Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...tion 373.016(1), Florida Statutes, and then continues for more than one hundred pages to lay out the legislative plan to protect state waters. Part IV of Chapter 373 is entitled "Management and Storage of Surface Waters." Contained within Part IV is section 373.413, Florida Statutes, which provides: [T]he governing board [of the Water Management District] or the department may require such permits and impose such reasonable conditions as are necessary to assure that the construction or alteratio...

...nged under section 120.52(8)(a) on the ground that the "agency has materially failed to follow the applicable rulemaking procedures." Based on these principles, we conclude that the District had authority to adopt all of the proposed rules at issue. Section 373.413, Florida Statutes, authorized the District to establish permitting criteria for the protection of water resources and, specifically, to "delineate areas within the district wherein permits may be required." Rules 40C-4 and 40C-41 esta...

...By any name, the Tomoka River and Spruce Creek Hydrologic Basins are delineated geographic areas in which permits are required. Likewise, we conclude that the four new standards are within the authority granted to the District by the enabling statute. Section 373.413 grants the District the power to "require such permits and impose such reasonable conditions as are necessary to assure that the construction or alteration of any stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, or works will comply with the provisions of this part ......

...its territory in Part IV of Chapter 373. As part of its enforcement tools, the District was empowered to measure and regulate dams, impoundments, reservoirs, and appurtenant works (§ 373.409), to require permits for the construction or alteration (§ 373.413), maintenance and operation of such structures (§ 373.416)....

...In contrast with section 373.414, all three of these earlier sections employ precatory rather than mandatory directions to the District; e.g., "the governing board ... may require such permits and impose such reasonable *421 conditions as are necessary." §§ 373.413(1), 373.416(1), 373.409(1) Fla. Stat. Further, section 373.413(1) and 373.416(1) both expressly exclude from coverage "the exemptions set forth in this part." To implement the surface water management provisions, the District adopted rule 40D-4.051, Florida Administrative Code....

...That provision is not part of Chapter 373; and the language of the isolated wetlands statute (§ 373.414) does not give the District any discretion not to include all isolated wetlands in its rule, in contrast with the language in sections 373.416 and 373.413....

...In reaching its decision, the district court explained in detail the application of the administrative process to the permitting function in this case. The court concluded that, because of the discretionary authority granted to the water management districts by the legislature, particularly section 373.413, Florida Statutes 1989, jurisdiction of the agency to proceed with the permitting process is not lost because one or more of the parties desires to dispense with a formal proceeding or hearing....

...It is also clear from SWFWMD's rules and the applicable portions of chapter 120 that once jurisdiction is invoked in a licensing proceeding the process may change from formal to informal or vice versa at the request of the parties and the option of SWFWMD. Section 373.413, Florida Statutes (1989), is the substantive statute that governs the issuance of permits for MSSW, the type of permit Saddlebrook sought. It, too, provides for the exercise of discretion by the administrative agency as to whether hearings are held in regard to a permit application. Section 373.413(5) provides, in pertinent part, as follows: "If no substantial objection to the application is received, the governing board or the department, after proper investigation by its staff, may at its discretion approve the application wit...

...state agencies. The court held that SWFWMD could not delegate its statutory duty to be responsible for preserving Florida's isolated wetlands to other state agencies. In this case, no such jurisdictional issue arises. Rather, SWFWMD is authorized by section 373.413, Florida Statutes (1991), to require a stormwater management and storage of surface water (MSSW) permit for the bridge....

...ction or alteration of any stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, or works will comply with [chapter 373] and applicable rules promulgated thereto and will not be harmful to the water resources of the district." § 373.413(1), Fla....

...oses. No issue is made regarding SAVE's standing to litigate the issues raised in this case. [2] The District's statutory authority to require and process permits for the construction or alteration of any stormwater management system is set forth in section 373.413, Florida Statutes (1991)....

...:1 (horizontal:vertical) out to a depth of two feet below the *1032 control elevation, or an equivalent substitute. SFWMD manual section 3.2.4.4.1(d). Lennar applied for, and received, a SFWMD Surface Water Management Permit on October 11, 1979. See § 373.413(1), Fla....

...ting the development of wetland areas if the Department of Environmental Protection (department) or the appropriate water management district (district) has issued a permit allowing development in the wetland area subject to mitigation requirements. Section 373.413 (1), Florida Statutes, provides that with certain exceptions, the department or governing board of a district may require permits and impose such reasonable conditions as are necessary to assure that the construction or alteration of...

...not be harmful to the water resources of the district. Persons seeking to construct or alter such a system are required to apply to the department or governing board of the district. 1 Provisions for mitigation and mitigation banking are provided in section 373.4135 , Florida Statutes, as means of offsetting or minimizing the adverse impacts of such construction or alteration....

...Accordingly, I am of the opinion that section 373.414 , Florida Statutes, does not prohibit a local government from prohibiting development of wetland areas under its comprehensive growth management plan. Sincerely, Robert A. Butterworth Attorney General RAB/tjw 1 Section 373.413 (2), Fla....

...olicas asserted: “Plaintiffs ... do not believe that the existence or non existence of a ‘wetland’ or the farming thereon, is the determinative material fact as to the rights of the parties.” The Molicas referenced sections 373.403, 373.406, 373.413, and 373.416, Florida Statutes, and stated: 7[.] The uncontroverted facts show that Plaintiffs’ property does not contain a stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work or works, it does not contain any draina...

...” The Molieas’ contention is that there is no statutory authority for the District to regulate the draining and filling of wetlands through the promulgation of rule 40C-4.041. Chapter 373, Part IV, Florida Statutes addresses the management and storage of surface waters. Section 373.413, Florida Statutes, entitled “Permits for construction or alteration,” provides in part: (1) Except for the exemptions set forth herein, the governing board or the department may require such permits and impose such reasonable cond...

...l comply with the provisions of this part and applicable rules promulgated thereto, will not be inconsistent with the overall objectives of the district, and will not be harmful to the water resources of the district. Therefore, pursuant to sections 373.413(1) and 373.416(1), the governing board (the District) may require that a party obtain a permit for the construction, alteration, maintenance, or operation of a stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, or works. The Molicas contend that sections 373.413(1) and 373.416(1) are the only authority within chapter 373, Part IV, for the District to require a permit and that, because dredging and filling is neither the construction, alteration, maintenance or operation of any of the six statutorily...

and storage of surface waters in this state. Section 373.413(1), Florida Statutes, provides: "Except for