This docum ent does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill sponsor or House of Representatives.
STORAGE NAME: h0979.WST
DATE: 3/20/2023
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STAFF ANALYSIS
BILL #: HB 979 Deepwater Port Dredging
SPONSOR(S): Gossett-Seidman
TIED BILLS: IDEN./SIM. BILLS: CS/SB 1072
REFERENCE ACTION ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR or
BUDGET/POLICY CHIEF
1) Water Quality, Supply & Treatment
Subcommittee
Curtin Curtin
2) Agriculture & Natural Resources Appropriations
Subcommittee
3) Infrastructure Strategies Committee
SUMMARY ANALYSIS
Dredging involves the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of waterbodies. Dredging is
necessary to protect fish, wildlife, and humans from contaminants and also to maintain or deepen navigation
channels.
The bill directs the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), as a condition of a permit issued for
maintenance dredging of deepwater ports, to require applicants for such to have a habitat equivalency analysis
(HEA) conducted to determine the adverse impacts of the dredging activity on the natural habitat.
The bill requires:
The HEA to be conducted by an independent contractor selected by the local government in a manner
prescribed by DEP;
That the independent contractor conducting the HEA not be associated with any project of the
contractor performing the dredging activity for the local government; and
The local government to provide written notice of its intent to conduct a HEA to adjacent local
governments that may be impacted by the dredging activity.
The bill may have an indeterminate negative fiscal impact on the private sector. See Section II.C., below.
STORAGE NAME: h0979.WST PAGE: 2
DATE: 3/20/2023
FULL ANALYSIS
I. SUBSTANTIVE ANALYSIS
A. EFFECT OF PROPOSED CHANGES:
Background
Florida is a leading maritime trade state, with a long and rich history of maritime trade, and is home to
the world’s leading cruise ports.
1
There are 16 publicly-owned deepwater ports, or seaports, in Florida:
Port Canaveral, Port Citrus, Port Everglades, the Port of Fernandina, the Port of Fort Pierce, Jaxport,
the Port of Key West, Port Manatee, Port Miami, the Port of Palm Beach, Port Putnam, Port Panama
City, the Port of Pensacola, the Port of Port St. Joe, the Port of St. Petersburg, and the Port of Tampa
Bay.
2
These 16 seaports contributed 13.3 percent of Florida’s Gross Domestic Product, representing
$117.6B in economic value.
3
“In 2022, the total tonnage across all Florida seaports reached a new
record high, totaling 112.5 million tons of cargo, a 6% increase over 2021, and a 0.5% increase over
2019, the previous record-holding year.”
4
Dredging involves the removal of sediments and debris from the bottom of waterbodies.
5
Dredging is
necessary to protect fish, wildlife, and humans from contaminants and also to maintain or deepen
navigation channels.
6
The disposal of dredged sediment is regulated under the Clean Water Act
(CWA),
7
the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA or Ocean Dumping Act),
8
and
the Florida Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) program.
9
ERP applications for navigational dredging of deepwater ports are reviewed and processed by the
Beaches, Inlets and Ports Program within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
10
The
ERP review ensures that activities do not degrade water quality or damage marine resources, and
helps ensure that in-water construction techniques are appropriate and wetlands, corals, and habitat
are protected.
11
When determining the amount of mitigation necessary to offset impacts associated with dredging, DEP
is required to use the uniform mitigation assessment method (UMAM).
12
UMAM was developed by
DEP and the water management districts and is it based on science.
13
A habitat equivalency analysis (HEA) is another method to determine how much restoration is required
to provide habitats that are equivalent to the interim loss of natural resource services following injury
14
HEA was originally developed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration to scale
1
Florida Seaport Transportation and Economic Development Council (FSTED Council), 2022-2023 Seaport Mission Plan,
at 2 (2022), https://flaports.org/wp-content/uploads/Florida-Seaports-Mission-Plan-2023_FINAL-2-27_web.pdf.
