40th Environmental Permitting Summer School

In this popular session, a panel of subject matter experts will present the latest legal and scientific trends in the newest regulated contaminant, PFAS, as well as emerging contaminants such as microplastics. Panelists will discuss the latest litigation, the newest Florida and federal regulations, and the most recent scientific studies, strategies for conducting due diligence, and the status of remediation technologies. This session is relevant for agencies, municipalities, industry, attorneys, and consultants.

Come listen and learn from a panel of experts as they discuss the latest changes to federal environmental policies and regulations under the Trump Administration. This session examines how the policies and roles of the federal agencies are changing across a wide spectrum of issues such as WOTUS and other water issues, endangered species, enforcement, agency size, and climate change. The experts will also discuss how the regulated community, the state, and advocacy groups are responding to such changes including the potential for citizen enforcement. These and other federal issues will be discussed by our well-informed panel. Come prepared to listen, learn and participate.

Florida is faced with significant local and regional water supply, water quality and other water resource challenges in the coming decades unless proactive actions are taken. The need for new investments in water infrastructure is growing, while local governments and other governmental agencies are faced with fiscal, risk-based and capability constraints. Private sector expertise and financing is needed to play a key role in replacing and expanding Florida’s water infrastructure. Part of the solution may be public-private partnerships (P3) through the development of contractual arrangements. In 2019, federal, state, and local governments spent well over $500 billion to design, build, operate, and maintain transportation and water infrastructure in the United States. The panel will discuss P3 opportunities, legislative initiatives at the state and federal level, as well as case studies in meeting Florida’s future water resource needs. This is a timely and highly recommended course!

As regulatory frameworks and ecological markets continue to change and evolve, species' mitigation is entering a period of meaningful transition. This panel brings together key federal and state agencies to provide a forward-looking perspective on policy, program development, and implementation strategies shaping the next generation of species conservation. This session will explore how policy shifts, market mechanisms, and infrastructure innovation are converging to redefine how impacts are offset and how conservation value is created, measured, and monetized across Florida’s rapidly developing landscape.  Panelists will highlight advancements in species-focused mitigation tools, provide critical updates on species listing status, identify emerging trends influencing conservation banking, and showcase innovative approaches to integrating wildlife crossings and corridor design into infrastructure projects, including how these efforts are generating measurable ecological lift, mitigation credits, and quantifiable species protection outcomes.