Florida Senate - 2009                              CS for SB 852
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Commerce; and Senators Fasano and Gaetz
       
       
       
       
       577-05001-09                                           2009852c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to expedited permitting process for
    3         economic development projects; providing a short
    4         title; creating s. 380.0657, F.S.; requiring the
    5         Department of Environmental Protection and water
    6         management districts to adopt programs to expedite the
    7         processing of permits for certain economic development
    8         projects; providing an exception; requiring
    9         municipalities and counties to identify certain
   10         businesses by commission resolution; requiring a
   11         preapplication review; providing a timeframe for
   12         permit application approval or denial; providing that
   13         projects designated as target industry businesses and
   14         located in charter counties that meet certain criteria
   15         are eligible for expedited permitting; providing an
   16         effective date.
   17  
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Mike McHugh Act.”
   21         Section 2. Section 380.0657, Florida Statutes, is created
   22  to read:
   23         380.0657 Expedited permitting process for economic
   24  development projects.—
   25         (1) The Department of Environmental Protection and, as
   26  appropriate, the water management districts created under
   27  chapter 373 shall adopt programs to expedite the processing of
   28  wetland resource and environmental resource permits for economic
   29  development projects that have been identified by a municipality
   30  or county as meeting the definition of target industry
   31  businesses under s. 288.106, with the exception of those
   32  projects requiring approval by the Board of Trustees of the
   33  Internal Improvement Trust Fund.
   34         (2) A municipality or county shall provide an identified
   35  business with a city or county commission resolution identifying
   36  the business as a targeted industry business.
   37         (3) A mandatory preapplication review process shall be
   38  required to reduce permitting conflicts by providing guidance to
   39  applicants regarding the permits needed from each agency and
   40  governmental entity, site planning and development, site
   41  suitability and limitations, facility design, and steps the
   42  applicant can take to ensure expeditious permit application
   43  review.
   44         (4) A permit application shall be approved or denied within
   45  45 days after receipt of the original application, the last item
   46  of timely requested additional material, or the applicant’s
   47  written request to begin processing the permit application.
   48         (5) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, permit
   49  applications for projects to be located in a charter county that
   50  has a population of 1.2 million or more and has entered into a
   51  delegation agreement with the Department of Environmental
   52  Protection or the applicable water management district to
   53  process environmental resource permits, wetland resource
   54  management permits, or surface water management permits pursuant
   55  to chapter 373, are eligible for expedited permitting under this
   56  section only upon designation by resolution of the charter
   57  county’s governing board. Before the governing board decides
   58  that a project is eligible for expedited permitting, it may
   59  require the county’s economic development agency, or such other
   60  agency that provides advice to the governing board on economic
   61  matters, to review and recommend whether the project meets the
   62  definition of a target industry business, as defined in s.
   63  288.106, and to identify the tangible benefits and impacts of
   64  the project. The governing board’s decision shall be made
   65  without consideration of the project’s geographic location
   66  within the charter county. If the governing board designates the
   67  project as a target industry business, the permit application
   68  for the project shall be approved or denied within the timeframe
   69  provided in subsection (4).
   70         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.