62B-56.020. Definitions

(1) “Access” or “public access” as used in Section 161.053, F.S., means the public’s right to laterally traverse the sandy beaches of this state where such access exists on or after July 1, 1987, or where the public has established a shore normal accessway through private lands to lands seaward of the mean high tide or water line by prescription, prescriptive easement, or any other legal means.

(2) “Adjacent properties” are properties next to the property where the construction activity is to take place, including those properties separated by a road, right-of-way, or access way, in all directions.

(3) “Agent” is any person with the written power or authority to act on behalf of the responsible entity for purposes of an application submitted under Chapter 161, F.S.

(4) “Applicant” is any person, firm, corporation, county, municipality, township, special district, homeowners association, or public agency, requesting a permit to reconstruct a dune system seaward of the CCCL. The applicant must be a responsible entity and the owner of record, leaseholder, or holder of any legal instrument which gives the holder legal authority to undertake the construction for which a permit is sought.

(5) “Beach” is the zone of unconsolidated material that extends landward from the mean low water line to the place where there is marked change in material or physiographic form, or to the line of permanent vegetation.

(6) “Beach-dune System” is that portion of the coastal system where there has been or there is expected to be, over time and as a matter of natural occurrence, cyclical and dynamic emergence, destruction, and reemergence of beaches and dunes.

(7) “Beach quality sand” means sand that maintains the general appearance, and the engineering and ecological functions of the native sand occurring on the beach and in the adjacent dune and coastal system. Such sand shall be predominately of carbonate, quartz or similar material with a particle size distribution ranging between 0.062mm (4.0phi) and 4.76mm (-2.25phi) (classified as sand by either the Unified Soils or the Wentworth classification), shall be similar in color and grain size distribution (sand grain frequency, mean and median grain size and sorting coefficient) to the material present on the beach berm seaward of the project site and shall not contain:

(a) Greater than five percent by weight of silt, clay or colloids passing the #230-sieve (4.0phi);

(b) Greater than five percent by weight of fine gravel retained on the #4-sieve (-2.25phi);

(c) Coarse gravel, cobbles or material retained on the three-quarter inch sieve in a percentage or size greater than found on the native beach; or

(d) Construction debris, toxic material or other foreign matter; and shall not result in cementation of the beach.

(8) “Beach scraping” is the process of excavating or relocating sand from the foreshore or below mean high water and placing it on the beach berm to facilitate dune recovery.

(9) “Bureau” is the Bureau of Beaches and Coastal Systems of the Department of Environmental Protection.

(10) “Coastal Construction Control Line” (CCCL) is the line established pursuant to the provisions of Section 161.053, F.S., and recorded in the official records of the county, which defines that portion of the beach-dune system subject to severe fluctuations based on a one-hundred-year storm surge, storm waves, or other predictable weather conditions.

(11) “Coastal system” includes: the beach and adjacent upland dune system and vegetation seaward of the CCCL; swash zone; surf zone; breaker zone; offshore and longshore shoals; reefs and bars; tidal, wind, and wave driven currents; longshore and onshore/offshore drift of sediment materials; inlets and their ebb and flood tide shoals and zones of primary tidal influence; and all other associated natural and manmade topographic features and coastal construction.

(12) “Construction” is any work or activity, including those activities specified in Section 161.085(9), F.S., that may have an impact as defined in this rule.

(13) “Construction debris” is discarded material resulting from the installation of a reconstructed dune or demolition of a structure.

(14) “Core of a reconstructed dune” is a sand-filled geotextile container used as the base structural component of a reconstructed dune project.

(15) “Department” is the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

(16) “Dune” is a mound, bluff or ridge of unconsolidated sediment, usually sand-sized sediment, lying upland of the beach and deposited by any natural or artificial mechanism, which may be bare or covered with vegetation and is subject to fluctuations in configuration and location. Types of dunes include:

(a) “Primary dune” is a significant dune which has sufficient alongshore continuity to offer protective value to upland property. The primary dune may be separated from the frontal dune by an interdunal trough; however, the primary dune may be considered the frontal dune if located immediately landward of the beach.

