§ 166-170. General exemptions.

(a)

Facilities and activities qualifying for a general exemption include public utilities, commercial lawn maintenance businesses that use regulated substances, parks, maintenance of office facilities, and retail sales.

(1)

A general exemption application and operating permit in compliance with the provisions of section 166-165(d) shall be required for any nonresidential activity claiming a general exemption under this section and shall be filed with the county administrator.

(2)

Such application shall contain a concise statement by the applicant detailing the circumstances upon which the applicant believes would entitle him to an exemption.

(3)

A fee as listed in exhibit C shall be filed with the application to defray the costs of processing such application.

(4)

Within 30 working days of receipt of an application for general exemption, the county administrator shall inform the applicant whether such application contains sufficient information for a proper determination to be made. If the application is found to be insufficient, then the county administrator shall provide to the applicant a written statement by certified mail or hand delivery requesting the additional information required. The applicant shall inform the county administrator within ten working days of the date of the written statement of his intent to furnish the information. The applicant has 30 days to furnish the required information after so informing the county administrator. The county administrator shall have 90 working days from either the rendering of a sufficiency determination or receipt of additional information making an application sufficient to make a decision.

(b)

Existing fire, police, emergency medical services and county emergency management center facilities are required to obtain an operating permit and general exemption.

(c)

Utilities as defined in this article shall be exempt from the zone of protection prohibitions as set forth in section 166-165(c). However, an operating permit and special exemption shall be obtained pursuant to section 166-165(d) for the refueling facilities within the zone of protection.

(d)

The transportation of any regulated substance through the zone of protection shall be exempt from the provisions of this article, provided the transporting motor vehicle is in continuous transit. The transport of such substances through existing permanent pipelines is also exempt, provided that the currently authorized use or uses are not changed and provided that leak detection and monitoring as approved by the county administrator are employed. No general exemption or operating permit application is required except that an operating permit is required to establish the leak detection and monitoring requirements for such existing pipelines.

(e)

The use in a residential vehicle, commercial lawn service vehicle or residential lawn maintenance equipment of any regulated substance solely as fuel in that vehicle or equipment fuel tank or as lubricant in that vehicle or equipment shall be exempt from the provisions of this article. No general exemption or operating permit application is required.

(f)

The commercial or residential application on residential lawn or commercial landscaping of those regulated substances used as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides in recreation, agriculture, pest control and aquatic weed control activities shall be exempt from the provisions of this article, provided that:

(1)

In the zone of protection, the application is in strict conformity with the use requirement as set forth in the substances' EPA registries and as indicated on the containers in which the substances are sold.

(2)

In the zone of protection, the application is in strict conformity with the requirements as set forth in F.S. chs. 482 and 487, and chapters 5E-2 and 5E-9, Florida Administrative Code.

(3)

In the zone of protection, the application of any of the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides shall be flagged in the records of the certified operator supervising the use. The certified operator shall provide specific notification in writing to the applicators under his supervision that they are working at a site located in the zone of protection for which particular care is required. Records shall be kept of the date and amount of these substances applied at each location and such records shall be available for inspection at reasonable times by the county administrator.

(4)

In the zone of protection, the pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides for lawn, golf courses or agricultural application shall not be handled during application in a quantity exceeding 700 gallons of formulation.

(5)

All nonresidential applicators of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides who apply those substances within the zones of protection shall obtain an operating permit covering all application operations under one permit using these materials and shall comply with all the requirements of section 166-165. This exemption applies only to the application of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and rodenticides.

(g)

Retail sales establishments in the zone of protection that store and handle regulated substances for resale in their original unopened containers shall be exempt from the prohibition in the zone of protection provided that those establishments obtain an operating permit pursuant to the provisions of section 166-165.

(h)

Office uses, including the use of regulated substances for the maintenance and cleaning of office buildings in volumes less that ten gallons, shall be exempt from the provisions of this article. No general exemption or operating permit applications are required.

(i)

The activities of constructing, repairing or maintaining any facility or improvement on lands within the zone of protection shall be exempt from the provisions of this article, provided that all contractors, subcontractors, laborers, material men and their employees when using, handling, storing or producing regulated substances in the zone of protection use those applicable best management practices set forth in appendix D, incorporated in this article. No general exemption or operating permit applications are required.

(j)

Residential development greater than 25 units shall be required to file a general exemption application and an operating permit application with the county administrator; however, the annual renewal application is not required.

(Ord. No. 18-36 , § 3(Att. E), 10-23-18)