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To provide for a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and exploration on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida until 2032, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill extends and expands federal moratoria on oil and gas activities off the coast of Florida. The bill extends the existing moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida from 2022 through 2032 and adds a prohibition on oil and gas exploration permits in that area. The bill establishes a new moratorium on oil and gas leasing, preleasing, related activities including seismic testing, and exploration permits in the Straits of Florida Planning Area and in the South Atlantic Planning Area south of Florida's administrative boundary. Both moratoria remain in effect through June 30, 2032.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
16 cosponsors
- Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12] (R-FL)
- Rep. Buchanan, Vern [R-FL-16] (R-FL)
- Rep. Diaz-Balart, Mario [R-FL-26] (R-FL)
- Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19] (R-FL)
- Rep. Dunn, Neal P. [R-FL-2] (R-FL)
- Rep. Frankel, Lois [D-FL-22] (D-FL)
- Rep. Franklin, Scott [R-FL-18] (R-FL)
- Rep. Gimenez, Carlos A. [R-FL-28] (R-FL)
- Rep. Haridopolos, Mike [R-FL-8] (R-FL)
- Rep. Lee, Laurel M. [R-FL-15] (R-FL)
- Rep. Luna, Anna Paulina [R-FL-13] (R-FL)
- Rep. Moskowitz, Jared [D-FL-23] (D-FL)
- Rep. Patronis, Jimmy [R-FL-1] (R-FL)
- Rep. Salazar, Maria Elvira [R-FL-27] (R-FL)
- Rep. Soto, Darren [D-FL-9] (D-FL)
- Rep. Webster, Daniel [R-FL-11] (R-FL)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to John H. Rutherford’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH CORPORATION $7,250
- ATS COMMUNICATIONS, INC $7,100
- GC LAND DEVELOPEMENT INC $6,600
- PUTZKE HORSE FARM LLC $6,600
- MOMENTUM TRANSPORTATION USA INC $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for John H. Rutherford → · Outside spending →
Actions (2)
- Nov 17, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources. · house
- Nov 17, 2025 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
November 17, 2025
Mr. Rutherford (for himself, Mr. Patronis, Mr. Diaz-Balart, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Webster of Florida, Ms. Lois Frankel of Florida, Mr. Bilirakis, Mr. Donalds, Ms. Salazar, Mrs. Luna, Mr. Haridopolos, Mr. Scott Franklin of Florida, Mr. Soto, and Ms. Lee of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources
A BILL
To provide for a moratorium on oil and gas leasing and exploration on the outer Continental Shelf off the coast of Florida until 2032, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Preserving Recreation, Oceans, Tourism, Environment, and Coastal Towns in Florida Act” or the “PROTECT Florida Act”.
SEC. 2. MORATORIUM ON OIL AND GAS LEASING AND EXPLORATION ON THE OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF OFF COAST OF FLORIDA.
(a) Extension of Gulf Coast Moratorium.—Section 104(a) of the Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006 (43 U.S.C. 1331 note) is amended—
(1) by striking “2022” and inserting “2032”; and
(2) by inserting “, and may not issue a permit for oil and gas exploration (as such term is defined in section 2 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act) in” after “related activity”.
(b) Establishment of Atlantic Coast Moratorium.—Section 12 of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1431) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(g) Moratorium on Oil and Gas Leasing and Seismic Testing Off the Coast of Florida.—
“(1) In general.—The Secretary may not offer for oil and gas leasing, preleasing, or any related activity, including seismic testing, and may not issue a permit for oil and gas exploration in—
“(A) any area in the Straits of Florida Planning Area; and
“(B) any area in the South Atlantic Planning Area that is south of the northernmost lateral seaward administrative boundary of the State of Florida.
“(2) Application.—This subsection shall apply during the period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and ending on June 30, 2032.”. <all>
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