Florida Administrative Code › 18 - BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND › 18 - Departmental › Chapter 18-20 - FLORIDA AQUATIC PRESERVES › Section 18-20.003 - Definitions

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
When used in these rules, the following words shall have the
				  indicated meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1) "Act" means the provisions of sections
				 258.35 through
				 258.46, F.S., the Florida
				Aquatic Preserve Act.
(2)
				"Activity" means any project and such other human action within the preserve
				requiring Board approval for the use, sale, lease or transfer of interest in
				sovereignty lands or materials, or which may require a permit from the
				Department of Environmental Protection.
(3) "Aesthetic values" means scenic
				characteristics or amenities of the preserve in its essentially natural state
				or condition, and the maintenance thereof.
(4) "Applicant" means any person making
				application for a permit, license, conveyance of an interest in state owned
				lands or any other necessary form of governmental approval in order to perform
				an activity within the preserve.
(5) "Application" means a joint application
				for an environmental resource permit/authorization to use state-owned submerged
				lands/federal dredge and fill permit or a joint application for wetland
				resource alterations (dredging or filling) in the waters of Florida.
(6) "Aquaculture" means the cultivation of
				aquatic organisms and associated activities, including, but not limited to
				grading, sorting, transporting, harvesting, holding, storing, growing and
				planting.
(7) "Artificial reef"
				means any artificial or man-made material acceptable to the Department that is
				placed on sovereign submerged land for the purpose of fish attraction, habitat
				creation, enhancement, or restoration.
(8) "Authorization" means the permission
				granted by the Board for a person to construct a facility or to carry out an
				activity on sovereign submerged lands.
(9) "Avulsion" means the sudden or
				perceptible loss of or addition to land by the action of water or the sudden or
				perceptible change in the bed of a lake or the course of a stream.
(10) "Beneficial biological functions" means
				interactions between flora, fauna and physical or chemical attributes of the
				environment, which provide benefits that accrue to the public at large,
				including, but not limited to: nutrient, pesticide and heavy metal uptake;
				sediment retention; nutrient conversion to biomass; nutrient recycling and
				oxygenation.
(11) "Beneficial
				hydrological functions" means interactions between flora, fauna and physical
				geological or geographical attributes of the environment, which provide
				benefits that accrue to the public at large, including, but not limited to:
				retardation of storm water flow; storm water retention; and water storage, and
				periodical release.
(12)
				"Biological values" means the preservation and promotion of indigenous life
				forms and habitats including, but not limited to: sponges, soft corals, hard
				corals, submerged grasses, mangroves, saltwater marshes, fresh water marshes,
				mud flats, marine, estuarine, and aquatic reptiles, game and non-game fish
				species, marine, estuarine, and aquatic mammals, marine, estuarine, and aquatic
				invertebrates, birds and shellfish.
(13) "Board" means the Board of Trustees of
				the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or its delegate. The Department and water
				management districts serve as staff to the Board and are delegated authority to
				carry out functions of the Board as specified in rule
				 18-21.0051, F.A.C.
(14) "Bulkhead" means a vertical structure
				separating land and water areas primarily designed to resist earth
				pressure.
(15) "Channel" means a
				trench, the bottom of which is normally covered entirely by water, with the
				upper edges of its sides normally below water.
(16) "Commercial, industrial and other
				revenue generating/income related docks" means docking facilities for an
				activity which produces income, through rental or any other means, or which
				serves as an accessory facility to other rental, commercial or industrial
				operations. It shall include, but not be limited to docking for: marinas,
				restaurants, hotels, motels, commercial fishing, shipping, boat or ship
				construction, repair, and sales.
(17) "Department" means the State of Florida
				Department of Environmental Protection or any of its predecessor
				agencies.
(18) "Division" means the
				Division of Marine Resources and its Bureau of Coastal and Aquatic Managed
				Areas.
(19) "Dock" means a fixed or
				floating structure, including moorings, used for the purpose of berthing
				buoyant vessels either temporarily or indefinitely.
(20) "Dredging" means mechanical or other
				methods used to remove sovereign submerged land.
(21) "Easement" means a nonpossessory
				interest in state lands created by a grant from or agreement with the Board
				that confers upon the recipient the limited nonexclusive right and privilege to
				use such lands for a specific purpose and for a specific time.
(22) "Energy production" means the
				exploration for, and extraction of, hydrocarbons, including necessary
				transmission through pipelines, or the water oriented activities related to the
				generation of electricity.
(23)
				"Erosion" means the gradual and imperceptible wearing away of riparian or
				littoral land due to natural causes. Artificial erosion refers to erosion
				caused by man-made projects and operations.
(24) "Essentially natural condition" means
				those functions which support the continued existence or encourage the
				restoration of the diverse population of indigenous life forms and habitats to
				the extent they existed prior to the significant development adjacent to and
				within the preserve.
(25) "Extreme
				hardship" means a significant burden, unique to the applicant and not shared by
				property owners in the area. Self-imposed circumstances caused to any degree by
				actions of any person subsequent to the enactment of the Act shall not be
				construed as an extreme hardship. Extreme hardship under this act shall not be
				construed to include any hardship which arises in whole or in part from the
				effect of other federal, state or local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations.
