Mining and Mitigation Program

The Mining and Mitigation Program of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regulates mining in Florida. Its staff review Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) applications and reclamation plans for mines, and handle permitting, compliance, inspection and enforcement at mine sites. It administers the mandatory reclamation program under Chapter 378, Florida Statutes, for all mines and borrow pits. DEP says the resources mined in Florida include phosphate, limestone, dolomite, shell, heavy minerals, fuller's earth, peat, clay, gravel and sand.

In a Phase I ESA

ASTM E1527-21 does not name mining records among its standard record sources. On land in Florida's mining districts the question is whether the property was mined, when, and what was left there. DEP describes how phosphate mining leaves clay in large impoundments known as clay settling areas, where the clay remains, and sand pumped back into mined areas for reclamation.

• DEP has a lookup for phosphate. Its Phosphate page offers a mapping tool: enter an address, and an icon appears against known phosphate mining layers. DEP says that if the icon falls on a mining layer, available records indicate mining did occur there, and if it does not, it is likely, though not certain, that the property was not mined for phosphate. Where records exist, the tool may show the approximate period of mining and whether the mine was part of the Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Program.
• Early mining is thinly recorded. DEP says phosphate mining after the 1940s is generally well documented in Central Florida and Hamilton County, that records from 1975 onward are even more reliable, and that earlier mining, especially before the 1940s, was often undocumented and may not appear in the datasets. Treat a blank result as weaker evidence where the land could have been mined early.
• 1975 divides the record. Reclamation of mined land was not required before 1975. DEP calls land mined for phosphate before July 1, 1975 "nonmandatory" land, and land mined during or after 1975 that must be reclaimed "mandatory" land. Phosphate mine operators must give DEP a conceptual reclamation plan.
• The pre-1975 lands were inventoried. DEP's Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Program says the lands disturbed by phosphate rock removal before July 1, 1975 (149,130 acres) were identified in a 1978 report and divided into 748 parcels, each classed as mined out, clay settling area, sand tailings, hydraulically mined, or other. A total of 222 parcels were left out of the evaluation, for reasons including land already reclaimed, land in economic use, and owners who declined. The program's reports include an inventory of each parcel and its eligibility status. DEP says no new applications are being accepted, and that numerous acres in several program areas were re-mined and so became mandatory programs.
• Where phosphate is mined. DEP says phosphate mining began in Florida in 1883 near Hawthorne in Alachua County, with hard-rock phosphate mined from Alachua to Citrus counties, and that today it occurs primarily in Polk, Hillsborough, Manatee and Hardee counties, with one mine in Hamilton County. It counts 28 phosphate mines covering more than 450,000 acres.
• Fertilizer plants are not this program's. The chemical processing of phosphate is done at separate facilities that the Mining and Mitigation Program does not regulate. DEP's Phosphate Management Program regulates the phosphogypsum stack systems associated with the chemical plants that process phosphate ore into fertilizer products, with the goal of proper closure and long-term monitoring and maintenance of the systems that have shut down or are otherwise required by rule to be closed.
• Some borrow pits are permitted elsewhere. ERPs for borrow pits with no on-site sorting, washing or grading are issued by the water management districts; the program processes those with on-site sorting, washing or grading. For a pit without them, ask the water management district for its permit.

Where to look a site up

• The phosphate Web Map, linked from DEP's Phosphate page. DEP says to create a DEP Hub Community account to access it.
• The full-page map of all Florida mines, linked from the program's page, and the Phosphate Mining Boundaries map.
• The Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Program page, which links a map of the nonmandatory phosphate parcels, downloadable parcel data, and a combined copy of the reclamation reports.
• A list of applications for permits and conceptual reclamation plans under review, which gives the application number to use in a records request.
• The program is at MiningAndMitigation@FloridaDEP.gov or 850-245-8336.

Getting the file

DEP says public records on permit applications, conceptual reclamation plans, reports and inspections can be had through the DEP Information Portal or OCULUS, with the Public Oculus Login button and no password, or by contacting the program. Its Mining FAQs say copies of permits for an existing mine are online through the same two routes. DEP's paper records route and fees are on the Public records and OCULUS page.

Sources

Florida Department of Environmental Protection pages, read October 15, 2026:

• Mining and Mitigation Program, no modified date shown.
• Mining FAQs, last modified August 14, 2025.
• Phosphate, last modified September 11, 2026.
• Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Program, no modified date shown.
• Phosphate Management Program, no modified date shown.