62-341.448. General Permit to Counties and Municipalities to Pave Existing County or Municipally Owned and Maintained Roads, Including the Repair and Replacement of Bridges That Are Part of the Roadway (Transferred)

A general permit is hereby granted to counties and municipalities to pave existing county or municipally owned and maintained roads that lack a permanent pavement surface, such as concrete or asphalt. This includes: the repair and stabilization of such roads in preparation of paving; the repair or replacement of bridges and culverts that are part of the roadway; construction or alteration of associated stormwater management systems; other work reasonably necessary to pave the road; and the construction, alteration, operation, and maintenance of systems and works authorized under this general permit, provided all of the terms and conditions below are met. However, within the geographic area of the Northwest Florida Water Management District, the general permit shall only be applicable to municipalities.

(1) The existing road and any associated bridges:

(a) Must have been constructed prior to January 1, 2002, and in continuous use as a county or municipally owned and maintained road (including any associated bridge or bridges) thereafter. For the purposes of this general permit, county or municipal ownership shall include roads that have been presumed to be dedicated in accordance with Section 95.361, F.S.; and

(b) Must not: be located in, on, or over; directly discharge to; or significantly degrade Outstanding Florida Waters.

(2) The proposed road and any bridge work, together:

(a) Must not exceed two traffic lanes;

(b) Must not expand the number of existing traffic lanes, except that any single-lane bridges may be widened to two travel lanes, provided the bridge widening does not exceed that reasonably necessary to connect the bridge with the road being paved;

(c) Must not result in a total paved roadway surface (including travel lanes, safety shoulders, and bike paths) that is more than 32 feet wide, or 36 feet wide for bridges;

(d) Must be constructed, operated, and maintained within roadway and bridge right-of-way owned by the county or municipality, including where ownership is through presumed dedication in accordance with Section 95.361, F.S.;

(e) Must not realign the roadway;

(f) Must not involve any more dredging or filling of wetlands or other surface waters than is reasonably necessary to prepare the roadway for paving, including all work to repair, extend, or replace any culverts, other drainage structures, and bridges associated with the roadway, and to construct or reconfigure surface water management systems associated with the paving. However, the amount of such dredging and filling, both temporary and permanent, must not impact more than 0.5 acre of wetlands and other surface waters for a total and complete project, with the allowance of an additional 0.5 acre of work in roadside ditches constructed through uplands. A “total and complete project” shall consist of the total amount of work needed to pave, and prepare for paving, all unpaved segments of a single named or numbered (county or state road number) roadway. The sum of all wetland and other surface water impacts associated with phases of paving the named or numbered roadway must not exceed the above acreage limits. However, the total acreage limits for this general permit shall not include work conducted to prepare the roadway for paving when the preparation is done in accordance with:

1. All the terms and conditions of routine custodial maintenance;

2. An exemption adopted under Part IV of Chapter 373, F.S.;

3. An exemption contained in Section 403.813(1), F.S.; or

4. Any other general permit adopted under Part IV of Chapter 373, F.S.

(g) Must not adversely affect wetlands or other surface waters outside of the footprint of any dredging and filling;

(h) Must not reduce existing water conveyance or treatment capacity or adversely affect existing offsite drainage patterns;

(i) Must not cause adverse upstream or downstream flooding or drainage;

(j) Must not adversely affect receiving waters; and

(k) Must not be within the footprint of an approved Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project boundary; if a final boundary has not been selected, the boundary from Chapter 9 of the Central and Southern Florida Project Comprehensive Review Study Final Integrated Feasibility Report and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and South Florida Water Management District, April 1999, which is hereby incorporated by reference, shall be used to define the approved boundary.

(3) Activities conducted under this general permit must comply with the general conditions for general permits contained in Rule 62-341.215, F.A.C., and all the specific conditions in paragraphs (a) through (k) below.

(a) Roadside swales, establishment of permanent vegetative cover, or other effective means of stormwater management within the right-of-way must be incorporated into the project, and must be designed, constructed, operated and maintained to prevent increases in pollution loading or changes in the point of discharge that can cause adverse impacts to receiving waters or offsite property.

(b) No debris from the removal of existing roadway, bridge, culvert, and other surface water management features shall be placed within wetlands or other surface waters.

(c) Creosote must not be a component of any pilings, pile jackets, headwalls, bulkheads, or other structural components used in roadway, bridge, culvert, or other surface water management structures.

(d) Any bridge or culvert must not cross a stream or other watercourse having a drainage area upstream of the work of more than ten (10) square miles.

(e) Bridges and other water conveyance features must be designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to convey normal flows and overtopping during a 25-year, 24-hour storm event.

(f) Best management practices for erosion and sediment control must be used to prevent water quality violations during and after construction. These shall include a construction-phase water management and erosion control plan that is designed and implemented to include site-specific measures adapted from practices and procedures described in the following publications that are adopted herein and incorporated by reference:

1. The guidelines set forth in Chapter 6 of The Florida Development Manual: A Guide to Sound Land and Water Management, Vol. II, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, June 1988; and

2. The provisions set forth in The Florida Stormwater, Erosion, and Sediment Control Inspector’s Manual, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Florida Department of Transportation, Fifth Impression, June 2005.

(g) Temporary or permanent vegetative cover must be established on both sides of the pavement within the road right-of-way and along water conveyances as soon as practicable, but in no case more than seven (7) days after construction activities have ceased in portions of the site where construction activities have temporarily or permanently ceased.