				The term may be inherent in public projects which are shown to be a public
				necessity.
(26) "Facility" means
				any boat ramp, covered slip, pier, dock, piling, marina or other structure
				which preempts sovereign submerged land.
(27) "Fill" means materials from any source,
				deposited by any means onto sovereignty lands, either for the purpose of
				creating new uplands or for any other purpose, including spoiling of dredged
				materials. For the purpose of this rule, the placement of pilings or riprap
				shall not be considered to be filling.
(28) "Lease" means a conveyance of interest
				in lands, title to which is vested in the Board, granted in accordance with
				specific terms set forth in writing.
(29) "Main access dock" means that walkway
				which connects a riparian owner's property to a terminal platform.
(30) "Maintenance dredging" means mechanical
				or other methods used to remove sovereign submerged land in existing channels
				where navigation by vessels presently occurs. For the purpose of this rule,
				requests to dredge previously dredged areas that have regained their former
				natural characteristics due to lack of use, lack of upkeep, or other factors or
				requests to change the design specification of previously dredged areas shall
				not be considered as maintenance dredging but shall be considered new
				dredging.
(31) "Mangrove" means any
				specimen of the species Avicennia germinans (black mangrove), Laguncularia
				racemosa (white mangrove), or Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove).
(32) "Marina" means a small craft harbor
				complex used primarily for recreation.
(33) "Mean high water line" means the
				intersection of the tidal plane of mean high water with the shore as determined
				in accordance with chapter 177, part II, F.S., and chapter 18-11,
				F.A.C.
(34) "Mean sea level" means
				a tidal datum constituting the arithmetic mean of the hourly water elevations
				observed over a 19-year cycle (the National Tidal Datum Epoch).
(35) "Mitigation" means an action, series of
				actions, or activity that will offset adverse impacts to sovereign submerged
				lands. Cash payments shall not be considered mitigation unless payments are
				specified for use in a previously identified, Department endorsed,
				environmental or restoration project and the payments initiate a restoration
				project or supplement an ongoing restoration project.
(36) "Natural characteristics" means
				topographic features conforming to the usual or ordinary course of
				nature.
(37) "Negative
				environmental impact" means an unfavorable effect or damage to the natural
				resources, aesthetics, or scientific value of an aquatic preserve.
(38) "Oil and gas transportation facilities"
				means those structures necessary for the movement of oil and gas from the
				production site to the consumer.
(39) "Ordinary high water line (OHWL)" means
				the boundary between sovereign submerged lands and the adjacent uplands along
				nontidal waterbodies.
(40) "Person"
				means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, joint
				venture, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, fiduciary, commission,
				county, municipality or political subdivision of a state, any interstate body,
				the federal government, or any subdivision thereof and all other groups or
				combinations, whether public or private.
(41) "Pier" means a structure in, on, or over
				sovereignty lands, which is used by the public primarily for fishing or
				swimming. A pier shall not include a dock.
(42) "Preempted area" means the area of
				sovereign submerged lands from which traditional public uses have been or would
				be excluded to any extent by an activity, such as the area occupied by the
				docks and other structures; swimming areas set apart by buoys, ropes or similar
				structures; temporary or permanent mooring areas; the area between the docks
				and shoreline; and the docking facility's turning basin used predominantly by
				vessels mooring at a dock. If the activity or facility is required to be moved
				waterward to avoid dredging or disturbing nearshore habitat, a portion of the
				nearshore area may be excluded from the preempted area if otherwise reasonably
				accessible to the public.
(43)
				"Preserve or Aquatic Preserve" means any and all of those areas which are
				exceptional areas of sovereignty lands and the associated water body so
				designated in part II of chapter 258, F.S., including all sovereignty lands,
				title to which is vested in the Board, and such other lands as the Board may
				acquire or approve for inclusion by the Legislature. These areas also include
				the water column over such lands, which have been set aside to be maintained in
				an essentially natural or existing condition of indigenous flora and fauna and
				their supporting habitat and the natural scenic qualities and amenities
				thereof.
(44) "Private residential
				single-family dock" means a dock which is used for private, recreational or
				leisure purposes for a single-family residence, cottage or other such single
				dwelling unit and which is designed to moor no more than two boats. This also
				includes docks, with mooring of no more than a total of four boats, located on
				property lines between two upland single-family residences, where the dock is
				shared for use by both upland, single-family residences.
(45) "Private residential multi-slip dock"
				means a docking facility which is used for private recreational or leisure
				purposes for multi-unit residential dwellings which shall include but is not
				limited to condominiums, townhouses, subdivisions and other such dwellings or
				residential areas and which is designed to moor three or more boats. Yacht
				clubs associated with residential developments, whose memberships or
				utilization of the docking facility requires some real property interest in the
				residential area, shall also be included.
(46) "Public interest" means demonstrable
				environmental, social, and economic benefits which would accrue to the public
				at large as a result of a proposed action, and which would clearly exceed all
				demonstrable environmental, social, and economic costs of the proposed action.
