Sanctuary rules in the Florida Keys
NOAA's Restoration Blueprint final rule for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary published on 17 January 2025, and the anchoring prohibition in sanctuary preservation areas does not take effect until 2027.
What is documented, and what is not
The final rule for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary was published on 17 January 2025 at 90 FR 6104. Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act the designation and regulations take effect after a review period of forty-five days of continuous session of Congress, counted from the day of publication, and the rule says NOAA will publish an announcement of the effective date in the Federal Register.
That announcement was not found when this page was written. So this page gives no date on which the regulations began — not because the question is uninteresting, but because an invented date would be worse than an open one.
The parts with a date
Five numbered sections are delayed by the rule itself until 19 January 2027: 922.163(a)(5)(x) and 922.164(e)(3), (f)(2), (g)(1) and (h)(1). The second of those is the anchoring prohibition in sanctuary preservation areas, and NOAA’s own regulations page says the same thing in plain words — the prohibition will not take effect until 2027.
For a boat planning a reef stop this winter, that is the one line with a hard edge in it. Where a mooring buoy is there, it is the reason the buoy exists.
State waters
About the state’s share of the sanctuary the rule describes a mechanism and nothing more: if the Governor of Florida certifies to the Secretary of Commerce within the review period that a regulation is unacceptable, that regulation will not take effect in state waters of the sanctuary. Whether a certification was made is not reported in the rule, and none of NOAA’s pages read for this page reports one either.
You will find the claim that the rules are blocked in state waters, and the claim that the older regulations continue there. Neither is in a source we could read, so neither is here.
What else applies in the same water
Florida’s own anchoring sections do not stop at the sanctuary boundary: the distances from marinas, ramps and mooring fields apply, and the anchoring limitation areas section has a subsection written for Monroe County. What may go over the side is a third page again — the final rule read here does not set it.
Worth knowing
- No effective date is announced on this page. The rule says NOAA will publish an announcement of the effective date of the final regulations in the Federal Register. That announcement was not found when this page was written, so no date on which the regulations began is given here.15 CFR 922
- Five sections are delayed by name. The rule delays the effective date of 922.163(a)(5)(x) and 922.164(e)(3), (f)(2), (g)(1) and (h)(1) until 19 January 2027. One of them, 922.164(e)(3), is the anchoring prohibition in sanctuary preservation areas.15 CFR 922
- The state-waters veto is a procedure, not a reported event. If the Governor of Florida certifies to the Secretary of Commerce within the review period that a regulation is unacceptable, that regulation will not take effect in state waters of the sanctuary. Whether any such certification was made is not stated in the documents read for this page, and this page does not assume it either way.15 CFR 922
- NOAA's own page puts the anchoring prohibition at 2027. The sanctuary's regulations page lists anchoring among the prohibitions in sanctuary preservation areas and notes that this prohibition will not take effect until 2027.15 CFR 922.164
- State anchoring law applies in the same water. The sanctuary rules sit on top of Florida's own: the distances measured from marinas and mooring fields do not change inside the sanctuary.15 CFR 922 Where you may not anchor
- So does the anchoring limitation areas section. It has a subsection written for Monroe County, which asks a vessel anchored within a set distance of a public mooring field or a designated anchoring area to pull anchor and change place at intervals.15 CFR 922 Anchoring limitation areas at night
- Discharge is covered on its own page. What may go over the side in the sanctuary's waters is not in the final rule read here; Florida's marine sanitation section and the designated no-discharge zones have a page of their own in this guide.15 CFR 922 No-discharge zones and holding tanks
Where the rules differ by county
| County | What applies on top |
|---|---|
| Monroe (Keys) | Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act the designation and regulations take effect after a review period of forty-five days of continuous session of Congress beginning 17 January 2025; a regulation the Governor of Florida certifies as unacceptable within that period does not take effect in state waters of the sanctuary. |
What changed on this rule
- 17 Jan 2025FR 2025-00496 · 90 FR 6104Restoration Blueprint final rule publishedpartly in force
NOAA published the final rule for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary on 17 January 2025. Under section 304(b) of the National Marine Sanctuaries Act the regulations take effect "after the close of a review period of forty-five days of continuous session of Congress" beginning that day, and NOAA said it would publish an announcement of the effective date in the Federal Register. A regulation the Governor of Florida certifies as unacceptable within that period "will not take effect in State waters" of the sanctuary. The rule separately delays sections 922.163(a)(5)(x) and 922.164(e)(3), (f)(2), (g)(1) and (h)(1) until 19 January 2027.
Federal rule
Questions
Is the Restoration Blueprint in force?
Partly, and this page cannot say more than that. The final rule published on 17 January 2025 takes effect after a review period of forty-five days of continuous session of Congress, and NOAA said it would announce the effective date in the Federal Register; that announcement was not found. Five numbered sections are delayed until 19 January 2027 in any case.
May I anchor in a sanctuary preservation area?
NOAA's regulations page lists anchoring among the prohibitions in sanctuary preservation areas and says that this prohibition will not take effect until 2027. What applies at a particular reef today is a question for NOAA and for the mooring buoy you find there — not something this page answers.
Do the new rules apply in state waters?
The mechanism is written down: a regulation the Governor of Florida certifies to the Secretary of Commerce as unacceptable within the review period does not take effect in state waters of the sanctuary. Whether that happened is not in any document read for this page, so the page says the procedure and stops.
What about the seagrass and coral rules I have read about?
The current text of 15 CFR 922 could not be read when this page was written — the federal code site was not reachable. What is carried here comes from the final rule as published and from NOAA's own regulations page, and nothing has been filled in around it.
Sources & checks
- Federal Register 90 FR 6104 (17 January 2025), FR Doc. 2025-00496 – Regulations for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Management Review: Blueprint for Restoration · 17 Jan 2025
- NOAA – Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Regulations · 21 Oct 2026
- NOAA – Restoration Blueprint FAQs · 21 Oct 2026