Permits for construction or alteration.

(1) Except for the exemptions set forth herein, the governing board or the department may require such permits and impose such reasonable conditions as are necessary to assure that the construction or alteration of any stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, or works will comply with the provisions of this part and applicable rules promulgated thereto and will not be harmful to the water resources of the district. The department or the governing board may delineate areas within the district wherein permits may be required.

(2) A person proposing to construct or alter a stormwater management system, dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, or works subject to such permit shall apply to the governing board or department for a permit authorizing such construction or alteration. The application shall contain the following:

(a) Name and address of the applicant.

(b) Name and address of the owner or owners of the land upon which the works are to be constructed and a legal description of such land.

(c) Location of the work.

(d) Sketches of construction pending tentative approval.

(e) Name and address of the person who prepared the plans and specifications of construction.

(f) Name and address of the person who will construct the proposed work.

(g) General purpose of the proposed work.

(h) Such other information as the governing board or department may require.

(3) After receipt of an application for a permit, the governing board or department shall publish notice of the application by sending a notice to any persons who have filed a written request for notification of any pending applications affecting the particular designated area. Such notice may be sent by regular mail. The notice shall contain the name and address of the applicant; a brief description of the proposed activity, including any mitigation; the location of the proposed activity, including whether it is located within an Outstanding Florida Water or aquatic preserve; a map identifying the location of the proposed activity subject to the application; a depiction of the proposed activity subject to the application; a name or number identifying the application and the office where the application can be inspected; and any other information required by rule.

(4) In addition to the notice required by subsection (3), the governing board or department may publish, or require an applicant to publish at the applicant’s expense, in a newspaper of general circulation within the affected area, a notice of receipt of the application and a notice of intended agency action. This subsection does not limit the discretionary authority of the department or the governing board of a water management district to publish, or to require an applicant to publish at the applicant’s expense, any notice under this chapter. The governing board or department shall also provide notice of this intended agency action to the applicant and to persons who have requested a copy of the intended agency action for that specific application.

(5) The governing board or department may charge a subscription fee to any person who has filed a written request for notification of any pending applications to cover the cost of duplication and mailing charges.

(6) It is the intent of the Legislature that the governing board or department exercise flexibility in the permitting of stormwater management systems associated with the construction or alteration of systems serving state transportation projects and facilities. Because of the unique limitations of linear facilities, the governing board or department shall balance the expenditure of public funds for stormwater treatment for state transportation projects and facilities with the benefits to the public in providing the most cost-efficient and effective method of achieving the treatment objectives. In consideration thereof, the governing board or department shall allow alternatives to onsite treatment, including, but not limited to, regional stormwater treatment systems. The Department of Transportation is responsible for treating stormwater generated from state transportation projects but is not responsible for the abatement of pollutants and flows entering its stormwater management systems from offsite sources; however, this subsection does not prohibit the Department of Transportation from receiving and managing such pollutants and flows when cost effective and prudent. Further, in association with right-of-way acquisition for state transportation projects, the Department of Transportation is responsible for providing stormwater treatment and attenuation for the acquired right-of-way but is not responsible for modifying permits for adjacent lands affected by right-of-way acquisition when it is not the permittee. The governing board or department may establish, by rule, specific criteria to implement the management and treatment alternatives and activities under this subsection.

(7) REGIONAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS.—

(a) A “regional stormwater management system” is a method of compensating stormwater treatment that creates pollution reduction allocations and is designed, constructed, operated, and maintained to collect, convey, store, absorb, inhibit, treat, or harvest stormwater to prevent or reduce flooding, overdrainage, environmental degradation and water pollution or otherwise affect the quantity and quality of discharges within the drainage area served by the regional system which is the land or development that is served by or contributes stormwater to the regional system.

(b) As part of meeting the requirement to demonstrate that an applicant for an environmental resource permit for a regional stormwater management system has the financial, legal, and administrative capability of ensuring such regional stormwater management system will be undertaken according to the terms and conditions of an issued permit, the department or a water management district shall require such applicant to provide documentation of adequate financial responsibility. This financial responsibility may consist of performance bonds, letters of credit, insurance policies, trust agreements, or similar, ensuring completion of construction, the amount of which shall be based on cost estimates of completing the construction; and an endowment or other long-term financial assurance mechanism sufficient to ensure operation and maintenance for the entire period the regional stormwater management system is anticipated to be relied upon to provide stormwater treatment, attenuation, or regulatory pollutant load reduction allocations, the amount of which shall be based on cost estimates of such long-term operation and maintenance. The cost estimates and associated financial responsibility mechanisms shall be updated every 5 years to reflect current costs. This section shall not be construed to impose additional financial responsibility requirements on stormwater management systems that are not regional stormwater management systems.

(c) An environmental resource permit authorizing a regional stormwater management system shall establish and include a graphic depicting the drainage area to be served by such system. Environmental resource permit applicants located within the drainage area may purchase and use pollution reduction allocations from a regional stormwater management system to meet stormwater treatment performance criteria. The department or water management district shall use Hydrologic Unit Code 12 (HUC 12) sub-basin as set forth by the United States Geological Survey to establish the drainage area, unless the regional stormwater management system applicant provides justification demonstrating the proposed off-site area outside of the HUC 12 would provide the same degree of compensating treatment for a common downstream receiving waterbody without causing or contributing to any localized adverse impact to any downstream waters, through modeling, other evaluations, or a combination thereof.