HB 691

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to beach management; amending s.
3	161.041, F.S.; specifying that demonstration to the
4	Department of Environmental Protection of the adequacy
5	of a project's design and construction is supported by
6	certain evidence; requiring the permit applicant and
7	the department to negotiate in good faith; authorizing
8	the department to issue permits for an incidental take
9	authorization under certain circumstances; requiring
10	the department to adopt certain rules involving the
11	excavation and placement of sediment; requiring the
12	department to justify items listed in a request for
13	additional information; requiring the department to
14	adopt guidelines by rule; providing legislative intent
15	with regard to permitting for periodic maintenance of
16	certain beach nourishment and inlet management
17	projects; requiring the department to amend specified
18	rules to streamline such permitting; creating s.
19	161.0413, F.S.; providing for joint coastal permits
20	for certain beach-related projects; providing for the
21	permit life of joint permits; amending s. 161.101,
22	F.S.; requiring the department to maintain certain
23	beach management project information on its website;
24	requiring the department to notify the Governor's
25	Office and the Legislature concerning any significant
26	changes in project funding levels; amending s.
27	373.406, F.S.; providing a permit exemption for
28	certain specified exploratory activities relating to
29	beach restoration and nourishment projects and inlet
30	management activities; requiring a department
31	determination of a de minimis permit exemption to be
32	provided within a certain time; providing an effective
33	date.
34
35	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37	Section 1.  Section 161.041, Florida Statutes, is amended
38	to read:
39	161.041  Permits required.-
40	(1)  If a any person, firm, corporation, county,
41	municipality, township, special district, or any public agency
42	desires to make any coastal construction or reconstruction or
43	change of existing structures, or any construction or physical
44	activity undertaken specifically for shore protection purposes,
45	or other structures and physical activity including groins,
46	jetties, moles, breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, artificial
47	nourishment, inlet sediment bypassing, excavation or maintenance
48	dredging of inlet channels, or other deposition or removal of
49	beach material, or construction of other structures if of a
50	solid or highly impermeable design, upon state sovereignty lands
51	of Florida, below the mean high-water line of any tidal water of
52	the state, a coastal construction permit must be obtained from
53	the department before prior to the commencement of such work.
54	The department may exempt interior tidal waters of the state
55	from the permit requirements of this section. No such
56	development shall interfere,
57	(a)  Except during construction, such development may not
58	interfere with the public use by the public of any area of a
59	beach seaward of the mean high-water line unless the department
60	determines that the such interference is unavoidable for
61	purposes of protecting the beach or an any endangered upland
62	structure. The department may require, As a condition of to
63	granting permits under this section, the department may require
64	the provision of alternative access if when interference with
65	public access along the beach is unavoidable. The width of such
66	alternate access may not be required to exceed the width of the
67	access that will be obstructed as a result of the permit being
68	granted. Application for coastal construction permits as defined
69	above shall be made to the department upon such terms and
70	conditions as set forth by rule of the department.
71	(b)  Except for the deepwater ports identified in s.
72	403.021(9)(b), the department may shall not issue a any permit
73	for the construction of a coastal inlet jetty or the excavation
74	or maintenance of such an inlet if the activity authorized by
75	the permit will have a significant adverse impact on the sandy
76	beaches of this state without a mitigation program approved by
77	the department. In evaluating the mitigation program, the
78	department shall consider take into consideration the benefits
79	of the long-term sand management plan of the permittee and the
80	overall public benefits of the inlet activity.
81	(2)  The department may authorize an excavation or erection
82	of a structure at any coastal location upon receipt of an
83	application from a property or riparian owner and upon
84	consideration of facts and circumstances, including:
85	(a)  Adequate engineering data concerning inlet and
86	shoreline stability and storm tides related to shoreline
87	topography;
88	(b)  Design features of the proposed structures or
89	activities; and
90	(c)  Potential effects impacts of the location of such
91	structures or activities, including potential cumulative effects
92	of any proposed structures or activities upon such beach-dune
93	system or coastal inlet, which, in the opinion of the
94	department, clearly justify such a permit.
95	(3)  The department may require such engineer
96	certifications as necessary to assure the adequacy of the design
97	and construction of permitted projects. Reasonable assurance is
98	demonstrated if the permit applicant provides competent
99	substantial evidence that is based on plans, studies, and
100	credible expertise that accounts for naturally occurring
101	variables that might reasonably be expected.
102	(4)  The department may, as a condition to the granting of
103	a permit under this section, require mitigation, financial, or
104	other assurances acceptable to the department as may be
105	necessary to assure performance of the conditions of a permit or
106	enter into contractual agreements to best assure compliance with
107	any permit conditions. Biological and environmental monitoring
108	conditions included in the permit must shall be based upon
109	clearly defined scientific principles. The department may also
110	require notice of the required permit conditions required and
111	the contractual agreements entered into pursuant to the
112	provisions of this subsection to be filed in the public records
113	of the county in which the permitted activity is located.
