Florida Statutes
369.20 Florida Aquatic Weed Control
Act.--
369.20 Florida Aquatic Weed Control Act.
369.22 Aquatic plant management.
369.20 Florida Aquatic Weed Control
Act.--
(1) This act shall be known as the "Florida
Aquatic Weed Control Act."
(2) The Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission shall direct the control, eradication, and regulation of
noxious aquatic weeds and direct the research and planning related
to these activities, as provided in this section, so as to protect
human health, safety, and recreation and, to the greatest degree
practicable, prevent injury to plant and animal life and
property.
(3) It shall be the duty of the commission to
guide and coordinate the activities of all public bodies,
authorities, agencies, and special districts charged with the
control or eradication of aquatic weeds and plants. It may delegate
all or part of such functions to any appropriate state agency,
special district, unit of local or county government, commission,
authority, or other public body.
(4) The commission shall also promote, develop,
and support research activities directed toward the more effective
and efficient control of aquatic plants. In the furtherance of this
purpose, the commission is authorized to:
(a) Accept donations and grants of funds and
services from both public and private sources;
(b) Contract or enter into agreements with
public or private agencies or corporations for research and
development of aquatic plant control methods or for the performance
of aquatic plant control activities;
(c) Construct, acquire, operate, and maintain
facilities and equipment; and
(d) Enter upon, or authorize the entry upon,
private property for purposes of making surveys and examinations
and to engage in aquatic plant control activities; and such entry
shall not be deemed a trespass.
(5) The commission may disburse funds to any
special district or other local authority charged with the
responsibility of controlling or eradicating aquatic plants,
upon:
(a) Approval by the commission of the control
techniques to be used by the district or authority; and
(b) Review and approval of the program of the
district or authority by the commission.
(6) The commission shall adopt rules pursuant
to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement provisions of this
section conferring powers or duties upon it and perform any other
acts necessary for the proper administration, enforcement, or
interpretation of this section, including creating general permits
and exemptions and adopting rules and forms governing
reports.
(7) No person or public agency shall control,
eradicate, remove, or otherwise alter any aquatic weeds or plants
in waters of the state unless a permit for such activity has been
issued by the commission unless the activity or waters are
expressly exempted by commission rule. The commission shall develop
standards by rule which shall address, at a minimum, chemical,
biological, and mechanical control activities; an evaluation of the
benefits of such activities to the public; specific criteria
recognizing the differences between natural and artificially
created waters; and the different amount and quality of littoral
vegetation on various waters. Applications for a permit to engage
in aquatic plant control activities, including applications to
engage in control activities on sovereign submerged lands, shall be
made to the commission. In reviewing such applications, the
commission shall consider the criteria set forth in subsection (2)
and, in accordance with applicable rules, take final agency action
on permit applications for the use of aquatic plant control
activities on sovereign submerged lands.
(8) As an exemption to all permitting
requirements in this section and ss. 369.22 and 369.25, in all
freshwater bodies, except aquatic preserves designated under
chapter 258 and Outstanding Florida Waters designated under chapter
403, a riparian owner may physically or mechanically remove
herbaceous aquatic plants and semiwoody herbaceous plants, such as
shrub species and willow, within an area delimited by up to 50
percent of the property owner's frontage or 50 feet, whichever is
less, and by a sufficient length waterward from, and perpendicular
to, the riparian owner's shoreline to create a corridor to allow
access for a boat or swimmer to reach open water. All unvegetated
areas shall be cumulatively considered when determining the width
of the exempt corridor. Physical or mechanical removal does not
include the use of any chemicals or any activity that requires a
permit pursuant to part IV of chapter 373.
(9) A permit issued pursuant to this section
for the application of herbicides to waters in the state for the
control of aquatic plants, algae, or invasive exotic plants is
exempt from the requirement to obtain a water pollution operation
permit pursuant to s. 403.088.
(10) Notwithstanding s. 369.25, the commission
may collect aquatic plants to be used for habitat enhancement,
research, education, and for other purposes as necessary to
implement the provisions of this section.
(11) The commission may quarantine or
confiscate noxious aquatic plant material incidentally adhering to
a boat or boat trailer.
(12) The commission may conduct a public
information program, including, but not limited to, erection of
road signs, in order to inform the public and interested parties of
this section and its associated rules and of the dangers of noxious
aquatic plant introductions.
369.22 Aquatic plant
management.--
(1) This section shall be known as the "Florida
Aquatic Plant Management Act."
(2) For the purpose of this section, the
following words and phrases shall have the following
meanings:
(a) "Commission" means the Fish and Wildlife
Conservation Commission.
(b) "Aquatic plant" is any plant growing in, or
closely associated with, the aquatic environment and includes
"floating," "emersed," "submersed," and "ditch bank"
species.
(c) A "maintenance program" is a method for the
management of aquatic plants in which control techniques are
utilized in a coordinated manner as determined by the
commission.
(d) An "eradication program" is a method for
the management of aquatic plants in which control techniques are
utilized in a coordinated manner in an attempt to kill all the
aquatic plants on a permanent basis in a given geographical
area.
(e) A "complaint spray program" is a method for
the management of aquatic plants in which weeds are allowed to grow
unhindered to a given level of undesirability, at which point
eradication techniques are applied in an effort to restore the area
in question to a relatively low level of infestation.
(f) "Waters" means rivers, streams, lakes,
navigable waters and associated tributaries, canals, meandered
lakes, enclosed water systems, and any other bodies of
water.
