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> Wetlands delegation. Florida Forever forward funding is gone.
Wetlands:
Wetlands delegation. Florida Forever forward funding is gone.
Our Position: oppose
Bill Number: HB 1343/SB2544
Sponsor: Rep. Trudi Williams/Senator Paula Dockery
Legislative Session: 2006
5/5/06: Did not pass.
4/29/06: The House and Senate versions are still stuck in committees and that is a good thing. There have been attempts to amend the entire Army Corps delegation to DEP language to SB1112, HB1447. However, the attempted amendment to SB1112 was withdrawn before the Senate voted on SB1112 and sent it to the House messages.
4/20/06: The Senate Version is substantially different then the original intent of the bill and the short lived 4-17-06 good version of the bill that would have deleted the Army Corps delegation of wetlands to the DEP, and only been the forward funding for Florida Forever, was replaced by a 4-18-06 version that was released about an hour prior to the Committee meeting. Hardly enough time to figure out all of the major, significant changes.
What we have figured out thus far for the new language in SB2544 is:
- Forward Florida Forever Funding language has been stripped from the bill. (Senator Dockery said the GOVERNOR would not allow this to be in the bill);
- There is language about military base land acquisition and buffers;
- The delegation from the Corps to DEP for 10 acres or less is back. The problem with this is that challenging these "state" permits are more difficult for citizens to get standing under current state laws vs challenging the Federal Corps permits. The bill language would open up 10 acres or less of wetlands to a statewide programmatic general permit...
4/17/06: SB2544 by Senator Dockery, is the bill that had Florida Forever forward funding and the wetlands delegation of 10 acres or less from the Corps to DEP, is up Tuesday in Senate Environmental Preservation, with new language that only keeps the Florida Forever funding. The House bill is HB1343.
4/18/06: 4/6/06: This legislation (both versions) is an attempt by the Florida Legislature to get wetlands delegation of impacts 10 acres or less from the Army Corps of Engineers to the state, under the guise of a state programmatic general permit.
It allows DEP to do Corps permitting for up to 10 acres of wetland impacts- but the Corp does a lot of coordination and investigates what are the endangered species? what are the cumulative impacts. How will DEP handle the increased workload and will there be additional monies coming to DEP to handle the increase in permitting. What will happen to that? It says that the permits may be subject to further federal rules, but they don't say how or what agency will be administering those rules.
The Corps also looks at whether the projects will be in the public interest, and cumulative impacts. The state doesn't do that.
They will put the state's "time clock" into corps permitting, which has no clock. And that might just be illegal.
They are trying to do it without changing the CWA, which might just be illegal. They're doing it by expanding the State Programmatic Gen Permit.
They will only require the Corps' wetland vegetative index if the impacts are 5 acres or more. (slash pine and galberry being recognized as possible wetland plants). This runs counter to DEP efforts to get these plants considered neutral for all wetland projects.
The net effect of the bill will be to lessen the effectiveness of the federal rules and hasten the destruction of wetlands.
There have been several good articles generated recently regarding this legislation, as a result, the consensus is that the Florida Forever Forward Funding should be stand alone in this bill, and the wetlands delegation from the Army Corps of Engineers to the State DEP be eliminated from the bill(s).
Status
Action Needed
More information
Contact
contact Karen Orr, Chapter Wetlands and Water Issue Chair thibeau48@bellsouth.net and Rosalie Shaffer, Panhandle Wetlands ERP contact shaffer_us@yahoo.com
Background
| Summary from Senate staff analysis: 4/20/06: The committee substitute revises the Florida Forever program to require that priority consideration be given to the acquisition of lands that protect and buffer military installations. Clarifying revisions are made to the state’s alternative water supply program, and matching fund requirements for the surface water improvement and management program are revised to provide an exemption for certain water management districts and financially disadvantaged small local governments. The committee substitute requires that the Department of Environmental Protection (department) and the water management districts implement a voluntary statewide programmatic general permit for any dredge and fill activity which impacts 10 acres or less of wetlands or waters, including navigable waters, subject to agreement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and ratifies a department rule modification to the vegetative index used to identify and delineate wetlands to classify slash pine and gallberry as facultative plants.1 The committee substitute substantially amends ss. 259.105, 373.1961, 373.459, 373.59, 403.891, 373.4414 and 373.4211, F.S. | | |
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