The Florida Senate

161.041  Permits required.--

(1)  If any person, firm, corporation, county, municipality, township, special district, or any public agency desires to make any coastal construction or reconstruction or change of existing structures, or any construction or physical activity undertaken specifically for shore protection purposes, or other structures and physical activity including groins, jetties, moles, breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, artificial nourishment, inlet sediment bypassing, excavation or maintenance dredging of inlet channels, or other deposition or removal of beach material, or construction of other structures if of a solid or highly impermeable design, upon sovereignty lands of Florida, below the mean high-water line of any tidal water of the state, a coastal construction permit must be obtained from the department prior to the commencement of such work. The department may exempt interior tidal waters of the state from the permit requirements of this section. No such development shall interfere, except during construction, with the use by the public of any area of a beach seaward of the mean high-water line unless the department determines such interference is unavoidable for purposes of protecting the beach or any endangered upland structure. The department may require, as a condition to granting permits under this section, the provision of alternative access when interference with public access along the beach is unavoidable. The width of such alternate access may not be required to exceed the width of the access that will be obstructed as a result of the permit being granted. Application for coastal construction permits as defined above shall be made to the department upon such terms and conditions as set forth by rule of the department. Except for the deepwater ports identified in s. 403.021(9)(b), the department shall not issue any permit for the construction of a coastal inlet jetty or the excavation or maintenance of such an inlet if the activity authorized by the permit will have a significant adverse impact on the sandy beaches of this state without a mitigation program approved by the department. In evaluating the mitigation program, the department shall take into consideration the benefits of the long-term sand management plan of the permittee and the overall public benefits of the inlet activity.

(2)  The department may authorize an excavation or erection of a structure at any coastal location upon receipt of an application from a property or riparian owner and upon consideration of facts and circumstances, including:

(a)  Adequate engineering data concerning inlet and shoreline stability and storm tides related to shoreline topography;

(b)  Design features of the proposed structures or activities; and

(c)  Potential impacts of the location of such structures or activities, including potential cumulative effects of any proposed structures or activities upon such beach-dune system or coastal inlet, which, in the opinion of the department, clearly justify such a permit.

(3)  The department may require such engineer certifications as necessary to assure the adequacy of the design and construction of permitted projects.

(4)  The department may, as a condition to the granting of a permit under this section, require mitigation, financial, or other assurances acceptable to the department as may be necessary to assure performance of conditions of a permit or enter into contractual agreements to best assure compliance with any permit conditions. Biological and environmental monitoring conditions included in the permit shall be based upon clearly defined scientific principles. The department may also require notice of the permit conditions required and the contractual agreements entered into pursuant to the provisions of this subsection to be filed in the public records of the county in which the permitted activity is located.

History.--s. 1, ch. 65-408; ss. 25, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 2, ch. 78-257; s. 1, ch. 83-247; s. 12, ch. 87-97; s. 19, ch. 94-356; s. 3, ch. 2000-346.