Congress locks Florida's offshore oil ban in place until 2032
H.R. 6068 — PROTECT Florida Act · Filed by John Rutherford (R-FL) · 16 cosponsors · Introduced Nov 17, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill extends an existing moratorium on oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida's coast from 2022 to 2032, and creates a new moratorium on oil and gas leasing and exploration in Atlantic waters off Florida's coast through 2032. It blocks the federal government from issuing leases, permits, or conducting seismic testing in these offshore areas for the next seven years.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward extension and expansion of existing federal prohibitions on offshore oil and gas activity. It is a conservation measure that restricts federal leasing authority, not a deregulation or subsidy.
What the text implies
- The 2032 sunset date means the moratorium will expire unless Congress acts again, creating a future legislative pressure point for oil and gas interests.
- The bill does not address existing leases or permits issued before enactment, so any pre-existing development rights remain unaffected.
- Seismic testing prohibition may limit geological surveys that could inform future policy, though it also prevents environmental disruption from testing itself.
- The Atlantic coast moratorium is geographically limited to Florida waters; it does not extend protections to other Atlantic states, potentially creating a patchwork of state-level offshore policies.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill protects Florida's coastal communities, tourism economy, and marine environment by preventing offshore oil and gas development through 2032. Ordinary citizens benefit from preserved recreational access, reduced pollution risk, and protection of a major economic driver (coastal tourism and fishing).
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Interior (Secretary), Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act of 2006, Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, Straits of Florida Planning Area, South Atlantic Planning Area, State of Florida
Where it stands
16 cosponsors: 13 Republicans, 3 Democrats.
- Nov 17, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Nov 17, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Natural Resources”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 3 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $683,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 68 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
John Rutherford, the sponsor, reported $521,500 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Ocean Conservancy — $403,000 on 2 filings
- Oceana Inc — $280,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 17, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,374 characters) on Aug 15, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 17, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress locks Florida's offshore oil ban in place until 2032” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/hr6068 Report an error
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