HB 7003

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	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
67	maximum 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
114	authority to implement or seeking to implement a delegation of
115	local 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
119	become effective, existing rules adopted pursuant to this part
120	remain in full force and effect. Existing rules that are
121	superseded by the rules adopted pursuant to this section may be
122	repealed without further rulemaking pursuant to s. 120.54 by
123	publication of a notice of repeal in the Florida Administrative
124	Weekly and subsequent filing of a list of the rules repealed
125	with the 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
158	department, a water management district, or a local government
159	delegated local pollution control program authority under s.
160	373.441 to be exempt from the permitting requirements of this
161	part, including self-certifications submitted to the department,
162	a water management district, or a delegated local government
163	before the effective date of the rules adopted pursuant to this
164	section.
165	(c)  The activities approved in a permit issued pursuant to
166	this part and the review of activities proposed in a permit
167	application that is complete before the effective date of the
168	rules adopted pursuant to this section. This paragraph applies
169	to any modification of the plans, terms, and conditions of the
170	permit, including new activities, within the geographical area
171	to which the permit applies and to any modification that lessens
172	or does not increase impacts. However, this paragraph does not
173	apply to a modification that is reasonably expected to lead to
174	additional or substantially different impacts.
175	(5)  To ensure consistent implementation and interpretation
176	of the rules adopted pursuant to this section, the department
177	shall conduct or oversee regular assessment and training of its
178	staff and the staffs of the water management districts and local
179	governments delegated local pollution control program authority
180	under s. 373.441.
181	Section 2.  For the purpose of a cross-reference in section
182	373.4131, Florida Statutes, as created by this act, subsection
183	(12) of section 70.001, Florida Statutes, is reenacted to read:
184	70.001  Private property rights protection.-
185	(12)  No cause of action exists under this section as to
186	the application of any law enacted on or before May 11, 1995, or
187	as to the application of any rule, regulation, or ordinance
188	adopted, or formally noticed for adoption, on or before that
189	date. A subsequent amendment to any such law, rule, regulation,
190	or ordinance gives rise to a cause of action under this section
191	only to the extent that the application of the amendatory
192	language imposes an inordinate burden apart from the law, rule,
193	regulation, or ordinance being amended.
194	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.

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