recreation, and local economies across the state.
For Florida, protecting clean water and protecting endangered wildlife are inseparable.
The legislation would make concerning changes to the ESA, NEPA, and CWA, such as restricting the scientific data that federal agencies may consider to develop protections for imperiled species, narrowing the scope of projects that need environmental review, shortening consultation timelines, and limiting state authority to review certain water pollution impacts of federally permitted projects. The bill would also restrict opportunities for communities to challenge certain harmful permitting decisions.
These changes are particularly concerning in Florida, where harmful algal blooms, declining seagrass habitat, polluted runoff, erosion, and unsustainable development already place significant pressure on fragile freshwater and coastal ecosystems.
“Florida’s wildlife and waterways are part of what makes this state extraordinary, and protecting them should never be a partisan issue,” said Marilu Cristina Flores, Communications & Digital Lead at the Endangered Species Coalition. “The Endangered Species Act has prevented the extinction of more than 99 percent of the species it protects. Weakening these protections while also undermining safeguards for clean water puts decades of conservation progress at risk. Senators Scott and Moody have an opportunity to stand up for Florida’s natural heritage and ensure that economic development does not come at the expense of the wildlife and healthy ecosystems future generations deserve.”
Florida’s manatees offer a clear example of the connection between water quality and imperiled species recovery. Manatees depend on healthy seagrass beds and aquatic vegetation for food, yet water pollution-driven seagrass losses present devastating challenges for the species. For example, in 2020–2022, over 1,200 manatees tragically died, largely from starvation, due to pollution-driven seagrass loss in the Indian River Lagoon. Further weakening federal water quality safeguards could compound the threats facing these beloved marine mammals. Highly concerningly, the redefinition of “best scientific and commercial data available” contained in S. 5653 could tie agencies’ hands in considering important scientific literature to avoid further seagrass losses or prevent manatees from being killed or injured by boats.
“Manatees cannot recover without clean water and healthy aquatic habitats,” said Elizabeth Neville, Director of Environmental Law and Policy, Save the Manatee Club. “Floridians have witnessed firsthand the consequences of declining water quality and disappearing seagrass beds. Furthermore, as 96% of adult manatees bear scars from watercraft collisions—preventable accidents that kill and injure hundreds of manatees per year—it is essential that government agencies remain capable of addressing manatees’ most consequential threats. Our elected leaders must show leadership for Florida and maintain protections for manatees and their aquatic ecosystems, which are the waters that Floridians depend on for our lives and livelihoods.”
Manatees and Florida’s waterways are also threatened by unsustainable data center development. Presently, there are 24 planned data center projects that pose severe harm to springs, rivers, and other water resources that comprise manatee habitat —including a proposed data center in Citrus County, home of Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, an essential habitat for manatees. Provisions of this bill explicitly support data center development while materially degrading permitting standards essential to prevent catastrophic harm to Florida’s communities and environment. If this passes, Florida stands to suffer disproportionately from such poorly regulated facilities.
The Everglades, one of the world’s most extraordinary wetland ecosystems, is also at stake. Decades of public investment and bipartisan cooperation have supported efforts to restore natural water flows, improve water quality, and recover wildlife habitat. Conservation leaders warn that weakening water quality protections and environmental oversight could threaten the long-term success of these restoration efforts.
“Restoring America’s Everglades requires a sustained commitment to clean water, sound science, and accountability,” said Eve Samples, Executive Director, Friends of the Everglades. “Florida and the federal government have invested decades and significant resources in restoring this remarkable ecosystem. Any changes to federal permitting laws must protect that progress, maintain strong water quality standards, and ensure that restoration efforts deliver lasting benefits for wildlife, communities, and Florida’s economy.”
Florida’s beaches and coastal waters are also critical to the survival of threatened and endangered sea turtles. The state’s beaches provide internationally important nesting habitat, while its seagrass beds, estuaries, and nearshore ecosystems support sea turtles throughout their lives. Weakened wildlife consultation requirements and reduced oversight of development in sensitive coastal areas could place additional pressure on these vulnerable species.
“Florida is home to some of the most important sea turtle nesting beaches in the world,” said Stacey Gallagher, Policy Coordinator, Sea Turtle Conservancy. “The recovery of these species depends on strong protections for nesting beaches, coastal habitat, and water quality. We cannot afford to undermine the science-based safeguards that have helped sea turtles survive while development and environmental pressures continue to grow along our coastlines.”
In South Florida, Biscayne Bay and surrounding waterways already face serious water quality challenges from stormwater runoff, wastewater pollution, and urban development. Conservation organizations are particularly concerned that narrowing Clean Water Act protections would limit the ability of states and communities to prevent additional pollution and hold harmful projects accountable.
“Clean water is fundamental to the health, safety, and prosperity of Florida’s coastal communities,” said Rachel Silverstein, CEO and Waterkeeper, Miami Waterkeeper. “At a time when waterways like Biscayne Bay are already struggling with pollution, weakening the Clean Water Act moves us in the wrong direction. Communities need strong, enforceable safeguards that prevent pollution before it reaches our waters, not fewer opportunities to protect the places where we swim, fish, and live.”
Beyond South Florida, the legislation could affect coastal and marine ecosystems across the Gulf, from estuaries and wetlands to seagrass meadows, barrier islands, and offshore waters that support wildlife, coastal communities, and local economies.
“The Gulf coast depends on healthy, connected ecosystems from our coastal wetlands to our open Gulf waters,” said Christian Wagley, Coastal Organizer, Healthy Gulf. “These habitats support endangered species, sustain fisheries, protect communities from storms, and drive the regional economy. Weakening the bedrock environmental laws and locking in flawed decisions to expand offshore drilling would put both wildlife and the people who depend on these resources at greater risk.”
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has proposed opening up Florida’s coastal waters to offshore drilling, in violation of President Trump’s 2020 moratorium. The legislation would cement those decisions for years to come, potentially locking in offshore oil lease sales and leases sold through those sales, and leaving future administrations with virtually no way to undo them – even if those decisions are rushed or legally flawed. The Florida Congressional delegation has unanimously opposed expansion of offshore drilling to Florida’s waters.
While the legislation’s supporters argue that permitting changes will lower energy costs and accelerate infrastructure development, independent estimates have indicated the bill would save households only a few dollars per month in 2040, fourteen years from now, due to provisions in the bill unrelated to rollbacks to wildlife and habitat protections. Conservation organizations emphasize that these goals do not require sacrificing the nation’s most effective wildlife protection laws or weakening safeguards for clean water. Furthermore, the preventable expenses that Florida faces from unsustainable activities, such as oil spills and flooding from poorly-executed coastal development, seriously bring into question the net-benefit of this sweeping legislation.
“Florida’s senators should recognize that the costs of weakened environmental protections are not abstract,” Flores added. “They are felt in polluted waterways, fish kills, algal blooms, disappearing habitat, struggling wildlife populations, and communities that depend on healthy natural resources. We can build needed infrastructure and support affordable energy without compromising the protections that safeguard Florida’s future.”
The Endangered Species Coalition and Florida conservation partners urge Senators Scott and Moody and the Florida delegation in the House of Representatives to oppose the legislation in its current form and work to remove provisions that weaken the ESA, NEPA, and CWA. Any final legislation must preserve strong science-based protections, meaningful water quality safeguards, and public accountability.
Florida’s clean water, endangered wildlife, and natural heritage are too important to put at risk.
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The Endangered Species Coalition is a national coalition of 480 member organizations and 540,000+ activists working together to protect and recover at-risk threatened and endangered species and to defend the Endangered Species Act and other wildlife laws and policies.