SB 2261 Mississippi Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Mississippi Comprehensive Coastal Conservation and Restoration Act of 2025; enact.

The Mississippi Comprehensive Coastal Conservation and Restoration Act of 2025 establishes a Technical Advisory Board (TAB) to create and update a comprehensive plan for coastal projects on Mississippi's Gulf Coast, including restoration, storm protection, habitat construction, and water quality improvements. The TAB, composed of state agency representatives, university officials, environmental groups, and legislative members, must develop the plan within one year and revise it every five years to set project priorities and monitoring requirements. All future coastal projects managed by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and Department of Environmental Quality must align with this plan, and the TAB must submit annual progress reports. The bill aims to coordinate state efforts, streamline project selection, and ensure long-term planning for coastal resilience.
Bill status died 3 of 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Feb 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2025
House Passage
Governor
Introduced Feb 13, 2025 Last action Mar 4, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

As Introduced Current version · 4 edits
MODERATE
The bill was amended after passing the Senate to add new members to the Technical Advisory Board, including a Secretary of State representative, university representatives, and legislators. The bill also added a new requirement for the Department of Environmental Quality to report on permit application backlogs and to contract with third parties for permit processing. Additionally, the bill was renumbered and some sections were reorganized.
Scope change
The bill's scope was expanded to include additional stakeholders in the Technical Advisory Board and added new reporting requirements for the Department of Environmental Quality regarding permit processing.
REQUIREMENT

Added new members to the Technical Advisory Board including a Secretary of State representative, representatives from The University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi State University, a nonprofit environmental group representative, a House member, and a Senate member.

Added new duties for the Department of Environmental Quality executive director to report on permit application backlogs, expedited permit pricing, and third-party assistance for permit processing.

Added a new provision requiring the Department of Environmental Quality to contract with third parties for permit review and evaluation, with costs to be paid by the requesting party.

TECHNICAL

Reorganized and renumbered sections of the bill after Senate passage, with some formatting changes and removal of page markers.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2025

How they voted

500
Passed · 1 other
Total votes 51
Feb 12, 2025
D Democratic16
16 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican35
34 Yea 1
97% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
6
Key actions
2
Committee
3
Feb 17, 2025
Committee
Referred To Marine Resources;Accountability, Efficiency, Transparency
lower
Feb 13, 2025
Introduced
Transmitted To House
upper
Feb 12, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Feb 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
upper
Jan 20, 2025
Committee
Referred To Ports and Marine Resources
upper
0 primary · 1 co-sponsor

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.