FLORIDA POWER CORP., APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION, ET AL., APPELLEES
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Florida Power challenged the Department of Environmental Regulation's declaratory statement that a power plant's emission limitations were "site-specific" and therefore ineligible for self-executing compliance with a less stringent new rule. The court affirmed the Department's interpretation that site-specific conditions are those peculiar to a certain facility rather than generalized conditions applicable to all power plants.
The Department's interpretation that site-specific conditions are those peculiar to a particular electric power plant site as opposed to generalized conditions applicable to all power plants is a permissible interpretation of the statutory term. Because the emission limitations were derived in part from the Crystal River plant's proximity to a designated wilderness area, they qualify as site-specific conditions ineligible for self-executing compliance with the new rule.
[1] A "site-specific" condition is one peculiar to a particular site, as opposed to a generalized condition applicable to all sites.
[2] An agency's implementing interpretation of a statutory term is permissible if it is sufficiently expounded and not unreasonable.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“A site-specific condition, therefore, is a condition peculiar to a certain electric power plant site as opposed to a generalized condition applicable to all power plants.”
The Department's definitive interpretation of the critical statutory term "site-specific" that the court found to be permissible.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceFlorida Power operates the Crystal River electrical power plant under a 1978 certificate with sulfur dioxide emission limitations derived partly from …
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Because the emission limitations imposed on the Crystal River plant in 1978 were derived in part from its geographical proximity to a wilderness area so classified in the Department’s scheme of things, the Department declared the conditions of its operation as “site-specific” and therefore as ineligible for a self-executing choice by the certificate holder, under section 403.-511(5)(b), to adhere instead to the less stringent restrictions on sulphur dioxide emissions that would be yielded, no other factors intervening, by the new rule. By way of elaborating the statutory term “site-specific,” the Department concluded its discussion of the issue in this way:
A site-specific condition, therefore, is a condition peculiar to a certain electric power plant site as opposed to a generalized condition applicable to all power plants.
We are not concerned with whether the Department’s implementing interpretation of the critical statutory term is the only one possible; nor are we concerned with whether, by our lights, that interpretation is the most desirable one given the statutory scheme as we perceive it. It is enough that the Department’s implementing interpretation is a permissible one, sufficiently expounded by the Department’s declaratory statement. See Department of Administration, et al. v. Nelson, 424 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); Florida Commission on Human Relations v. Human Development Center, 413 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982); State Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services v. Framat Realty, Inc., 407 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981); ABC Liquors, Inc. v. Department of Business Regulation, 397 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981). Those prerequisites being met by the declaratory statement, the Department’s action is AFFIRMED.
SHIVERS and WIGGINTON, JJ., concur.
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Tri-State Sys., Inc. v. Dep't OF Transp., 491 So. 2d 1192 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…d 532, 534 (Fla.1985). Its interpretation of the critical term, here “commercial activity,” does not have to he the only one or the most desirable one; it is enough if it is permissible. Florida Power Corp. v. Department of Environmental Regulation, 431 So. 2d 684 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Here, the agency’s interpretation was supported by evidence that the zoning codes of two Florida cities relegate broadcast towers to an agricultural rather than an industrial classification. Because there is competent, substan…
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Little Munyon Island, Inc. v. Dep't of Env't Reg., 492 So. 2d 735 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)…. DER’s interpretation of the critical term “stationary” does not have to be the only one, or even the most desirable. It is enough if it is a permissible one and sufficiently expounded by the declaratory statement. Florida Power Corporation v. DER, 431 So. 2d 684, 685 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). We perceive no error in defining as “stationary” an installation which is designed to, and does, remain in one place in the performance of its intended function. LMI contends that no fill permit can be required for its pro…
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Bishop Assocs. Ltd. P'ship v. Belkin, 521 So. 2d 158 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988)…It is enough that the Department’s implementing interpretation is a permissible one, sufficiently expounded by the Department’s declaratory statement. (emphasis supplied). Florida Power Corporation v. State, Department of Environmental Regulation, 431 So. 2d 684, 685 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983). Also, we find persuasive Sans Souci v. Division of Florida Land Sales and Condominiums, 421 So. 2d 623 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982), appeal after remand, 448 So. 2d 1116 (Fla. 1st DCA 1984), as cited by appellee, wherein this court…
Previewing 3 of 8 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- State Dep't of Health & Rehabilitative Servs. v. Framat Realty, Inc., 407 So. 2d 238 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- ABC Liquors v. Dep't of Bus. Reg., 397 So. 2d 696 (Fla. 1st DCA 1981)
- Dep't OF Admin. & Dep't of Agric. & Consumer Servs. v. Nelson, 424 So. 2d 852 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)
- Fla. Comm'n ON Human Relations v. Human Dev. Ctr., 413 So. 2d 1251 (Fla. 1st DCA 1982)