Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 2016
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 921184                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  03/31/2009           .                                
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       The Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation
       (Detert) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment 
    2  
    3         Delete lines 107 - 211
    4  and insert:
    5  Act of 1899. This subsection does not prevent the department or
    6  water management districts from pursuing and implementing a
    7  state programmatic permit for projects that have greater than 5
    8  acres of wetlands or other surface waters. The department is
    9  directed to file with the Speaker of the House of
   10  Representatives and the President of the Senate a report
   11  proposing any required federal and state statutory changes that
   12  would be necessary to accomplish the directives listed in this
   13  section and to coordinate with the Florida Congressional
   14  Delegation on any necessary changes to federal law to implement
   15  the directives.
   16         (3) Nothing in This section does not shall be construed to
   17  preclude the department from pursuing a series of regional
   18  general permits for construction activities in wetlands or
   19  surface waters or the complete assumption of federal permitting
   20  programs regulating the discharge of dredged or fill material
   21  pursuant to s. 404 of the Clean Water Act, Pub. L. No. 92-500,
   22  as amended, 33 U.S.C. ss. 1251 et seq., and s. 10 of the Rivers
   23  and Harbors Act of 1899, so long as the assumption encompasses
   24  all dredge and fill activities in, on, or over jurisdictional
   25  wetlands or waters, including navigable waters, within the
   26  state.
   27         (4)(a)In order to assist in facilitating the objectives of
   28  this section and to promote consistency between federal and
   29  state mitigation requirements, the department and water
   30  management districts shall compare their rules regarding
   31  mitigation for adverse impacts to the mitigation rules of the
   32  United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Environmental
   33  Protection Agency in 73 Federal Register, pages 19594-19705
   34  (2008). The comparison shall be done in consultation with
   35  appropriate representatives of the United States Army Corps of
   36  Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency. After
   37  performing the comparison, the department and water management
   38  districts shall:
   39         1.Identify any inconsistent or contradictory provisions;
   40  and
   41         2.Recommend appropriate revisions to the rules of the
   42  department or water management districts to reduce inconsistent
   43  or contradictory requirements in such a manner that will not
   44  lessen environmental protection. The recommendations shall
   45  include a consideration for increasing the geographic size of
   46  drainage basins and regional watersheds to facilitate or reflect
   47  a watershed approach to mitigation.
   48         (b)The department and water management districts shall
   49  submit a consolidated report regarding the requirements of this
   50  subsection to the Governor, the Chair of the Senate
   51  Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee, and the
   52  Chair of the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy
   53  Committee by January 1, 2010. If the department and water
   54  management districts believe any conflicting state law prevents
   55  them from amending their rules to achieve the objectives of this
   56  subsection, the report must identify such law and explain why it
   57  prevents a rule amendment to achieve the objectives of this
   58  subsection.
   59         Section 2. Subsection (19) of section 373.4211, Florida
   60  Statutes, is amended to read:
   61         373.4211 Ratification of chapter 17-340, Florida
   62  Administrative Code, on the delineation of the landward extent
   63  of wetlands and surface waters.—Pursuant to s. 373.421, the
   64  Legislature ratifies chapter 17-340, Florida Administrative
   65  Code, approved on January 13, 1994, by the Environmental
   66  Regulation Commission, with the following changes:
   67         (19)(a) Rule 17-340.450(3) is amended by adding, after the
   68  species list, the following language:
   69         “Within Monroe County and the Key Largo portion of Miami
   70  Dade County only, the following species shall be listed as
   71  facultative: Alternanthera paronychioides, Byrsonima lucida,
   72  Ernodea littoralis, Guapira discolor, Marnilkara bahamensis,
   73  Pisonis rotundata, Pithecellobium keyensis, Pithecellobium
   74  unquis-cati, Randia aculeata, Reynosia septentrionalis, and
   75  Thrinax radiata.”
   76         (b)Pursuant to s. 373.421 and subject to the conditions
   77  described in this paragraph, the Legislature ratifies the
   78  changes to rule 62-340.450(3), Florida Administrative Code,
   79  approved on February 23, 2006, by the Environmental Regulation
   80  Commission which added slash pine (pinus elliottii) and
   81  gallberry (ilex glabra) to the list of facultative plants.
   82  However, this ratification and the rule revision will not take
   83  effect until a voluntary state programmatic general permit for
   84  all dredge and fill activities affecting up to 5 acres or more
   85  of wetlands or other surface waters is implemented as provided
   86  in s. 373.4144(2).
   87         (c)Unless the holder of a valid permit elects to use the
   88  delineation line as amended to add slash pine (pinus elliottii)
   89  and gallberry (ilex glabra) to the list of facultative plants,
   90  the surface water and wetland delineations identified and
   91  approved by a permit issued under rules adopted under this part
   92  before July 1, 2009, remain valid until expiration of the
   93  permit, notwithstanding the changes to rule 62-340.450(3),
   94  Florida Administrative Code, as described in this subsection.
   95  For purposes of this paragraph, the term “identified and
   96  approved” means:
   97         1.The delineation was field-verified by the permitting
   98  agency and such verification was surveyed as part of the
   99  application review process for the permit; or
  100         2.The delineation was field-verified by the permitting
  101  agency and approved pursuant to the permit.
  102  
  103  Where surface water and wetland delineations were not identified
  104  and approved pursuant to the permit issued under rules adopted
  105  under this part, delineations within the geographical area to
  106  which the permit applies shall be determined pursuant to the
  107  rules applicable at the time the permit was issued,
  108  notwithstanding the changes to rule 62-340.450(3), Florida
  109  Administrative Code, as described in this subsection. This
  110  paragraph also applies to any modification of the permit issued
  111  under rules adopted pursuant to this part which does not
  112  constitute a substantial modification within the geographical
  113  area to which the permit applies.
  114         (d)Unless the petitioner elects to use the delineation
  115  line as amended to add slash pine (pinus elliottii) and
  116  gallberry (ilex glabra) to the list of facultative plants, any
  117  declaratory statement issued by the department