HB 7175

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to sand source management; amending s.
3	161.021, F.S.; revising the definition of "access" or
4	"public access" to include certain lands; amending s.
5	161.085, F.S.; revising provisions relating to rigid
6	coastal armoring structures; prohibiting local governments
7	from installing certain rigid coastal armoring structures;
8	requiring adoption of rules implementing the section;
9	authorizing permitting for projects incorporating
10	geotextile containers and similar structures under certain
11	conditions; providing project requirements; requiring
12	applicants and property owners to bond certain activities;
13	requiring permittees to file public notice for certain
14	activities; requiring the department to remove certain
15	containers and structures under certain conditions;
16	authorizing the department to require certifications for
17	project activities; requiring the department to review and
18	evaluate certain dune restoration projects and make
19	recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature;
20	amending s. 161.141, F.S.; providing for an offset against
21	damages in lawsuits resulting from activities relating to
22	beach restoration projects; creating s. 161.144, F.S.;
23	providing legislative findings; directing the Department
24	of Environmental Protection to develop and maintain an
25	inventory of identified offshore sand sources as part of
26	its comprehensive long-term beach management plan;
27	requiring the department to provide maps of offshore sand
28	sources for public review; requiring the department to
29	provide written notice to the boards of county
30	commissioners of certain coastal counties; requiring the
31	department to provide such boards with the opportunity to
32	comment during the planning and permitting stages of
33	certain projects; requiring the department to note and
34	transmit certain information to the Legislature; providing
35	an effective date.
36
37	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
38
39	Section 1.  Subsection (1) of section 161.021, Florida
40	Statutes, is amended to read:
41	161.021  Definitions.--In construing these statutes, where
42	the context does not clearly indicate otherwise, the word,
43	phrase, or term:
44	(1)  "Access" or "public access" as used in ss. 161.041,
45	161.052, and 161.053 means the public's right to laterally
46	traverse the sandy beaches of this state where such access
47	exists on or after July 1, 1987, or where the public has
48	established an accessway through private lands to lands seaward
49	of the mean high tide or water line by prescription,
50	prescriptive easement, or any other legal means.
51	Section 2.  Subsections (3), (5), and (9) of section
52	161.085, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
53	161.085  Rigid coastal armoring structures.--
54	(3)  If erosion occurs as a result of a storm event which
55	threatens private structures or public infrastructure and a
56	permit has not been issued pursuant to subsection (2), unless
57	the authority has been revoked by order of the department
58	pursuant to subsection (8), an agency, political subdivision, or
59	municipality having jurisdiction over the impacted area may
60	install or authorize installation of rigid coastal armoring
61	structures, exclusive of those authorized under subsection (9),
62	for the protection of private structures or public
63	infrastructure, or take other measures to relieve the threat to
64	private structures or public infrastructure as long as the
65	following items are considered and incorporated into such
66	emergency measures:
67	(a)  Protection of the beach-dune system.
68	(b)  Siting and design criteria for the protective
69	structure.
70	(c)  Impacts on adjacent properties.
71	(d)  Preservation of public beach access.
72	(e)  Protection of native coastal vegetation and nesting
73	marine turtles and their hatchlings.
74	(5)  The department shall may adopt rules to implement the
75	provisions of this section.
76	(9)  The department, or an agency, political subdivision,
77	or municipality described in subsection (3), may authorize dune
78	restoration incorporating sand-filled geotextile containers
79	tubes or similar structures proposed as the core of a restored
80	dune feature when the conditions of paragraphs (a)-(c) and the
81	requirements of s. 161.053 are met. if the applicant meets the
82	requirements of this section and:
83	(a)  A permit may be granted by the department under this
84	subsection for dune restoration incorporating sand-filled
85	geotextile containers or similar structures, provided that such
86	projects:
87	1.  Provide for the protection of an existing major
88	structure or public infrastructure, and notwithstanding any
89	definition in department rule to the contrary, that major
90	structure or public infrastructure is vulnerable to damage from
91	frequent coastal storms or is upland of a beach-dune system that
92	has experienced significant beach erosion from such storm
93	events.
94	2.  Are constructed using native or beach-quality sand and
95	native salt-tolerant vegetation suitable for dune stabilization
96	as approved by the department.
97	3.  May include materials other than native or beach-
98	quality sand, such as geotextile materials that are used to
99	contain beach-quality sand for the purposes of maintaining the
100	stability and longevity of the dune core.
101	4.  Are continuously covered with at least 3 feet of native
102	or beach-quality sand and stabilized with native salt-tolerant
103	vegetation.
104	5.  Are sited as far landward as practicable, balancing the
105	need to minimize excavation of the beach-dune system, impacts to
106	nesting marine turtles, and impacts to adjacent properties.
107	6.  Are designed and sited in a manner that will minimize
108	the potential for erosion.
109	7.  Do not materially impede access by the public.
110	8.  Are designed to minimize adverse effects to nesting
111	marine turtles and turtle hatchlings, consistent with s. 370.12.
112	9.  Are designed to facilitate easy removal of the
113	geotextile containers if needed.
114	10.  Include an incidental take permit for marine turtles
115	pursuant to sections 7 and 10 of the Endangered Species Act
116	administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service if
117	an incidental take permit is required for the placement of the
118	structures.
