5B-64.002. Definitions

(1) “Applicant” means any person who applies for a permit pursuant to this chapter.

(2) “Aquatic plant” means any plant, including a floating, emersed, submersed, or ditchbank species growing in, or closely associated with, an aquatic environment, and includes any part or seed of such plant. This includes those species listed in section 369.251, F.S.

(3) “Beneficial aquatic plants” means indigenous aquatic plant species that provide fish and wildlife habitat, water quality protection, and shoreline stabilization.

(4) “Bureau” means the Bureau of Plant and Apiary Inspection, an administrative subdivision of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, located at 1911 S. W. 34th Street, Gainesville, Florida 32608, telephone [phone].

(5) “Collection” means the removal or gathering of any aquatic plant, including any part or seed thereof, from the place in which it is growing in the natural environment.

(6) “Connection” means any depression, ditch, canal, culvert, pipe, or any other natural or man-made conveyance, whether permanent or intermittent, which joins the surface water of one waterbody to the surface water of another waterbody in such a manner as to allow the interchange of water between the waterbodies.

(7) “Cultivation or culture” means to grow or cause to reproduce any aquatic plant.

(8) “Department” means the state of Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

(9) “Excessive collection” means the taking of native aquatic plants from a wild collection site to the extent there is no longer a reasonable assurance of the continued maintenance of a self sustaining native aquatic plant specie population within that site.

(10) “Herbicide” means any chemical product used to chemically control or regulate aquatic plant growth.

(11) “Importation” means the transportation of aquatic plants into the geographical limits of the State of Florida from outside the geographical limits of the State of Florida.

(12) “Landowner” means a person who possesses fee title to the property specified in a permit application.

(13) “Native aquatic plant” means any aquatic plant that is indigenous to the state of Florida, as determined by the department. In making this determination, the department shall consider data contained in generally accepted scientific literature.

(14) “Natural dispersion” means movement of an aquatic plant by meteorological, biological, hydrological, or any other natural process.

(15) “Natural waters” means those surface waters created through geological and biological processes whether or not subsequently modified by man.

(16) “Non-native” means any aquatic plant not indigenous to the state of Florida, as determined by the department.

(17) “Non-nursery cultivation” means the tending of aquatic plant species for harvest in the natural environment.

(18) “Non-prohibited aquatic plant” means all aquatic plants except those listed in Rule 5B-64.011, F.A.C.

(19) “Noxious aquatic plant” means any part, including but not limited to seeds or reproductive parts, of an aquatic plant which has the potential to hinder the growth of beneficial aquatic plants, to interfere with irrigation or navigation, or to adversely affect the public welfare or the natural resources of this state.

(20) “Permit” means a license issued by the department pursuant to this chapter.

(21) “Permittee” means any person to whom a permit is issued under this chapter.

(22) “Person” means individuals, children, firms, associations, joint ventures, partnerships, estates, trusts, business trusts, syndicates, fiduciaries, corporations, and all other groups or combinations.

(23) “Prohibited aquatic plant” means any of the aquatic plants designated by the department on the prohibited aquatic plant list in Rule 5B-64.011, F.A.C., or in an emergency order issued under Rule 5B-64.012, F.A.C.

(24) “Revegetation” means the intentional placing of any native aquatic plant, including any seed or part thereof, into waters for the purpose of establishing that plant as a constituent of those waters. Revegetation includes activities associated with mitigation, restoration, transplanting and habitat enhancement.

(25) “Sovereignty lands” means, pursuant to Article X, Section 11, Constitution of the State of Florida, the title to lands under navigable waters, within the boundaries of the state, which have not been alienated, including beaches below mean high water lines, is held by the state, by virtue of its sovereignty, in trust for all the people.

(26) “Synonym” means a scientific or common name, other than the approved name, which applies to the same plant.

(27) “Waters” or “Waters of the state” means rivers, streams, lakes, navigable waters and associated tributaries, canals, meandered lakes, enclosed water systems, and all other bodies of water.

(28) “Wild collection site” means an area where aquatic plants are naturally occurring and in which the department has permitted collection activities.

Rulemaking Authority 369.25, 369.251 FS. Law Implemented 369.25, 369.251 FS. History–New 8-11-86, Amended 6-13-93, Formerly 16C-52.002, 62C-52.002.