				In determining the public interest in a request for use, sale, lease, or
				transfer of interest in sovereignty lands or severance of materials from
				sovereignty lands, the Board shall consider the ultimate project and purpose to
				be served by said use, sale, lease, or transfer of lands or
				materials.
(47) "Public land" means
				any land in which a public entity has a title interest.
(48) "Public navigation project" means a
				project primarily for the purpose of navigation which is authorized and funded
				by the United States Congress or by port authorities as defined by section
				 315.02(2),
				F.S.
(49) "Public necessity" means
				the works or improvements required for the protection of the health and safety
				of the public, consistent with the Act and these rules, for which no other
				reasonable alternative exists.
(50)
				"Public utilities" means those services, provided by persons regulated by the
				Public Service Commission, or which are provided by rural cooperatives,
				municipalities, or other governmental agencies, including electricity,
				telephone, public water and wastewater services, and structures necessary for
				the provision of these services.
(51) "Quality of the preserve" means the
				degree of the biological, aesthetic and scientific values of the preserve
				necessary for present and future enjoyment of it in an essentially natural
				condition.
(52) "Repair" means
				activities undertaken to maintain existing structures in a safely useable and
				functional condition without modifying the dimensions or footprint of the
				original structure.
(53) "Resource
				management agreement" means a contractual agreement between the Board and one
				or more parties which does not create an interest in real property but merely
				authorizes the party to conduct certain management activities on lands held by
				the Board.
(54) "Resource
				Protection Area (RPA) 1" - Areas within the aquatic preserves which have
				resources of the highest quality and condition for that area. These resources
				may include, but are not limited to corals; marine grassbeds; mangrove swamps;
				salt-water marsh; oyster bars; archaeological and historical sites; endangered
				or threatened species habitat; and, colonial water bird nesting
				sites.
(55) "Resource Protection
				Area 2" - Areas within the aquatic preserves which are in transition with
				either declining resource protection area 1 resources or new pioneering
				resources within resource protection area 3.
(56) "Resource Protection Area 3" - Areas
				within the aquatic preserve that are characterized by the absence of any
				significant natural resource attributes.
(57) "Riparian rights" means those rights
				incident to lands bordering upon navigable waters, as recognized by the courts
				of this state and common law.
(58)
				"Riprap" means a man-made aggregation of unconsolidated boulders, rocks, or
				clean rubble designed to break the force of waves and to protect the shore from
				erosion. The materials used shall not contain any dangerous
				protrusions.
(59) "Sale" means a
				conveyance of interest in lands, by the Board, for consideration.
(60) "Scientific values" means the
				preservation and promotion of certain qualities or features which have
				scientific significance.
(61)
				"Seawall" means a vertical structure built along a portion of a coast,
				retaining earth against its landward face and designed to prevent erosion and
				other damage by wave action.
(62)
				"Shoreline" means the mean or ordinary high water line.
(63) "Shore protection structure" means a
				type of coastal construction designed to minimize the rate of erosion. Coastal
				construction includes any work or activity which is likely to have a material
				physical effect on existing coastal conditions or natural shore
				processes.
(64) "Slip" or "wet
				slip" means an area of the water column above sovereign submerged lands
				specifically set aside for a boatlift or the mooring of a single vessel
				associated with a docking facility.
(65) "Sovereignty lands" means those lands
				including, but not limited to: tidal lands, islands, sandbars, shallow banks,
				and lands waterward of the ordinary or mean high water line, to which the State
				of Florida acquired title on March 3, 1845, by virtue of statehood, and of
				which it has not since divested its title interest. For the purposes of this
				rule sovereignty lands shall include all submerged lands within the boundaries
				of the preserve, title to which is held by the Board.
(66) "Spoil" means materials dredged from
				sovereignty lands which are redeposited or discarded by any means, onto either
				sovereignty lands or uplands.
(67)
				"Terminal platform" means that part of a dock or pier, including finger piers,
				that is connected to the access walkway, is located at the terminus of the
				facility, and is designed to secure and load or unload a vessel or conduct
				other water dependent activities.
(68) "Transfer" means the act of the Board by
				which any interest in lands, including easements, other than sale or lease, is
				conveyed.
(69) "Turning basin"
				means the area of sovereign submerged land which is required to maneuver a
				vessel into or out of a facility.
(70) "Uplands" means those lands above the
				mean high water line or ordinary high water line.
(71) "Utility of the preserve" means fitness
				of the preserve for the present and future enjoyment of its biological,
				aesthetic and scientific values, in an essentially natural condition.
(72) "Water dependent activity" means an
				activity which can only be conducted on, in, over, or adjacent to, water areas
				because the activity requires direct access to the water body or sovereignty
				lands for transportation, recreation, energy production or transmission, or
				source of water and where the use of the water or sovereignty lands is an
				integral part of the activity.
(73)
				"Water Management Districts" means the water management districts described in
				chapter 373, F.S.
Rulemaking Authority
					 258.43(1) FS.
					 Law Implemented 258.37,
					 258.43(1)
					 FS.
New 2-25-81, Amended 8-7-85, Formerly 16Q-20.03,
					 16Q-20.003, Amended 4-27-94, 9-29-97,
					 3-25-19.