On September 16, 2020, EPA published notice in the Federal Register that DEP submitted a complete application for assumption. On August 20, 2020, DEP applied to EPA for assumption of the CWA 404 program. Two notices of change were published in June 2020. The first public workshops were held in May and June 2018, and on February 19, 2020, proposed F.A.C.R. 62-331, with an incorporated State 404 Program Applicant’s Handbook, setting forth the rules for the assumed program, including provisions to meet federal requirements.ĭEP published a notice of rule development for Rule 62-331 on May 11, 2018. DEP states that assumption “would provide greater certainty to the regulated community, conserve resources of both applicant and regulator, and would afford the state greater control over its natural resources while complying with federal law.” Īs part of the assumption process, DEP spent many hours working with the EPA, the corps, and other agencies on memorandums of agreement (MOAs) and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), discussed below. The goal of state assumption is to provide a streamlined permitting procedure addressing both federal and state requirements, while maintaining at least the same level of environmental protection as the federal program. This statute also authorized DEP to enact necessary rules to implement the program and federal requirements necessary for assumption (state 404 permit program). §373.4146, allowing DEP to apply to the EPA to assume §404 permitting. Relying upon the authorization in §404(g), in 2018 the Florida Legislature enacted F.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assume permitting under the §404. Section 404(g)(1) allows states and Native American tribes with “treatment as a state” status to apply to the U.S. This means many applicants must process two sets of permits that often regulate the same activity, incurring additional costs and potential delays. DEP estimates the federal 404 permit and state ERP overlap 85% of the time. 373 and Rule 62-330 of the Florida Administrative Code. Additionally, in Florida, works and activities that alter the surface of land must have an environmental resource permit (ERP) from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or one of the state’s five water management districts under Part IV of F.S. Army Corps of Engineers (corps) under §404 of the Clean Water Act, for activities that discharge dredge and fill materials into a water of the United States. In Florida and 47 other states, a permit must be obtained from the U.S. Code (U.S.C.) §1251, et seq., governs discharges of dredge or fill materials into waters of the United States. Section 404 of the Clean Water Act (CWA), Title 33 of the U.S.
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