Local pollution control programs.

(1) Each county and municipality or any combination thereof may establish and administer a local pollution control program if it complies with this act. Local pollution control programs in existence on the effective date of this act shall not be ousted of jurisdiction if such local program complies with this act. All local pollution control programs, whether established before or after the effective date of this act, must:

(a) Be approved by the department as adequate to meet the requirements of this act and any applicable rules and regulations pursuant thereto.

(b) Provide by ordinance, regulation, or local law for requirements compatible with, or stricter or more extensive than those imposed by this act and regulations issued thereunder.

(c) Provide for the enforcement of such requirements by appropriate administrative and judicial process.

(d) Provide for administrative organization, staff, financial and other resources necessary to effectively and efficiently carry out its program.

(2) The department shall have the exclusive authority and power to require and issue permits; provided, however, that the department may delegate its power and authority to local pollution control organizations if the department finds it necessary or desirable to do so.

(3) If the department finds that the location, character or extent of particular concentrations of population, contaminant sources, the geographic, topographic or meteorological considerations, or any combinations thereof, are such as to make impracticable the maintenance of appropriate levels of air and water quality without an areawide pollution control program, the department may determine the boundaries within which such program is necessary and require it as the only acceptable alternative to direct state administration.

(4)(a) If the department has reason to believe that a pollution control program in force pursuant to this section is inadequate to prevent and control pollution in the jurisdiction to which such program relates, or that such program is being administered in a manner inconsistent with the requirements of this act, it shall proceed to determine the matter.

(b) If the department determines that such program is inadequate to prevent and control pollution in the municipality or county or municipalities or counties to which such program relates, or that such program is not accomplishing the purposes of this act, it shall require that necessary corrective measures be taken within a reasonable period of time, not to exceed 90 days.

(c) If the municipality, county, or municipalities or counties fail to take such necessary corrective action within the time required, the department shall administer within such municipality, county, or municipalities or counties all of the regulatory provisions of this act. Such pollution control program shall supersede all municipal or county pollution laws, regulations, ordinances and requirements in the affected jurisdiction.

(d) If the department finds that the control of a particular class of contaminant source because of its complexity or magnitude is beyond the reasonable capability of the local pollution control authorities or may be more efficiently and economically performed at the state level, it may assume and retain jurisdiction over that class of contaminant source. Classifications pursuant to this paragraph may be either on the basis of the nature of the sources involved or on the basis of their relationship to the size of the communities in which they are located.

(5) Any municipality or county in which the department administers its pollution control program pursuant to subsection (4) may with the approval of the department establish or resume a municipal or county pollution control program which meets the requirements of subsection (1).

(6) Notwithstanding the existence of any local pollution control program, whether created by a county or municipality or a combination thereof or by a special law, the department shall have jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this chapter and any rules, regulations, or orders issued pursuant to this chapter throughout the state; however, whenever rules, regulations, or orders of a stricter or more stringent nature have been adopted by a local pollution control program, the department, if it elects to assert its jurisdiction, shall then enforce the stricter rules, regulations, or orders in the jurisdiction where they apply.

(7) It shall be a violation of this chapter to violate, or fail to comply with, a rule, regulation, or order of a stricter or more stringent nature adopted by a local pollution control program, and the same shall be punishable as provided by s. 403.161. If any local program changes any rule, regulation, or order, whether or not of a stricter or more stringent nature, such change shall not apply to any installation or source operating at the time of such change in conformance with a currently valid permit issued by the department.

(8) If any local program changes any rule, regulation, or order, whether or not of a stricter or more stringent nature, such change shall not apply to any installation or source located north of the Cross Florida Greenway, permitted and under construction as of May 1, 1997. Provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any facility which primarily generates electric power.

(9) Nothing in this act shall prevent any local pollution control program from enforcing its own rules, regulations, or orders. All remedies of the department under this chapter shall be available, as an alternative to local enforcement provisions, to each local pollution control program to enforce any provision of local law. When the department and a local program institute separate lawsuits against the same party for violation of a state or local pollution law, rule, regulation, or order arising out of the same act, the suits shall be consolidated when possible.

(10) Each local pollution control program shall cooperate with and assist the department in carrying out its powers, duties, and functions.

(11)(a) Notwithstanding this section or any existing local pollution control programs, the Secretary of Environmental Protection has exclusive jurisdiction in setting standards or procedures for evaluating environmental conditions and assessing potential liability for the presence of contaminants on land that is classified as agricultural land pursuant to s. 193.461 and being converted to a nonagricultural use. The exclusive jurisdiction includes defining what constitutes all appropriate inquiry consistent with 40 C.F.R. part 312 and guidance thereunder.

(b) The secretary may not delegate the authority to set standards or procedures for evaluating environmental conditions and assessing potential liability under paragraph (a) to a county, a municipality, or another unit of local government through a local pollution control program under this section. This subsection does not preempt the enforcement authority of a county, a municipality, or another unit of local government through a local pollution control program under this section.

(c) This subsection does not apply to former agricultural land for which a permit has been approved by a local government to initiate development or for which development was completed on or before July 1, 2022.