CopyCited 8 times | Published | Florida 1st District Court of Appeal | 1991 WL 75657
...ing and filling without a permit. In defense, Fischer responded that the driveway was necessary to maintain cattle ranch operations on the property. As such, he claimed that it was exempt from DER's wetlands resource management authority pursuant to Section 403.927, Florida Statutes (1989)....
...In a letter dated February 9, 1990, Friends requested an opportunity to participate in the administrative process prior to any final action by DER. By letter dated February 27, 1990, DER informed Fischer that the department considered the access road exempt from the permitting requirements, pursuant to section 403.927....
...Thus, DER is authorized by the statutes to create a permitting process for dredge and fill operations. § 403.912(1), Fla. Stat. (1989). In granting such authority to DER, the legislature recognized the great value of farming to the state and that continued agricultural activity is compatible with wetlands protection. § 403.927(1), Fla. Stat. (1989). It therefore exempted agricultural activities, as described in section 403.927(4)(a), from the Wetlands Protection Act pursuant to the provisions of section 403.927(2)....
...[2] Appellees contend that DER's letters of February 27 to Fischer and appellant, expressing its opinion that the access road is exempt, do not constitute final agency action for which appellant would have a right to a section
120.57 hearing. Fischer and London Creek argue that DER has interpreted section
403.927 as creating a self-executing exemption for which no agency action is required....
...REVERSED and REMANDED with directions to grant appellant's petition for a formal
120.57 hearing. [6] JOANOS and MINER, JJ., concur. NOTES [1] Section
403.161(1)(b) provides that it is a violation of chapter 403 for any person to fail to obtain any permit required by the chapter. [2] Section
403.927(2) provides as follows: Agricultural activities and agricultural water management systems are authorized by this section and are not subject to the provisions of s....
...onnected agricultural water management systems. Impacts of agricultural activities and agricultural water management systems on groundwater quality shall be regulated by water management districts. The term "agricultural activities" is defined under section 403.927(4)(a) as including: All necessary farming and forestry operations which are normal and customary for the area, such as site preparation, clearing, fencing, contouring to prevent soil erosion, soil preparation, plowing, planting, harve...
...DER subsequently entered into consent orders with only Mobil and Conserv and denied Phibro's request for a hearing in connection with those consent orders. This court found that the issuance of the warning notices made Conserv a party to the action, and that Phibro was entitled to a section
120.57 hearing. [5] Section
403.927(4)(a) itself, describing agricultural activities which apply for the exemption, requires that the activities be "necessary" and "normal and customary"; obviously, if DER had jurisdiction to determine that the exemption should apply, a...
CopyPublished | Florida 5th District Court of Appeal | 2009 Fla. App. LEXIS 14719, 2009 WL 3149282
...stently with the statute as explained in Duda I. [1] However, Duda I did not address the interplay between section
373.406(2) and language from the Warren S. Henderson Wetlands Protection Act, chapter 84-79, Laws of Florida, now codified at sections
403.927(2) & (4)(a), Florida Statutes. Those provisions virtually eliminate the agricultural exemption as it applies to alterations impacting wetlands. Under section
403.927, agricultural activities that impede or divert the flow of surface waters even incidentally are not exempt from regulation if they impact wetlands....
