Permits required.

(1) If a person, firm, corporation, county, municipality, township, special district, or public agency desires to make any coastal construction or reconstruction or change of existing structures, or any construction or physical activity undertaken specifically for shore protection purposes, or other structures and physical activity including groins, jetties, moles, breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, artificial nourishment, inlet sediment bypassing, excavation or maintenance dredging of inlet channels, or other deposition or removal of beach material, or construction of other structures of a solid or highly impermeable design upon state sovereignty lands below the mean high-water line of any tidal water of the state, a coastal construction permit must be obtained from the department before the commencement of such work. The department may exempt interior tidal waters of the state from the permit requirements of this section.

(a) Except during construction, such development may not interfere with the public use of any area of a beach seaward of the mean high-water line unless the department determines that the interference is unavoidable for purposes of protecting the beach or an endangered upland structure. As a condition of granting permits under this section, the department may require the provision of alternative access if interference with public access along the beach is unavoidable. The width of such alternate access may not be required to exceed the width of the access that will be obstructed as a result of the permit being granted.

(b) Except for the deepwater ports identified in s. 403.021(9)(b), the department shall not issue a permit for the construction of a coastal inlet jetty or the excavation or maintenance of such an inlet if the activity authorized by the permit will have a significant adverse impact on the sandy beaches of this state without a mitigation program approved by the department. In evaluating the mitigation program, the department shall consider the benefits of the long-term sand management plan of the permittee and the overall public benefits of the inlet activity.

(2) The department may authorize an excavation or erection of a structure at any coastal location upon receipt of an application from a property or riparian owner and upon consideration of facts and circumstances, including:

(a) Adequate engineering data concerning inlet and shoreline stability and storm tides related to shoreline topography;

(b) Design features of the proposed structures or activities; and

(c) Potential effects of the location of such structures or activities, including potential cumulative effects of any proposed structures or activities upon such beach-dune system or coastal inlet, which, in the opinion of the department, clearly justify such permit.

(3) The department may require engineer certifications as necessary to assure the adequacy of the design and construction of permitted projects. Reasonable assurance is demonstrated if the permit applicant provides competent substantial evidence based on plans, studies, and credible expertise that accounts for naturally occurring variables that might reasonably be expected.

(4) The department may, as a condition to granting a permit under this section, require mitigation, financial, or other assurances acceptable to the department as necessary to assure performance of the conditions of a permit or enter into contractual agreements to best assure compliance with any permit conditions. Biological and environmental monitoring conditions included in the permit must be based upon clearly defined scientific principles. The department may also require notice of the required permit conditions and the contractual agreements entered into pursuant to this subsection to be filed in the public records of the county in which the permitted activity is located.

(5) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the department may issue a permit pursuant to this part in advance of the issuance of an incidental take authorization as provided under the Endangered Species Act and its implementing regulations if the permit and authorization include a condition requiring that such authorized activities not begin until the incidental take authorization is issued.

(6) The department shall adopt rules to address standard mixing zone criteria and antidegradation requirements for turbidity generation for beach management and inlet bypassing permits that involve the excavation and placement of sediment in order to reduce or eliminate the need for variances. In processing variance requests, the department must consider the legislative declaration that, pursuant to s. 161.088, beach nourishment projects are in the public interest.

(7) Application for permits shall be made to the department upon such terms and conditions as set forth by rule.

(a) If, as part of the permit process, the department requests additional information, it must cite applicable statutory and rule provisions that justify any item listed in a request for additional information.

(b) The department may not issue guidelines that are enforceable as standards for beach management, inlet management, and other erosion control projects without adopting such guidelines by rule.

(8) The Legislature intends to simplify and expedite the permitting process for the periodic maintenance of previously permitted and constructed beach nourishment and inlet management projects under the joint coastal permit process. A detailed review of a previously permitted project is not required if there have been no substantial changes in project scope and past performance of the project indicates that the project has performed according to design expectations. The department shall amend chapters 62B-41 and 62B-49, Florida Administrative Code, to streamline the permitting process for periodic beach maintenance projects and inlet sand bypassing activities.

(9) Joint coastal permits issued for activities falling under this section and part IV of chapter 373 must allow for two maintenance or dredging disposal events or a permit life of 15 years, whichever is greater.