Florida Administrative Code
62 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
62C - Division of Resource Management
Chapter 62C-17 - MASTER RECLAMATION PLAN FOR LANDS DISTURBED BY THE SEVERANCE OF PHOSPHATE PRIOR TO JULY 1, 1975
Section 62C-17.008 - Reclamation Standards and Criteria

(a) Site cleanup. Each program site shall be left in a neat, orderly condition by removing or adequately burying all debris, junk, abandoned equipment, abandoned structures or parts of structures, worn-out or unusable equipment or materials, as well as all footings, piles, pilings, and cables.

(b) Any existing structures, roads, pilings, or other artifacts on a program site which the Landowner anticipates retaining after reclamation shall be identified in the program application together with their proposed use.

(c) Should a Landowner demonstrate that slope requirements of this rule cannot be met, the Landowner shall identify any locations where a potential hazard exists or may exist and shall provide, in the program application, for the construction of a protective fence.

(a) Upland slopes of any reclaimed land areas shall normally be no steeper than four (4) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical to provide for the safety of the general public. When reclaiming above-grade clay settling areas, Landowners are encouraged to incorporate a variety of slopes four (4) feet to one (1) foot or flatter to result in a rolling topography. For long continuous slopes, mulching, contouring, vegetation, or other suitable techniques shall be used to enhance stabilization. Should washes or rills develop after revegetation to such an extent that an erosion problem would result, the Landowner shall repair the eroded area prior to the program's final certification of completion.

(b) Deviations from upland slopes of no steeper than four (4) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical shall be approved by the Department in those instances where:

(c) Any reclamation program in which a deviation from the slope requirements of this rule is necessary shall contain the request for a deviation, together with detailed dimensions of the requested deviation in the application for a reclamation program, as well as the reasons for the requested deviation. The use of sloping terraces is encouraged if a deviation from the slope requirement is necessary. The steeper terrace faces shall be separated from adjacent terrace faces as far as possible but at least ten (10) feet horizontally. Terrace faces shall extend over no more than four (4) feet vertically on any single terrace.

(d) The design of artificially created wetlands and waterbodies shall be consistent with health and safety; maximize beneficial contributions within local drainage patterns; provide aquatic and wetland wildlife habitat values; maintain water quality, both within the waterbody and downstream by preventing erosion and providing nutrient uptake; and, does not conflict with the Local Comprehensive Plan or the Comprehensive Regional Policy Plan adopted pursuant to Chapter 186, F.S.; enhance the potential for productive human use of the adjacent uplands. Waterbodies should incorporate emergent habitat, both deep and shallow water, naturally fluctuating water levels, high ratios of shoreline length to surface area, and a variety of shoreline slopes. Variety in configuration of both plan view and profile of waterbodies is encouraged within the reasonable limits of insuring that peninsulas and bays will be beneficial and useable features. The configuration known as "finger" lake(s) shall be approved where the submerged slopes are no steeper than four (4) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical from the design average water level out to six (6) feet of water depth.

(e) Waterbodies shall be constructed with submerged slopes no steeper than four (4) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical from the design average water level out to six (6) feet of water depth. Where practical, waterbodies constructed in parcels lying generally three (3) miles or more outside the corporate limits of municipalities should be constructed with approximately twenty percent (20%) of the design low water surface area less than six (6) feet deep at design low water. Waterbodies constructed in parcels lying generally three (3) miles or more outside the corporate limits of a municipality and in excess of ten (10) acres and not constructed with twenty percent (20%) less than six (6) feet deep shall be constructed with a minimum of one-half (1/2) of the lineal feet of shoreline having submerged slopes no steeper than six (6) feet horizontal to one (1) foot vertical from one (1) foot above the design average water level out to six (6) feet of water depth. Those parcels lying generally three (3) miles outside the corporate limits of municipalities are more specifically identified by parcel number in the files of the Department.

(f) The Department shall approve deviations from paragraphs (d) and (e), above, when:

(a) Although the hydroperiod and soil type of lands to be reclaimed have been altered to the extent that the reestablishment of the historical order of plant succession may not be practical, it is the objective of these guidelines for revegetation to establish a diverse, productive, and natural appearing plant community within the limits of the land capability and various plant tolerances.