(h) Activities conducted and authorized by this permit must be operated and maintained by the county or municipality for the life of the system.

(i) This general permit does not constitute a Works of the District permit from a water management district, nor obviate the need for obtaining such a permit where required by a water management district.

(j) Applicants are advised that drawings, any submitted construction plans, and supporting calculations must be signed, sealed, and dated by an appropriate registered professional in accordance with Sections 373.117 and 403.0877, F.S., and Chapters 471, 472, 481, or 492, F.S., when the design of the system requires the services of such registered professional. For purposes of this rule, an “appropriate registered professional” means a professional registered in Florida with the necessary expertise in the fields of hydrology, drainage, flood control, erosion and sediment control, and stormwater pollution control to design and certify stormwater management systems. Examples of appropriate registered professionals are professional engineers licensed under Chapter 471, F.S., professional landscape architects licensed under Chapter 481, F.S., professional surveyors and mappers licensed under Chapter 472, F.S., and professional geologists licensed under Chapter 492, F.S.

(k) The performance of routine custodial maintenance of structures and activities within the roadway alignment, such as replacement of culverts in kind to their former size, grade, and elevation, and the performance of activities qualifying for an exemption under Part IV of Chapter 373 or Section 403.813(1), F.S., such as maintenance of ditches and swales to prior design specifications in accordance with Section 403.813(1)(g) or (j), F.S., or under other general permits adopted under Part IV of Chapter 373, F.S., may be conducted to prepare the roadway for paving in advance of using this general permit, and any dredge and fill volumes associated with such work shall not be included within the limits established in paragraph (2)(f) of this general permit.

(4) In accordance with Section 403.813(1)(t), F.S., this general permit shall not require submittal of a fee and shall be binding on the Department, the Suwannee River Water Management District, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the South Florida Water Management District with no additional rulemaking by those Districts.

(5) Notices to use this general permit shall be submitted to the water management district established under Section 373.069, F.S., having regulatory jurisdiction over the geographic area in which the proposed project will be located using the form for noticing general permits for the applicable water management district as adopted in Rule 40B-1.901(13), 40C-4.900(1), 40D-1.659, or 40E-1.659, F.A.C. In addition to the information required on those forms, this notice must also include the materials required in paragraph (5)(a) or (b), below.

(a) For roads that are not subject to overtopping by a one percent-chance storm event and do not require: any fill to elevate the roadway (other than the base and pavement up to a maximum height of eight (8) inches, and sub-base work provided there is no net addition of fill); any grading of side slopes; any alteration, expansion, or modification of drainage structures and bridges; any work in wetlands or other surface waters; or more than minor shoulder work to level the shoulders to meet the new pavement:

1. A project description that describes the work to be done, including a statement signed by the responsible official in the county or municipality that the proposed activity will comply with the limitations in paragraph (5)(a) herein, and all the other terms and conditions of this general permit;

2. A location map in sufficient detail to enable persons who are unfamiliar with the site to find the road to be paved, including the beginning and ending limits of the proposed activity;

3. A fully dimensioned or scaled plan view, and fully dimensioned or scaled cross sectional views that clearly depict and distinguish the road right-of-way and the footprint of existing and proposed work at typical sections, including the width, height, and slopes of existing and proposed grades; thickness of sub-base, base, and pavement layers; and shoulder work; and

4. A copy of a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood insurance rate map or a map signed and sealed by an appropriate registered professional that demonstrates that the road segments to be paved are not subject to overtopping by a one percent-chance storm event.

(b) For all other roads to be paved under this general permit:

1. All the information requested in paragraph (5)(a) above, plus a summary of the total amount of proposed dredging and filling in wetlands or other surface waters (in square feet or acreage);

2. A fully dimensioned or scaled plan view that clearly depicts and distinguishes all areas of proposed dredging and filling, the limits of proposed surface water management systems, and the location of all culverts, other drainage structures, and bridges that are proposed to be altered;

3. Fully dimensioned or scaled cross sections that clearly depict and distinguish dredging and filling at typical sections, including at culvert, other drainage system, and bridge modifications;

4. Fully dimensioned or scaled typical cross sections of surface water management system alterations;

5. An erosion and sedimentation control plan demonstrating compliance with the provisions of paragraphs (3)(f) and (g) of this general permit; and

6. If design of the project requires the services of an appropriate registered professional in accordance with Sections 373.117 and 403.0877, F.S., and Chapter 471, 472, 481, or 492, F.S., all supporting drawings, materials, statements, construction plans, and calculations that are required to be signed, sealed, and dated by the registered professional.

(c) Notice to use this general permit is not required for subsequent routine custodial maintenance activities that may be required to the systems authorized under this general permit.

(6) Projects that have previously qualified under the exemption in Section 403.813(1)(t), F.S., following notice to the Department or water management district, but have not been fully implemented as of the effective date of this general permit, are authorized under this general permit to be completed under the terms of that exemption until February 22, 2008.

Specific Authority 373.026(7), 373.043, 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.414(9), 373.4145, 373.418, 403.805(1), 403.813(1)(t) FS. Law Implemented 373.118(1), 373.406(5), 373.413, 373.414(9), 373.4145, 373.416, 373.418, 373.419, 403.813(1)(t) FS. History–New 2-22-07, Amended 10-1-07.