{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bean.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-bean-amendment-protecting-florida-federal-overreach", "House Passes Bean Amendment Protecting Florida from Federal Overreach", "2025-12-11", "2025", "2025-12", "Republican", "House", "FL", "Aaron Bean", "B001314", "bean.house.gov", "bean", "https://bean.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON\u2014Today, U.S. Congressman Aaron Bean (FL-04) released the following statement praising the House of Representatives\u2019 passage of his amendment to codify Florida\u2019s 404 Permitting Program, as part of H.R. 3898, the PERMIT Act.\n\nAhead of the vote, Congressman Bean spoke on the House floor in support of his amendment.\n\nCongressman Bean said, \u201cFor too long, anyone trying to build anything in the free state of Florida has faced nothing but Washington bureaucracy. My amendment rightfully returns permitting to the state and allows Florida the flexibility to make the decisions that are best for us. State-run permitting programs reduce project costs and save taxpayer dollars, all while improving responsiveness to applicants and the communities\u2019 projects they serve. I\u2019m grateful to my colleagues for standing with me to demand accountability and make clear that any federal process must respect Florida\u2019s right to manage its own resources responsibly.\u201d\n\nBACKGROUND\n\nIn 2018, Florida\u2019s Legislature passed a bill that gave the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) authority to begin the public rulemaking process to better protect the state's wetlands and surface waters by assuming the federal dredge and fill permitting program under section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act within certain waters.\n\nThe State 404 Program is responsible for overseeing permitting for any project proposing dredge or fill activities within state-assumed waters.\n\nOn Feb. 15, 2024, a federal judge issued an order divesting the DEP of its authority to issue State 404 Program permits in Florida.\n\nMore than 1,000 State 404 permit applications were pending before DEP and are presently on hold. Beyond large-scale development projects, this decision directly impeded efforts to review and authorize a wide range of 404 permit applications that benefit the environment and the public.\n\nA copy of Congressman Bean\u2019s amendment can be found HERE.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bean.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-passes-bean-amendment-protecting-florida-federal-overreach"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.378823097795248, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}