(b) The Landowner will develop a schedule for the proposed revegetation including species of trees, grasses and any shrubs to be planted; location and spacing of vegetation; and where necessary, a program for treating the soils to prepare them for planting. Furthermore, the Landowner shall provide a flexible planting schedule to insure an adjustment to the revegetation timetable when weather conditions or seasonal changes in the weather would be detrimental to the survival of the revegetation.

(c) A program site must have established ground cover on a minimum of eighty percent (80%) of the upland area excluding roads, groves, or row crops at the end of the establishment stage. Bare areas shall not exceed one-quarter (1/4) acre.

(d) All species used in revegetation shall be indigenous to the State except for upland grasses, and temporary ground cover vegetation.

(e) Each program site containing nonsubmerged land, excluding the greenbelt, shall have a minimum of three (3) different species of indigenous trees planted within its boundaries in sufficient and approximate equal numbers to provide an average minimum density of twenty (20) healthy trees per acre of nonsubmerged land at the end of the establishment stage. It is assumed that planted trees (bare-root seedlings) will experience a fifty percent (50%) mortality during the establishment stage. The trees may be concentrated onto no less than ten percent (10%) of the total nonsubmerged area, provided that the planting includes upland and transition zones (if any), and that no single area of the planting of trees-patch, greenbelt or windrow-be smaller than one-quarter (1/4) acre, and further, that no area without trees be greater than forty (40) acres.

(f) All submerged land features within the program site shall have a greenbelt of trees along a minimum of fifty percent (50%) of the perimeter of the feature. The greenbelt shall extend at least thirty-five (35) feet, but not to exceed one hundred ten (110) feet, upland from the highwater line of the feature. The greenbelt shall consist of a minimum of three (3) different species of trees. Both upland and water tolerant species shall be included. Survival density shall be two hundred (200) trees per acre. It is assumed that planted trees (bare-root seedlings) will experience a fifty percent (50%) mortality during the establishment period.

(g) Herbaceous wetland areas within the program site shall be revegetated with a minimum of five (5) indigenous species of wetland plants planted in approximately equal numbers, excluding cattails, primrose willow, and exotics. These plantings shall be spaced on three-foot (3-foot) centers, and demonstrate fifty percent (50%) survival at the end of the growing season. Any acreage of cattails and/or primrose willows existing in an herbaceous wetland shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) of the total wetland acreage. Areas to be reclaimed as wooded wetlands shall be planted with a minimum of three (3) different species of indigenous trees in sufficient and approximately equal numbers to provide an average density of two hundred (200) healthy trees per acre at the end of the growing season. It is assumed that planted trees (bare-root seedlings) will experience a fifty percent (50%) mortality during the establishment period.

(h) A program site planted with trees on which livestock grazing will be allowed shall have the trees protected from the livestock by a fence of such construction as to reasonably protect the plantings for five (5) years.

(i) Programs designed wholly or in part as wildlife habitats must incorporate greenbelts on swales. The greenbelt should provide at least a thirty-five-foot (35-foot) wide wildlife corridor on each side of the swale. All submerged features, including herbaceous and/or wooded wetlands, shall have a greenbelt according to paragraph (f), above. Wildlife habitats must utilize the upland forest requirements to maximize the habitat quality by planting upland forests adjacent to the greenbelt area or the submerged feature and thus utilize the edge effect of continuous cover from one type of vegetative cover to another type of vegetative cover. The Department shall waive the forty-acre (40-acre) forestation requirement of paragraph 62C-17.008(3)(e), F.A.C., to permit the maximum utilization of upland forested areas to enhance the wildlife habitat. Where practical, wildlife habitats established on a program should be connected to any similar wildlife habitats on adjacent programs. Landowners electing to establish a wildlife habitat shall receive an enhanced priority recommendation after review of the reclamation application.

(j) For programs where wildlife habitat is all or a significant portion of the proposed use of the program site, the Landowner shall consult with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and provide the results of this consultation to the Department as a part of the Landowner's application. Slopes, revegetation, reforestation and erosion control requirements may be waived or modified by the Department in areas where such changes will benefit the overall plan for wildlife habitat restoration.

(a) All waters of the state on or leaving the program site shall meet applicable water quality standards of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Chapter 62-3, F.A.C.

(b) Water within all wetlands and waterbodies shall be of sufficient quality to allow recreation or support fish and other wildlife.