Florida Right to Clean Water

[7] The official summary of the initiative provides a short explanation, "This amendment creates a fundamental right to clean and healthy waters.

[17] That the objective of the organization, to allow voters to consider granting the right to clean and healthy waters to all Floridians, is similar to the rights of nature the voters of Orange County granted to themselves was acknowledged by Craig Pittman of the Florida Phoenix,[18] who reports on state issues and is the author of several books related to Florida issues and history.

The proposed amendment is crafted to create a means by state law to enforce conservation measures of the type Florida voters have repeatedly supported, but which often have not been enacted or funded by legislators.

[21] Local news media have published articles, columns, and letters to the editor supporting the newly introduced initiative,[2][22][23][24] such as Why we need the Florida Right to Clean and Healthy Waters Amendment by Jim Tatum that appeared in The Gainesville Sun on May 24.

The number of signatures by registered Florida Voters that is required, amounts to almost 900,000 statewide and they must be collected by November 2023 in order to qualify the amendment by February 2024 for the 2024 ballot.

Although coverage of development of the initiative campaign began much earlier, by May 2023 media attention to it began to generate positive opinions among respected community commentators such as Glenn Compton of Manasota88 in The Bradenton Times [29] in Manatee County and Carrie Seidman of the Herald-Tribune in Sarasota County [30] as well as the endorsements of historic and civically active neighborhood associations such as Indian Beach-Sapphire Shores [31][32] and Laurel Park[33] in Sarasota.

Gathering begins from scratch, entirely new petitions must be submitted that are signed within a newly-stipulated collection time in order to qualify for placement on the ballot for the 2026 election.

The updated ballot summary of the 2026 ballot proposal is printed on each petiton and states as its intention, that the proposed amendment "creates an enforceable, fundamental right to clean and healthy waters, authorizing a person to sue for equitable relief when a state executive agency, by action or inaction, allows harm or threat of harm to Florida waters".