Office of Small Business Advocate

The Voice of Small Businesses in Florida

Agency	Rule	Description	Issue

Southwest Florida Water Management District	40E-1.607	Raised permit application fees dramatically. 237,000 small businesses affected.	Council requested small businesses be exempted or given relief. Agency stated increased fees will still only cover 30% of agency costs. Observation by Council and Advocate: Agency needs to reduce staff. Rule is finalized.

Department of Business and Professional Regulation - Regulatory Council of Community Association Managers	61E14-3.002	Rule requires licensees and individual managers to pay a special assessment fee, but did not state how much fee would be.	Contact with a small business affected indicated the concern was they didn't know how much they would be assessed. No SERC was prepared. Council objected. The rule was withdrawn.

Department of Environmental Protection	62-346	This rule increases permitting fees in the Northwest Florida Water Management District area, some very significantly. The rule also removed language that previously allowed a refund of permit fees if no permit was issued.	Concern was that fee increases would further stifle real estate development in the Florida panhandle, which was already suffering due to the economic downturn. Advocate and SBRAC requested a public hearing. Staff attended. DEP and NWFWMD were very unresponsive to the concerns expressed by the Council, Advocate and small businesses at that hearing. Also concern that the SERC contained outdated data. The rule is finalized.

Department of Environmental Protection	62-731.030	Updates the small quantity generator assessment, notification and verification guidelines, and incorporates them into this proposed rule.	Concern is lack of cooperation from agency and lack of concern for impact on small business. Council requested a SERC. The Agency declined to provide one.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission	68B-24.0055	This rule continues a 5 1/2 year moratorium on commercial dive lobster licenses. This moratorium had been for research and the agency claimed the research was not complete, and indicated even when complete, the moratorium would continue for a time.	The Council objected to the ban because the agency was not in compliance with the statutes. Despite numerous communications to the agency, the agency elected to continue rule over Council objections.

Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission	68B-44.002	This rule prohibits the taking of lemon sharks in any Florida state waters. Also allowed only hook and line gear for harvesting sharks, and set new minimum size limits for most shark species.	Concern was the impact on small recreational fishing boat owners. Despite the Council reminding the agency that its own rules compelled them to do a SERC, the agency elected to continue over Council objections.

Department of Financial Services -Office of Finanacial Regulation	69V-85.006	Requires home improvement sales/finance entities, including contractors who enter into two or more home improvement contracts for $500 or more per year, to file all forms and fees electronically.	Concern is small handyman-type businesses who cannot afford a computer or internet access, or who may not have the skills to utilize computer. Council requested that agency rewrite rule to allow written request to file paper forms and fees. Agency rewrote rule to incorporate a one-page, easily completed form.

Department of Education	6A-22.001 ET AL	This rule mandates electronic submission of information required on specified forms regarding reemployment services (rehab. etc.) provided re: workers' comp., requiring business providers to have email, capping services to $55.00 per hour.	Concern was from small business owners who were rehabilitative services providers. The cost to utilize the mandatory software in order to make it compatible with their systems already in place was prohibitive. Although the agency changed the language of the rule, deleting the requirement for providers, carriers are still mandating providers use the software when transmitting data to them, so the burden was not eliminated. The Council asked the agency to address this with carriers, but they have not done so as of yet. Rule is final, but agency is interacting with Council regarding a solution.

Department of Community Affairs	9J-5.003 ET AL	These rules require local governments to address green policies such as greenhouse gas reduction, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, energy conservation and the discouragement of urban sprall in their comprehensive plans and plan amendments.	Concern is that there is no indication whether a government's plan can be rejected if they are not "green" enough, or what impact there would be to local businesses. Agency claims no impact because no "direct" impact. This rule is still pending.