Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...If the order is approved and certification granted, the construction and operation of the power plant may begin. § 403.511. The issuance or denial of the certification by the Board constitutes final administrative action required as to the application. § 403.509(3)....

...(f) Minimize, through the use of reasonable and available methods, the adverse effects on human health, the environment, and the ecology of the *617 land and its wildlife and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life. (g) Serve and protect the broad interests of the public. § 403.509(3), Fla....

...el the certification hearing; then the DEP Secretary, instead of the Siting Board, "shall act upon the application by written order in accordance with the terms of this act and the stipulation of the parties...." §§ 403.508(6)(a), 403.508(6)(d)1., 403.509(1)(a), Fla....

...pportunity to cancel the certification hearing and proceed directly to a DEP final order based on the agreement of all parties that there are no disputed issues of fact or law in accordance with the procedures set forth in sections 403.508(6)(a) and 403.509(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2006)....

...PA 81-14SA3, 29 F.A.L.R. 2551 (DEP Dec. *620 2006). The ALJ granted the parties' joint motion. On February 22, 2007, Seminole, DEP, the Sierra Club, and all other parties filed a Joint Stipulation Between the Parties, invoking sections 403.508(6)(a) and 403.509(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2006)....

...en adequately addressed through the Conditions of Certification agreed to by the parties and attached to [DEP's] Staff Analysis Report ...;" and (3) agreed to the relinquishment of jurisdiction to DEP for issuance of a Final Order in accordance with section 403.509(1)(a), Florida Statutes, the provision added to the Siting Act in 1996 expressly authorizing action on a Siting Act application by stipulation of all parties....

...Consistent with this general law, the Siting Act now expressly authorizes the parties in a Siting Act case to proceed by stipulation when no issues are contested and requires the Secretary to "act upon ... the stipulation of the parties in requesting cancellation of the certification hearing." § 403.509(1)(a), Fla....

...cerning a separate Prevention of Significant Deterioration ("PSD") air emissions permit required for Unit 3. Certain federally delegated or approved environmental permits, such as PSD permits, are issued separately from the Siting Act certification. § 403.509(3), Fla....

...Consistent with this general law, the Siting Act now expressly authorizes the parties in a Siting Act case to proceed by stipulation when no issues are contested and requires the *713 Secretary to “act upon ... the stipulation of the parties .... ” Id. at 621-22 (quoting § 403.509(l)(a), Fla....

...certification hearing; then the DEP Secretary, instead of the Siting Board, “shall act upon the application by written order in accordance with the terms of this act and the stipulation of the parties .... ” §§ 403.508(6)(a), 403.508(6)(d)l., 403.509(l)(a), Fla....

...pportunity to cancel the certification hearing and proceed directly to a DEP final order based on the agreement of all parties that there are no disputed issues of fact or law in accordance with the procedures set forth in sections 403.508(6)(a) and 403.509(1)(a), Florida Statutes (2006)....

...PA 81-14SA3, 29 F.A.L.R. 2551 (DEP Dec. *620 2006). The ALJ granted the parties’ joint motion. On February 22, 2007, Seminole, DEP, the Sierra Club, and all other parties filed a Joint Stipulation Between the Parties, invoking sections 403.508(6)(a) and 403.509(l)(a), Florida Statutes (2006)....

...dequately addressed through the Conditions of Certification agreed to by the parties and attached to [DEP’s] Staff Analysis Report ...;” and (3) agreed to the relinquishment of jurisdiction to DEP for issuance of a Final Order in accordance with section 403.509(l)(a), Florida Statutes, the provision added to the Siting Act in 1996 expressly authorizing action on a Siting Act application by stipulation of all parties....

...Consistent with this general law, the Siting Act now expressly authorizes the parties in a Siting Act case to proceed by stipulation when no issues are contested and requires the Secretary to “act upon ... the stipulation of the parties in requesting cancellation of the certification hearing.” § 403.509(l)(a), Fla....

...rning a separate Prevention of Significant Deterioration ("PSD”) air emissions permit required for Unit 3. Certain federally delegated or approved environmental permits, such as PSD permits, are issued separately from the Siting Act certification. § 403.509(3), Fla....

...the power plant siting board must consider, among several factors, whether the location, construction, and operation of the power plant will “[b]e consistent with applicable local government comprehensive plans and land development regulations.” § 403.509(3)(c)....

...403.519. (4) To assure the citizens of Florida that renewable energy sources and technologies, as well as conservation measures, are utilized to the extent reasonably available. See § 403.502, Fla. Stat. (2013). Specifically, section 403.509(3) outlines a certification test which the Siting Board, comprised of the Governor and his cabinet, must apply when it holds hearings to approve in whole, approve with modifications or conditions, or deny a new project....

...g) Serve and protect the broad interests of the public. 4 In addition, the PPSA requires transmission line corridors to adhere to the same certification test as the rest of the power plant project. See § 403.509(4)(a). 2....

...The remaining 1.4-mile segment would run south along the L-31N canal to S.W. 120th Street and falls outside the Everglades National Park boundaries, but remains within the East Everglades. 8  “[DEP] interprets the [Act], and in particular section 403.509, to mean that there are no “applicable” local government comprehensive plans or [land development regulations] for the proposed transmission lines... In addition, the Recommended Order did not require FPL to undergrou...

...Here, the statute is clear and unambiguous. 9 Thus, we review this case de novo and are not required to give deference to an agency’s interpretation. The Siting Board Failed to Consider Local Regulations, as required by section 403.509(3), Fla. Stat. (2013). We first address the City of Miami’s contention that the Siting Board erred in not considering local regulations when certifying the transmission line corridors, as was required by section 403.509(3)(b), Florida Statute (2013). We agree with the City of Miami, as the applicable local regulations should have been applied. The PPSA requires that the Siting Board apply the certification test outlined in section 403.509(4)(a). Criteria b) and c) state that the applied for project will comply with applicable nonprocedural requirements of agencies and be consistent with applicable local government comprehensive plans and land development regulations, respectively. Section 403.509(4)(a), Fla....

...r the review or processing of information submitted to demonstrate compliance with such regulatory requirements. 10 Section 403.503(2)‘s definition of “agency” includes local governments. As such, section 403.509(3)‘s certification test requires that local comprehensive plans and land development regulations be taken into account....

...The Siting Board did not review or consider the City of Miami’s LDR’s, so the order on appeal does not incorporate the local regulations of the City of Miami into the conditions of certification that control the electrical transmission lines, as required by section 403.509(3), Fla....