Opinion ID: 1671366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Relationship of Chapter 403 to Chapter 823

Text: Part I of chapter 403 of the Florida Statutes, also referred to as the Florida Air and Water Pollution Control Act, ( hereinafter Act), is undoubtedly comprehensive legislation relating to the protection of Florida's air and waters from contamination. The Act deposits the power and duty to control and prohibit air and water pollution with the DEP. See § 403.061, Fla. Stat. (1995). It also includes the following provision: 403.191 Construction in relation to other law. (1) It is the purpose of this act to provide additional and cumulative remedies to prevent, abate, and control the pollution of the air and waters of the state. Nothing contained herein shall be construed to abridge or alter rights of action or remedies in equity under the common law or statutory law, criminal or civil, nor shall any provisions of this act, or any act done by virtue thereof, be construed as estopping the state or any municipality, or person affected by air or water pollution, in the exercise of their rights in equity or under the common law or statutory law to suppress nuisances or to abate pollution. (Emphasis supplied.) Despite this apparently clear legislative declaration that the remedies provided by the Act are cumulative in nature, the trial court in this case dismissed Respondents' public nuisance cause of action in rendering the determination that chapter 403 has impliedly superseded chapter 823, at least as the latter relates to the abatement of air or water pollution. In support, the trial court relied on the First District's decision in State v. SCM Glidco Organics Corp., 592 So.2d 710 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991). In SCM Glidco, the district court considered the dismissal of two criminal prosecutions for violations of section 823.01, Florida Statutes (1991), which creates a second-degree misdemeanor for maintaining a public nuisance. In upholding the dismissal, the district court held that chapter 403 superseded section 823.01 insofar as any application of the latter section to air pollution is concerned. See SCM Glidco, 592 So.2d at 712. Specifically, in a very short two-sentence analysis, the majority in SCM Glidco reasoned that chapter 403 was intended to cover the entire subject area of air pollution, and that as a result, it replaced the earlier, nonspecific legislation codified as section 823.01. See id. Judge Ervin, in a lengthy, well-reasoned dissent, criticized the majority's determination, reasoning that the conduct criminalized in section 823.01 was different and more encompassing than that proscribed by chapter 403. See id. at 716. Judge Ervin noted that to establish a violation under chapter 403, the State was required to offer proof of harm or injury, see § 403.161, Fla. Stat. (1995); whereas under section 823.01, the State need only show community annoyance. See id. Judge Ervin discussed well-established principles of statutory analysis and construction and further noted the far different elements of proof involved with section 403.161 than those applicable under section 823.01. See id. The Second District, in State v. General Development Corp., 448 So.2d 1074 (Fla. 2d DCA 1984), reached a result contrary to that of the majority in SCM Glidco. General Development involved a civil action initiated by a state attorney seeking enforcement of provisions contained within chapter 403. The trial court entered a final order dismissing the action based upon lack of standing because the state attorney had independently initiated the action (i.e., not at the direction of the governor, attorney general, or the Department of Environmental Regulation). Although it determined that the state attorney had no independent authority to initiate an independent civil action under or pursuant to chapter 403, it nevertheless noted that the state attorney had the authority to initiate an action to abate or enjoin a public nuisance. Specifically, the court relied on the cumulative remedies provision in section 403.191 in support of its reasoning that a public nuisance cause of action seems to be one of the `rights of action or remedies in equity under the common law or statutory law' which is not abridged or altered by chapter 403 and is cumulative to the remedies provided in that chapter. General Development, 448 So.2d at 1080 (citing State ex rel. Shevin v. Tampa Elec. Co., 291 So.2d 45, 48 n. 8 (Fla. 2d DCA 1974)). Chapter 403, on its face, does not appear to repeal any provisions of chapter 823. As such, for us to determine that chapter 403 supersedes chapter 823, we would be required to conclude that chapter 403 does so impliedly. To that end, the general rule applicable here is that implied repeals are not favored and will not be upheld in doubtful cases. See State v. Digman, 294 So.2d 325 (Fla.1974). Moreover, before making a determination that a subsequent statute has impliedly repealed one previously enacted, there should appear either a positive repugnancy between the two statutes or a clear legislative intent that the later act prescribes the only governing rule. See Atkinson v. State, 156 Fla. 449, 23 So.2d 524 (1945). With those standards in mind, we consider whether there is sufficient basis to determine that chapter 403 was impliedly intended to eliminate a public nuisance cause of action authorized under chapter 823, at least when the action relates to the pollution of the air or water. In this case, the district court below determined that chapter 403 did not impliedly supersede the provisions of chapter 823; therefore, according to the district court, a cause of action for public nuisance relating to air and water pollution still remains a viable option. We agree. First, the language of section 403.191, the cumulative remedies/savings clause, could not be more clear. The remedies included within chapter 403 are intended to be additional and cumulative to the remedies currently available (i.e., public nuisance suit under chapter 823). It would be less than intellectually credible to conclude that section 403.191 does not mean what its words plainly express. See Capers v. State, 678 So.2d 330, 332 (Fla. 1996) ([T]he plain meaning of statutory language is the first consideration of statutory construction.); St. Petersburg Bank & Trust Co. v. Hamm, 414 So.2d 1071, 1073 (Fla.1982) (same). Second, a public nuisance may be classified as something that causes any annoyance to the community or harm to public health. Kirk, 726 So.2d at 826 (emphasis added); see § 823.01, Fla. Stat. (1995). As a result, something may legally constitute a public nuisance under chapter 823 although it may technically comply with existing pollution laws codified in chapter 403. Finally, and of critical importance, the enactment of Florida's Right to Farm Act, section 823.14, Florida Statutes (1995) (hereinafter Farm Act), provides a solid basis for the conclusion that chapter 403 was not intended to supersede chapter 823. Specifically, the Farm Actadopted over ten years after the 1967 enactment of chapter 403provides a defense to a public nuisance action in connection with agricultural operations which were not a nuisance at the time of its established date of operation... if the farm operation conforms to generally accepted agricultural and management practices. § 823.14(4)(a), Fla. Stat. (1995). The Farm Act specifically states that [i]t is the purpose of this act to protect reasonable agricultural activities conducted on farm land from nuisance suits. § 823.14(2), Fla. Stat. (1995). Clearly, then, in adopting a statutory defense, the Legislature anticipated that agricultural activities would still be subject to public nuisance actions even after the enactment of chapter 403. For these reasons, and because the standard that implied repeals are disfavored and should only be found in cases where there is a positive repugnancy between the two statutes or clear legislative intent indicating that the Legislature intended the repeal, neither of which is present in this case, we approve the Fourth District's holding that chapter 403 did not impliedly repeal the public nuisance provisions in chapter 823 as they relate to the pollution of Florida's air and waters.