(g) "Districts" means the six water management
districts created by law and named, respectively, the Northwest
Florida Water Management District, the Suwannee River Water
Management District, the St. Johns River Water Management District,
the Southwest Florida Water Management District, the Central and
Southern Florida Flood Control District, and the Ridge and Lower
Gulf Coast Water Management District; and on July 1, 1975, shall
mean the five water management districts created by chapter 73-190,
Laws of Florida, and named, respectively, the Northwest Florida
Water Management District, the Suwannee River Water Management
District, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the
Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the South Florida
Water Management District.
(3) The Legislature recognizes that the
uncontrolled growth of aquatic plants in the waters of Florida
poses a variety of environmental, health, safety, and economic
problems. The Legislature acknowledges the responsibility of the
state to cope with the uncontrolled and seemingly never-ending
growth of aquatic plants in the waters throughout Florida. It is,
therefore, the intent of the Legislature that the state policy for
the management of aquatic plants in waters of state responsibility
be carried out under the general supervision and control of the
commission. It is the intent of the Legislature that the management
of aquatic plants be carried out primarily by means of maintenance
programs, rather than eradication or complaint spray programs, for
the purpose of achieving more effective management at a lower
long-range cost. It is also the intent of the Legislature that the
commission guide, review, approve, and coordinate all aquatic plant
management programs within each of the water management districts
as defined in paragraph (2)(g). It is the intent of the Legislature
to account for the costs of aquatic plant management programs by
watershed for comparison purposes.
(4) The commission shall supervise and direct
all management programs for aquatic plants, as provided in this
section, so as to protect human health, safety, and recreation and,
to the greatest degree practicable, prevent injury to plant, fish,
and animal life and to property.
(5) When state funds are involved, or when
waters of state responsibility are involved, it is the duty of the
commission to guide, review, approve, and coordinate the activities
of all public bodies, authorities, state agencies, units of local
or county government, commissions, districts, and special districts
engaged in operations to manage or eradicate aquatic plants. The
commission may delegate all or part of such functions to any
appropriate state agency, special district, unit of local or county
government, commission, authority, or other public body. However,
special attention shall be given to the keeping of accounting and
cost data in order to prepare the annual fiscal report required in
subsection (7).
(6) The commission may disburse funds to any
district, special district, or other local authority for the
purpose of operating a program for managing aquatic plants in the
waters of state responsibility upon:
(a) Approval by the commission of the
management techniques to be used by the district or authority;
and
(b) Review and approval of the program of the
district or authority by the commission.
(7) The commission shall prepare an annual
report on the status of the aquatic plant management program which
shall be posted on the commission's Internet website.
(8) The commission shall have the authority to
cooperate with the United States and to enter into such cooperative
agreements or commitments as the commission may determine necessary
to carry out the control or eradication of water hyacinths,
alligator weed, and other noxious aquatic plant growths from the
waters of the state and to enter into contracts with the United
States obligating the state to indemnify and save harmless the
United States from any and all claims and liability arising out of
the initiation and prosecution of any project undertaken under this
section. However, any claim or claims required to be paid under
this section shall be paid from money appropriated to the aquatic
plant management program.
(9) The commission may delegate various aquatic
plant management functions to any appropriate state agency, special
district, unit of local or county government, commission,
authority, or other public body. The recipient of such delegation
shall, in accepting commitments to engage in aquatic plant
management activities, be subject to the rules of the commission.
In addition, the recipient shall render technical and other
assistance to the commission in order to carry out most effectively
the purposes of s. 369.20.
(10) The commission is directed to use
biological agents for the management of aquatic plants when
determined to be appropriate by the commission.
(11) The commission shall adopt rules pursuant
to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the provisions of this
section conferring powers or duties upon it and perform any other
acts necessary for the proper administration, enforcement, or
interpretation of this section, including adopting rules and forms
governing reports.
(12) No person or public agency shall control,
eradicate, remove, or otherwise alter any aquatic plants in waters
of the state unless a permit for such activity has been issued by
the commission, or unless the activity or waters are expressly
exempted by commission rule. The commission shall develop standards
by rule which shall address, at a minimum, chemical, biological,
and mechanical control activities; an evaluation of the benefits of
such activities to the public; specific criteria recognizing the
differences between natural and artificially created waters; and
the different amount and quality of littoral vegetation on various
waters. Applications for a permit to engage in aquatic plant
management activities, including applications to engage in
management activities on sovereign submerged lands, shall be made
to the commission. In reviewing such applications, the commission
shall consider the criteria set forth in subsection (4) and, in
accordance with applicable rules, shall take final agency action on
permit applications for the use of aquatic plant activities on
sovereign submerged lands.
History.--s. 1, ch.
69-158; ss. 14, 26, 35, ch. 69-106; s. 4, ch. 70-203; s. 1, ch.
70-439; s. 350, ch. 71-136; s. 2, ch. 71-137; s. 140, ch. 77-104;
s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 23, ch. 78-95; s. 1, ch. 84-120; s. 1, ch.
92-147; s. 189, ch. 94-356; s. 93, ch. 99-245; s. 1, ch. 2000-146;
s. 1, ch. 2001-258; s. 8, ch. 2008-150.
History.--ss. 1, 2,
ch. 74-65; s. 4, ch. 80-129; s. 33, ch. 83-218; s. 16, ch. 84-254;
s. 2, ch. 89-151; s. 188, ch. 94-356; s. 76, ch. 98-200; s. 92, ch.
99-245; s. 7, ch. 2008-150.
History.--ss. 1, 2,
ch. 70-203; s. 3, ch. 80-129; s. 32, ch. 85-81; s. 1, ch. 89-151;
s. 187, ch. 94-356; s. 2, ch. 96-238; s. 2, ch. 97-22; s. 75, ch.
98-200; s. 91, ch. 99-245; s. 6, ch. 2008-150.
Note.--Former s. 372.925.
Note.--Former s. 372.932.
Persons with Disabilities