62-330.447. General Permit to the Florida Department of Transportation, Counties, and Municipalities for Minor Activities Within Existing Rights-of-Way or Easements

(1) A general permit is granted to the Florida Department of Transportation, counties, and municipalities to conduct the activities described below.

(a) The extension of existing culverts and crossing approaches that are authorized under a separate permit or exemption under part IV of chapter 373, F.S., as applicable, to accommodate widening of the roadway where excavation or deposition of material shall not exceed 1,000 cubic yards in wetlands and other surface waters and the area from which material is excavated or to which material is deposited shall not exceed a total of 0.25 acre at any one culverted crossing. The 1,000 cubic yardage limitation shall be separately applied to excavation and deposition of material.

(b) Relocation, recontouring, widening, or reconstruction of existing highway drainage ditches through uplands provided the floor elevation of the ditch is not deepened below the original design elevation and provided that the work does not cause a change in the hydrology of any wetlands which are connected to or which are adjacent to the ditch.

(c) Culvert placement, replacement, and maintenance associated with existing roadways, provided that construction does not cause scour in the downstream waters or increase the velocity of the water downstream, does not reduce existing flood conveyance of the stream for the 100-year flood flow and does not reduce existing flood storage within the 10-year flood plain. The material excavated or deposited as fill shall not exceed 1,000 cubic yards in wetlands and other surface waters. The cross sectional area of the culvert shall not be reduced, unless the reduced cross section provides an equal or greater discharge capability. In the case of a culvert replacement as a wildlife crossing, the cross sectional area shall not be reduced.

(d) Construction of temporary bypass lanes and stream channel diversions necessary to complete projects detailed in paragraph (c), above, provided the area used for the temporary bypass lanes and temporary diversion is restored to its previous contours and elevations.

(e) Channel clearing and shaping, not to exceed a combined total of 0.5 acre of dredging and filling in wetlands and other surface waters, to facilitate maximum hydraulic efficiency of structures authorized by paragraph (c), above, where the spoil material is used on an upland portion of the project or is deposited on a self-contained, upland spoil site. Escape of spoil material and return water from the spoil deposition area into wetlands or other surface waters is prohibited.

(f) Ditch or canal bank and bottom stabilization necessary to repair erosion damage to restore previously existing ditch configurations. Authorized repair methods are placement of riprap, sand cement toe walls, clean fill material, poured concrete, geotechnical textiles and other similar stabilization materials. The placement of riprap or other lining materials shall be limited to a length of 500 feet along the axis of the ditch or canal. This general permit shall not be applicable within one-quarter mile along the length of an area, within the same ditch, which has been stabilized under this general permit within a three-year period.

(g) Roadway safety activities, such as installation of shoulders, sidewalks, guard rails, signs, poles, and mast arms within an existing right-of-way that incur no more dredging or filling than 500 square feet per activity, provided the total impact to wetlands or other surface waters does not involve more than 0.5 acre.

(2) This general permit shall be subject to the following specific conditions:

(a) The permittee shall limit stream channel relocation to streams which have an average discharge of 10 cubic feet per second or less. The length of relocated channels or those significantly altered shall be limited to 200 feet per stream. A stream channel shall be altered only when such a measure will reduce the long term adverse water quality impacts and will maintain or restore the stream’s natural hydraulic capability; and

(b) This general permit shall not apply to ditch construction in Class I or Class II surface waters, Outstanding National Resource Waters or waters designated as Outstanding Florida Waters.

(c) Activities under this general permit must not diminish existing stormwater treatment, attenuation, or conveyance capacity.

(d) This general permit does not authorize the construction of additional traffic lanes. Activities that require additional traffic lanes must first obtain an individual environmental resource permit under this chapter, as applicable, before the start of construction.

Rulemaking Authority 373.026(7), 373.043, 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.4131, 373.414(9), 373.418, 403.805(1) FS. Law Implemented 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.413, 373.4131, 373.414(9), 373.416, 373.418, 373.419, 403.814(1) FS. History–New 10-3-95, Amended 10-1-07, Formerly 62-341.447, Amended 10-1-13, 6-1-18.