18-20.003. Definitions

When used in these rules, the following words shall have the indicated meaning unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:

(1) “Act” means the provisions of sections 258.35 through 258.46, F.S., the Florida Aquatic Preserve Act.

(2) “Activity” means any project and such other human action within the preserve requiring Board approval for the use, sale, lease or transfer of interest in sovereignty lands or materials, or which may require a permit from the Department of Environmental Protection.

(3) “Aesthetic values” means scenic characteristics or amenities of the preserve in its essentially natural state or condition, and the maintenance thereof.

(4) “Applicant” means any person making application for a permit, license, conveyance of an interest in state owned lands or any other necessary form of governmental approval in order to perform an activity within the preserve.

(5) “Application” means a joint application for an environmental resource permit/authorization to use state-owned submerged lands/federal dredge and fill permit or a joint application for wetland resource alterations (dredging or filling) in the waters of Florida.

(6) “Aquaculture” means the cultivation of aquatic organisms and associated activities, including, but not limited to grading, sorting, transporting, harvesting, holding, storing, growing and planting.

(7) “Artificial reef” means any artificial or man-made material acceptable to the Department that is placed on sovereign submerged land for the purpose of fish attraction, habitat creation, enhancement, or restoration.

(8) “Authorization” means the permission granted by the Board for a person to construct a facility or to carry out an activity on sovereign submerged lands.

(9) “Avulsion” means the sudden or perceptible loss of or addition to land by the action of water or the sudden or perceptible change in the bed of a lake or the course of a stream.

(10) “Beneficial biological functions” means interactions between flora, fauna and physical or chemical attributes of the environment, which provide benefits that accrue to the public at large, including, but not limited to: nutrient, pesticide and heavy metal uptake; sediment retention; nutrient conversion to biomass; nutrient recycling and oxygenation.

(11) “Beneficial hydrological functions” means interactions between flora, fauna and physical geological or geographical attributes of the environment, which provide benefits that accrue to the public at large, including, but not limited to: retardation of storm water flow; storm water retention; and water storage, and periodical release.

(12) “Biological values” means the preservation and promotion of indigenous life forms and habitats including, but not limited to: sponges, soft corals, hard corals, submerged grasses, mangroves, saltwater marshes, fresh water marshes, mud flats, marine, estuarine, and aquatic reptiles, game and non-game fish species, marine, estuarine, and aquatic mammals, marine, estuarine, and aquatic invertebrates, birds and shellfish.

(13) “Board” means the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund or its delegate. The Department and water management districts serve as staff to the Board and are delegated authority to carry out functions of the Board as specified in rule 18-21.0051, F.A.C.

(14) “Bulkhead” means a vertical structure separating land and water areas primarily designed to resist earth pressure.

(15) “Channel” means a trench, the bottom of which is normally covered entirely by water, with the upper edges of its sides normally below water.

(16) “Commercial, industrial and other revenue generating/income related docks” means docking facilities for an activity which produces income, through rental or any other means, or which serves as an accessory facility to other rental, commercial or industrial operations. It shall include, but not be limited to docking for: marinas, restaurants, hotels, motels, commercial fishing, shipping, boat or ship construction, repair, and sales.

(17) “Department” means the State of Florida Department of Environmental Protection or any of its predecessor agencies.

(18) “Division” means the Division of Marine Resources and its Bureau of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas.

(19) “Dock” means a fixed or floating structure, including moorings, used for the purpose of berthing buoyant vessels either temporarily or indefinitely.

(20) “Dredging” means mechanical or other methods used to remove sovereign submerged land.

(21) “Easement” means a nonpossessory interest in state lands created by a grant from or agreement with the Board that confers upon the recipient the limited nonexclusive right and privilege to use such lands for a specific purpose and for a specific time.

(22) “Energy production” means the exploration for, and extraction of, hydrocarbons, including necessary transmission through pipelines, or the water oriented activities related to the generation of electricity.

(23) “Erosion” means the gradual and imperceptible wearing away of riparian or littoral land due to natural causes. Artificial erosion refers to erosion caused by man-made projects and operations.

(24) “Essentially natural condition” means those functions which support the continued existence or encourage the restoration of the diverse population of indigenous life forms and habitats to the extent they existed prior to the significant development adjacent to and within the preserve.

(25) “Extreme hardship” means a significant burden, unique to the applicant and not shared by property owners in the area. Self-imposed circumstances caused to any degree by actions of any person subsequent to the enactment of the Act shall not be construed as an extreme hardship. Extreme hardship under this act shall not be construed to include any hardship which arises in whole or in part from the effect of other federal, state or local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations. The term may be inherent in public projects which are shown to be a public necessity.

