Amendment
Bill No. CS/HB 7129

Amendment No. 442743

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representative Brodeur offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	Between lines 7501 and 7502, insert:
5	Section 50.  Subsection (18) of section 373.414, Florida
6	Statutes, is amended to read:
7	373.414  Additional criteria for activities in surface
8	waters and wetlands.-
9	(18)  The department in coordination with and each water
10	management district responsible for implementation of the
11	environmental resource permitting program shall develop a
12	uniform mitigation assessment method for wetlands and other
13	surface waters. The department shall adopt the uniform
14	mitigation assessment method by rule no later than July 31,
15	2002. The rule shall provide an exclusive and consistent process
16	for determining the amount of mitigation required to offset
17	impacts to wetlands and other surface waters, and, once
18	effective, shall supersede all rules, ordinances, and variance
19	procedures from ordinances that determine the amount of
20	mitigation needed to offset such impacts. Once the department
21	adopts the uniform mitigation assessment method by rule, the
22	uniform mitigation assessment method shall be binding on the
23	department, the water management districts, local governments,
24	and any other governmental agencies and shall be the sole means
25	to determine the amount of mitigation needed to offset adverse
26	impacts to wetlands and other surface waters and to award and
27	deduct mitigation bank credits. A water management district and
28	any other governmental agency subject to chapter 120 may apply
29	the uniform mitigation assessment method without the need to
30	adopt it pursuant to s. 120.54. It shall be a goal of the
31	department and water management districts that the uniform
32	mitigation assessment method developed be practicable for use
33	within the timeframes provided in the permitting process and
34	result in a consistent process for determining mitigation
35	requirements. It shall be recognized that any such method shall
36	require the application of reasonable scientific judgment. The
37	uniform mitigation assessment method must determine the value of
38	functions provided by wetlands and other surface waters
39	considering the current conditions of these areas, utilization
40	by fish and wildlife, location, uniqueness, and hydrologic
41	connection, and, when applied to mitigation banks, the factors
42	listed in s. 373.4136(4). The uniform mitigation assessment
43	method shall also account for the expected time-lag associated
44	with offsetting impacts and the degree of risk associated with
45	the proposed mitigation. The uniform mitigation assessment
46	method shall account for different ecological communities in
47	different areas of the state. In developing the uniform
48	mitigation assessment method, the department and water
49	management districts shall consult with approved local programs
50	under s. 403.182 which have an established mitigation program
51	for wetlands or other surface waters. The department and water
52	management districts shall consider the recommendations
53	submitted by such approved local programs, including any
54	recommendations relating to the adoption by the department and
55	water management districts of any uniform mitigation methodology
56	that has been adopted and used by an approved local program in
57	its established mitigation program for wetlands or other surface
58	waters. Environmental resource permitting rules may establish
59	categories of permits or thresholds for minor impacts under
60	which the use of the uniform mitigation assessment method will
61	not be required. The application of the uniform mitigation
62	assessment method is not subject to s. 70.001. In the event the
63	rule establishing the uniform mitigation assessment method is
64	deemed to be invalid, the applicable rules related to
65	establishing needed mitigation in existence prior to the
66	adoption of the uniform mitigation assessment method, including
67	those adopted by a county which is an approved local program
68	under s. 403.182, and the method described in paragraph (b) for
69	existing mitigation banks, shall be authorized for use by the
70	department, water management districts, local governments, and
71	other state agencies.
72	(a)  In developing the uniform mitigation assessment
73	method, the department shall seek input from the United States
74	Army Corps of Engineers in order to promote consistency in the
75	mitigation assessment methods used by the state and federal
76	permitting programs.
77	(b)  An entity which has received a mitigation bank permit
78	prior to the adoption of the uniform mitigation assessment
79	method shall have impact sites assessed, for the purpose of
80	deducting bank credits, using the credit assessment method,
81	including any functional assessment methodology, which was in
82	place when the bank was permitted; unless the entity elects to