(b) “Reconstructed dune” is a man-made dune feature that has a sand filled geotextile container as its core that is continuously covered with a minimum of three feet of sand, meets the specific design and siting criteria of this chapter, is contoured to minimize erosive effects, and is vegetated with native beach-dune plants.

(c) “Significant dune” is a dune that has sufficient height and configuration or vegetation to offer a level of protection to the beach-dune system.

(17) “Erosion” is the wearing away of land or the removal of consolidated or unconsolidated material from the beach-dune system by wind, water, or wave action. Erosion includes:

(a) Landward horizontal movement of the line of mean high water or beach-dune system profile; and

(b) Vertical lowering or volumetric loss of sediment from the beach-dune system or the offshore profile.

(18) “Excavation” is any mechanical or manual removal or alteration of consolidated or unconsolidated soil or rock material from or within the beach-dune system.

(19) “Financial assurance” is defined as a fully funded trust account for the benefit of the Department, a surety payment bond or performance bond issued to the Department by a licensed bonding company and accompanied by a standby trust agreement, or a letter of credit to the Department issued by a financial institution authorized to do business in the State of Florida and accompanied by a standby trust agreement.

(20) “Fixed coastal cell” is a geomorphological component of the coastal system that is closely linked internally by active physical processes and is bounded by physical features which exercise a major control on refraction patterns or which compartmentalize or severely limit longshore sediment transport such as headlands or inlets.

(21) “Foundation” is the portion of a structure that transmits the associated dead and live loads of the structure to the ground and includes, but is not limited to, spread footings, foundation walls, posts, piers, piles, beams, girders, structural slabs, cross bracing, and all related connectors. For pavements, the foundation includes the subbase and base course layers supporting the pavement layer.

(22) “Frequent coastal storm” is defined as a storm event having a return period of less than or equal to 25 years.

(23) “Frontal dune” means the first natural or manmade mound or bluff of sand which is located landward of the beach and which has sufficient vegetation, height, continuity, and configuration to offer protective value.

(24) “Geotextile container” is a bag or tube, made of blanket-like synthetic fibers manufactured in a woven or loose nonwoven manner, used as an agent to hold together a large mass of sand forming a rigid tubular structure.

(25) “Impacts” are those effects, whether direct or indirect, short or long term, which are expected to occur as a result of construction and are defined as follows:

(a) “Adverse impacts” are impacts to the coastal system that may cause a measurable interference with the natural functioning of the coastal system.

(b) “Significant adverse impacts” are adverse impacts of such magnitude that they alter the coastal system by:

1. Measurably affecting the existing shoreline change rate.

2. Significantly interfering with its ability to recover from a coastal storm.

3. Disturbing topography or vegetation such that the dune system becomes unstable or suffers catastrophic failure or the protective level of the dune system is significantly lowered, or

4. Causing a take of nesting state or federally threatened or endangered species, unless an incidental take permit has been issued, pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. Sections 1532, 1536, 1538, and 1539, and Section 379.2431(1)(h), F.S.

(c) “Minor impacts” are impacts associated with construction that are not considered adverse impacts due to their magnitude or temporary nature.

(d) “Other impacts” are impacts associated with construction that may result in damage to existing structures or property or interference with public beach access.

(26) “Incidental Take Permit” is a permit issued by the United States Fish and Wildlife Services.

(27) “Irreparable damage” is deterioration, destruction or impairment of the sand-filled geotextile container system that results in the failure of the structure to provide adequate protection to upland properties based on the need for repair costs exceeding 50% of the original construction cost.

(28) “Major Structures” are structures that, as a result of design, location, or size could cause an adverse impact to the beach and dune system. Major structures include:

(a) Habitable major structures that are houses, apartment buildings, condominiums, motels, hotels, restaurants, towers, other types of residential, commercial, or public buildings, or other structures designed primarily for human occupancy;

(b) Nonhabitable major structures which are designed primarily for uses other than human occupancy, but are necessary for occupancy of a major habitable structure; and

(c) Nonhabitable major structures which are designed primarily for uses other than human occupancy, but whose failure would cause an adjacent upland habitable major structure, public infrastructure or a nonhabitable major structure necessary for occupancy of a habitable major structure, to become subject to damage from frequent coastal storm events.

