HB 1291 2003
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to mitigation banks; amending s. 373.4136,
3	F.S.; providing that already established mitigation bank
4	service areas are not subject to cumulative impact
5	analysis on the release of credits to certain persons;
6	amending s. 373.414, F.S.; providing that proposed
7	mitigation which offsets the adverse impact in the
8	mitigation bank service area shall be considered to meet
9	certain cumulative impact requirements; providing an
10	effective date.
11
12	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14	Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 373.4136, Florida
15	Statutes, is amended to read:
16	373.4136 Establishment and operation of mitigation
17	banks.--
18	(6) MITIGATION SERVICE AREA.--The department or water
19	management district shall establish a mitigation service area
20	for each mitigation bank permit. The department or water
21	management district shall notify and consider comments received
22	on the proposed mitigation service area from each local
23	government within the proposed mitigation service area. Except
24	as provided herein, mitigation credits may be withdrawn and used
25	only to offset adverse impacts in the mitigation service area.
26	The boundaries of the mitigation service area shall depend upon
27	the geographic area where the mitigation bank could reasonably
28	be expected to offset adverse impacts. Mitigation service areas
29	may overlap, and mitigation service areas for two or more
30	mitigation banks may be approved for a regional watershed.
31	(a) In determining the boundaries of the mitigation
32	service area, the department or the water management district
33	shall consider the characteristics, size, and location of the
34	mitigation bank and, at a minimum, the extent to which the
35	mitigation bank:
36	1. Contributes to a regional integrated ecological
37	network;
38	2. Will significantly enhance the water quality or
39	restoration of an offsite receiving water body that is
40	designated as an Outstanding Florida Water, a Wild and Scenic
41	River, an aquatic preserve, a water body designated in a plan
42	adopted pursuant to s. 373.456 of the Surface Water Improvement
43	and Management Act, or a nationally designated estuarine
44	preserve;
45	3. Will provide for the long-term viability of endangered
46	or threatened species or species of special concern;
47	4. Is consistent with the objectives of a regional
48	management plan adopted or endorsed by the department or water
49	management districts; and
50	5. Can reasonably be expected to offset specific types of
51	wetland impacts within a specific geographic area. A mitigation
52	bank need not be able to offset all expected impacts within its
53	service area.
54	(b) The department and water management districts shall
55	use regional watersheds to guide the establishment of mitigation
56	service areas. Drainage basins established pursuant to s.
57	373.414(8) may be used as regional watersheds when they are
58	established based on the hydrological or ecological
59	characteristics of the basin. A mitigation service area may
60	extend beyond the regional watershed in which the bank is
61	located into all or part of other regional watersheds when the
62	mitigation bank has the ability to offset adverse impacts
63	outside that regional watershed. Similarly, a mitigation service
64	area may be smaller than the regional watershed in which the
65	mitigation bank is located when adverse impacts throughout the
66	regional watershed cannot reasonably be expected to be offset by
67	the mitigation bank because of local ecological or hydrological
68	conditions.
69	(c) Once a mitigation bank service area has been
70	established by the department or a water management district for
71	a mitigation bank, such service area shall be accepted by all
72	water management districts, local governments, and the
73	department, and is not subject to cumulative impact analysis on
74	the release of credits to any qualified applicant.
75	(d) If the requirements in s. 373.414(1)(b) and (8) are
76	met, the following projects or activities regulated under this
77	part shall be eligible to use a mitigation bank, regardless of
78	whether they are located within the mitigation service area:
79	1. Projects with adverse impacts partially located within
80	the mitigation service area.
81	2. Linear projects, such as roadways, transmission lines,
82	distribution lines, pipelines, or railways.
83	3. Projects with total adverse impacts of less than 1 acre
84	in size.
85	Section 2. Paragraph (c) is added to subsection (8) of
86	section 373.414, Florida Statutes, to read:
87	373.414 Additional criteria for activities in surface
88	waters and wetlands.--
89	(8)
90	(c) If an applicant proposes mitigation within the same
91	mitigation service area as the adverse impacts to be mitigated,
92	the mitigation offsets these adverse impacts, and the mitigation
93	service area has been established as part of a mitigation bank
94	created and permitted pursuant to s. 373.4136, the governing
95	board and the department shall consider the regulated activity
96	to meet the cumulative impact requirements of paragraph (a).
97	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
98