No. HB 1319
Filed under Environment & Water.
Surface Waters; Requires DEP to incorporate habitat equivalency analysis in uniform mitigation assessment method; requires that permits for dredging & filling include certain requirements; requires permitted entities to bear full cost & responsibility for any damage or destruction caused by dredging, filling, or related activities; designates coral reefs as critical natural infrastructure & nature-based solutions.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDAnyone permitted to dredge or fill state waters must bear the full cost of, and full responsibility for, any damage or destruction the activity causes.
Permits for dredging and filling must require that a different entity handles turbidity monitoring than the one doing the dredging, and DEP must write rules to put that separation into practice.
DEP must build 'habitat equivalency analysis' -- a method for calculating how much restoration offsets a given impact -- into the statewide mitigation assessment method, and must consult the Army Corps of Engineers to keep state and federal methods consistent.
The Legislature also formally designates coral reefs as critical natural infrastructure and a nature-based solution for reducing storm, flood, and climate-related damage, citing their value in protecting coastal property.
AIA permit holder must bear the full cost of, and full responsibility for, any damage or destruction that dredging, filling, or related activities cause, with no stated limit or fault standard.
AIAny permit for dredging and filling must require that the entity performing the dredging differ from the entity performing turbidity monitoring, ending self-monitoring of a project's own water-quality impact. DEP must adopt rules to implement this.
AIWhen developing the uniform mitigation assessment method used to calculate required wetland and surface water mitigation statewide, DEP must incorporate habitat equivalency analysis, a methodology for calculating how much restoration is needed to offset a given adverse impact.
AIIn developing the uniform mitigation assessment method, DEP must seek input from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to keep state and federal mitigation assessment approaches consistent with each other.
AIThe Legislature formally designates coral reefs as critical natural infrastructure and a nature-based solution for mitigating storm, flood, and climate-related risks, an official state recognition that can be cited in disaster-mitigation planning and funding decisions.