HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 1 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to environmental management; amending 2
s. 120.595, F.S.; providing that the prevailing party 3
in certain actions against the Department of 4
Environmental Protection or a water management 5
district is entitled to reasonable costs and attorney 6
fees; amending s. 373.4131, F.S.; requiring that 7
nonindustrial stormwater management systems be 8
designed with side slopes that meet certain minimum 9
design requirements; providing an exception; 10
superseding certain side slope rules; amending s. 11
376.313, F.S.; revising construction relating to 12
causes of action for damages to real or personal 13
property directly resulting from certain discharges or 14
other conditions of pollution; providing legislative 15
intent; requiring the department and water management 16
districts to conduct holistic reviews of their 17
respective agency's costal permitting processes and 18
permit programs; providing the scope and purpose of 19
the reviews; requiring the department and water 20
management districts to submit reports of their 21
findings and proposed solutions to the Governor and 22
the Legislature by a specified date ; providing an 23
effective date. 24
25
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 2 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of F lorida: 26
27
Section 1. Present paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of 28
section 120.595, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph 29
(f), a new paragraph (e) is added to that subsection, and 30
subsections (2) and (3) and paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of 31
that section are amended, to read: 32
120.595 Attorney's fees. — 33
(1) CHALLENGES TO AGENCY ACTION PURSUANT TO SECTION 34
120.57(1).— 35
(e) Notwithstanding paragraph (b), the prevailing party in 36
a challenge filed against a Department of Environmental 37
Protection or water management district authorization issued 38
pursuant to chapter 403 or chapter 373, respectively, is 39
entitled to recover reasonable costs and attorney fees in 40
challenging or defending such authorization. 41
(2) CHALLENGES TO PROPOSED AGENCY RULES PURSUAN T TO 42
SECTION 120.56(2).—If the appellate court or administrative law 43
judge declares a proposed rule or portion of a proposed rule 44
invalid pursuant to s. 120.56(2), a judgment or order shall be 45
rendered against the agency for reasonable costs and reasonable 46
attorney's fees, unless the agency demonstrates that its actions 47
were substantially justified or special circumstances exist 48
which would make the award unjust. An agency's actions are 49
"substantially justified" if there was a reasonable basis in law 50
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 3 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
and fact at the time the actions were taken by the agency. If 51
the agency prevails in the proceedings, the appellate court or 52
administrative law judge shall award reasonable costs and 53
reasonable attorney's fees against a party if the appellate 54
court or administrative law judge determines that a party 55
participated in the proceedings for an improper purpose as 56
defined by paragraph (1)(f). An paragraph (1)(e). No award of 57
attorney's fees as provided by this subsection may not shall 58
exceed $50,000. 59
(3) CHALLENGES TO EXISTING AGENCY RULES PURSUANT TO 60
SECTION 120.56(3) AND (5). —If the appellate court or 61
administrative law judge declares a rule or portion of a rule 62
invalid pursuant to s. 120.56(3) or (5), a judgment or order 63
shall be rendered against the agency for rea sonable costs and 64
reasonable attorney's fees, unless the agency demonstrates that 65
its actions were substantially justified or special 66
circumstances exist which would make the award unjust. An 67
agency's actions are "substantially justified" if there was a 68
reasonable basis in law and fact at the time the actions were 69
taken by the agency. If the agency prevails in the proceedings, 70
the appellate court or administrative law judge shall award 71
reasonable costs and reasonable attorney's fees against a party 72
if the appellate court or administrative law judge determines 73
that a party participated in the proceedings for an improper 74
purpose as defined by paragraph (1)(f). An paragraph (1)(e). No 75
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 4 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
award of attorney's fees as provided by this subsection may not 76
shall exceed $50,000. 77
(4) CHALLENGES TO AGENCY ACTION PURSUANT TO SECTION 78
120.56(4).— 79
(d) If the agency prevails in the proceedings, the 80
appellate court or administrative law judge shall award 81
reasonable costs and attorney's fees against a party if the 82
appellate court or administrative law judge determines that the 83
party participated in the proceedings for an improper purpose as 84
defined in paragraph (1)(f) paragraph (1)(e) or that the party 85
or the party's attorney knew or should have known that a claim 86
was not supported by the material facts necessary to establish 87
the claim or would not be supported by the application of then -88
existing law to those material facts. 89
Section 2. Subsection (7) is added to section 373.4131, 90
Florida Statutes, to read: 91
373.4131 Statewide environmental resource permitting 92
rules.— 93
(7) A nonindustrial stormwater management system, in or 94
adjacent to residential or urban areas, side slope must be 95
designed, except as provided in paragraph (a), with a 96
horizontal-to-vertical ratio no steeper than 4:1 to a depth of 97
at least 2 feet below the control elevation and must be 98
stabilized with vegetation to prevent erosion and provide for 99
