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Panel approves bill requiring 30-day public notice for conservation land disposition reviews
Summary
CS for SB 546 would require the Acquisition and Restoration Council, Board of Trustees, and Water Management Districts to publish at least 30 days' notice before meetings to review sale or exchange of conservation lands; supporters cited transparency failures from prior actions.
Vice Chair Mayfield presented CS for SB 546, which strengthens public transparency when the state considers selling or exchanging conservation lands. The bill requires at least 30 days' public notice prior to ARC and Board of Trustees meetings that review dispositions and extends the same requirement to Water Management Districts.
An amendment (barcode 730,190) clarified that both ARC and the Board must publish required information at least 30 days before meetings; the amendment was adopted. Witnesses from the Florida Native Plant Society, Conservation Florida, Sierra Club Florida (Jennifer Webb), and 1,000 Friends of Florida spoke in support, urging greater public disclosure after events last year many described as rushed and opaque.
Senator Smith praised the bill as protecting public ownership and said he would vote yes. The committee reported CS for SB 546 favorably by roll call.
