SB 7064 — Oil Drilling

Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section 377.37, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

377.37 Penalties.— (1)(a) Any person who violates any provision of this law or any rule, regulation, or order of the division made under this chapter or who violates the terms of any permit to drill for or produce oil, gas, or other petroleum products referred to in s.

377.242(1) or to store gas in a natural gas storage facility, or any lessee, permitholder, or operator of equipment or facilities used in the exploration for, drilling for, or production of oil, gas, or other petroleum products, or storage of gas in a natural gas storage facility, who refuses inspection by the division as provided in this chapter, is liable to the state for any damage caused to the air, waters, or property, including animal, plant, or aquatic life, of the state and for reasonable costs and expenses of the state in tracing the source of the discharge, in controlling and abating the source and the pollutants, and in restoring the air, waters, and property, including animal, plant, and aquatic life, of the state.

Furthermore, such person, lessee, permitholder, or operator is subject to the judicial imposition of a civil penalty in an amount of not more than $10,000 for each offense, except that for offenses occurring in the Everglades Protection Area the penalty is $50,000 for each offense.

However, the court may receive evidence in mitigation.

Each day during any portion of which such violation occurs constitutes a separate offense.

Nothing herein shall give the department the right to bring an action on behalf of any private person.

Section 6. Section 377.421, Florida Statutes, is created to read:

377.421 Drilling in the Everglades Protection Area.— (1) For purposes of this section, the term “Everglades Protection Area” means Water Conservation Areas 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, and 3B;

the Arthur R.

Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge;

and the Everglades National Park.

(2) The Department of Environmental Protection shall evaluate each application to drill and shall visit each proposed access route and drilling site in the Everglades Protection Area to ensure that the exploration and production activities will not cause any permanent adverse impact on the water resources or the sheet flow of the area or on the vegetation or the wildlife of the area, with a special emphasis placed on rare and endangered species.

If a proposed site is located on developed or highly impacted uplands, the department must review the application and field inspection reports from staff to determine whether to reinspect the site.

If a reinspection is necessary, subparagraph (3)(a)1.

does not apply.

(3) In evaluating applications, the department shall use the following criteria:

(a) For roads, including road extensions:

1. A permit to drill must be obtained before any road construction or improvement begins.

2. Existing roads must be used where feasible.

3. The improvement of existing roads or the construction of new roads must be completed from trucked-in fill material that is taken from approved borrow pits.

There may not be any parallel borrow canals along roads.

4. All roads must have culverts installed and be maintained to prevent degradation by industry vehicles.

The size and number of culverts must be sufficient to ensure that the natural flow of water is not impeded and the resource is protected.

5. All roads may be only wide enough to accommodate one lane of traffic, but must have at least one turnout every mile for passing.

6. All road elevations must be high enough to assure year round usage, except where otherwise expressly required to be less.

7. All roads must follow the best practical route suited to protect the natural environment.

Where feasible, roads and road extensions should follow existing wood roads.

8. Roads must be constructed in a way that avoids serious damage to or enduring scars to land and loss of wildlife, and must be constructed to avoid obstructing the natural movement of water and wildlife.

9. All roads must be restored as specified in rule 62C 29.009, F.A.C.

10. All new access roads authorized to serve the needs of exploration activities must be limited in use to the permitted purpose.

For these limited use access roads, the applicant shall submit as part of the permit application the means to accomplish the limited use, including the control of unauthorized vehicles, for the duration of the permitted purpose of the road.

11. Access corridors and drilling pads may not be constructed in or through sensitive resources, such as cypress or mixed forest swamps, hardwood hammocks, mangrove forests, archaeological sites, native ceremonial grounds, and those zones documented or confirmed by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as being areas of high-level Florida panther activity unless reasonable and prudent alternatives are not available.

Known red-cockaded woodpecker colonies, rookeries, alligator holes, research sites, pine uplands, and threatened or endangered species habitats must be avoided where possible.

12. Access corridors, including pipelines, must be contiguous where possible and corridors emanating from new entry points must be prohibited unless the applicant demonstrates them to be the more prudent and reasonable alternative.

(b) For drilling sites:

1. The sites must be located to minimize negative impacts on the vegetation and wildlife, including rare and endangered species, and on the surface water resources.

2. Topographical and engineering surveys of the drilling site, together with an aerial photograph of the drill site, shall be prepared at a large scale with the well spotted thereupon and included as a part of the permit application.

3. Site preparation may not begin before the applicant obtains a permit to drill, except as specified in subsection (2).

4. Every effort shall be made to limit the drilling’s impact on the Everglades Protection Area environment by using prairies, limited-growth forest, grazing, farming, or cleared lands where practical.

5. Drilling pads shall be constructed from trucked-in fill material that is taken from approved borrow pits and be constructed to an elevation sufficient to ensure year-round usage.

6. A protective berm of sufficient height and impermeability to prevent the escape of pad fluids shall be constructed around the drilling site and storage tank areas.

7. Directional or slant drilling shall be used from existing drilling pads where technically feasible and where it will have a beneficial effect upon maintaining environmental quality.

8. All drilling sites shall be restored as specified in rule 62C-29.009, Florida Administrative Code.

(c) For production:

1. The operating company shall submit to the department a field development plan as soon as practical for each new field.

All transportation of oil in the Everglades Protection Area shall be by pipeline.

2. If the oil from a producing well is to be removed by pipeline, the pipeline must be equipped with automatic shut-off valves.

3. All flowlines and utilities shall be contained within the rights-of-way secured for road construction.

4. The operating company shall develop an emergency and contingency plan.

An updated plan must be submitted annually to the department.

5. The operating company shall clean the site of any oil or other contaminants spilled in conjunction with the drilling, production, and transportation activities.

Spill response and remediation equipment must remain on site and be made available for immediate use to accomplish this goal.

(4) Within the Everglades Protection Area, a wildlife impact study must be completed at the time of the initial application and at the time of subsequent recertification.

(5) The refining of oil is prohibited in the Everglades Protection Area.

Section 7. Subsection (3) is added to section 570.93, Florida Statutes, to read:

570.93 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services;

agricultural water conservation and agricultural water supply planning.— (3) The use of flowback fluid for crop irrigation is prohibited in this state.

For purposes of this subsection, the term “flowback fluid” means any liquid that flows back to the surface during or after completion of well stimulation.

Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.