(26) “Facility” means any boat ramp, covered slip, pier, dock, piling, marina or other structure which preempts sovereign submerged land.

(27) “Fill” means materials from any source, deposited by any means onto sovereignty lands, either for the purpose of creating new uplands or for any other purpose, including spoiling of dredged materials. For the purpose of this rule, the placement of pilings or riprap shall not be considered to be filling.

(28) “Lease” means a conveyance of interest in lands, title to which is vested in the Board, granted in accordance with specific terms set forth in writing.

(29) “Main access dock” means that walkway which connects a riparian owner’s property to a terminal platform.

(30) “Maintenance dredging” means mechanical or other methods used to remove sovereign submerged land in existing channels where navigation by vessels presently occurs. For the purpose of this rule, requests to dredge previously dredged areas that have regained their former natural characteristics due to lack of use, lack of upkeep, or other factors or requests to change the design specification of previously dredged areas shall not be considered as maintenance dredging but shall be considered new dredging.

(31) “Mangrove” means any specimen of the species Avicennia germinans (black mangrove), Laguncularia racemosa (white mangrove), or Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove).

(32) “Marina” means a small craft harbor complex used primarily for recreation.

(33) “Mean high water line” means the intersection of the tidal plane of mean high water with the shore as determined in accordance with chapter 177, part II, F.S., and chapter 18-11, F.A.C.

(34) “Mean sea level” means a tidal datum constituting the arithmetic mean of the hourly water elevations observed over a 19-year cycle (the National Tidal Datum Epoch).

(35) “Mitigation” means an action, series of actions, or activity that will offset adverse impacts to sovereign submerged lands. Cash payments shall not be considered mitigation unless payments are specified for use in a previously identified, Department endorsed, environmental or restoration project and the payments initiate a restoration project or supplement an ongoing restoration project.

(36) “Natural characteristics” means topographic features conforming to the usual or ordinary course of nature.

(37) “Negative environmental impact” means an unfavorable effect or damage to the natural resources, aesthetics, or scientific value of an aquatic preserve.

(38) “Oil and gas transportation facilities” means those structures necessary for the movement of oil and gas from the production site to the consumer.

(39) “Ordinary high water line (OHWL)” means the boundary between sovereign submerged lands and the adjacent uplands along nontidal waterbodies.

(40) “Person” means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, joint venture, estate, trust, business trust, syndicate, fiduciary, commission, county, municipality or political subdivision of a state, any interstate body, the federal government, or any subdivision thereof and all other groups or combinations, whether public or private.

(41) “Pier” means a structure in, on, or over sovereignty lands, which is used by the public primarily for fishing or swimming. A pier shall not include a dock.

(42) “Preempted area” means the area of sovereign submerged lands from which traditional public uses have been or would be excluded to any extent by an activity, such as the area occupied by the docks and other structures; swimming areas set apart by buoys, ropes or similar structures; temporary or permanent mooring areas; the area between the docks and shoreline; and the docking facility’s turning basin used predominantly by vessels mooring at a dock. If the activity or facility is required to be moved waterward to avoid dredging or disturbing nearshore habitat, a portion of the nearshore area may be excluded from the preempted area if otherwise reasonably accessible to the public.

(43) “Preserve or Aquatic Preserve” means any and all of those areas which are exceptional areas of sovereignty lands and the associated water body so designated in part II of chapter 258, F.S., including all sovereignty lands, title to which is vested in the Board, and such other lands as the Board may acquire or approve for inclusion by the Legislature. These areas also include the water column over such lands, which have been set aside to be maintained in an essentially natural or existing condition of indigenous flora and fauna and their supporting habitat and the natural scenic qualities and amenities thereof.

(44) “Private residential single-family dock” means a dock which is used for private, recreational or leisure purposes for a single-family residence, cottage or other such single dwelling unit and which is designed to moor no more than two boats. This also includes docks, with mooring of no more than a total of four boats, located on property lines between two upland single-family residences, where the dock is shared for use by both upland, single-family residences.

(45) “Private residential multi-slip dock” means a docking facility which is used for private recreational or leisure purposes for multi-unit residential dwellings which shall include but is not limited to condominiums, townhouses, subdivisions and other such dwellings or residential areas and which is designed to moor three or more boats. Yacht clubs associated with residential developments, whose memberships or utilization of the docking facility requires some real property interest in the residential area, shall also be included.

(46) “Public interest” means demonstrable environmental, social, and economic benefits which would accrue to the public at large as a result of a proposed action, and which would clearly exceed all demonstrable environmental, social, and economic costs of the proposed action. In determining the public interest in a request for use, sale, lease, or transfer of interest in sovereignty lands or severance of materials from sovereignty lands, the Board shall consider the ultimate project and purpose to be served by said use, sale, lease, or transfer of lands or materials.

