The Florida Senate

403.952  Definitions.--As used in this act:

(1)  "Act" means the Florida Jobs Siting Act.

(2)  "Affected agencies" means those agencies listed in s. 403.961(2).

(3)  "Agency," as the context requires, means an official, officer, commission, authority, council, committee, department, district, division, bureau, board, section, or other unit or entity of government, including a state, regional, or local governmental entity.

(4)  "Amendment" means a material change in the information provided by the applicant to the application for certification made after the initial application filing.

(5)  "Applicant" means any business, nonprofit or governmental entity which applies for certification pursuant to the provisions of this act.

(6)  "Application" means the documents required by the State of Florida to be filed to initiate the certification proceeding and shall include the documents necessary to render a decision on any permit required pursuant to any federally delegated or approved permit program.

(7)  "Board" means the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the siting board.

(8)  "Certification" means the written order of the board approving an application in whole or with such changes or conditions as the board may deem appropriate, or if no certification hearing is held, the written order of the Department of Environmental Protection pursuant to s. 403.963(3).

(9)  "Completeness" means that the application has addressed all applicable sections of the prescribed application format, but does not mean that those sections are sufficient in comprehensiveness of data or in quality of information provided.

(10)  "County average annual wage" means the arithmetic result of dividing the total wage and salary earnings from jobs in businesses located in the county wherein the project will be located by the number of jobs in businesses located in that county. Both of these figures are to be taken from the latest available calendar year reports compiled and published by the Department of Labor and Employment Security and drawn from employer unemployment compensation tax reports.

(11)  "Designated administrative law judge" means the administrative law judge assigned by the Division of Administrative Hearings pursuant to chapter 120 to conduct any hearings required by this act.

(12)  "Federally delegated or approved permit program" means any environmental regulatory program approved by an agency of the Federal Government so as to authorize the Department of Environmental Protection or any other agency to administer the program and issue licenses.

(13)  "Fully operational" means the condition reached by the project when it has been constructed, has its workforce in place and is producing goods or services in the quantity planned by its controlling interests.

(14)  "Incubator" means a facility especially designed and funded to encourage small business formation and growth.

(15)  "Industry" means a group of businesses producing the same or similar types of goods or services.

(16)  "Installation" means any structure, equipment, facility or appurtenance thereto, operation, or activity which is or may be a source of pollution as defined in s. 403.031(7). The term "installation" includes dredging and filling as defined in ¹s. 403.911.

(17)  "Jobs" means the net number of additional positions, expressed in terms of full-time equivalent positions, resulting directly from the project in Florida. This number shall not include temporary construction jobs resulting from the construction of the project.

(18)  "License" means a franchise, permit, authorization, approval, certification, registration, charter, comprehensive plan amendment, development order, or permit as defined in chapters 163 and 380, or similar form of authorization required by law, including permits issued under federally delegated or approved permit programs, but it does not include a license required primarily for revenue purposes when issuance of the license is merely a ministerial act.

(19)  "Location" means the placement of a project in a particular location. A location can result from the recruitment of the project from another state or nation, the creation of a new business, the expansion of an existing business in Florida, or a government decision to place a project in a particular area.

(20)  "Affected local governments" means a municipality or county in the jurisdiction of which the project is proposed to be located.

(21)  "Modification" means any change in certification order after issuance, including a change in conditions of certification.

(22)  "Agency nonprocedural standards" means any agency's regulatory requirements established by statute, rule, ordinance, comprehensive plan, or land development regulation, excluding any provisions prescribing forms, fees, procedures, or time limits for the review or processing of information submitted to demonstrate compliance with such regulatory requirements.

(23)  "Notice of intent" means that notice which is filed with the ²Department of Commerce on behalf of an applicant prior to submission of an application pursuant to this act and which notifies that department of an intent to file an application.

(24)  "Persons" means an individual, partnership, joint venture, private or public corporation, association, firm, public service company, political subdivision, municipal corporation, government agency, public utility district, or any other entity, public or private, however organized.

(25)  "Preliminary statement of issues" means a listing and explanation of those issues within the affected agency's jurisdiction which are of major concern to the agency in relation to the proposed project.

(26)  "Population" means the number of residents in the county wherein the proposed project is to be located, with this population figure taken from the latest available decennial census published by the Bureau of the Census, United States Department of Commerce.

(27)  "Project" means any proposed business or government undertaking requiring the construction or operation of an installation, including a stationary installation, which could be regulated pursuant to any of the laws listed in s. 403.966(3), for which the project's controlling interests have elected to apply for use of the certification process established in this act, and which has been designated by the ²Department of Commerce as meeting the eligibility criteria for expedited permitting under this part.

(28)  "Project average annual wage" means the arithmetic result of dividing the estimated worker payroll of the proposed project by the estimated average number of workers in the project workforce once the project is fully operational.

(29)  "Regional planning council" means a regional planning council as defined in s. 186.503(4) in the jurisdiction of which the project is proposed to be located.

(30)  "Site" means the physical location where any installation associated with a proposed project will be constructed or operated.

(31)  "State comprehensive plan" means that plan set forth in chapter 187.

(32)  "Sufficiency" means that the application is not only complete but that all sections are sufficient in the comprehensiveness of data or in the quality of information provided to allow the ²Department of Commerce, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the affected local government to determine whether the application provides the reviewing agencies adequate information to prepare the reports required by s. 403.961.

(33)  "Water management district" means a water management district created pursuant to chapter 373, in the jurisdiction of which the project is proposed to be located.

History.--s. 1, ch. 93-205; s. 17, ch. 94-321; s. 437, ch. 94-356; s. 182, ch. 96-410.

¹Note.--Repealed by s. 45, ch. 93-213.

²Note.--Section 20.17, which created the Department of Commerce, was repealed effective December 31, 1996, by s. 3, ch. 96-320.