2
S. 311.09(1), F.S.
3
FSTED Council, supra note 1, at 4.
4
FSTED Council, supra note 1, at 25.
5
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Ocean Service, What is dredging? (last updated
Jan. 20, 2023), https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/dredging.html (last visited March 20, 2023).
6
Id.
7
33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq.
8
16 U.S.C. § 1431 et seq. and 33 U.S.C. §1401 et seq.
9
See ss. 403.021(9), 403.061(27) and 403.816, F.S.
10
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Beaches, Inlets and Ports Program,
https://floridadep.gov/rcp/beaches-inlets-ports (last visited March 20, 2023).
11
Id.
12
S. 373.414(18), F.S.
13
Id.
14
NOAA, Damage Assessment, Remediation, and Restoration Program, Habitat Equivalency Analysis,
https://darrp.noaa.gov/economics/habitat-equivalency-analysis (last visited March 9, 2023); see also Nova Southeastern
University, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences, Tools and Resources, Visual HEA Software,
https://hcas.nova.edu/tools-and-resources/visual_hea/index.html (last visited March 9, 2023). STORAGE NAME: h0979.WST PAGE: 3
DATE: 3/20/2023
compensation for habitat damage resulting from oil spills and other contaminant-related impacts.
15
The
principal concept underlying the method is that the public can be compensated for past losses of
habitat resources through habitat replacement projects providing additional resources of the same
type.
16
Effect of the Bill
The bill directs DEP, as a condition of a permit issued for maintenance dredging of deepwater ports
pursuant to section 403.816, F.S., to require applicants for such to have a HEA conducted to determine
the adverse impacts of the dredging activity on the natural habitat.
The bill requires the HEA to be conducted by an independent contractor selected by the local
government in a manner prescribed by DEP.
The bill requires that the independent contractor conducting the HEA not be associated with any project
of the contractor performing the dredging activity for the local government.
The bill requires the local government to provide written notice of its intent to conduct a HEA to
adjacent local governments that may be impacted by the dredging activity.
B. SECTION DIRECTORY:
Section 1. Amends s. 403.816, F.S., related to permits for maintenance dredging of deepwater
ports and beach restoration projects.
Section 2. Provides an effective date of July 1, 2023.
II. FISCAL ANALYSIS & ECONOMIC IMPACT STATEMENT
A. FISCAL IMPACT ON STATE GOVERNMENT:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
B. FISCAL IMPACT ON LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
1. Revenues:
None.
2. Expenditures:
None.
C. DIRECT ECONOMIC IMPACT ON PRIVATE SECTOR:
The bill may have an indeterminate negative fiscal impact on independent contractors selected by the
local government to conduct the habitat equivalency analysis because those contractors may not be
associated with any project of the party performing the dredging activity for the local government.
15
Ray, G. L. 2007. Habitat equivalency analysis: A potential tool for estimating environmental benefits. EMRRP Technical
Notes Collection (ERDC TN-EMRRPEI-02). Vicksburg, MS: U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center,
Background page 1.
16
NOAA, Habitat Equivalency Analysis: An Overview, (March 1995) §1.1,
https://crrc.unh.edu/sites/default/files/migrated_unmanaged_files/hea_metrics/heaoverv_paper.pdf. STORAGE NAME: h0979.WST PAGE: 4
DATE: 3/20/2023
D. FISCAL COMMENTS:
None.
III. COMMENTS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUES:
1. Applicability of Municipality/County Mandates Provision:
Not applicable. This bill does not appear to require counties or municipalities to spend funds or take
action requiring the expenditure of funds; reduce the authority that counties or municipalities have to
raise revenues in the aggregate; or reduce the percentage of state tax shared with counties or
municipalities.
2. Other:
None.
B. RULE-MAKING AUTHORITY:
None.
C. DRAFTING ISSUES OR OTHER COMMENTS:
None.
IV. AMENDMENTS/COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE CHANGES
Not applicable.