Bill Text: FL S1354 | 2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Environmental Resource Permitting

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-03-05 - Laid on Table, refer to CS/HB 7003 -SJ 790 [S1354 Detail]

Download: Florida-2012-S1354-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2012                                    SB 1354
       
       
       
       By Senator Detert
       
       
       
       
       23-00828B-12                                          20121354__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to environmental resource permitting;
    3         creating s. 373.4131, F.S.; requiring the Department
    4         of Environmental Protection, in coordination with the
    5         water management districts, to adopt statewide
    6         environmental resource permitting rules for activities
    7         relating to the management and storage of surface
    8         waters; providing rule requirements; preserving an
    9         exemption from causes of action under the “Bert J.
   10         Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act”;
   11         providing an exemption from the rulemaking provisions
   12         of ch. 120, F.S., for implementation of the rules by
   13         water management districts and delegated local
   14         programs; requiring counties, municipalities, and
   15         delegated local programs to amend ordinances and
   16         regulations within a specified timeframe to conform
   17         with the rules; providing for applicability, effect,
   18         and repeal of specified rules; authorizing water
   19         management districts to adopt and retain specified
   20         rules; authorizing the department to incorporate
   21         certain rules; providing a presumption of compliance
   22         for specified design, construction, operation, and
   23         maintenance of certain stormwater management systems;
   24         providing exemptions for specified stormwater
   25         management systems and permitted activities; requiring
   26         the department to conduct or oversee staff assessment
   27         and training; reenacting s. 70.001(12), F.S., relating
   28         to the “Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights
   29         Protection Act,” for purposes of a cross-reference in
   30         s. 373.4131, F.S.; providing an effective date.
   31  
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Section 373.4131, Florida Statutes, is created
   35  to read:
   36         373.4131 Statewide environmental resource permitting
   37  rules.—
   38         (1)(a) No later than October 1, 2012, the department shall
   39  initiate rulemaking to adopt, in coordination with the water
   40  management districts, statewide environmental resource
   41  permitting rules governing the construction, alteration,
   42  operation, maintenance, repair, abandonment, and removal of any
   43  stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir,
   44  appurtenant work, works, or any combination thereof, under this
   45  part.
   46         (b) The rules shall provide for statewide, consistent
   47  regulation of activities under this part and shall include, at a
   48  minimum:
   49         1. Criteria and thresholds for requiring permits.
   50         2. Types of permits.
   51         3. Procedures governing the review of applications and
   52  notices, duration and modification of permits, operational
   53  requirements, transfers of permits, provisions for emergencies,
   54  and provisions for abandonment and removal of systems.
   55         4. Exemptions and general permits that do not allow
   56  significant adverse impacts to occur individually or
   57  cumulatively.
   58         5. Conditions for issuance.
   59         6. General permit conditions, including monitoring,
   60  inspection, and reporting requirements.
   61         7. Standardized fee categories for activities under this
   62  part to promote consistency. The department and water management
   63  districts may amend fee rules to reflect the standardized fee
   64  categories but are not required to adopt identical fees for
   65  those categories.
   66         8. Application, notice, and reporting forms. To the maximum
   67  extent practicable, the department and water management
   68  districts shall provide for electronic submittal of forms and
   69  notices.
   70         9. An applicant’s handbook that, at a minimum, contains
   71  general program information, application and review procedures,
   72  a specific discussion of how environmental criteria are
   73  evaluated, and discussion of stormwater quality and quantity
   74  criteria.
   75         (c) The rules shall rely primarily on the rules of the
   76  department and water management districts in effect immediately
   77  prior to the effective date of this section, except that the
   78  department may:
   79         1. Reconcile differences and conflicts to achieve a
   80  consistent statewide approach.
   81         2. Account for different physical or natural
   82  characteristics, including special basin considerations, of
   83  individual water management districts.
   84         3. Implement additional permit streamlining measures.
   85         (d) The application of the rules shall continue to be
   86  governed by the first sentence of s. 70.001(12).
   87         (2)(a) Upon adoption of the rules, the water management
   88  districts and local governments delegated local pollution
   89  control program authority under s. 373.441 shall implement the
   90  rules without the need for further rulemaking pursuant to s.
   91  120.54. The rules adopted by the department pursuant to this
   92  section shall also be considered the rules of the water
   93  management districts and local governments delegated local
   94  pollution control program authority under s. 373.441. The
   95  districts and local governments shall have substantive
   96  jurisdiction to implement and interpret rules adopted by the
   97  department under this part, consistent with any guidance from
