Florida Legislative Outlook
January 23, 2002
Lawrence Curtin - Tallahassee
Lawrence Sellers- Tallahassee
The Florida Legislature will convene on January 22, 2002, in Tallahassee
for the Regular Session. Although reapportionment and tax issues undoubtedly
will dominate the agenda, there are a number of environmental issues that also
will be addressed. Here are a few issues that should receive attention during
the session:
Performance-Based Permitting. The Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP) has been seeking authority to consider a permit applicant’s track record
as a part of its determination of whether the applicant has provided
"reasonable assurance" that the permit should be granted. This has
been opposed by most regulated interests. Senator Rod Smith has filed SB 564,
which is version of the DEP proposal. The bill contains several categories of
violations that could be considered by the DEP in the permit application
process. Expect the DEP to continue its effort to find a compromise acceptable
to the regulated community. This appears to be a DEP priority.
Energy 2020 Task Force. The debate over whether to deregulate or
reregulate all or parts of the electric utility industry continue in Florida.
The recent California experience, however, appears to have injected a cautionary
note into the process. Florida’s 2020 Task Force spent considerable time
studying the matter and issued a report in December. The prospect for
legislation is uncertain. Bills related to this issue that have been filed to
date include SB 226, HB 305 and SB 602.
Water Concurrency. Last legislative session, proposals were heard that
were intended to coordinate local government comprehensive plans and water
planning. This issue is back again for the 2002 session. Bills addressing this
issue have been filed in both the House and Senate and are expected to receive
considerable attention.
Growth Management. Once again, the Legislature will consider measures to
address school concurrency and other growth management issues. Bills filed to
date include SB 382 and HB 269. Also look for related legislation dealing with
judicial review of development orders and with the
development-of-regional-impact (DRI) process.
Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The Clean Water Act requires states to
identify water bodies that are impaired and to establish TMDLs for those water
bodies that would limit the discharges that are allowed. Florida legislatively
adopted a process to identify impaired water bodies, and that process required
that rules be adopted. The rules were adopted and were challenged in a lengthy
hearing that recently concluded. The outcome of that hearing could produce more
legislative proposals this session. The DEP is to submit its impaired water body
list by October 2002.
Administrative Procedure Act. In each of the last two years, the
Legislature considered and came close to enacting legislation that would address
some of the delays caused by third-party administrative challenges to permitting
decisions. Similar legislation already has been filed again for 2002 in the form
of HB 257 and SBs 270 and 280. Among other things, the bills seek to expedite
the administrative hearing process and to limit standing to challenge permitting
decisions to persons who would be affected by the decision.
For more information, contact Lawrence N. Curtin or Lawrence E. Sellers, Jr.
at 888-688-8500 or via e-mail at lcurtin@hklaw.com or
lsellers@hklaw.com,
respectively.