The Surfrider Foundation is thrilled to announce our Florida chapters achieved a precedent-setting victory by restoring the right of counties and municipalities to regulate smoking on public beaches and parks. Surfrider has long advocated for banning smoking on Florida’s beaches as a pathway to reduce plastic pollution and prevent cigarette litter from entering waterways and harming marine life.
Under the new law effective July 1, 2022 Florida counties and municipalities can restrict smoking within the boundaries of any public beach or park they own, except for unfiltered cigars. Surfrider supports local municipal efforts to enact smoking bans and prevent the harmful effects of cigarette butt litter.
As a direct result of this victory, our Palm Beach Chapter spearheaded a local campaign, and has officially banned cigarette smoking in its municipally-owned beaches and parks, protecting their community and waterways from this dangerous source of plastic pollution.
The town took the first step toward this end by approving a first reading of a beach smoking ban ordinance at the July 12, 2022 council meeting. The ordinance passed on second reading at the regularly scheduled town council meeting on August 9, 2022.
We are excited to see several Florida chapters continuing the fight, actively campaigning for local ordinances to ban cigarette butt pollution in their communities.