HB 0867 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to phosphate mining; amending s. 378.021,
3	F.S.; authorizing the Department of Environmental
4	Protection to amend the master reclamation plan for
5	nonmandatory reclamation lands; providing additional
6	criteria to be considered when identifying lands mined or
7	disturbed by the severance of phosphate rock; amending s.
8	378.031, F.S.; revising legislative intent to provide
9	economic incentives for nonmandatory land reclamation to
10	include reclaimed lands that provide benefits to certain
11	surface water bodies; amending s. 378.033, F.S.; providing
12	additional responsibilities for the Nonmandatory Land
13	Reclamation Committee; increasing the size of the
14	committee; amending s. 378.207, F.S.; revising the
15	statewide criteria and standards for reclamation
16	activities on mandatory reclamation lands; providing an
17	effective date.
18
19	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21	Section 1. Section 378.021, Florida Statutes, is amended
22	to read:
23	378.021 Master reclamation plan.--
24	(1) The Department of Environmental ProtectionNatural
25	Resources shall amend theadopt by rule, as expeditiously as
26	possible upon receipt of the report of the Land Use Advisory
27	Committee, a master reclamation plan that providesto provide
28	guidelines for the reclamation of lands mined or disturbed by
29	the severance of phosphate rock prior to July 1, 1975, which
30	lands are not subject to mandatory reclamation under part II of
31	chapter 211. In amending thedeveloping saidmaster reclamation
32	plan, the Department of Environmental ProtectionNatural
33	Resources shall continue toconduct an onsite evaluation of all
34	lands mined or disturbed by the severance of phosphate rock
35	prior to July 1, 1975, which lands are not subject to mandatory
36	reclamation under part II of chapter 211, and shall consider the
37	report and plan prepared by the Land Use Advisory Committee
38	under s. 378.011 and submitted to the former Department of
39	Natural Resources for adoption by rule on or before July 1,
40	1979. The master reclamation plan when amendedadoptedby the
41	Department of Environmental ProtectionNatural Resourcesshall
42	be consistent with local government plans prepared pursuant to
43	the Local Government Comprehensive Planning and Land Development
44	Regulation Act.
45	(2) The amendedmaster reclamation plan shall identify
46	which of the lands mined or disturbed by the severance of
47	phosphate rock prior to July 1, 1975, meet the following
48	criteria:
49	(a) The quality of surface waters leaving the land does
50	not meet applicable water quality standards, if any; or, health
51	and safety hazards exist on the land; or, the soil has not
52	stabilized and revegetated; or, the remaining natural resources
53	associated with the land are not being conserved;
54	(b) The environmental or economic utility or aesthetic
55	value of the land would not naturally return within a reasonable
56	time, and reclamation would substantially promote the
57	environmental or economic utility or the aesthetic value of the
58	land; and
59	(c) The reclamation of the land is in the public interest
60	because the reclamation, when combined with other reclamation
61	under the master plan, would provide a substantial regional
62	benefit; and
63	(d) The reclamation of the land is in the public interest
64	because the reclamation, when combined with other reclamation
65	under the master plan, will provide significant benefits to
66	surface water bodies supplying water for environmental and
67	public purposes in those areas of the state where phosphate
68	mining has been permitted.
69	(3) Lands evaluated by the department under subsection (1)
70	which meet the criteria set forth in subsection (2) shall be
71	identified with specificity in the master reclamation plan.
72	Lands evaluated by the department under subsection (1) which do
73	not meet the criteria set forth in subsection (2) shall also be
74	identified with specificity in the master reclamation plan as
75	lands which are acceptable in their present form.
76	(4) Upon adoption of the amendments to themaster
77	reclamation plan as a rule, such plan shall provide the
78	guidelines for approval of reclamation programs for lands
79	covered in the plan, recognizing that reclamation of such lands
80	is not mandatory, but that any payment of costs expended for
81	reclamation paid under s. 378.031 shall be contingent upon
82	conformity with the guidelines set forth in the master
83	reclamation plan.
84	Section 2. Section 378.031, Florida Statutes, is amended
85	to read:
86	378.031 Reclamation or acquisition of nonmandatory lands;
87	legislative intent.--It is the intent of the Legislature to
88	provide an economic incentive to encourage the reclamation of
89	the maximum number of acres of eligible nonmandatory lands in
90	the most timely and efficient manner or the donation or purchase
91	of nonmandatory lands, especially those lands for which
92	reclamation activities will result in significant improvements
93	to surface water bodies of regional importance in those areas of
94	the state where phosphate mining has been permitted. The
95	Legislature recognizes that certain lands mined or disturbed
96	prior to July 1, 1975, have been naturally reclaimed.
97	Section 3. Subsections (1) and (4) of section 378.033,
98	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
99	378.033 Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Committee; creation;
100	composition.--
101	(1) The Nonmandatory Land Reclamation Committee is created
102	within the department to serve as an advisory body on matters
103	relating to nonmandatory land reclamation, including reclamation
104	activities that will result in significant improvements to
105	surface water bodies of regional importance in those areas of
106	the state where phosphate mining has been permitted. The
107	committee shall be composed of sevenfivemembers appointed by
108	the Governor and confirmed by the Cabinet. In making the
109	appointments, the Governor shall consider the needs of the
110	program for engineering, fiscal, reclamation, and environmental
111	expertises. FiveThreeof the committee members shall be
112	selected respectively from Hamilton County, Polk County,
113	Charlotte County, Manatee County,and Hillsborough County.
114	(4) The committee shall meet at least annually at the call
115	of the chair. The presence of sixfourmembers is required to
116	constitute a quorum; a vote of fivethreemembers is necessary
117	for committee action.
118	Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 378.207, Florida
119	Statutes, is amended to read:
120	378.207 Reclamation criteria and standards.--
121	(1) The department, by rule, shall adopt statewide
122	criteria and standards for reclamation. Such rules shall
123	recognize that surface mining takes place in diverse areas where
124	the geologic, topographic, and edaphic conditions are different,
125	and that reclamation operations and the specifications therefor
126	may vary accordingly. The rules, recognizing technological
127	limitations and economic considerations, shall require the
128	return of the natural function of wetlands or a particular
129	habitat or condition to that in existence prior to mining and
130	shall include criteria that, when combined with other
131	reclamation activities, will result in significant benefits to
132	surface water bodies supplying water for environmental and
133	public purposes in those areas of the state where phosphate
134	mining is permitted.
135	Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.