| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to environmental protection; amending s. |
| 3 | 403.813, F.S.; providing for applicability of a road and |
| 4 | bridge project permit exemption to the Suwannee River |
| 5 | Water Management District; requiring the Department of |
| 6 | Environmental Protection to adopt a general permit that |
| 7 | shall be applicable to qualified projects reviewed by the |
| 8 | department or applicable water management district; |
| 9 | providing for the repeal of this paragraph upon adoption |
| 10 | of the general permit; deleting an obsolete provision |
| 11 | relating to a report; providing an effective date. |
| 12 |
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| 13 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 14 |
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| 15 | Section 1. Paragraph (t) of subsection (2) of section |
| 16 | 403.813, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 17 | 403.813 Permits issued at district centers; exceptions.-- |
| 18 | (2) A permit is not required under this chapter, chapter |
| 19 | 373, chapter 61-691, Laws of Florida, or chapter 25214 or |
| 20 | chapter 25270, 1949, Laws of Florida, for activities associated |
| 21 | with the following types of projects; however, except as |
| 22 | otherwise provided in this subsection, nothing in this |
| 23 | subsection relieves an applicant from any requirement to obtain |
| 24 | permission to use or occupy lands owned by the Board of Trustees |
| 25 | of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or any water management |
| 26 | district in its governmental or proprietary capacity or from |
| 27 | complying with applicable local pollution control programs |
| 28 | authorized under this chapter or other requirements of county |
| 29 | and municipal governments: |
| 30 | (t) The repair, stabilization, or paving of existing |
| 31 | county maintained roads and the repair or replacement of bridges |
| 32 | that are part of the roadway, within the Northwest Florida Water |
| 33 | Management District and the Suwannee River Water Management |
| 34 | District, provided: |
| 35 | 1. The road and associated bridge were in existence and in |
| 36 | use as a public road or bridge, and were maintained by the |
| 37 | county as a public road or bridge on or before January 1, 2002; |
| 38 | 2. The construction activity does not realign the road or |
| 39 | expand the number of existing traffic lanes of the existing |
| 40 | road; however, the work may include the provision of safety |
| 41 | shoulders, clearance of vegetation, and other work reasonably |
| 42 | necessary to repair, stabilize, pave, or repave the road, |
| 43 | provided that the work is constructed by generally accepted |
| 44 | engineering standards; |
| 45 | 3. The construction activity does not expand the existing |
| 46 | width of an existing vehicular bridge in excess of that |
| 47 | reasonably necessary to properly connect the bridge with the |
| 48 | road being repaired, stabilized, paved, or repaved to safely |
| 49 | accommodate the traffic expected on the road, which may include |
| 50 | expanding the width of the bridge to match the existing |
| 51 | connected road. However, no debris from the original bridge |
| 52 | shall be allowed to remain in waters of the state, including |
| 53 | wetlands; |
| 54 | 4. Best management practices for erosion control shall be |
| 55 | employed as necessary to prevent water quality violations; |
| 56 | 5. Roadside swales or other effective means of stormwater |
| 57 | treatment must be incorporated as part of the project; and |
| 58 | 6. No more dredging or filling of wetlands or water of the |
| 59 | state is performed than that which is reasonably necessary to |
| 60 | repair, stabilize, pave, or repave the road or to repair or |
| 61 | replace the bridge, in accordance with generally accepted |
| 62 | engineering standards; and |
| 63 | 7. Notice of intent to use the exemption is provided to |
| 64 | the department, if the work is to be performed within the |
| 65 | Northwest Florida Water Management District, or to the Suwannee |
| 66 | River Water Management District, if the work is to be performed |
| 67 | within the Suwannee River Water Management District, 30 days |
| 68 | prior to performing any work under the exemption. |
| 69 |
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| 70 | Within 30 days after this act becomes a law, the department |
| 71 | shall initiate rulemaking to adopt a general permit for the |
| 72 | repair, stabilization, or paving of existing roads that are |
| 73 | maintained by the county and the repair or replacement of |
| 74 | bridges that are part of the roadway where such activities do |
| 75 | not cause significant adverse impacts to occur individually or |
| 76 | cumulatively. The general permit shall apply statewide and, with |
| 77 | no additional rulemaking required, apply to qualified projects |
| 78 | reviewed by the Suwannee River Water Management District, the |
| 79 | St. Johns River Water Management District, the Southwest Florida |
| 80 | Water Management District, and the South Florida Water |
| 81 | Management District under the division of responsibilities |
| 82 | contained in the operating agreements applicable to part IV of |
| 83 | this chapter. Upon adoption, this general permit shall, pursuant |
| 84 | to the provisions of subsection (3), supersede and replace the |
| 85 | exemption in this paragraph. The department shall submit a |
| 86 | report to the Governor and the Legislature by March 1, 2004, to |
| 87 | evaluate the effects of this exemption and make recommendations |
| 88 | for the exemption to apply statewide. |
| 89 | Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. |