The Florida Senate

¹20.255  Department of Environmental Protection.--There is created a Department of Environmental Protection.

(1)  The head of the Department of Environmental Protection shall be a secretary, who shall be appointed by the Governor, with the concurrence of three or more members of the Cabinet. The secretary shall be confirmed by the Florida Senate. The secretary shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

(2)(a)  There shall be two deputy secretaries and an executive coordinator for ecosystem management who are to be appointed by and shall serve at the pleasure of the secretary. The secretary may assign either deputy secretary the responsibility to supervise, coordinate, and formulate policy for any division, office, or district. The following special offices are established and headed by managers, each of whom is to be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the secretary:

1.  Office of General Counsel,

2.  Office of Inspector General,

3.  Office of Communication, the latter including public information, legislative liaison, cabinet liaison, and special projects,

4.  Office of Water Policy,

5.  Office of Intergovernmental Programs,

6.  Office of Ecosystem Planning and Coordination,

7.  Office of Environmental Education, and an

8.  Office of Greenways and Trails.

(b)  The executive coordinator for ecosystem management shall coordinate policy within the department to assure the implementation of the ecosystem management provisions of chapter 93-213, Laws of Florida. The executive coordinator for ecosystem management shall supervise only the Office of Water Policy, the Office of Intergovernmental Programs, the Office of Ecosystem Planning and Coordination, and the Office of Environmental Education. The executive coordinator for ecosystem management may also be delegated authority by the secretary to act on behalf of the secretary; this authority may include the responsibility to oversee the inland navigation districts.

(c)  The other special offices not supervised by the executive coordinator for ecosystem management shall report to the secretary; however, the secretary may assign them, for daily coordination purposes, to report through a senior manager other than the secretary.

(d)  There shall be six administrative districts involved in regulatory matters of waste management, water facilities, wetlands, and air resources, which shall be headed by managers, each of whom is to be appointed by and serve at the pleasure of the secretary. Divisions of the department may have one assistant or two deputy division directors, as required to facilitate effective operation.

The managers of all divisions and offices specifically named in this section and the directors of the six administrative districts are exempt from part II of chapter 110 and are included in the Senior Management Service in accordance with s. 110.205(2)(i). No other deputy secretaries or senior management positions at or above the division level, except those established in chapter 110, may be created without specific legislative authority.

(3)  All of the existing legal authorities and actions of the Department of Environmental Regulation and the Department of Natural Resources are transferred to the Department of Environmental Protection, including, but not limited to, all pending and completed actions on orders and rules, all enforcement matters, and all delegations, interagency agreements, and contracts with federal, state, regional, and local governments, and private entities.

(4)  The secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection is vested with the authority to take agency action under laws in effect on or before the effective date of this act, including those actions which were within the purview of the Governor and Cabinet. However, the existing functions of the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Siting Board as set forth in part II of chapter 403, reviewing stricter than federal standards of the Environmental Regulatory Commission as set forth in s. 403.804, siting a multipurpose hazardous waste facility as set forth in part IV of chapter 403, or certifying an industrial project as set forth in part IV of chapter 288, shall not be transferred to the Secretary of Environmental Protection, and nothing herein shall be construed to change any such function of the Governor and Cabinet.

(5)  Except for those orders reviewable as provided in s. 373.4275, the Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, has the exclusive authority to review any order or rule of the department which, prior to July 1, 1994, the Governor and Cabinet, as head of the Department of Natural Resources, had authority to issue or promulgate, other than a rule or order relating to an internal procedure of the department.

(a)  Such review may be initiated by a party to the proceeding by filing a request for review with the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission and serving a copy on the department and on any person named in the rule or order within 20 days after adoption of the rule or the rendering of the order. Where a proceeding on an order has been initiated pursuant to ss. 120.569 and 120.57, such review shall be initiated within 20 days after the department has taken final agency action in the proceeding. The request for review may be accepted by any member of the commission. For the purposes of this section, the term "party" shall mean any affected person who submitted oral or written testimony, sworn or unsworn, to the department of a substantive nature which stated, with particularity, objections to or support for the rule or order that are cognizable within the scope of the provisions and purposes of the applicable statutory provisions, or any person who participated as a party in a proceeding instituted pursuant to chapter 120.

(b)  Review by the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission is appellate in nature and shall be based on the record below. The matter shall be heard by the commission not more than 60 days after receipt of the request for review.

(c)  If the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission determines that a rule or order is not consistent with the provisions and purposes of this chapter, it may, in the case of a rule, require the department to initiate rulemaking proceedings to amend or repeal the rule or, in the case of an order, rescind or modify the order or remand the proceeding to the department for further action consistent with the order of the Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission.

(d)  A request for review under this section shall not be a precondition to the seeking of judicial review pursuant to s. 120.68, or the seeking of an administrative determination of rule validity pursuant to s. 120.56.

The Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission may adopt rules setting forth its procedures for reviewing orders or rules of the department consistent with the provisions of this section.

(6)  The following divisions of the Department of Environmental Protection are established:

(a)  Division of Administrative and Technical Services.

(b)  Division of Air Resource Management.

(c)  Division of Water Resource Management.

(d)  Division of Law Enforcement.

(e)  Division of Resource Assessment and Management.

(f)  Division of Waste Management.

(g)  Division of Recreation and Parks.

(h)  Division of State Lands, the director of which is to be appointed by the secretary of the department, subject to confirmation by the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund.

In order to ensure statewide and intradepartmental consistency, the department's divisions shall direct the district offices and bureaus on matters of interpretation and applicability of the department's rules and programs.