   98  the department, in any license or final order pursuant to s.
   99  120.60 or s. 120.57(1)(l).
  100         (b)1. A county, municipality, or local pollution control
  101  program that has a delegation of local pollution control program
  102  authority or proposes to be delegated such authority under s.
  103  373.441 shall without modification incorporate by reference and
  104  use the rules adopted pursuant this section when reviewing and
  105  taking action on the department’s behalf on a delegated
  106  permitting, compliance, or enforcement matter under this part.
  107         2. A county, municipality, or local pollution control
  108  program that has a delegation of local pollution control program
  109  authority under s. 373.441 must amend its local ordinances or
  110  regulations to conform to the requirements of this section
  111  within 12 months after the effective date of the rules adopted
  112  pursuant to this section.
  113         3. The department and each local program with the authority
  114  to implement or seeking to implement a delegation of local
  115  pollution control program authority under s. 373.441 shall
  116  identify and reconcile any duplicative permitting as part of the
  117  delegation.
  118         (c) Until the rules adopted pursuant to this section become
  119  effective, existing rules adopted pursuant to this part remain
  120  in full force and effect. Existing rules that are superseded by
  121  the rules adopted pursuant to this section may be repealed
  122  without further rulemaking pursuant to s. 120.54 by publication
  123  of a notice of repeal in the Florida Administrative Weekly and
  124  subsequent filing of a list of the rules repealed with the
  125  Department of State.
  126         (3)(a) The water management districts, with department
  127  oversight, may continue to adopt rules governing design and
  128  performance standards for stormwater quality and quantity, and
  129  the department may incorporate the design and performance
  130  standards by reference for use within the geographic
  131  jurisdiction of each district.
  132         (b) If a stormwater management system is designed in
  133  accordance with the stormwater treatment requirements and
  134  criteria adopted by the department or a water management
  135  district under this part, the system design is presumed not to
  136  cause or contribute to violations of applicable state water
  137  quality standards.
  138         (c) If a stormwater management system is constructed,
  139  operated, and maintained for stormwater treatment in accordance
  140  with a valid permit or exemption under this part, the stormwater
  141  discharged from the system is presumed not to cause or
  142  contribute to violations of applicable state water quality
  143  standards.
  144         (4) Notwithstanding the adoption of rules pursuant to this
  145  section, the following activities shall continue to be governed
  146  by the rules adopted by the department, the water management
  147  districts, and delegated local programs under this part in
  148  effect before the effective date of the rules adopted pursuant
  149  to this section, unless the applicant elects review in
  150  accordance with the rules adopted pursuant to this section:
  151         (a) The operation and maintenance of any stormwater
  152  management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant
  153  work, works, or any combination thereof legally in existence
  154  before the effective date of the rules adopted pursuant to this
  155  section if the terms and conditions of the permit, exemption, or
  156  other authorization for such activity continue to be met.
  157         (b) The activities determined in writing by the department,
  158  a water management district, or a local government delegated
  159  local pollution control program authority under s. 373.441 to be
  160  exempt from the permitting requirements of this part, including
  161  self-certifications submitted to the department, a water
  162  management district, or a delegated local government before the
  163  effective date of the rules adopted pursuant to this section.
  164         (c) The activities approved in a permit issued pursuant to
  165  this part and the review of activities proposed in a permit
  166  application that is complete before the effective date of the
  167  rules adopted pursuant to this section. This paragraph applies
  168  to any modification of the plans, terms, and conditions of the
  169  permit, including new activities, within the geographical area
  170  to which the permit applies and to any modification that lessens
  171  or does not increase impacts. However, this paragraph does not
  172  apply to a modification that is reasonably expected to lead to
  173  additional or substantially different impacts.
  174         (5) To ensure consistent implementation and interpretation
  175  of the rules adopted pursuant to this section, the department
  176  shall conduct or oversee regular assessment and training of its
  177  staff and the staffs of the water management districts and local
  178  governments delegated local pollution control program authority
  179  under s. 373.441.
  180         Section 2. For the purpose of a cross-reference in section
  181  373.4131, Florida Statutes, as created by this act, subsection
  182  (12) of section 70.001, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
  183         70.001 Private property rights protection.—
  184         (12) No cause of action exists under this section as to the
  185  application of any law enacted on or before May 11, 1995, or as
  186  to the application of any rule, regulation, or ordinance
  187  adopted, or formally noticed for adoption, on or before that
  188  date. A subsequent amendment to any such law, rule, regulation,
  189  or ordinance gives rise to a cause of action under this section
  190  only to the extent that the application of the amendatory
  191  language imposes an inordinate burden apart from the law, rule,
  192  regulation, or ordinance being amended.
  193         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.