Building, filling, or dredging in a Florida wetland almost always requires a state Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection or your regional Water Management District, and often a separate federal permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Florida wetlands permits sit in two overlapping layers of government, and figuring out which ones apply to your project is the first real decision before any dirt moves.
Confirm the Wetland Boundary Before You Apply
You can’t file a meaningful permit application until you know exactly where the wetland ends on your property. That process is called delineation. An environmental consultant walks the site under the Florida Unified Wetland Delineation Methodology in Rule 62-340 of the Florida Administrative Code, checking for three indicators together: water-loving vegetation, soils showing prolonged saturation, and hydrological evidence like water marks or stained leaves.1Legal Information Institute. Florida Administrative Code R. 62-340.100 – Intent If any one is missing, the area typically isn’t a wetland.
The consultant’s report alone doesn’t bind anyone. To lock the line in, submit it to FDEP or your Water Management District and request a formal determination under Section 373.421 of the Florida Statutes. Once issued, that determination stays valid for up to five years, provided site conditions and the delineation rule don’t change. You can petition to renew it before it expires, and if nothing on the ground has changed, the agency must reapprove the same boundaries. The agency can revoke the determination if the application contained inaccurate information.2Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 373.421 – Formal Wetland Determinations
Skipping the formal step is a real gamble. Rely only on the consultant’s unofficial line and the reviewing agency can redraw it during permit review, shrinking your buildable area after you’ve already paid for site plans.
The State Environmental Resource Permit
Any project that fills, dredges, builds within a wetland, or alters surface water flows requires an ERP under Chapter 62-330 of the Florida Administrative Code. The program is jointly administered by FDEP and Florida’s five Water Management Districts (St. Johns River, Suwannee River, Northwest Florida, South Florida, and Southwest Florida), with operating agreements deciding which agency reviews which applications.3Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Environmental Resource Permitting Coordination, Assistance, Portals There are two main tracks.
General Permits for Minor Impacts
Lower-impact work can qualify for a general permit under Rule 62-330.401. It’s a streamlined path for activities that cause minimal harm and don’t require mitigation. Qualifying work includes small docks and boat ramps, limited activities in isolated wetlands on single-family lots, bridge replacements and culverted driveways, utility line installation and repair, and minor restoration projects.
The processing fee is $250. File the notice, and if the agency doesn’t object within 30 days, you can start work. If the agency decides your project doesn’t qualify, the $250 can be credited toward an individual permit application filed within 60 days.4St. Johns River Water Management District. Understanding Criteria for Environmental Resource General Permits
Individual Permits for Larger Projects
Anything with more than minimal wetland impact needs an individual ERP. The base application fee starts at $420 for projects under 10 acres with less than one acre of wetland work, and rises with project size.5Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Florida Administrative Code 62-4.050 – Procedures to Obtain Permits and Other Authorizations The application fee is the small number. Consulting, engineering, and mitigation drive the real cost.
To issue the permit, the agency runs a public interest test under Section 373.414, weighing effects on public health and safety, fish and wildlife, navigation, recreation, and the ecological condition of the affected area, among other factors.6Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 373.414 – Additional Criteria for Activities in Surface Waters and Wetlands For projects inside Outstanding Florida Waters, the standard is higher: you must show the activity is clearly in the public interest, not just that it isn’t contrary to it.
The Federal Section 404 Permit
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act separately requires a federal permit for discharging dredged or fill material into waters of the United States, wetlands included. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers administers it.7U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Permit Program under CWA Section 404
Florida briefly ran this program itself. In December 2020, the state assumed federal 404 permitting authority and shifted it to FDEP. A federal court vacated that approval in February 2024, finding that federal agencies acted unlawfully in approving Florida’s assumption package, particularly on Endangered Species Act compliance. An appeals court upheld the vacatur in early 2025, and the State 404 Program is paused indefinitely.8Florida Department of Environmental Protection. State 404 Program For now, Florida projects that involve wetland fill in federally jurisdictional waters need both a state ERP and a federal permit from the Corps.
Not every Florida wetland is federally jurisdictional, though. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Sackett v. EPA held that the Clean Water Act reaches only wetlands with a continuous surface connection to a relatively permanent body of water tied to traditional navigable waters. If you can’t tell where the open water ends and the wetland begins, the wetland is covered. Isolated wetlands, and those connected only through groundwater or intermittent ditches, generally are not.9Supreme Court of the United States. Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023)
Florida has large numbers of isolated and seasonally connected wetlands. Many no longer need a federal 404 permit after Sackett, but they remain fully regulated by the state ERP program. Losing federal coverage isn’t the same as losing regulation.
