The 2026 Florida Legislative Session starts on Tuesday, January 13, 2026. Below is a list of proposed bills that could impact the waste and recycling industry. If you have any questions on these bills or want to get involved with the Legislative Committee, please contact the SWANA FL Legislative Committee Chair. And check back routinely for an update to this page:
CS/HB 35: Habitual Traffic Offender Designation
GENERAL BILL by Criminal Justice Subcommittee ; Barnaby
(AMENDED 11/18/2025) Habitual Traffic Offender Designation; Revises definition of term “habitual traffic offender.”
HB 35: Driving Without a License
GENERAL BILL by Barnaby
(FILED 9/23/2025) Driving Without a License; Increases criminal penalties for driving without license; revises definition of term “habitual traffic offender”; increases criminal penalty for driving without license & causing death of or serious bodily injury to another human; ranks offense on offense severity ranking chart of Criminal Punishment Code.
- Committee Referrals:
- Criminal Justice Subcommittee. FAVORABLE with PCS. 16-0. (11/18/2025)
- State Affairs Committee
- Judiciary Committee
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CS/SB 240: Auxiliary Containers
GENERAL BILL by Environment and Natural Resources; Garcia; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Smith; Jones; Bradley
(AMENDED 11/18/2025) Auxiliary Containers; Preempting the regulation of auxiliary containers to the state; providing exceptions; requiring the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a uniform ordinance for the use and disposition of single-use, nonrecyclable auxiliary containers; prohibiting the use, sale, or distribution of certain single-use auxiliary containers on such lands; repealing a provision relating to the regulation of polystyrene products preempted to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- Environment and Natural Resources (EN). FAVORABLE with Amendments. 8-0. (11/18/2025)
- Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government
- Fiscal Policy
GENERAL BILL by Weinberger; Basabe; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Cassel; Eskamani; Tendrich
(FILED 12/02/2025) Auxiliary Containers; Defines “auxiliary container” and “single-use”; removes obsolete provisions; preempting regulation of auxiliary containers to state; provides exceptions; requires DEP to develop uniform ordinance for use and disposition of single-use, nonrecyclable auxiliary containers; provides requirements for development of such ordinance; requires that sale or distribution of single-use plastic auxiliary containers on lands managed by Division of Recreation & Parks of DEP be eliminated to greatest extent possible; prohibits use, sale, or distribution of certain single-use auxiliary containers on such lands; requires department to develop and make available on its website statewide Marine Debris Reduction Plan; provides requirements for such plan; removes s. 500.90, F.S., relating to regulation of polystyrene products preempted to DACS.
- Committee Referrals:
HB 629: Regulation of Auxiliary Containers
GENERAL BILL by Esposito
(FILED 12/03/2025) Regulation of Auxiliary Containers; Preempts regulation of auxiliary containers to state; authorizes rules, regulations, & ordinances restricting use of glass auxiliary containers within boundaries of public beach or state park; authorizes Division of Recreation & Parks to regulate auxiliary containers within state parks.
