September 11, 2012 –
State environmental rulemaking efforts heat up; latest changes to affect contaminated properties, permitting

Currently, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection is involved in multiple rulemaking efforts.

One or more of the latest rule developments may be of interest to you if you are responsible for an entity that:

• owns or cleans up contaminated properties
• needs an environmental resource permit for a project
• manages or transports used oil
• requires water from a public water supply to operate your business

If you have any interest in details on any of these rulemakings, please contact Brian Seymour, leader of Gunster’s environmental and land use practice.

Chapter 62-770, Contaminated Site Cleanup Criteria
The Department has published Notices of Proposed Rule Development that will combine Chapters 62-770 (Petroleum Contamination Site Cleanup Criteria), 62-782 (Drycleaning Solvent Cleanup Criteria), and 62-785 (Brownfields Cleanup Criteria Rule) into the existing Chapter 62-780, F.A.C. Interested parties can request a hearing be held on the rule development by September 28, 2012.

Chapter 62-40, Consumptive Use Permitting (CUP)
The Department has held nine workshops around the state, with one more to go in Escambia County on September 24, 2012. The first step in this rulemaking process has been to seek input from interested parties on the ideas and topics that the CUP work groups have developed. The Department will work toward putting the ideas into proposed rule language and, once drafted, the Department will hold an additional round of workshops on the proposed rules.

Chapter 62-710, Used Oil Management, and Chapter 62-730, Hazardous Waste
On August 22, 2012, the Department held a rule development workshop on Chapter 62-710, Used Oil Management, and Chapter 62-730, Hazardous Waste. The Department does not consider the proposed changes to either rule to be substantive in nature, although the addition of some federal definitions in the Used Oil rule without further clarification may cause some confusion for parties who were previously not considered used oil transporters. Comments on the proposed rule language are due by September 12, 2012.

Chapter 62-330, Statewide Environmental Resource Permitting
The Department will hold its final workshop on the statewide ERP rule on September 20, 2012. Thus far, the rulemaking effort had been more of a consolidation of Department rules and water management rules into one rule chapter rather than a rulemaking effort with substantive revision in mind. To date, the final proposed rule and handbooks have not been provided for review. But the Department is still trying to meet its expedited rule development schedule and publish its Notice of Proposed Rule on September 28, 2012, with an effective date of January 2013.