House Bill 2067c1

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    Florida House of Representatives - 1999             CS/HB 2067

        By the Committees on General Government Appropriations,
    Water & Resource Management and Representatives Alexander,
    Boyd, Maygarden, Peaden, Melvin, J. Miller, Kilmer, Bense,
    Betancourt, Brummer, Kelly, Waters, Merchant, Cantens, K.
    Smith and Ogles


  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to water resource management;

  3         amending s. 373.4145, F.S.; postponing

  4         scheduled July 1, 1999, repeal of certain

  5         provisions of the interim wetlands permitting

  6         program for the Northwest Florida Water

  7         Management District; directing the Northwest

  8         Florida Water Management District and the

  9         Department of Environmental Protection to

10         develop a plan to implement an environmental

11         resource permitting program within the

12         jurisdiction of the district by a specified

13         date; requiring reports to the Legislature on

14         the progress of the planning efforts; providing

15         that certain jurisdictional declaratory

16         statements shall not expire until a specified

17         date; amending s. 252.937, F.S.; renaming the

18         Division of Water Facilities of the department

19         as the Division of Water Resource Management;

20         amending ss. 378.901 and 403.021, F.S.;

21         deleting references to the Division of

22         Environmental Resource Permitting; amending s.

23         86 of ch. 93-213, Laws of Florida; eliminating

24         repayment of funds appropriated for

25         administering the state NPDES program;

26         requiring reinstitution of certain suspended

27         payments in lieu of taxes; providing an

28         effective date.

29

30  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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  1         Section 1.  Subsection (6) of section 373.4145, Florida

  2  Statutes, is amended and subsection (7) is added to said

  3  section, to read:

  4         373.4145  Interim part IV permitting program for the

  5  Northwest Florida Water Management District.--

  6         (6)  Subsections (1), (2), (3), and (4) shall be

  7  repealed effective July 1, 2003 1999.

  8         (7)(a)  The department and the Northwest Florida Water

  9  Management District are directed to begin developing a plan by

10  which the permitting for activities proposed in surface waters

11  and wetlands shall fully comply with the provisions of part IV

12  of chapter 373, beginning July 1, 2003. The plan also shall

13  address the division of environmental resource permitting

14  responsibilities between the department and the Northwest

15  Florida Water Management District; the methodology of

16  delineating wetlands in the Northwest Florida Water Management

17  District; authority of the Northwest Florida Water Management

18  District to implement federal permitting programs related to

19  activities in surface waters and wetlands; and the chapter 70

20  implications of implementing the provisions of part IV of

21  chapter 373 within the jurisdiction of the Northwest Florida

22  Water Management District.

23         (b)  The department and Northwest Florida Water

24  Management District shall jointly prepare an interim report on

25  their progress in developing the aforementioned plan, to be

26  presented March 1, 2001 to the Governor, the President of the

27  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the

28  chairs of the relevant substantive and fiscal committees. The

29  department and district shall present a final report on March

30  1, 2003.

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  1         (c)  Any jurisdictional declaratory statement issued

  2  for a project within the geographic jurisdiction of the

  3  Northwest Florida Water Management District that is valid on

  4  July 1, 1999, and for which there has been issued a permit

  5  pursuant to chapters 403 and 373 for a phase of that project

  6  and which identified proposed future development, including

  7  mitigation, that would require an additional permit pursuant

  8  to chapters 403 and 373 shall not expire until January 1,

  9  2002.

10         Section 2.  Subsection (2) of section 252.937, Florida

11  Statutes, 1998 Supplement, is amended to read:

12         252.937  Department powers and duties.--

13         (2)  To ensure that this program is self-supporting,

14  the department shall provide administrative support, including

15  staff, facilities, materials, and services to implement this

16  part for specified stationary sources subject to s. 252.939

17  and shall provide necessary funding to local emergency

18  planning committees and county emergency management agencies

19  for work performed to implement this part. Each state agency

20  with regulatory, inspection, or technical assistance programs

21  for specified stationary sources subject to this part shall

22  enter into a memorandum of understanding with the department

23  which specifically outlines how each agency's staff,

24  facilities, materials, and services will be utilized to

25  support implementation. At a minimum, these agencies and

26  programs include:  the Department of Environmental

27  Protection's Division of Air Resources Management and Division

28  of Water Resource Management Facilities, and the Department of

29  Labor and Employment Security's Division of Safety. It is the

30  Legislature's intent to implement this part as efficiently and

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  1  economically as possible, using existing expertise and

  2  resources, if available and appropriate.

  3         Section 3.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section

  4  378.901, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         378.901  Life-of-the-mine permit.--

  6         (1)  As used in this section, the term:

  7         (a)  "Bureau" means the Bureau of Mine Reclamation of

  8  the Division of Water Resource Management Environmental

  9  Resource Permitting of the Department of Environmental

10  Protection.

11         Section 4.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (9) of section

12  403.021, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

13         403.021  Legislative declaration; public policy.--

14         (9)(a)  The Legislature finds and declares that it is

15  essential to preserve and maintain authorized water depth in

16  the existing navigation channels, port harbors, turning

17  basins, and harbor berths of this state in order to provide

18  for the continued safe navigation of deepwater shipping

19  commerce.  The department shall recognize that maintenance of

20  authorized water depths consistent with port master plans

21  developed pursuant to s. 163.3178(2)(k) is an ongoing,

22  continuous, beneficial, and necessary activity that is in the

23  public interest; and it shall develop a regulatory process

24  that shall enable the ports of this state to conduct such

25  activities in an environmentally sound, safe, expeditious, and

26  cost-efficient manner.  It is the further intent of the

27  Legislature that the permitting and enforcement of dredging,

28  dredged-material management, and other related activities for

29  Florida's deepwater ports pursuant to this chapter and

30  chapters 161, 253, and 373 shall be consolidated within the

31  department's Division of Water Resource Management

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  1  Environmental Resource Permitting and, with the concurrence of

  2  the affected deepwater port or ports, may be administered by a

  3  district office of the department or delegated to an approved

  4  local environmental program.

  5         Section 5.  Section 86 of chapter 93-213, Laws of

  6  Florida, is amended to read:

  7         Section 86.  The Department of Environmental Regulation

  8  is authorized 54 career service positions for administering

  9  the state NPDES program. Twenty-five career service positions

10  are authorized for startup of the program beginning July 1,

11  1993, and the remaining 29 career service positions beginning

12  January 1, 1994.  The state NPDES program staffing shall start

13  July 1, 1993, with completion targeted for 6 months following

14  United States Environmental Protection Agency authorization to

15  administer the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System

16  program.  Implementation of positions is subject to review and

17  final approval by the secretary of the Department of

18  Environmental Regulation.  The sum of $3.2 million is hereby

19  appropriated from the Pollution Recovery Trust Fund to cover

20  program startup costs.  Such funds are to be repaid from a

21  fund the Legislature deems appropriate, no later than July 1,

22  2000.

23         Section 6.  If the Department of Environmental

24  Protection or a water management district has made a payment

25  in lieu of taxes to a governmental entity and subsequently

26  suspended such payment, the department or water management

27  district shall reinstitute appropriate payments and continue

28  the payments in consecutive years until the governmental

29  entity has received a total of 10 payments for each tax loss.

30         Section 7.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

31  law.

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