Source: https://www.floridabar.org/news/tfb-journal/?durl=%2Fdivcom%2Fjn%2Fjnjournal01.nsf%2F8c9f13012b96736985256aa900624829%2F0b2609ae62f5bf23852582f00059cf52
Timestamp: 2018-09-19 11:07:14
Document Index: 338451286

Matched Legal Cases: ['§233', '§404', '§233', '§404', '§404', '§404', '§7', '§10', '§7', '§10', '§7', '§10', '§10', '§7', '§10', '§7', '§10', '§1344', '§404', '§233', '§233', '§233', '§233', '§404', '§233', '§233', '§1344', '§401', '§329', '§328', '§1536']

Florida Bar Journal – State Assumption of the Federal Dredge-and-Fill Permitting Program: The Search for the “Holy Grail” – The Florida Bar
by Adam F. Blalock
• Program Description — 40 C.F.R. §233.11 requires states to include the following information in the program description submitted to the RA: 1) a description of the scope and structure of the state’s program; 2) a description of the state’s permitting, administrative, judicial review, and other applicable procedures; 3) a description of the basic organization and structure of the state agency(ies), which will have responsibility for administering the program; 4) a description of the funding and manpower, which will be available for program administration; 5) an estimate of the anticipated workload, e.g., number of discharges; 6) copies of permit application forms, permit forms, and reporting forms; 7) a description of the state’s compliance evaluation and enforcement programs; 8) a description of the waters of the U.S. within a state over which the state assumes jurisdiction under the approved program; 9) a description of the waters of the U.S. within a state over which the secretary retains jurisdiction subsequent to program approval7; 10) a comparison of the state and federal definitions of wetlands; and 11) a description of the specific best management practices proposed to be used to satisfy the exemption provisions of §404(f)(1)(E) of the act for construction or maintenance of farm roads, forest roads, or temporary roads for moving mining equipment.8
• Attorney General’s Statement or Equivalent — Under 40 C.F.R. §233.12, any state seeking to administer the 404 permitting program must submit a statement from the state attorney general (or the attorney for the state agency having independent legal counsel), that the laws and regulations of the state provide adequate authority to carry out the program and meet the applicable requirements to obtain assumption. This statement must cite the specific statutes and administrative regulations that are lawfully effective at the time the program is approved, along with any judicial decisions that demonstrate adequate authority.
• Memorandum of Agreement with the Secretary of the Army — Before state assumption is approved, Florida must also enter into a MOA with the Secretary of the Army. This MOA must include 1) a description of waters of the U.S. within Florida over which the secretary retains jurisdiction, as identified by the secretary; 2) procedures whereby the secretary will, upon program approval, transfer to Florida pending 404 permit applications for discharges in state regulated waters and other relevant information not already in the possession of the state;10 3) an identification of all general permits issued by the secretary that Florida intends to administer and enforce upon receiving 404 assumption; and 4) a plan for transferring responsibility for these general permits to Florida.11
• State Submission Review Process — Once the RA receives the completed state program submission, the RA must, within 120 days, determine whether the state has the requisite authority to issue permits under the §404 permitting program. If the RA determines that sufficient authority exists, then the RA must approve the program and notify the state and the corps.12 The 120-day time period does not begin until EPA deems an application complete.13 The RA will also provide copies of the program submission to the corps, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for review and to provide comments.
• Extent of Wetlands and Surface Waters Retained by the Corps — The MOA with the corps will establish the extent of waters and adjacent wetlands that the corps retains permitting authority over pursuant to §404(g)(1) of the CWA. The corps has been reluctant in the past to relinquish its §404 permitting authority, but EPA recently accepted recommendations from the National Advisory Council for Environmental Policy and Technology (NACEPT) that are more favorable to the states and may put pressure on the corps to soften its minority position. If the corps insists on retaining 404 permitting authority over expansive areas of surface waters and wetlands, the benefits of Florida 404 assumption will not be realized.
• Section 7 vs. Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act — The process to obtain a federal endangered and threatened species take authorizations under the ESA is another issue that has plagued Florida’s past attempts to obtain 404 assumption. Section 9 of the ESA prohibits any person from taking of a federally-listed threatened or endangered species (listed species) unless they have obtained the requisite authorization. The ESA provides two mechanisms for the authorization of those takings that are incidental to otherwise lawful activity — the §7 consultation process and the §10 permitting process.
