The Florida Department of Air and Water Pollution Control was the state of Florida's

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 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, 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

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 to the Governor...

 several years later, to form the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation

Florida Department of Environmental Regulation

Florida Department of Environmental Regulation 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 activities in the state of Florida, USA...

.