Florida Seaport Environmental Management Committee; permitting; mitigation.

(1)(a) There is created the Florida Seaport Environmental Management Committee, which shall be under the direction of the Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council.

(b) The committee shall consist of the following members: the Secretary of Environmental Protection, or his or her designee, as an ex officio, nonvoting member; a designee from the United States Army Corps of Engineers, as an ex officio, nonvoting member; a designee from the Florida Inland Navigation District, as an ex officio, nonvoting member; the Secretary of Commerce, or his or her designee, as an ex officio, nonvoting member; and five or more port directors, as voting members, appointed to the committee by the council chair, who shall also designate one such member as committee chair.

(c) The committee shall meet at the call of the chair but must meet at least semiannually. A majority of the voting members constitutes a quorum for the purpose of transacting business of the committee, and a vote of the majority of the voting members present is required for official action by the committee.

(d) The committee shall provide a forum for discussion of environmental issues, including, but not limited to, those relating to maintenance dredging and dredged-material management; environmental mitigation; air and water quality permitting; and the maintenance of navigation channels, port harbors, turning basins, harbor berths, and associated facilities.

(e) The committee shall work closely with the Department of Environmental Protection, United States Army Corps of Engineers, and ports listed in s. 403.021(9)(b) to ensure that suitable dredged material is deposited on Florida’s beaches to the extent the committee determines to be economically feasible and consistent with beach restoration and other beneficial uses criteria of the Department of Environmental Protection.

(2) Each application for a permit authorized pursuant to s. 403.061(38) must include:

(a) A description of maintenance dredging activities to be conducted and proposed methods of dredged-material management.

(b) A characterization of the materials to be dredged and the materials within dredged-material management sites.

(c) A description of dredged-material management sites and plans.

(d) A description of measures to be undertaken, including environmental compliance monitoring, to minimize adverse environmental effects of maintenance dredging and dredged-material management.

(e) Such scheduling information as is required to facilitate state supplementary funding of federal maintenance dredging and dredged-material management programs consistent with beach restoration criteria of the Department of Environmental Protection.

(3) Each application for a permit authorized pursuant to s. 403.061(39) must include paragraphs (2)(b)-(e) and the following:

(a) A description of dredging and dredged-material management and other related activities associated with port development, including the expansion of navigation channels, dredged-material management sites, port harbors, turning basins, harbor berths, and associated facilities.

(b) A discussion of environmental mitigation as is proposed for dredging and dredged-material management for port development, including the expansion of navigation channels, dredged-material management sites, port harbors, turning basins, harbor berths, and associated facilities.

(4) Environmental mitigation is not required for dredging and dredged-material management for the maintenance of port harbors, navigation channels, turning basins, or harbor berths if all prior conditions of the original permit to construct the port harbor, navigation channel, dredged-material management site, turning basin, or harbor berth issued by the Department of Environmental Protection or its predecessor agency are met.

(5) Where appropriate, the Department of Environmental Protection shall provide mitigation credits to those deepwater ports that provide for innovative approaches to the onshore and nearshore placement of suitable dredged material consistent with beach restoration and other beneficial uses criteria of the department.

(6) Dredged-material management activities authorized pursuant to s. 403.061(38) or s. 403.061(39) shall be incorporated into port master plans developed pursuant to s. 163.3178(2)(k).