Important News

2022 Legislative Update

Jul27

The 2022 Legislative Session went into overtime, as the Senate and House were not able to agree on the budget in time to adjourn by Friday. They returned on Monday, March 14 to approve the budget and adjourned sine die at 1:03 pm. The Legislature approved a budget for Fiscal Year 2022-2023 in a record amount of $112 billion. Attention now turns to the Governor and his veto power over passed legislation, including line-item veto power over the budget. The 2022 Legislature addressed a

Jul06

On June 22, 2020, President Donald Trump signed The Navigable Waters Protection Rule to define the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). The new rule repeals the 2015 Clean Water Rule which will limit the extent of federal regulation. However, it will provide a consistent and clear definition of the “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS). Throughout the U.S., Court challenges are already underway, and states have conflicting rulings. This new rule reverts regulations to the 1986 version of WOTUS. Under the

Jun24

The Navigable Waters Protection Rule to define “Waters of the United States” became effective on June 22, 2020 and will replace the Step One Rule published in October, 2019. For the first time, the agencies are streamlining the definition so that it includes four simple categories of jurisdictional waters, provides clear exclusions for many water features that traditionally have not been regulated, and defines terms in the regulatory text that have never been defined before. Congress, in the Clean Water Act, explicitly

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Mitigation Banking Update April 2020

Hi Everyone! Just a quick update from my home office Winter Springs, Florida. Everything is good and things are moving along despite the obvious slowdown. We remain hopeful that the worst is behind us and we will be back to normal again soon.

Mar24

COVID-19 MITIGATION BANKING INDUSTRY UPDATE To the Florida Mitigation Banking Community: I hope this finds each of you safe and well during this time. The Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers strives to be a source of reliable information as changes occur throughout the mitigation banking industry. As such, we want you to know that we are closely monitoring the effects of the COVID-19 situation and its direct impacts on our industry. The FAMB Board members are in frequent contact with the Corps, FDEP, and each

Jan10

Victoria Bruce is proud to be on the FAMB workshop committee for The Florida Association of Mitigation Bankers (FAMB) 2020 Annual Workshop! Please join us on Friday, February 27th- February 28th at the Omni Jacksonville. *Panelist discussions from: The Florida Department of Transportation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in addition to those from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, FDEP and Water Management Districts. A special session will

Oct29

The final rule to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule was published to the federal register on 10/15. This rescinds the 2015 Clean Water Rule and re-codifies the regulatory definition of water of the United States as it existed prior to the 2015 rule. The rule will be effective as of 12/23/19. The agencies are taking this final action to repeal the Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States,” 80 FR 37054 (June 29, 2015), and to recodify the regulatory

Sep17

Watch this session for the 2019 Florida Association of Environmental Professionals Conference that was held on Friday, September 20th, 2019. The panel discussion was on Mitigation Banking in Florida: Lessons Learned and Future Trends with Victoria Bruce, The Mitigation Banking Group, Inc; John Lesman, Bio-Tech Consulting, Inc.; and Bill Kerr, BKI, Inc. This presentation included the history, current state, and what the future holds of the mitigation banking industry. This panel discussion provided information on lessons learned, challenges and success stories. The Mitigation Banking

Oct24

President Trump to sign bill creating reservoir South of Lake Okeechobee President Trump signed the America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018 into law on October 23, 2018. Included in that massive plan is a bill to create reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee, which is expected to greatly help the algae crisis in South Florida. The South Florida Water Management District has said creating the reservoir could reduce Lake Okeechobee discharges by 65 percent. The water storage project is designed to take water from

Aug14

The U.S. Army released a memorandum taking initial steps to empower States and tribes in assuming Section 404 permit authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA). Letters are also being sent to all fifty State Governors and the tribal leaders encouraging them to assume the federal 404 permitting program. The memorandum and more information is available at: https://www.army.mil/asacw/. Swamp School will be holding a webinar on the topic.