Tallahassee – Florida SB 198: Water Resources Management by Doral Senator Ana Maria Rodriquez (R) was approved 3 – 2 by the Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources on January 18, 2022.
Florida SB 198 is the companion bill to House Bill 349 by Merritt Island Rep. Tyler Sirois (R)
Florida SB 198 Staff Summary
Excerpt from Senate Bill 198 Post Committee Staff Analyses.
Florida SB 198 authorizes the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Board of Trustees) to grant easements on sovereignty submerged lands (SSLs) for mitigation banks that are permitted under, and meet the public interest criteria in, state law. The bill provides that it does not prohibit mitigation to offset impacts to seagrass or other habitats on SSLs upon meeting the public interest criteria. It also directs the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt and modify rules to ensure that required financial assurances are equivalent and sufficient to provide for the long-term management of mitigation.
The bill revises the existing Environmental Resource Permitting (ERP) program exceptions for:
- The installation and repair of certain mooring pilings and dolphins, piers, and recreational docking facilities, to provide that docks authorized under same must be granted authorization for the use of submerged lands upon approval by the Board of Trustees; and
- Floating vessel platform or floating boat lift structures, to:
- Create a presumption of compliance with any requirement to minimize adverse environmental impacts, where they are associated with a dock on a parcel of land; and
- Provide that local governments may require only a one-time registration of certain floating vessel platforms to ensure compliance with listed exemption criteria or with local electrical or plumbing codes that are no more stringent than the exemption criteria or address other subjects.
The bill also provides a definition for the term “local government.”
Download: Florida Senate Bill 198
Video: Senate Committee on Environment and Natural Resources 1/18/22 Meeting – The Florida SB 198 discussion begins at 10m:00ss on the video timeline.
Related Post
House Bill 349: Water Resources Management