114	(5)  Department-proposed permit conditions as well as
115	specific provisions and requirements associated with requisite
116	monitoring and mitigation plans must be negotiated in good faith
117	by the agency and the applicant before the issuance of the
118	notice of intent and transmittal of the permit. The subsequent
119	time period between the applicant receiving a notice of intent
120	and the final notice to proceed may not be used to circumvent
121	the time limits in chapter 120 or the Legislature's expressed
122	intent to simplify and expedite the regulatory process for beach
123	nourishment and inlet management projects pursuant to s.
124	161.0413 when they are declared to be in the public interest
125	pursuant to s. 161.088.
126	(6)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the
127	department may issue permits pursuant to this part in advance of
128	the issuance of an incidental take authorization provided under
129	the Endangered Species Act and its implementing regulations if
130	the permits and authorizations include a condition that requires
131	that such authorized activities not begin until the incidental
132	take authorization is issued.
133	(7)  The department shall adopt rules to address standard
134	mixing zone criteria and antidegradation requirements for
135	turbidity generation for permits that involve the excavation and
136	placement of sediment in order to eliminate the need for
137	variances, except within Outstanding Florida Waters and aquatic
138	preserves, and to reduce the need for other variances issued
139	pursuant to s. 373.414 or s. 403.201. In processing variance
140	requests, the department must consider the legislative
141	declaration that, pursuant to s. 161.088, beach nourishment
142	projects are in the public interest.
143	(8)  Application for permits shall be made to the
144	department upon such terms and conditions as set forth by rule.
145	(a)  If, as part of the permit process, the department
146	requests additional information, it must cite applicable
147	statutory and rule provisions that justify any item listed in a
148	request for additional information.
149	(b)  The department may not issue guidelines that are
150	enforceable as standards for beach management, inlet management,
151	and other erosion control projects without adopting such
152	guidelines by rule.
153	(9)  The Legislature intends to simplify the permitting
154	process for the periodic maintenance of previously permitted and
155	constructed beach nourishment and inlet management projects
156	under the joint coastal permit process. A detailed review of a
157	previously permitted project is not required if there have been
158	no substantial changes in project scope and past performance of
159	the project indicates that it has performed according to design
160	expectations. The department shall amend chapters 62B-41 and
161	62B-49 of the Florida Administrative Code to streamline the
162	permitting process for periodic beach maintenance projects and
163	inlet sand bypassing activities.
164	Section 2.  Section 161.0413, Florida Statutes, is created
165	to read:
166	161.0413  Joint coastal permits.-
167	(1)  The department is authorized to issue a joint coastal
168	permit for activities falling under both s. 161.041 and part IV
169	of chapter 373.
170	(2)  Joint coastal permits must allow for two maintenance
171	or dredging disposal events or a permit life of 15 years,
172	whichever is greater.
173	Section 3.  Subsection (20) of section 161.101, Florida
174	Statutes, is amended to read:
175	161.101  State and local participation in authorized
176	projects and studies relating to beach management and erosion
177	control.-
178	(20)  The department shall maintain active a current
179	project listings on its website by fiscal year in order to
180	provide transparency regarding those projects receiving funding
181	and the funding amounts, and to facilitate legislative reporting
182	and oversight. In consideration of this intent: listing and may,
183	in its discretion and dependent upon the availability of local
184	resources and changes in the criteria listed in subsection (14),
185	revise the project listing.
186	(a)  The department shall notify the Executive Office of
187	the Governor and the Legislature regarding any significant
188	changes in the funding levels of a given project as initially
189	requested in the department's budget submission and subsequently
190	included in approved annual funding allocations. The term
191	"significant" means those changes exceeding 25 percent of a
192	project's original allocation. If there is surplus funding,
193	notification shall be provided to the Executive Office of the
194	Governor and the Legislature to indicate whether additional
195	dollars are intended to be used for inlet management pursuant to
196	s. 161.143, offered for reversion as part of the next
197	appropriations process, or used for other specified priority
198	projects on active project lists.
199	(b)  A summary of specific project activities for the
200	current fiscal year, funding status, and changes to annual
201	project lists shall be prepared by the department and included
202	with the department's submission of its annual legislative
203	budget request.
204	(c)  A local project sponsor may at any time release, in
205	whole or in part, appropriated project dollars by formal
206	notification to the department, which shall notify the Executive
207	Office of the Governor and the Legislature. Notification must
208	indicate how the project dollars are intended to be used.
209	Section 4.  Subsection (13) is added to section 373.406,
210	Florida Statutes, to read:
211	373.406  Exemptions.-The following exemptions shall apply:
212	(13)  Notwithstanding subsection (6) and s. 403.813, this
213	section, and any rule or order adopted pursuant thereto, may not
214	require a permit for the following de minimis exploratory
215	activities associated with beach restoration and nourishment
216	projects and inlet management activities:
217	(a)  The collection of geotechnical, geophysical, and
218	cultural resource data, including surveys, mapping, acoustic
219	soundings, benthic and other biologic sampling, and coring.
220	(b)  Oceanographic instrument deployment, including
221	temporary installation on the seabed of coastal and
222	oceanographic data collection equipment.
223	(c)  Incidental excavation associated with any of the
224	activities listed under paragraph (a) or paragraph (b).
225
226	A determination of whether any other activity is de minimis and
227	therefore exempt from the permitting process must be made by the
228	department within 30 days after receipt of the request unless
229	the applicant requests additional time.
230	Section 5.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

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