NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on October 22, 2015, the Department of Transportation entered an Order Denying Waiver from Section 4.5.2 of the Utilities Accommodation Manual, incorporated by reference in Rule 14-46.001, F.A.C., and Granting Partial ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The Florida Department of Transportation hereby gives notice:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on October 22, 2015, the Department of Transportation entered an Order Denying Waiver from Section 4.5.2 of the Utilities Accommodation Manual, incorporated by reference in Rule 14-46.001, F.A.C., and Granting Partial Variance from Rule 14-46.001, F.A.C. On August 10, 2015, Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CHELCO), requested a waiver from tree mitigation requirements for CHELCO’s removal of trees for upgrades and relocation of its electric transmission line along State Road 187/US 331N in Walton County. Notice of the Petition for Waiver was published in the August 17, 2015, edition of the Florida Administrative Register. The Petitioner has not demonstrated the purpose of the statutes underlying Rule 14-46.001, F.A.C., can be achieved through other means, nor that it would create a substantial hardship and result in an unfair and unintended result; however, the Department does agree that replacing diseased, dead or dying trees with healthy trees would be an inequitable result of the rule. Petitioner’s request for waiver is denied, but CHELCO is granted a partial variance from the Rule requirements.

A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting: Clerk of Agency Proceedings, Florida Department of Transportation, Office of the General Counsel, 605 Suwannee Street, M.S. 58, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-0458, [e-mail].