- Committee Referrals:
GENERAL BILL by Martin
(FILED 12/04/2025) Waste Management; Deleting obsolete provisions that provide legislative findings and require the Department of Environmental Protection to review and update a specified report; preempting the regulation of auxiliary containers to the state; permitting rules, regulations, or ordinances restricting the use of glass auxiliary containers within the boundaries of a public beach; authorizing the Division of Recreation and Parks to regulate auxiliary containers within state parks; specifying that certain local ordinances and restrictions are permitted, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- None yet
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SB 262: Storage and Disposal of Prescription Drugs and Sharps
GENERAL BILL by Burgess
(FIKED 10/22/2025) Storage and Disposal of Prescription Drugs and Sharps; Exempting an establishment that stores, warehouses, or holds noncontrolled prescription drugs solely for the purpose of arranging for their destruction from compliance with specified provisions, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
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CS/SB 126: Florida Public Service Commission
GENERAL BILL by Regulated Industries; Gaetz; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Bradley
(AMENDED 12/09/2025) Florida Public Service Commission; Revising the membership of the Florida Public Service Commission; requiring a group of parties to certain proceedings to negotiate the terms of a settlement with the Public Counsel before presenting such settlement to the commission; requiring that orders issued by the commission contain adequate support and rationale for any conclusions made by the commission; authorizing certain persons to make a motion to intervene in a pending commission proceeding; authorizing the commission to fix affordable, in addition to fair, just, and reasonable, rates, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- Regulated Industries (RI). FAVORABLE as Amended. 9-0. (12/09/2025)
- Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government
- Fiscal Policy
HB 187: Florida Public Service Commission
GENERAL BILL by Andrade; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Campbell; Tendrich; Young
(FILED 10/15/2025) Florida Public Service Commission; Revises membership of PSC; requires PSC to include specified information in settlement agreement orders, ensure certain allowable returns on equity, establish certain schedules for rate change requests, & provide annual report to Governor & Legislature.
- Committee Referrals:
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SB 136: Protections for Public Employees who use Medical Marijuana as Qualified Patients
GENERAL BILL by Polsky; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Smith
(FILED 10/08/2025) Protections for Public Employees who use Medical Marijuana as Qualified Patients; Prohibiting a public employer from taking adverse personnel action against an employee or a job applicant for his or her use of medical marijuana if the employee or job applicant is a qualified patient; providing exceptions; requiring a public employer to provide, within a specified timeframe, written notice of an employee’s or a job applicant’s right to explain or contest a positive marijuana test result, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
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SB 526: Commercial Construction Projects
GENERAL BILL by Grall
(FILED 11/17/2025) Commercial Construction Projects; Defining the term “awarding body”; providing that provisions contained in public construction contracts which purport to waive, release, or extinguish certain rights of a contractor are void and unenforceable under specified circumstances; providing construction; requiring the Florida Building Commission, in consultation with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, to create a uniform commercial building permit application; defining the term “commercial construction project”; requiring local enforcement agencies to reduce permit fees for commercial construction projects by certain percentages under certain circumstances, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
CS/HB 405: Commercial Construction Projects
GENERAL BILL by Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee; Griffitts
(AMENDED 12/02/2025) Commercial Construction Projects; Provides that provisions contained in public construction contracts which purport to waive, release, deny, restrict, or extinguish certain rights of contractor are void & unenforceable; requires Florida Building Commission, in consultation with DBPR, to create uniform commercial building permit application to & standardized trade-specific forms be accepted statewide; prohibits such application from being modified; authorizes local enforcement agencies to require supplemental trade-specific forms or additional documentation or plans for certain projects; provides requirements for such supplemental forms; requires local enforcement agencies to allow certain reviews to take place simultaneously; requires commission to electronically publish on its website & make available to local enforcement agencies & applicants such application by specified date; requires local enforcement agencies to reduce permit fees for commercial construction projects by certain percentages; prohibits local enforcement agencies from collecting any fees for commercial construction projects.
- Committee Referrals:
- Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee. FAVORABLE with Amendments. 13-2. (12/02/2025)
- State Administration Budget Subcommittee.
- Commerce Committee.
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HB 105: Local Government Enforcement Actions
GENERAL BILL by Brackett
(FILED 10/07/2025) Local Government Enforcement Actions; Prohibits certain enforcement actions by counties, municipalities, & special districts; authorizes persons or business entities subject to such actions to submit request for review; requires counties, municipalities, & special districts to review such actions & respond within specified time period; authorizes filing of legal action & provides legal remedies; provides for certain protections from retaliation; provides for preemption.