(47) “Public land” means any land in which a public entity has a title interest.

(48) “Public navigation project” means a project primarily for the purpose of navigation which is authorized and funded by the United States Congress or by port authorities as defined by section 315.02(2), F.S.

(49) “Public necessity” means the works or improvements required for the protection of the health and safety of the public, consistent with the Act and these rules, for which no other reasonable alternative exists.

(50) “Public utilities” means those services, provided by persons regulated by the Public Service Commission, or which are provided by rural cooperatives, municipalities, or other governmental agencies, including electricity, telephone, public water and wastewater services, and structures necessary for the provision of these services.

(51) “Quality of the preserve” means the degree of the biological, aesthetic and scientific values of the preserve necessary for present and future enjoyment of it in an essentially natural condition.

(52) “Repair” means activities undertaken to maintain existing structures in a safely useable and functional condition without modifying the dimensions or footprint of the original structure.

(53) “Resource management agreement” means a contractual agreement between the Board and one or more parties which does not create an interest in real property but merely authorizes the party to conduct certain management activities on lands held by the Board.

(54) “Resource Protection Area (RPA) 1” – Areas within the aquatic preserves which have resources of the highest quality and condition for that area. These resources may include, but are not limited to corals; marine grassbeds; mangrove swamps; salt-water marsh; oyster bars; archaeological and historical sites; endangered or threatened species habitat; and, colonial water bird nesting sites.

(55) “Resource Protection Area 2” – Areas within the aquatic preserves which are in transition with either declining resource protection area 1 resources or new pioneering resources within resource protection area 3.

(56) “Resource Protection Area 3” – Areas within the aquatic preserve that are characterized by the absence of any significant natural resource attributes.

(57) “Riparian rights” means those rights incident to lands bordering upon navigable waters, as recognized by the courts of this state and common law.

(58) “Riprap” means a man-made aggregation of unconsolidated boulders, rocks, or clean rubble designed to break the force of waves and to protect the shore from erosion. The materials used shall not contain any dangerous protrusions.

(59) “Sale” means a conveyance of interest in lands, by the Board, for consideration.

(60) “Scientific values” means the preservation and promotion of certain qualities or features which have scientific significance.

(61) “Seawall” means a vertical structure built along a portion of a coast, retaining earth against its landward face and designed to prevent erosion and other damage by wave action.

(62) “Shoreline” means the mean or ordinary high water line.

(63) “Shore protection structure” means a type of coastal construction designed to minimize the rate of erosion. Coastal construction includes any work or activity which is likely to have a material physical effect on existing coastal conditions or natural shore processes.

(64) “Slip” or “wet slip” means an area of the water column above sovereign submerged lands specifically set aside for a boatlift or the mooring of a single vessel associated with a docking facility.

(65) “Sovereignty lands” means those lands including, but not limited to: tidal lands, islands, sandbars, shallow banks, and lands waterward of the ordinary or mean high water line, to which the State of Florida acquired title on March 3, 1845, by virtue of statehood, and of which it has not since divested its title interest. For the purposes of this rule sovereignty lands shall include all submerged lands within the boundaries of the preserve, title to which is held by the Board.

(66) “Spoil” means materials dredged from sovereignty lands which are redeposited or discarded by any means, onto either sovereignty lands or uplands.

(67) “Terminal platform” means that part of a dock or pier, including finger piers, that is connected to the access walkway, is located at the terminus of the facility, and is designed to secure and load or unload a vessel or conduct other water dependent activities.

(68) “Transfer” means the act of the Board by which any interest in lands, including easements, other than sale or lease, is conveyed.

(69) “Turning basin” means the area of sovereign submerged land which is required to maneuver a vessel into or out of a facility.

(70) “Uplands” means those lands above the mean high water line or ordinary high water line.

(71) “Utility of the preserve” means fitness of the preserve for the present and future enjoyment of its biological, aesthetic and scientific values, in an essentially natural condition.

(72) “Water dependent activity” means an activity which can only be conducted on, in, over, or adjacent to, water areas because the activity requires direct access to the water body or sovereignty lands for transportation, recreation, energy production or transmission, or source of water and where the use of the water or sovereignty lands is an integral part of the activity.

(73) “Water Management Districts” means the water management districts described in chapter 373, F.S.

Rulemaking Authority 258.43(1) FS. Law Implemented 258.37, 258.43(1) FS. History–New 2-25-81, Amended 8-7-85, Formerly 16Q-20.03, 16Q-20.003, Amended 4-27-94, 9-29-97, 3-25-19.