(7)  Law enforcement officers of the Department of Environmental Protection who meet the provisions of s. 943.13 are constituted law enforcement officers of this state with full power to investigate and arrest for any violation of the laws of this state, and the rules of the department and the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. The general laws applicable to investigations, searches, and arrests by peace officers of this state apply to such law enforcement officers.

(8)  Records and documents of the Department of Environmental Protection shall be retained by the department as specified in record retention schedules established under the general provisions of chapters 119 and 257. Further, the department is authorized to:

(a)  Destroy, or otherwise dispose of, those records and documents in conformity with the approved retention schedules.

(b)  Photograph, microphotograph, or reproduce such records and documents on film, as authorized and directed by the approved retention schedules, whereby each page will be exposed in exact conformity with the original records and documents retained in compliance with the provisions of this section. Photographs or microphotographs in the form of film or print of any records, made in compliance with the provisions of this section, shall have the same force and effect as the originals thereof would have and shall be treated as originals for the purpose of their admissibility in evidence. Duly certified or authenticated reproductions of such photographs or microphotographs shall be admitted in evidence equally with the original photographs or microphotographs. The impression of the seal of the Department of Environmental Protection on a certificate made by the department and signed by the Secretary of Environmental Protection entitles the certificate to be received in all courts and in all proceedings in this state and is prima facie evidence of all factual matters set forth in the certificate. A certificate may relate to one or more records as set forth in the certificate or in a schedule attached to the certificate.

(9)  The Department of Environmental Protection may require that bond be given by any employee of the department, payable to the Governor of the state and the Governor's successor in office, for the use and benefit of those whom it concerns, in such penal sums and with such good and sufficient surety or sureties as are approved by the department, conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of the employee.

(10)  There is created as a part of the Department of Environmental Protection an Environmental Regulation Commission. The commission shall be composed of seven residents of this state appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The commission shall include one, but not more than two, members from each water management district who have resided in the district for at least 1 year, and the remainder shall be selected from the state at large. Membership shall be representative of agriculture, the development industry, local government, the environmental community, lay citizens, and members of the scientific and technical community who have substantial expertise in the areas of the fate and transport of water pollutants, toxicology, epidemiology, geology, biology, environmental sciences, or engineering. The Governor shall appoint the chair, and the vice chair shall be elected from among the membership. The members serving on the commission on July 1, 1995, shall continue to serve on the commission for the remainder of their current terms. All appointments thereafter shall continue to be for 4-year terms. The Governor may at any time fill a vacancy for the unexpired term. The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be paid travel and per diem as provided in s. 112.061 while in the performance of their official duties. Administrative, personnel, and other support services necessary for the commission shall be furnished by the department.

History.--ss. 3, 4, ch. 93-213; ss. 1, 5, ch. 94-356; s. 1319, ch. 95-147; s. 1, ch. 95-295; s. 3, ch. 96-410; s. 21, ch. 97-95; s. 1, ch. 98-146; s. 8, ch. 99-245.

¹Note.--

A.  Section 4, ch. 99-245, provides that:

"(1)  The Bureau of Environmental Law Enforcement, the Bureau of Administrative Support, the Bureau of Operational Support, and the Office of Enforcement Planning and Policy Coordination within the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Protection, together with the positions assigned to these specified bureaus and offices as of February 1, 1999, are transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06(2), Florida Statutes, except for:

"(a)  Any administrative and technical positions and equipment within the Bureau of Administrative Support and the Bureau of Operational Support providing support services to the Bureau of Emergency Response, the Florida Park Patrol, and the Office of Environmental Investigations within the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Protection as of February 1, 1999;

"(b)  Any sworn positions classified as Investigator I or Investigator II positions within the different program components of the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Protection as of February 1, 1999.

"(c)  Any sworn positions assigned to the Office of the Director of the Division of Law Enforcement as of February 1, 1999; and

"(d)  All sworn positions assigned to the Florida Park Patrol within the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Protection as of February 1, 1999.

"(2)  The sworn positions assigned to the Uniform Patrol, Inspections, Aviation and Boating Safety program components of the Division of Law Enforcement at the Department of Environmental Protection as of February 1, 1999, are assigned to the Division of Law Enforcement at the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

"(3)  No duties or responsibilities relating to boating safety shall remain in the Department of Environmental Protection."

"B.  Section 5, ch. 99-245, provides that:

"(1)  The Division of Marine Resources at the Department of Environmental Protection, together with the positions assigned to the division as of February 1, 1999, are transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by a type two transfer, as defined in s. 20.06(2), Florida Statutes, except for:

"(a)  The Bureau of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas which is assigned to the Division of State Lands at the Department of Environmental Protection; and

"(b)  Positions assigned to the Office of the Division Director as of February 1, 1999, and not performing angler outreach and education duties.

"(2)  The Office of Fisheries Management and Assistance Services, and positions assigned to angler outreach and education duties within the Division of Marine Resources at the Department of Environmental Protection are assigned to the Division of Marine Fisheries at the commission.

"(3)  The Florida Marine Research Institute at the Department of Environmental Protection is established as a separate budget entity within the commission, and is assigned to the Office of the Executive Director for administrative purposes.

"(4)  The Bureau of Protected Species Management at the Department of Environmental Protection is assigned as a bureau to the Office of Environmental Services within the commission."

C.  Section 6, ch. 99-245, provides that "[w]ithin the Department of Environmental Protection, the Office of Environmental Investigations, the Florida Park Patrol, and the Bureau of Emergency Response are assigned to the Division of Law Enforcement."