HB 1517

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to wetlands mitigation; amending s.
3	373.414, F.S.; providing additional criteria for local
4	governments with regard to uniform wetlands mitigation
5	assessment methods under certain circumstances; providing
6	an effective date.
7
8	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
9
10	Section 1.  Subsection (18) of section 373.414, Florida
11	Statutes, is amended to read:
12	373.414  Additional criteria for activities in surface
13	waters and wetlands.--
14	(18)  The department and each water management district
15	responsible for implementation of the environmental resource
16	permitting program shall develop a uniform mitigation assessment
17	method for wetlands and other surface waters. The department
18	shall adopt the uniform mitigation assessment method by rule no
19	later than July 31, 2002. The rule shall provide an exclusive
20	and consistent process for determining the amount of mitigation
21	required to offset impacts to wetlands and other surface waters,
22	and, once effective, shall supersede all rules, ordinances, and
23	variance procedures from ordinances that determine the amount of
24	mitigation needed to offset such impacts. Once the department
25	adopts the uniform mitigation assessment method by rule, the
26	uniform mitigation assessment method shall be binding on the
27	department, the water management districts, local governments,
28	and any other governmental agencies and shall be the sole means
29	to determine the amount of mitigation needed to offset adverse
30	impacts to wetlands and other surface waters and to award and
31	deduct mitigation bank credits, unless a local government as
32	part of its comprehensive plan has adopted a wetlands policy
33	that includes mitigation ratios established prior to July 31,
34	2002, and has been found to be in compliance by the state land
35	planning agency. If the local government's established wetlands
36	policy is more comprehensive and restrictive than the
37	requirement of the uniform mitigation assessment method, that
38	policy shall control. Nothing in this section shall preclude the
39	local government from amending its comprehensive plan to adopt
40	the uniform mitigation assessment method. A water management
41	district and any other governmental agency subject to chapter
42	120 may apply the uniform mitigation assessment method without
43	the need to adopt it pursuant to s. 120.54. It shall be a goal
44	of the department and water management districts that the
45	uniform mitigation assessment method developed be practicable
46	for use within the timeframes provided in the permitting process
47	and result in a consistent process for determining mitigation
48	requirements. It shall be recognized that any such method shall
49	require the application of reasonable scientific judgment. The
50	uniform mitigation assessment method must determine the value of
51	functions provided by wetlands and other surface waters
52	considering the current conditions of these areas, utilization
53	by fish and wildlife, location, uniqueness, and hydrologic
54	connection, and, when applied to mitigation banks, the factors
55	listed in s. 373.4136(4). The uniform mitigation assessment
56	method shall also account for the expected time-lag associated
57	with offsetting impacts and the degree of risk associated with
58	the proposed mitigation. The uniform mitigation assessment
59	method shall account for different ecological communities in
60	different areas of the state. In developing the uniform
61	mitigation assessment method, the department and water
62	management districts shall consult with approved local programs
63	under s. 403.182 which have an established mitigation program
64	for wetlands or other surface waters. The department and water
65	management districts shall consider the recommendations
66	submitted by such approved local programs, including any
67	recommendations relating to the adoption by the department and
68	water management districts of any uniform mitigation methodology
69	that has been adopted and used by an approved local program in
70	its established mitigation program for wetlands or other surface
71	waters. Environmental resource permitting rules may establish
72	categories of permits or thresholds for minor impacts under
73	which the use of the uniform mitigation assessment method will
74	not be required. The application of the uniform mitigation
75	assessment method is not subject to s. 70.001. In the event the
76	rule establishing the uniform mitigation assessment method is
77	deemed to be invalid, the applicable rules related to
78	establishing needed mitigation in existence prior to the
79	adoption of the uniform mitigation assessment method, including
80	those adopted by a county which is an approved local program
81	under s. 403.182, and the method described in paragraph (b) for
82	existing mitigation banks, shall be authorized for use by the
83	department, water management districts, local governments, and
84	other state agencies.
85	(a)  In developing the uniform mitigation assessment
86	method, the department shall seek input from the United States
87	Army Corps of Engineers in order to promote consistency in the
88	mitigation assessment methods used by the state and federal
89	permitting programs.
90	(b)  An entity which has received a mitigation bank permit
91	prior to the adoption of the uniform mitigation assessment
92	method shall have impact sites assessed, for the purpose of
93	deducting bank credits, using the credit assessment method,
94	including any functional assessment methodology, which was in
95	place when the bank was permitted; unless the entity elects to
96	have its credits redetermined, and thereafter have its credits
97	deducted, using the uniform mitigation assessment method.
98	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.