pollutant removal. 100
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 5 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(a) A nonindustrial stormwater management system side 101
slope in or adjacent to residential or urban areas may be 102
designed with a steeper than 4:1 horizontal -to-vertical ratio if 103
the slope incorporates adequate temporary and permanent erosion 104
and sediment control best management practices. For purposes of 105
public safety, a system designed or authoriz ed to be steeper 106
than 4:1 must be fenced sufficiently to prevent accidental 107
incursion into the system. 108
(b) All side slope rules adopted by the department, water 109
management districts, or delegated local programs under this 110
part as of July 1, 2024, are sup erseded by this subsection and 111
may be repealed without further rulemaking pursuant to s. 120.54 112
by publication of a notice of repeal in the Florida 113
Administrative Register and subsequent filing of a list of the 114
rules repealed with the Department of State. 115
Section 3. Subsection (3) of section 376.313, Florida 116
Statutes, is amended to read: 117
376.313 Nonexclusiveness of remedies and individual cause 118
of action for damages under ss. 376.30 -376.317.— 119
(3) Except as provided in s. 376.3078(3) and (11), nothing 120
contained in ss. 376.30-376.317 do not prohibit a prohibits any 121
person from bringing a cause of action in a court of competent 122
jurisdiction for all damages to real or personal property 123
directly resulting from a discharge or other condition of 124
pollution covered by ss. 376.30 -376.317 and which was not 125
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 6 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
authorized by any government approval or permit issued pursuant 126
to chapter 373, chapter 376, or chapter 403. Nothing in This 127
chapter does not shall prohibit or diminish a party's right to 128
contribution from other parties jointly or severally liable for 129
a prohibited discharge of pollutants or hazardous substances or 130
other pollution conditions. Except as otherwise provided in 131
subsection (4) or subsectio n (5), in any such suit, it is not 132
necessary for such person to plead or prove negligence in any 133
form or manner. Such person need only plead and prove the fact 134
of the prohibited discharge or other pollutive condition and 135
that it has occurred. The only strict-liability exception 136
defenses to such cause of action are shall be those specified in 137
s. 376.308 or s. 376.82. 138
Section 4. Holistic review of coastal permitting processes 139
and other programs.— 140
(1) The Legislature intends to do all of the following: 141
(a) Build a more resilient and responsive government 142
infrastructure to allow for quick recovery after natural 143
disasters, including hurricanes and tropical storms. 144
(b) Promote efficiency in state government across all 145
branches, agencies, and other govern mental entities and identify 146
any area of improvement within each entity which allows for a 147
quick and effective delivery of services. 148
(c) Seek out ways to improve the state's administrative 149
procedures in relevant fields to build a streamlined permitting 150
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 7 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
process that withstands disruptions caused by natural disasters, 151
including hurricanes and tropical storms. 152
(2) The Department of Environmental Protection and each 153
water management district shall conduct a holistic review of 154
their respective agency's curre nt coastal permitting processes 155
and other permit programs. The review must, at a minimum, 156
include coastal construction control line permits; joint coastal 157
permits; environmental resource permits; state -administered 158
section 404 permits consistent with the t erms of the United 159
States Environmental Protection Agency's approval; and 160
permitting processes related to water supply infrastructure, 161
wastewater infrastructure, and onsite sewage treatment and 162
disposal systems. 163
(3) The purpose of the reviews required un der subsection 164
(2) is to identify areas of improvement and to increase 165
efficiency within each process and program. Factors that must be 166
considered in the review include all of the following: 167
(a) The requirements to obtain a permit. 168
(b) Time periods for review, including those of commenting 169
agencies, and approval of a permit application. 170
(c) Areas for improved efficiency and decision -point 171
consolidation within a single project's purpose. 172
(d) Areas of duplication across one or more permit 173
programs. 174
(e) The methods of requesting a permit. 175
HB 789 2024
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
hb0789-00
Page 8 of 8
F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
(f) Potential modifications to memoranda of agreements 176
between the state and the Federal Government governing delegated 177
or approved federal permitting programs, which modifications 178
would improve the efficiency and predictability of the program's 179
administration, including allowing consistent administration of 180
a permit by a state or federal entity over the lifetime of a 181
permitted project. 182
(g) Any other factors that may increase the efficiency of 183
a permitting process and may allow for improved storm recovery. 184
(4) By December 31, 2024, the department and each water 185
management district shall provide their findings and proposed 186
solutions in a report to the Governor, the President of the 187
Senate, and the Speaker of the H ouse of Representatives. 188
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 189