BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
RULE NO: RULE TITLE
18-24.005: Full Review of Project ProposalsNOTICE OF CHANGE
Notice is hereby given that the following changes have been made to the proposed rule in accordance with subparagraph 120.54(3)(d)1., F.S., published in Vol. 33 No. 22, June 1, 2007 issue of the Florida Administrative Weekly.
18-24.005 Full Review of Project Proposals.
(1) through (4) No change.
(5) Boundary Modifications. By majority vote, the council will direct staff to prepare, revise, or update a project boundary for a project already on the approved list. Landowners who wish to have their property removed from an approved project boundary shall submit by certified mail a letter identifying such property to be removed to the following address: Florida Forever Program; Office of Environmental Services; Mail Station 140, State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection; 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard; Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000. All other proposals to amend the boundary for a project already on the approved list will be considered by the council, at its next regularly scheduled meeting, if the following conditions are met:
(a) Removal of property from Florida Forever Project. Landowners who wish to have their property removed from an approved Florida Forever Project boundary shall submit by certified mail a letter stating they wish their property to be removed and sufficiently identifying such property to the address stated in subsection 18-24.003(1), F.A.C. The Council shall approve such removals at its next regularly scheduled meeting if they meet the foregoing requirements.
(a) Each proposed modifications to the project boundary must include an assessment of the proposed modification. The assessment for proposals to add property to an existing project boundary shall include the following:
1. A complete application that includes all items of information as required in subsection 18‑24.003(3), and this section; and
2. If fee simple acquisition is proposed, a letter from the proposed managing agency indicating the agency’s willingness to manage the property and describing the proposed addition’s relative importance to management of the existing project or to the protection of its significant resources; or
3. If less-than-fee acquisition is proposed, a brief description of any known activities or property rights proposed to be acquired by the state and those proposed to be retained by the landowner.
(b) Addition of property to Florida Forever Project. All boundary additions shall comply with all the requirements of Rules 18-24.002, 18-24.003 and 18-24.004, F.A.C., except as stated herein.
1. Boundary addition proposals exceeding 1,000 acres or 10% of the original project acreage or $2,000,000 in the most recent county property appraiser’s assessed value shown on the owner’s ad valorem tax bill shall be considered new Florida Forever Projects and shall not be entitled to the expedited procedures herein.
2. Each application to add property to an existing Project boundary that meets the criteria of subparagraph 18-24.005(5)(b)1., F.A.C., shall, within 30 days of receipt, be reviewed by staff to verify sufficiency of information in accordance with this paragraph. Staff shall expedite the application process to add property by updating the original project evaluation report with a project addition summary attached, unless staff determines that the original project evaluation report, or any part thereof, does not fairly apply to or represent the property in the addition, is in need of updating, or other circumstances necessitate preparation of a more thorough amended project evaluation report (such as a change in flora or fauna, a traumatic event, or a change in land use). Staff shall state in its project addition summary whether the foregoing requirements are met. Staff shall submit its project addition summary or amended project report to the Council at its next regularly scheduled meeting after preparation of its report.
(b) The council shall consider a proposed boundary addition only if the applicant provides a complete application as required in paragraph (a), and only if one or more of the following criteria is met:
1. The county property appraiser’s tax valuation for all parcels of the proposed addition total less than $5 million;
2. The proposed addition meets the criteria for emergency acquisitions pursuant to Section 253.027 or subsection 259.041(15), F.S.;
3. The acreage of proposed addition is less than 10% of the size of the existing project boundary, including areas previously acquired, and is less than 1,000 acres;
4. The property was previously on an acquisition list developed under Chapter 259, F.S.;
5. The property was previously managed by a state agency; or
6. The council chair receives written requests to consider a proposed boundary modification from two or more council members.
(c) An affirmative vote of at least five council members shall be required to add property to or remove property from an existing project.
(c) Each application to add property to an existing Project boundary shall, within 30 days of receipt, be reviewed by staff to verify sufficiency of information in accordance with this subsection. Applicants who submit incomplete applications shall be notified of each deficiency, and shall have 30 days from the date of the deficiency letter within which to submit the missing information. If the missing information is not received by the deadline, the boundary amendment application will be denied and returned to the applicant.
(d) Proposals not meeting at least one of the criteria in paragraph (b) shall not be considered by the council as a boundary modification, but may be submitted by the applicant as a Florida Forever project proposal pursuant to Rule 18-24.003, F.A.C.
(e) For a proposed boundary modification that exceeds 5,000 acres in size, staff shall prepare an amended project evaluation report in accordance with the provisions of subsection 18-24.005(2), F.A.C., unless the council chair receives from four or more council members written requests to consider a proposed boundary modification without a site visit by staff.
(f) An affirmative vote of at least five council members shall be required to property to an existing project, while a majority vote of members present shall be required to remove property from an existing project.
(g) Parcels of land qualifying as de minimis lands, as defined in paragraph 18-24.001(2)(f), F.A.C., shall be exempt from the provisions of this section.
Specific Authority 259.035(1), 259.035(4), 259.105(9), 259.105(18) FS. Law Implemented 259.0345, 259.035, 259.04, 259.041, 259.045, 259.07, 259.105 FS. History–New 7-17-01, Amended ___________.
