Title: Mitigation Banks

Summary: Provides exemption from mitigation bank requirements for impacts from mining construction aggregate materials & removal & management of exotic plant species.

Full Text:
An act relating to mitigation banks; amending s. 373.4135, F.S.; providing an exemption from mitigation bank requirements for impacts from mining construction aggregate materials and the removal and management of exotic plant species; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 373.4135, Florida Statutes, i samended to read: 373.4135 Mitigation banks and offsite regional mitigation.-(1) The Legislature finds that the adverse impacts of activities regulated under this part may be offset by the creation, maintenance, and use of mitigation banks and offsit eregional mitigation. Mitigation banks and offsite regional mitigation can enhance the certainty of mitigation and provide ecological value due to the improved likelihood of environmental success associated with their proper construction, maintenance, and management. Therefore, the department and the water management districts are directed to participate in and encourage the establishment of private and public mitigation banks and offsite regional mitigation. Mitigation banks and offsite regional mitigatio nshould emphasize the restoration and enhancement of degraded ecosystems and the preservation of HB 1283 2016 uplands and wetlands as intact ecosystems rather than alteration of landscapes to create wetlands. This is best accomplished through restoration of ecological communities that were historically present. (b) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a governmental entity may not create or provide mitigation for a project other than its own unless the governmental entity uses land that was not previously purchased for conservation and unless the governmental entity provides the same financial assurances as required for mitigation banks permitted under s. 373.4136. This paragraph does not apply to: 1. Mitigation banks permitted before December 31, 2011, under s. 373.4136; 2. Offsite regional mitigation areas established before December 31, 2011, under subsection (6); 3. Mitigation for transportation projects under ss. 373.4137 and 373.4139; 4. Mitigation for impacts from mining activities under s. 373.41492 or impacts from mining construction aggregate materials as defined in s. 337.0261, including mitigation for the removal and management of exotic plant species;5. Mitigation provided for single-family lots or homeowners under subsection (7); 6. Entities authorized in chapter-492, Laws of Florida; 7. Mitigation provided for electric utility impacts certified under part II of chapter 403; or HB 1283 2016 8. Mitigation provided on sovereign submerged lands under subsection (6). Section 2. This act sh all take effect July 1, 2016.