Seawall Bailout ?

A DEP records request was made looking for evidence of the Marti Coley seawall bill and imagine my surprise when the response received stated that some of the same language was included in HB 5003. It's part of our budget, has passed and is waiting for Crist's signature.

I'm having trouble understanding the language but it looks like the DEP is being prohibited from challenging existing sea walls built after hurricane Dennis in Walton County. I think there are still around 17 non-permitted sea walls and I do not know the status of them but it would be interesting to investigate and also find out who the contractor was on each project.


Section 67. In order to implement Specific Appropriation
1342 1765 of the 2010-2011 General Appropriations Act, the Department
1343 of Environmental Protection shall take no final agency action to
1344 deny any permit application related to rigid coastal armoring
1345 structures authorized under s. 161.085 (3), Florida Statutes,
1346 and constructed between July 1, 2005, and April 30, 2006, as a
1347 result of the impacts of Hurricane Dennis in Walton County. The
1348 90-day time period for agency action pursuant to s. 120.60 (1),
1349 Florida Statutes, shall be tolled for these applications. At the
1350 written request of a property owner to process his or her application,
1351 the department shall issue or deny the application
1352 within 90 days or in accordance with the time periods provided
1353 in chapter 120, Florida Statutes, whichever is greater. In
1354 addition, during Fiscal Year 2010-2011, the department shall not
1355 take enforcement action against a property owner for failure to
1356 apply for a permit to allow such structures to remain
1357 permanently. A property owner who has previously filed an
1358 application with the department is not required to reapply or
1359 request reinstatement of his or her application. This section
1360 expires July 1, 2011.

Here's the link to HB 5003: http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Secti...tType=Amendments&BillNumber=5003&Session=2010