There are a couple notable differences between the §7 and §10 processes. Under §7, the FWS must complete consultation and issue its opinion within 90 days. This process typically occurs as the agency reviews other federal permits. By contrast, there is no mandatory time limit for completing the review of a §10 incidental take permit (ITP) application. A §10 ITP application must also include a detailed habitat conservation plan, which describes the steps that will be taken to minimize, mitigate for, and monitor the impacts to the listed species. The §7 consultation process is less time consuming and cumbersome than the ITP process established under §10 of the ESA. Because it was previously presumed that upon Florida assuming the 404 permitting program a project applicant would lose the ability to obtain the necessary ESA authorization through the §7 consultation process and, thus, be required to navigate the more time consuming and burdensome §10 process, Florida backed away from seeking 404 assumption.
1	Craig Pittman, Gov. Rick Scott’s DEP Wants to Take Over Issuing Federal Wetland Permits, Tampa Bay Times, Jan. 29, 2018, available at http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/Gov-Rick-Scott-s-DEP-wants-to-take-over-issuing-federal-wetland-permits_164779154.
2	33 U.S.C. §1344.
3	See U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., 136 S. Ct. 1807, 1812 (2016) (The average applicant spends 788 days to obtain an individual CWA §404 permit from the corps.).
4	In Senate floor debate, Sen. Stafford, R-Vermont, stated that the state assumption portion of the CWA amendment “is in accord with the stated policy of Public Law 92-500 of preserving and protecting the primary responsibilities and rights of [s]tates or prevent, reduce and eliminate pollution. It provides for assumption of the permit authority by [s]tates with approved programs for control of discharges for dredged and fill material in accord with the criteria and with guidelines comparable to those contained in 402(b).”
5	Excepts those waters that are presently used, or are susceptible to use in their natural condition or by reasonable improvement as a means to transport interstate or foreign commerce shoreward to their ordinary high water mark, including all waters that are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide shoreward to their mean high water mark, or mean higher high water mark on the west coast, including wetlands adjacent thereto.
6	40 C.F.R. §233.10.
7	A notation in 40 C.F.R. §233.11 provides that “[s]tates should obtain from the [s]ecretary an identification of those waters of the U.S. within the [s]tate over which the [c]orps retains authority under [§]404(g) of the [a]ct.”
8	40 C.F.R. §233.11.
9	40 C.F.R. §233.13.
10	Where, as in Florida, a state permit program includes coverage of those traditionally navigable waters in which only the secretary may issue §404 permits, the state is encouraged to establish in this memorandum of agreement procedures for joint processing of federal and state permits, including joint public notices and public hearings.
11	40 C.F.R. §233.14.
13	40 C.F.R. §233.15.
15	33 U.S.C. §1344(h)(3).
16	Emphasis added.
17	33 U.S.C. §401, et seq.
18	33 U.S.C. §329.4 (emphasis added).
19	Final Report of the Assumable Waters Subcommittee 1 (May 2017), available at https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/ 2017-06/documents/awsubcommitteefinalreprort_05-2017_tag508_05312017_508.pdf.
21	Under 33 C.F.R. §328.3(a)(1), “waters of the United States” includes, in part, “all waters which are currently used, were used in the past, or may be susceptible to use in interstate or foreign commerce, including all waters which are subject to the ebb and flow of the tide.”
22	See 122 Cong. Rec. 16,514-73 (June 3, 1976); see also 7 S. Rep. No. 95-370, at 75 (1977) reprinted in Comm. on Env’t & Publ. Works, 95th Cong., 4 A Legislative History of the Clean Water Act of 1977.
23	Final Report of the Assumable Waters Subcommittee at 5.
24	16 U.S.C. §1536; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, Endangered Species Act Consultation Handbook (Mar. 1998), available at https://www.fws.gov/endangered/esa-library/pdf/esa_section7_handbook.pdf.
ADAM F. BLALOCK is an attorney with Hopping Green & Sams in Tallahassee practicing primarily in the area of natural resources assisting clients in navigating the regulatory and legislative arenas. He represents clients in obtaining state environmental resource permits and federal 404 permits, and has been closely following DEP’s 404 assumption efforts.