(29) “Marine turtle” is any turtle, including all life stages from egg to adult, of the species Caretta caretta (loggerhead), Chelonia mydas (green), Dermochelys coriacea (leatherback), Eretmochelys imbricata (hawksbill), and Lepidochelys kempi (Kemp’s ridley).

(30) “Marine turtle nesting season” is the nesting period for marine turtles from May 1 through October 31 of each year for all counties except Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie, Martin, Palm Beach, and Broward. Nesting season for these counties is the period from March 1 through October 31 of each year.

(31) “Mitigation” is an action or series of actions taken by the responsible entity that will offset impacts caused by a proposed or existing construction project.

(32) “Major modifications” are changes that will affect the engineering performance of the structure or that will increase the potential for adverse or other impacts.

(33) “Minor modifications” are changes that will not affect the engineering performance of the structure and will not increase the potential for adverse and other impacts.

(34) “Nesting state” means animals (including mammals, birds, reptiles and invertebrates) listed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as threatened or endangered and that nest, breed, den or otherwise reside for the purposes of inhabiting or raising their offspring within beach-dune, coastal berm, coastal grassland, coastal strand, hammock, or other natural communities located seaward of the CCCL. Nesting refers neither to loafing, migratory, or other casual occurrences in these communities, nor to plants (See Table 1 provided in Rule 62B-56.030, F.A.C).

(35) “Notice to Proceed” is the formal notification from the Department authorizing all or portions of the permitted construction to commence.

(36) “One-hundred-year storm” is a shore-incident hurricane or any other storm with accompanying wind, wave, and storm surge intensity having a one percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

(37) “One-time deferred removal cost” refers to the cost of covering a dune with three feet of sand for the duration of the marine turtle nesting season, and commencing removal and restoration after the nesting season, where it has been determined that the geotextile container shall be removed and the dune restored, but such removal and restoration coincides with the marine turtle nesting season.

(38) “Permit” is the authorization issued by the Department to conduct certain specified construction and maintenance in a specified location.

(39) “Permit condition” is a statement or stipulation issued with, and appearing in or referenced in, a permit.

(40) “Protective value” is the measurable protection level afforded by the dune system to upland property and structures from the predictable erosion and storm surge levels associated with coastal storm events.

(41) “Public infrastructure” means public evacuation routes, public emergency facilities, bridges, power facilities, water or wastewater facilities, other utilities, hospitals, or structures of local governmental, state or national significance.

(42) “Repair” is the restoration of a portion of an existing structure, including the foundation of the structure, to its original design or an equivalent structural standard. Repair of a structure assumes that a significant portion of the structure and its foundation remains intact.

(43) “Responsible entity” is defined as a single entity with financial and legal authority to perform construction, maintenance, or other activities required by this chapter and is responsible for verifying that information in the application is accurate. These entities are:

(a) The property owner.

(b) Local governmental units including counties, municipalities, and Municipal Service Taxing Units.

(c) State or federal agencies; or

(d) Profit or non-profit corporations such as homeowners associations, property owners associations, condominium owners associations, or master associations.

(44) “Scour” is erosion caused by the interaction of waves and currents with man-made structures or natural features.

(45) “Shoreline” is the intersection of a specified plane of water with the beach. For example, the mean high water shoreline is the intersection of the plane of mean high water with the beach.

(46) “Shore-normal” is a directional reference meaning approximately perpendicular to the shoreline.

(47) “Significant beach erosion” is major erosion to the beach-dune system causing recession that significantly interferes with the beach-dune system’s ability to recover, and is:

(a) A measurable alteration in the shoreline change rate, or

(b) A disturbance to topography or vegetation such that the beach-dune system becomes unstable or suffers catastrophic failure.

(48) “Storm surge” is the rise of water above normal water level on the open coast due to a number of factors, including the action of wind stress on the water surface and the rise in water level due to atmospheric pressure reduction.

(49) “Vulnerable structure” is an existing major structure or public infrastructure located seaward of the CCCL, that is subject to damage from frequent coastal storm events.

Rulemaking Authority 161.053(20), 161.085(5) FS. Law Implemented 161.021, 161.053(2), (4), 161.085(7), (9) FS. History–New 6-22-09.