- Committee Referrals:
SB 588: Local Government Enforcement Actions
GENERAL BILL by McClain
(FILED 11/19/2025) Local Government Enforcement Actions; Prohibiting certain enforcement actions by counties, municipalities, and special districts, respectively; defining the term “enforcement action”; requiring counties, municipalities, and special districts, respectively, to establish and maintain rules; authorizing filing of legal action and providing legal remedies in certain circumstances, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
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CS/SB 290: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
GENERAL BILL by Agriculture; Truenow
(AMENDED 12/02/2025) Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Prohibiting counties and municipalities, respectively, from enacting or enforcing any law that restricts or prohibits the use of gasoline-powered farm equipment or gasoline-powered landscape equipment or that distinguishes such equipment from any other equipment under certain circumstances; requiring the Acquisition and Restoration Council to determine whether certain surplused lands are suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes; establishing the Food Animal Veterinary Medicine Loan Repayment Program; revising the Florida Forest Service powers, authority, and duties; authorizing the Forest Service to manage the Welaka Training Center; establishing the Farmers Feeding Florida Program for specified purposes; limiting the number of incorporated state fair associations per county; prohibiting the possession, manufacture, sale, importation, distribution, or use of a signal jamming device, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- Agriculture (AG) FAVORABLE with Amendments. 4-0. (12/02/2025)
- Fiscal Policy
- Rules
HB 433: Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
GENERAL BILL by Alvarez, D.; Johnson; (CO-INTRODUCERS) Grow; Maggard
(FILED 11/17/2025) Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; Prohibits counties & municipalities from enacting or enforcing any law that restricts or prohibits use of gasoline-powered farm equipment or gasoline-powered landscape equipment or that distinguishes such equipment from any other equipment; requires Acquisition & Restoration Council to determine whether certain surplused lands are suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes; prohibits local governmental entity from transferring future development rights for surplused lands determined to be suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes; requires DEP, in coordination with DACS, to determine whether state-owned conservation lands are suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes; authorizes DEP to surplus specified state-owned lands determined to be suitable for bona fide agricultural purposes; prohibits person from wearing or displaying item that displays words “concealed weapon permit” or “concealed weapon permit holder” with intent to mislead another to believe that person is authorized to wear or display such item; prohibits possession, manufacture, sale, importation, distribution, or use of signal jamming device.
- Committee Referrals:
HB 607: Industries and Professional Activities
GENERAL BILL by Yarkosky
(FILED 12/02/2025) Industries and Professional Activities; Renames, removes, & redesignates specified boards, commissions, and councils established within DBPR; changes office locations of certain divisions; specifies that certain license application requirements apply only to certain professions; provides licensing authority to department rather than licensing boards; removes postlicensure education requirements for brokers, broker associates, and sales associates; removes continuing education requirements for licensure renewal as broker, broker associate, and sales associate; removes continuing education requirements for licensure renewal due to inactive status; revises provisions pertaining to board to transfer powers, duties, and responsibilities of board to DBPR; granting certain authority to department, rather than Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board; requires department to adopt rules; revises violations for which retail tobacco products dealers are penalized; revises retail nicotine product dealer administrative penalties; requires FDLE to accept and process certain fingerprints; specifies procedures for submitting and processing fingerprinting; requires department to conduct certain background checks.
- Committee Referrals:
- Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee. FAVORABLE with Committee Substitute. 9-6. (12/11/2025)
- State Administration Budget Subcommittee.
- Commerce Committee.
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HB 145: Suits Against the Government
GENERAL BILL by McFarland
(FILED 10/10/2025) Suits Against the Government; Increases statutory limits on liability for tort claims against state & its agencies & subdivisions; authorizes subdivision of state to settle claim in excess of statutory limit without legislative action regardless of insurance coverage limits; prohibits insurance policy from conditioning benefits on enactment of claim bill; specifies that limitations in effect on date claim accrues apply to that claim; revises period within which certain claims must be presented; revises exceptions relating to instituting tort claims against state or agencies or subdivisions; revises period after which failure of certain entities to make final disposition of claim shall be deemed final denial of claim for certain purposes; revises statute of limitations for tort claims against state or agencies or subdivisions & exceptions thereto.
