The Florida Senate

373.441  Role of counties, municipalities, and local pollution control programs in permit processing.--

(1)  The department in consultation with the water management districts shall, by December 1, 1994, adopt rules to guide the participation of counties, municipalities, and local pollution control programs in an efficient, streamlined permitting system. Such rules shall seek to increase governmental efficiency, shall maintain environmental standards, and shall include consideration of the following:

(a)  Provisions under which the environmental resource permit program shall be delegated, upon approval of the department and the appropriate water management districts, to a county, municipality, or local pollution control program which has the financial, technical, and administrative capabilities and desire to implement and enforce the program;

(b)  Provisions under which a locally delegated permit program may have stricter environmental standards than state standards;

(c)  Provisions for identifying and reconciling any duplicative permitting by January 1, 1995;

(d)  Provisions for timely and cost-efficient notification by the reviewing agency of permit applications, and permit requirements, to counties, municipalities, local pollution control programs, the department, or water management districts, as appropriate;

(e)  Provisions for ensuring the consistency of permit applications with local comprehensive plans;

(f)  Provisions for the partial delegation of the environmental resource permit program to counties, municipalities, or local pollution control programs, and standards and criteria to be employed in the implementation of such delegation by counties, municipalities, and local pollution control programs;

(g)  Special provisions under which the environmental resource permit program may be delegated to counties with populations of 75,000 or less, or municipalities with, or local pollution control programs serving, populations of 50,000 or less; and

(h)  Provisions for the applicability of chapter 120 to local government programs when the environmental resource permit program is delegated to counties, municipalities, or local pollution control programs.

(2)  Nothing in this section affects or modifies land development regulations adopted by a local government to implement its comprehensive plan pursuant to chapter 163.

(3)  The department shall review environmental resource permit applications for electrical distribution and transmission lines and other facilities related to the production, transmission, and distribution of electricity which are not certified under ss. 403.52-403.5365, the Florida Electric Transmission Line Siting Act, regulated under this part.

History.--s. 34, ch. 93-213; s. 17, ch. 94-122; s. 33, ch. 95-146; s. 13, ch. 98-258; s. 67, ch. 2006-230.