Florida Senate - 2022                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 198
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì8554903Î855490                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  01/18/2022           .                                
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       The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (Rodriguez)
       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Subsection (17) is added to section 253.03,
    6  Florida Statutes, to read:
    7         253.03 Board of trustees to administer state lands; lands
    8  enumerated.—
    9         (17)The board of trustees may grant easements on
   10  sovereignty submerged lands for mitigation banks that are
   11  permitted under s. 373.4136 to ensure the protection and
   12  restoration of natural resources and to offset the unavoidable
   13  impacts of projects when mitigation banks meet the public
   14  interest criteria under this chapter and chapter 258. This
   15  subsection does not prohibit mitigation to offset impacts to
   16  seagrass or other habitats on sovereignty submerged lands, upon
   17  meeting the public interest criteria under this chapter and
   18  chapter 258.
   19         Section 2. The Department of Environmental Protection shall
   20  adopt and modify rules adopted pursuant to ss. 373.4136 and
   21  373.414, Florida Statutes, to ensure that required financial
   22  assurances are equivalent and sufficient to provide for the
   23  long-term management of mitigation permitted under ss. 373.4136
   24  and 373.414, Florida Statutes. The department, in consultation
   25  with the water management districts, shall include the
   26  rulemaking required by this section in existing active
   27  rulemaking, or shall complete rule development by June 30, 2023.
   28         Section 3. Paragraphs (b) and (s) of subsection (1) of
   29  section 403.813, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   30         403.813 Permits issued at district centers; exceptions.—
   31         (1) A permit is not required under this chapter, chapter
   32  373, chapter 61-691, Laws of Florida, or chapter 25214 or
   33  chapter 25270, 1949, Laws of Florida, and a local government may
   34  not require a person claiming this exception to provide further
   35  department verification, for activities associated with the
   36  following types of projects; however, except as otherwise
   37  provided in this subsection, this subsection does not relieve an
   38  applicant from any requirement to obtain permission to use or
   39  occupy lands owned by the Board of Trustees of the Internal
   40  Improvement Trust Fund or a water management district in its
   41  governmental or proprietary capacity or from complying with
   42  applicable local pollution control programs authorized under
   43  this chapter or other requirements of county and municipal
   44  governments:
   45         (b) The installation and repair of mooring pilings and
   46  dolphins associated with private docking facilities or piers and
   47  the installation of private docks, piers, and recreational
   48  docking facilities, or piers and recreational docking facilities
   49  of local governmental entities when the local governmental
   50  entity’s activities will not take place in any manatee habitat,
   51  any of which docks:
   52         1. Has 500 square feet or less of over-water surface area
   53  for a dock located in an area designated as Outstanding Florida
   54  Waters or 1,000 square feet or less of over-water surface area
   55  for a dock located in an area that is not designated as
   56  Outstanding Florida Waters;
   57         2. Is constructed on or held in place by pilings or is a
   58  floating dock constructed so as not to involve filling or
   59  dredging other than that necessary to install the pilings;
   60         3. May not substantially impede the flow of water or create
   61  a navigational hazard;
   62         4. Is used for recreational, noncommercial activities
   63  associated with the mooring or storage of boats and boat
   64  paraphernalia; and
   65         5. Is the sole dock constructed pursuant to this exemption
   66  as measured along the shoreline for a distance of 65 feet,
   67  unless the parcel of land, recorded easement, or individual lot
   68  as platted is less than 65 feet in length along the shoreline,
   69  in which case one exempt dock may be allowed per parcel,
   70  easement, or lot. Such docks shall be granted authorization for
   71  the use of submerged lands upon approval by the Board of
   72  Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
   73  
   74  This paragraph does not prohibit the department from taking
   75  appropriate enforcement action pursuant to this chapter to abate
   76  or prohibit any activity otherwise exempt from permitting
   77  pursuant to this paragraph if the department can demonstrate
   78  that the exempted activity has caused water pollution in
   79  violation of this chapter.
   80         (s) The construction, installation, operation, or
   81  maintenance of floating vessel platforms or floating boat lifts,
   82  provided that such structures:
   83         1. Float at all times in the water for the sole purpose of
   84  supporting a vessel so that the vessel is out of the water when
   85  not in use;
   86         2. Are wholly contained within a boat slip previously
   87  permitted under ss. 403.91-403.929, 1984 Supplement to the
   88  Florida Statutes 1983, as amended, or part IV of chapter 373, or
   89  do not exceed a combined total of 500 square feet, or 200 square
   90  feet in an Outstanding Florida Water, when associated with a
   91  dock that is exempt under this subsection or associated with a
   92  permitted dock with no defined boat slip or attached to a
   93  bulkhead on a parcel of land where there is no other docking
   94  structure;
   95         3. Are not used for any commercial purpose or for mooring
   96  vessels that remain in the water when not in use, and do not
   97  substantially impede the flow of water, create a navigational
   98  hazard, or unreasonably infringe upon the riparian rights of
   99  adjacent property owners, as defined in s. 253.141;
  100         4. Are constructed and used so as to minimize adverse
  101  impacts to submerged lands, wetlands, shellfish areas, aquatic
  102  plant and animal species, and other biological communities,
  103  including locating such structures in areas where seagrasses are
  104  least dense adjacent to the dock or bulkhead; and
  105         5. Are not constructed in areas specifically prohibited for
  106  boat mooring under conditions of a permit issued in accordance
  107  with ss. 403.91-403.929, 1984 Supplement to the Florida Statutes
  108  1983, as amended, or part IV of chapter 373, or other form of
  109  authorization issued by a local government.