From passing through before Oct 1, 2026- keeps the same $200K per person and $330K per incident limits
From Oct 1, 2026-before Oct 1, 2031 – $500K per person and $1M per incident
On or after Oct 1, 2031 – $600K per person and $1.2M per incident
- Committee Referrals:
- Civil Justice & Claims Subcommittee. FAVORABLE 16-1 (11/05/2025)
- Post-meeting Bill Analysis
- Budget Committee. FAVORABLE. 22-2. (12/03/2025)
- Judiciary Committee. FAVORABLE. 12-2. (12/11/2025)
- Post-meeting Bill Analysis
- Released to House Floor Calendar
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GENERAL BILL by Judiciary; Trumbull
(AMENDED 12/02/2025) Legal Notices; Revising the definition of the term “governmental agency”; requiring governmental agencies and special governmental agencies to publish certain legal notices continuously for a specified timeframe when the notices are for a specified purpose and provided under a certain circumstance; authorizing certain special governmental agencies to use a publicly accessible website to publish certain advertisements and legal notices under specified conditions; requiring that a public bid advertisement made by a special governmental agency on a publicly accessible website include a method to accept electronic bids, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- Judiciary (JU). FAVORABLE with Amendment. 10-0. (12/02/2025)
- Community Affairs
- Rules
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HB 37: Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles
GENERAL BILL by Nix
(FILED 9/25/2025) Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles; Requires counties to establish daily administration fee for proper storage of certain electric vehicles; authorizes municipalities to establish daily administration fee for proper storage of certain electric vehicles; provides maximum amount for such fees; defines “daily administration fee” & “proper storage”; provides that motor vehicle insurers are not required to pay certain costs; provides that reasonable fee for service includes any daily administration fee.
- Committee Referrals:
- Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee. FAVORABLE. 12-3. (11/18/2025)
- Post-meeting Bill Analysis
- Industries & Professional Activities Subcommittee. FAVORABLE. 15-1. (12/02/2025)
- State Affairs Committee.
SB 260: Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles
GENERAL BILL by Burgess
(FILED 10/22/2025) Removal, Storage, and Cleanup of Electric Vehicles; Requiring counties to establish a daily administration fee for the proper storage of certain electric vehicles; providing a maximum amount for such fees; providing applicability; defining the terms “daily administration fee” and “proper storage”; providing that motor vehicle insurers are not required to pay certain costs, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
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SB 912: Battery Collection and Recovery
GENERAL BILL by McClain
(FILED 12/15/2025) Battery Collection and Recovery; Creating the “Safe Battery Collection and Recovery Act”; requiring a producer or retailer to fulfill certain requirements, beginning on a specified date, before selling, offering for sale, or distributing for sale in this state any covered battery or battery-containing product; requiring a BSO operating in this state to submit a battery stewardship plan to the Department of Environmental Protection annually for review and approval; requiring a BSO implementing an approved battery stewardship plan to satisfy certain requirements; requiring a BSO to submit a report to the department annually beginning on a specified date, etc.
- Committee Referrals:
- None yet
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WAYS TO MONITOR STATE BILLS
- Florida House
- MyFloridaHouse.gov; “Bill” at top of page / “Tracking” tab
- Florida Senate
- FlSenate.gov; “Go to Bill” at top of page / “Tracker” tab
- Florida League of Cities
- FloridaLeagueOfCities.com; “Advocacy”
- Florida Association of Counties
- fl-counties.com;
- Policy Action Center (goes to all the resources)
- Advocacy (now takes you to the team)
- Policy Resources (lots of governmental links)
- fl-counties.com;
- National Waste and Recycling Association (NWRA)
- WasteRecycling.org; “Advocacy”
- Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)
- SWANA.org; “Advocacy” (Member)
- Watch Committee Meetings live on The Florida Channel
- 1000 Friends of Florida
