Joint Coastal Permits in Florida: Building Seaward of Mean High Water Under Chapter 62B-49
- Endless Life Design
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Work that reaches below the mean high-water line and touches the beach, an inlet, or the nearshore is reviewed under a different permit than upland coastal construction. The Joint Coastal Permit bundles the state coastal-construction approval, the use of state-owned bottom, and the federal review into one application. Endless Life Design coordinates shoreline and marine work through the correct state program.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What a Joint Coastal Permit Authorizes
JCP Versus CCCL: Two Different Lines
The Coastal System and Covered Activities
The Joint Application (Permit, Submerged Lands, Federal)
Expedited Permitting for Maintenance Projects
Ports and Navigational Dredging
County and Municipality Inspection Comments for Permit Approval
Related Resources
Why Choose Endless Life Design
WHAT A JOINT COASTAL PERMIT AUTHORIZES
A Joint Coastal Permit, or JCP, is required for activities that extend onto sovereign submerged lands seaward of the mean high-water line and are likely to have a material physical effect on the coastal system or natural beach and inlet processes, under Sections 161.021, 161.041, and 161.055, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 62B-49, F.A.C. It is processed by the Department's Beaches, Inlets and Ports Program.
JCP VERSUS CCCL: TWO DIFFERENT LINES
The distinction is the line. Coastal Construction Control Line permits under Chapter 62B-33 govern upland construction landward of mean high water but seaward of the control line. The Joint Coastal Permit governs work waterward of mean high water on state-owned bottom. A beachfront project can require both, reviewed by different DEP programs.
THE COASTAL SYSTEM AND COVERED ACTIVITIES
Under Section 161.041, F.S., a coastal construction permit is required before commencing activities below mean high water such as:
Seawalls, revetments, groins, jetties, moles, and breakwaters.
Artificial nourishment and other deposition or removal of beach material.
Inlet sediment bypassing and excavation or maintenance dredging of inlet channels.
Other structures of solid or highly impermeable design on sovereignty lands.
THE JOINT APPLICATION (PERMIT, SUBMERGED LANDS, FEDERAL)
The joint application combines three approvals: the Joint Coastal Permit itself; authorization to use sovereign submerged lands under Chapter 253, F.S. and Rule 18-21, F.A.C.; and the federal dredge-and-fill permit. Since October 13, 1995, Section 161.055, F.S., has provided for concurrent processing of these reviews.
EXPEDITED PERMITTING FOR MAINTENANCE PROJECTS
Beach nourishment and inlet management projects that are maintained without substantial change in scope can qualify for the simplified and expedited process in Rule 62B-49.0055, F.A.C., provided site conditions have not changed in a way that would cause new water-quality or other adverse impacts.
PORTS AND NAVIGATIONAL DREDGING
The Beaches, Inlets and Ports Program also processes Environmental Resource Permits for navigational dredging of deepwater ports, such as the Miami Harbor and Port Everglades channel deepening projects. The Department will not permit an inlet jetty or inlet dredging with a significant adverse impact on the state's sandy beaches without an approved mitigation program.
COUNTY AND MUNICIPALITY INSPECTION COMMENTS FOR PERMIT APPROVAL
Common comments include:
Work proposed below mean high water without a Joint Coastal Permit.
Submerged-lands authorization not bundled with the coastal-construction review.
Turbidity monitoring plan absent for in-water work.
Beach-impact mitigation not addressed for inlet structures or dredging.
Project assumed to fall under a CCCL permit when it is waterward of mean high water.
RELATED RESOURCES
WHY CHOOSE ENDLESS LIFE DESIGN
Endless Life Design is a licensed Florida general contractor serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties across construction, engineering, architecture, interior design, and 3D rendering. We coordinate state environmental, water-management, and building-department approvals as one accountable process, so your project advances from blueprint to certificate of occupancy without avoidable delay.
Endless Life Design — Licensed Florida General Contractor. Visit endlesslifedesign.com, call (305) 680-3283, or email endlesslifedesign@endlesslifedesign.com.
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