Avoidance, Minimization, and Mitigation
Individual ERPs are evaluated through a strict three-step sequence, and most projects that stall out do so here.
First, you have to show that wetland impacts were avoided wherever practicable. The agency wants to see alternative site layouts, building footprints, and access routes that would sidestep the wetland. Propose fill without documenting that the alternatives were considered and you’ll be denied.
Second, for impacts you genuinely can’t avoid, minimize them. That can mean shrinking the fill footprint, adjusting grading, or using retaining walls instead of slopes to keep disturbance tighter.
Third, and only after avoidance and minimization are exhausted, you can propose compensatory mitigation for what’s left. Section 373.414 gives the applicant the choice of method: restoring degraded wetlands on-site, creating or enhancing wetlands off-site, or buying credits from a permitted mitigation bank.6Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 373.414 – Additional Criteria for Activities in Surface Waters and Wetlands
How much mitigation you owe is calculated using the Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method (UMAM) under Chapter 62-345, which scores both the impacted wetland and the proposed mitigation site to determine how many functional units are lost and must be replaced.10Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Florida Administrative Code 62-345 – Uniform Mitigation Assessment Method
Mitigation bank credits are the usual route for commercial projects because the bank operator takes on long-term monitoring and maintenance. Prices vary widely by region and habitat. As of 2026, state freshwater credits run from roughly $50,000 to over $300,000 each at most banks, and saltwater and mangrove credits can top $500,000. Projects that need both state and federal credits pay more because dual-credit packages cost more than state-only credits. Get current pricing from banks in your service area early, because these numbers move with supply and demand.
When You Don’t Need an ERP
Two situations sit outside the standard ERP process and often trip up landowners who assume the rules are all-or-nothing.
Agricultural and Silvicultural Operations
Section 373.406 of the Florida Statutes exempts normal farming, ranching, forestry, and horticultural activity from ERP requirements if two conditions are met: the land is classified as agricultural under Section 193.461, and the activity is consistent with customary practices rather than a pretext for destroying wetlands.11Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 373.406 – Exemptions The topographic alteration can’t be done for the sole or predominant purpose of blocking water flow or damaging wetlands. A rancher grading pasture for drainage as part of normal operations is generally exempt. That same rancher filling a wetland to create a building pad is not. The exemption also doesn’t apply to activities previously authorized under an existing ERP or dredge-and-fill permit, so you can’t switch to an agricultural claim to escape permit conditions.
Agricultural operations inside a Basin Management Action Plan area have to do more. Producers must either enroll in the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Best Management Practices program and implement the approved practices, or run water quality monitoring showing compliance with state standards.12Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. Agricultural Best Management Practices
Trimming Mangroves
Mangroves have their own rulebook under the Mangrove Trimming and Preservation Act, and the height-based limits catch waterfront homeowners regularly. You can trim your own mangroves only when they’re between 6 and 10 feet tall, and you can’t cut below the 6-foot mark. Once they pass 10 feet, a professional mangrove trimmer has to do the work. Trees over 16 feet can only be trimmed in stages, with no more than 25 percent removed per year. Trimming anything over 24 feet requires FDEP authorization. On properties with more than 150 feet of shoreline, only 65 percent of the waterfront mangroves can be trimmed.13Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Trimming Mangroves
Removing mangroves outright, stripping all their leaves, or cutting their roots is prohibited. A first violation can trigger a restoration order. Repeat offenders face fines up to $100 per mangrove illegally trimmed and up to $250 per mangrove illegally altered, which climbs quickly along a waterfront.13Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Trimming Mangroves
Penalties for Working Without a Permit
Doing wetland work without the permits you needed exposes you on two tracks, and the numbers add up fast.
Administratively, FDEP can issue a Notice of Violation with preset penalties under Section 403.121. The base penalty for unpermitted dredging or filling is $1,500. Add $3,000 if the violation is in an aquatic preserve, Outstanding Florida Water, conservation easement, or Class I or II surface water. Add $1,500 more if the disturbed area is over a quarter acre. Contractors who perform unpermitted work face a separate $7,500 penalty per violation. Failing to complete required mitigation, record a conservation easement, or avoid water quality violations from the work adds another $4,500.14Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 403.121 – Enforcement, Procedure, Remedies
If FDEP takes the case to court instead, civil penalties can reach $15,000 per violation per day, with each day the violation continues counted as a separate offense.14Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 403.121 – Enforcement, Procedure, Remedies FDEP can also order full restoration of the affected area and recover damages to state water resources. Restoring a filled wetland is almost always more expensive than the permit would have been, and ecological recovery can take a decade or more depending on the damage.