83	have its credits redetermined, and thereafter have its credits
84	deducted, using the uniform mitigation assessment method.
85	(c)  The department shall ensure statewide coordination and
86	consistency in the interpretation and application of the uniform
87	mitigation assessment method rule by providing programmatic
88	training and guidance to staff of the department, water
89	management districts, and local governments. To ensure that the
90	uniform mitigation assessment method rule is interpreted and
91	applied uniformly, the department's interpretation, guidance,
92	and approach to applying the uniform mitigation assessment
93	method rule shall govern.
94	(d)  Applicants shall submit the information needed to
95	perform the assessment required under the uniform mitigation
96	assessment method rule, and may submit the qualitative
97	characterization and quantitative assessment for each assessment
98	area specified by the rule. The reviewing agency shall review
99	that information and notify the applicant of any inadequacy in
100	the information or application of the assessment method.
101	(e)  When conducting qualitative characterization of
102	artificial wetlands and other surface waters, such as borrow
103	pits, ditches, and canals under the uniform mitigation
104	assessment method rule, the native community type to which it is
105	most analogous in function shall be used as a reference. For
106	wetlands or other surface waters that have been altered from
107	their native community type, the historic community type at that
108	location shall be used as a reference, unless the alteration has
109	been of such a degree and extent that a different native
110	community type is now present and self sustaining.
111	(f)  When conducting qualitative characterization of upland
112	mitigation assessment areas, the characterization shall include
113	functions that the upland assessment area provides to the fish
114	and wildlife of the associated wetland or other surface waters.
115	These functions shall be considered and accounted for when
116	scoring the upland assessment area for preservation,
117	enhancement, or restoration.
118	(g)  Preservation mitigation, as used in the uniform
119	mitigation assessment method, means the protection of important
120	wetland, other surface water, or upland ecosystems that are
121	predominantly in their existing condition and absent
122	restoration, creation, or enhancement, from adverse impacts by
123	placing a conservation easement or other comparable land use
124	restriction over the property or by donation of fee simple
125	interest in the property. Preservation may include a management
126	plan for perpetual protection of the area. The preservation
127	adjustment factor set forth in rule 62-345.500(3), Florida
128	Administrative Code, shall only apply to preservation
129	mitigation.
130	(h)  When assessing a preservation mitigation assessment
131	area under the uniform mitigation assessment method the
132	following shall apply:
133	1.  "Without preservation" shall consider the reasonably
134	anticipated loss of functions and values provided by the
135	assessment area, assuming the area is not preserved.
136	2.  Each of the considerations of the preservation
137	adjustment factor specified in Rule 62-345.500(3) (a), Florida
138	Administrative Code shall be equally weighted and scored on a
139	scale from 0, no value, to 0.2, optimal value. In addition, the
140	minimum preservation adjustment factor shall be 0.2.
141	(i)  The location and landscape support scores, pursuant to
142	Rules 62-345.500, F.A.C. may change in the "with mitigation" or
143	"with impact" condition in both upland and wetland assessment
144	areas, regardless of the initial community structure or water
145	environment scores.
146	(j)  When a mitigation plan for creation, restoration, or
147	enhancement includes a preservation mechanism such as a
148	conservation easement, the "with mitigation" assessment of that
149	creation, restoration, or enhancement shall consider, and the
150	scores shall reflect, the benefits of that preservation
151	mechanism, and the benefits of that preservation mechanism shall
152	not be scored separately.
153	(k)  Any entity holding a mitigation bank permit that was
154	evaluated under the uniform mitigation assessment method prior
155	to the effective date of paragraphs (c)-(j), may submit a permit
156	modification request to the relevant permitting agency to have
157	such mitigation bank reassessed pursuant to the provisions set
158	forth in this section, and the relevant permitting agency shall
159	reassess such mitigation bank, if such request is filed with
160	that agency no later than September 30, 2011.
161
162
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164	T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T
165	Between lines 115 and 116, insert:
166	amending s. 373.414, F.S.; revising uniform mitigation
167	assessment method implementation;

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