The Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control was the state of Florida's first agency devoted strictly to environmental quality. It was created under the authority of Florida Statute 69-109 during the administration of Governor

Claude Kirk Claude Roy Kirk Jr. (January 7, 1926 – September 28, 2011) was the 36th governor of the U.S. state of Florida (1967–1971). He was the first Republican governor of Florida since Reconstruction. Early life Kirk was born in San Bernardino, Ca ...

, in 1969. The agency's name was changed to the Florida Department of Pollution Control in 1971. This agency was merged with part of the

Florida Department of Health The Florida Department of Health is responsible for protecting the public health and safety of the residents and visitors of the state of Florida. It is a cabinet-level agency of the state government, headed by a state surgeon general who reports ...

several years later, to form the

Florida Department of Environmental Regulation The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (DER) was the agency which, from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, handled regulation, management, conservation, compliance and enforcement of a wide range of environmental and natural resource activ ...

.State Archives of Florida Online
/ref>

References

Environment of Florida State agencies of Florida {{Florida-stub