  110  
  111  Structures that qualify for this exemption are relieved from any
  112  requirement to obtain permission to use or occupy lands owned by
  113  the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund
  114  and, with the exception of those structures attached to a
  115  bulkhead on a parcel of land where there is no docking
  116  structure, are may not be subject to any more stringent
  117  permitting requirements, registration requirements, or other
  118  regulation by any local government. Structures associated with a
  119  dock on a parcel of land under subparagraph 2. which comply with
  120  this paragraph create a presumption of compliance with any
  121  requirement to minimize adverse environmental impacts. A local
  122  government governments may require a permit either permitting or
  123  one-time registration of floating vessel platforms to be
  124  attached to a bulkhead on a parcel of land where there is no
  125  other docking structure as necessary to ensure compliance with
  126  local ordinances, codes, or regulations. A local government
  127  governments may require a either permitting or one-time
  128  registration of all other floating vessel platforms only as
  129  necessary to ensure compliance with the exemption criteria in
  130  this section; or to ensure compliance with local electrical or
  131  plumbing ordinances, codes that, or regulations relating to
  132  building or zoning, which are no more stringent than the
  133  exemption criteria in this section or address subjects other
  134  than subjects addressed by the exemption criteria in this
  135  section; and to ensure proper installation, maintenance, and
  136  precautionary or evacuation action following a tropical storm or
  137  hurricane watch of a floating vessel platform or floating boat
  138  lift that is proposed to be attached to a bulkhead or parcel of
  139  land where there is no other docking structure. The exemption
  140  provided in this paragraph is shall be in addition to the
  141  exemption provided in paragraph (b). The department shall adopt
  142  a general permit by rule for the construction, installation,
  143  operation, or maintenance of those floating vessel platforms or
  144  floating boat lifts that do not qualify for the exemption
  145  provided in this paragraph but do not cause significant adverse
  146  impacts to occur individually or cumulatively. The issuance of
  147  such general permit shall also constitutes constitute permission
  148  to use or occupy lands owned by the Board of Trustees of the
  149  Internal Improvement Trust Fund. A local government governments
  150  may not impose a more stringent regulation, permitting
  151  requirement, registration requirement, or other regulation
  152  covered by such general permit. A local government governments
  153  may require either permitting or one-time registration of
  154  floating vessel platforms as necessary to ensure compliance with
  155  the general permit in this section; to ensure compliance with
  156  local ordinances, codes, or regulations relating to building or
  157  zoning that are no more stringent than the general permit in
  158  this section; and to ensure proper installation and maintenance
  159  of a floating vessel platform or floating boat lift that is
  160  proposed to be attached to a bulkhead or parcel of land where
  161  there is no other docking structure. As used in this paragraph,
  162  the term “local government” includes a charter county, a county
  163  that is required to implement a manatee protection plan pursuant
  164  to s. 379.2431(2)(t), or a county or municipality that
  165  establishes and administers a local pollution control program
  166  under s. 403.182.
  167         Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
  168  
  169  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  170  And the title is amended as follows:
  171         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  172  and insert:
  173                        A bill to be entitled                      
  174         An act relating to water resources management;
  175         amending s. 253.03, F.S.; authorizing the Board of
  176         Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to
  177         grant easements on sovereignty submerged lands for
  178         specified mitigation banks under certain conditions;
  179         providing construction; requiring the Department of
  180         Environmental Protection to adopt and modify specified
  181         rules; providing requirements for such rulemaking;
  182         requiring the department, in consultation with the
  183         water management districts, to include such rulemaking
  184         in any active rulemaking process or to complete such
  185         rule development within a specified timeframe;
  186         amending s. 403.813, F.S.; exempting certain docks on
  187         recorded easements from certain permit and
  188         verification requirements; requiring authorization for
  189         certain docks to use submerged lands upon approval of
  190         the board; providing that the compliance of certain
  191         structures associated with a dock on a parcel of land
  192         with certain provisions creates a presumption of
  193         compliance with certain environmental impact
  194         requirements; removing provisions authorizing local
  195         governments to require permits for certain floating
  196         vessel platforms; revising the purposes for which
  197         local governments may require one-time registration of
  198         such platforms; defining the term “local government”;
  199         providing an effective date.