119	(b)  The applicant or successive property owners shall
120	provide financial assurances in the form of surety bonds,
121	performance bonds, or other financial responsibility mechanisms
122	that the authorized geotextile containers or similar structures
123	will be removed if the requirements of this subsection and the
124	permit conditions are not met. The permittee shall file a notice
125	of formal permit conditions in the public records of the county
126	where the permitted activity is located.
127	(c)  The department shall order removal of the geotextile
128	containers or similar structures if the conditions of
129	subparagraph (a)3. are not met, if the project ceases to
130	function due to irreparable damage, if the project is determined
131	by the department to have caused a significant adverse impact to
132	the beach-dune system, or if the United States Fish and Wildlife
133	Service revokes the incidental take permit required in
134	subparagraph (a)10.
135	(d)  The department may require any engineering
136	certifications necessary to ensure the adequacy of the design
137	and construction of the permitted project.
138	(e)  The department shall review, with third-party expert
139	involvement, the performance of dune restoration incorporating
140	sand-filled geotextile containers or similar structures to
141	determine whether such structures provide upland protection and
142	to determine the impact on the beach-dune system and adjacent
143	properties. Such structures shall continue to be evaluated to
144	determine if they are a more effective form of dune restoration
145	than beach-compatible sand and native vegetation. Based on such
146	analysis and peer review, the department shall recommend to the
147	Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
148	House of Representatives whether the provisions of this
149	subsection should be modified.
150	(a)  Demonstrates that the United States Fish and Wildlife
151	Service has approved a habitat conservation plan that includes
152	the shoreline where each structure will be placed;
153	(b)  Provides reasonable assurance that adequate sand cover
154	will be maintained over the structure such that the structure
155	will not interact with the beach dune system as rigid coastal
156	armoring or adversely affect marine turtle nesting and provides
157	for a responsible entity to conduct such maintenance; and
158	(c)  Provides reasonable assurance that each structure will
159	be removed if the maintenance required by paragraph (b) proves
160	to be not feasible.
161	Section 3.  Section 161.141, Florida Statutes, is amended
162	to read:
163	161.141  Property rights of state and private upland owners
164	in beach restoration project areas.--The Legislature declares
165	that it is the public policy of the state to cause to be fixed
166	and determined, pursuant to beach restoration, beach
167	nourishment, and erosion control projects, the boundary line
168	between sovereignty lands of the state bordering on the Atlantic
169	Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, or the Straits of Florida, and the
170	bays, lagoons, and other tidal reaches thereof, and the upland
171	properties adjacent thereto; except that such boundary line
172	shall not be fixed for beach restoration projects that result
173	from inlet or navigation channel maintenance dredging projects
174	unless such projects involve the construction of authorized
175	beach restoration projects. However, prior to construction of
176	such a beach restoration project, the board of trustees must
177	establish the line of mean high water for the area to be
178	restored; and any additions to the upland property landward of
179	the established line of mean high water which result from the
180	restoration project remain the property of the upland owner
181	subject to all governmental regulations and are not to be used
182	to justify increased density or the relocation of the coastal
183	construction control line as may be in effect for such upland
184	property. The resulting additions to upland property are also
185	subject to a public easement for traditional uses of the sandy
186	beach consistent with uses that would have been allowed prior to
187	the need for the restoration project. It is further declared
188	that there is no intention on the part of the state to extend
189	its claims to lands not already held by it or to deprive any
190	upland or submerged land owner of the legitimate and
191	constitutional use and enjoyment of his or her property. If an
192	authorized beach restoration, beach nourishment, and erosion
193	control project cannot reasonably be accomplished without the
194	taking of private property, the taking must be made by the
195	requesting authority by eminent domain proceedings. In any
196	action alleging a taking of all or part of a littoral right or
197	riparian right as a result of a beach restoration project, any
198	enhancement in value of the remaining adjoining property of the
199	upland property owner by reason of the beach restoration project
200	shall be offset against the damage, if any, resulting to such
201	remaining adjoining property of the upland property owner by
202	reason of the beach restoration project. However, such
203	enhancement in the value shall not be offset against the value
204	of the property right alleged to have been taken, and if such
205	enhancement in value shall exceed the damage, if any, to the
206	upland property, there shall be no recovery over against such
207	property owner for such excess.
208	Section 4.  Section 161.144, Florida Statutes, is created
209	to read:
210	161.144  Offshore sand sources.--
211	(1)  The Legislature recognizes that beach-quality sand for
212	the nourishment of the state's critically eroded beaches is an
213	exhaustible resource in ever-decreasing supply and must be
214	carefully managed for the systemwide benefit of the state's
215	beaches. Therefore, the Department of Environmental Protection,
216	pursuant to s. 161.161 and in cooperation with federal and local
217	governmental agencies, is directed to develop and maintain an
218	inventory of identified offshore sand sources as part of the
219	regional elements of its comprehensive long-term beach
220	management plan.
221	(2)  The department shall clearly map or otherwise note and
222	make readily available for public review any offshore sand
223	sources in state or federal waters which are identified for
224	potential, proposed, or permitted use. In addition, the
225	department shall provide the boards of county commissioners of
226	coastal counties adjacent to offshore sand sources proposed for
227	use outside of the region or subregion with written notice of
228	such activities and an opportunity to comment during a specific
229	project's planning and permitting stages.
230	(3)  Any unresolved objections or concerns of the boards of
231	county commissioners shall be duly noted by the department and
232	transmitted to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of
233	the House of Representatives before the Legislature considers
234	state funding for a project or before regulatory action is taken
235	if legislative funding precedes approval of the use of specific
236	sand sources.
237	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2007.

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