Department of Environmental Protection, Departmental

 

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Florida Coastal Management Program Notice of Program Change Request

The Department of Environmental Protection’s Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection has requested the concurrence of the federal Office for Coastal Management (OCM) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in updating the statutory authorities included within the Florida Coastal Management Program (FCMP) as a program change.  The Department of Environmental Protection has determined that the proposed program changes are a “program change” based on the decision criteria in 15 CFR 923.84. As 15 CFR 923 was updated in September 2019 and removed the distinction for the terms “routine program change” and “amendment”. A all change to the FCMP submitted going forward will be a “program change” as defined in 15 CFR 923.80 and using the criteria in 15 CFR 923.84.

This program change submission will incorporate relevant new Florida Statutes enacted by the Florida Legislature during the 2019 legislative session into the Florida Coastal Management Program. This includes incorporation of Section 379.2231, Florida Statutes, as an enforceable policy for federal consistency purposes. The program change submittal is available at https://floridadep.gov/rcp/fcmp/content/routine-program-changes and describes the nature of the changes as well as identifies the enforceable policies to be added to the management program of the State if approved. A list of all statutes that make up the FCMP is available at https://floridadep.gov/rcp/fcmp/content/24-florida-statutes-florida-coastal-management-program.

Staff has evaluated these changes pursuant to 15 CFR 923, Subpart H and concluded that these changes will not result in any substantial change to the enforceable policies or authorities of the FCMP related to uses subject to management, special management areas, boundaries, authorities and organization, or coordination, public involvement and the national interest.

Notice is being provided to the general public and affected parties, including local governments, state agencies, and regional offices of relevant federal agencies as required by 15 CFR 923.81(e)(1). A list of persons and organizations notified is available for inspection or can be provided upon request from the department contact below.

Pursuant to 15 CFR 923.81(e)(3), comments on the submitted program change to the FCMP may be submitted to Joelle Gore, NOAA/OCM, 1305 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 within 21 days of the date of issuance of this notice or posted online on the FCMP program change listing at https://coast.noaa.gov/czmprogramchange/#/public/home.

For more information on this RPC submittal, please contact: Mr. Joseph Bauer, Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Resilience and Coastal Protection, 3900 Commonwealth Boulevard, M.S. 235, Tallahassee, FL 32399-3000, [phone] or [e-mail]. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the agency using the Florida Relay Service, 1(800)955-8771 (TDD) or 1(800)955-8770 (Voice).