Good morning and welcome to the Environment Protection Commission meeting for Thursday, February 19, 2026.

Before we give the invocation and the pledge, just like to say that Commissioner Hagen is online, and Commissioner Woolse is running a few minutes late.

Um, would you give us the pledge of allegiance and the invocation?

And let us all stand, please.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Heavenly Father, we begin our meeting today thanking you for who you are for your goodness and your mercy.

We have so much to be thankful for, especially for the amazing employees of the EPC.

They serve with sincere hearts and act as faithful stewards of our community's natural resources.

Thank you for using them to help protect our air, water, land, and wildlife for future generations.

And we pray for a special blessing upon all who serve in the EPC.

Strengthen them in their continued commitment to conservation, restoration, and responsible environmental planning.

Grant them wisdom, perseverance, and a clear long-term vision as they work to safeguard our community and its natural resources for generations to come.

And we ask you to bless this meeting today and everyone here in your holy name.

Amen.

A motion by Commissioner Coyne, second by Commissioner Bowles.

Please record your vote.

Yes.

Um, so uh for the regular agenda.

The first presentation 9A is wetland delineation and mitigation, and we have EPC staff Kim Tackley coming up to give that presentation.

Good morning.

Before you start, a clerk's office, would you please recognize Commissioner Woolsoh just joined the meeting?

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Good morning, Commissioners.

As Ms.

Lorton said, my name is Kim Taffley, and I'm in the wetlands division.

This presentation will provide an overview of wetland delineations and the wetland impact and mitigation review process.

Starting off, why do property owners need a wetland delineation?

Typically, it's going to be for a property transaction, a proposed property split, or a development is going to be proposed for the parcel.

Let's get into some of the technical aspects of what occurs for a wetland delineation.

EPC staff utilized 62340 Florida Administrative Code to establish a wetland boundary.

The three characteristics that are evaluated are wetland vegetation, hydrology, and hydric soils.

In order to document the scientific observations from the field, EPC staff complete a minimum of two data form sets for a wetland delineation.

This documentation is a requirement pursuant to the Florida Administrative Code.

Don't worry, I'm not going to go through each section of the forum today.

Water is the driving force of wetlands.

Staff investigate evidence that water has been standing for a period of time.

There are 13 indicators to look for.

In this example, the pink flags indicate the wetland points that were used on the map to map the wetland line for this subdivision construction plan.

Wetland delineation should be completed at the early stages of a proposed development plan.

This is because at the beginning of the project, the site is malleable, like Play-Doh, and knowledge of the wetlands on site early in the process results in avoidance and minimization of wetland impacts.

These changes at the beginning of the project not only helps to satisfy EPC regulations, it also typically helps the applicant already be in compliance with state and federal regulations before they even submit their construction plan review.

By the time the project gets to construction plan or a final platform stage, the site plan is more locked in.

It's like trying to reshape Play-Doh when my kids have left it out overnight.

It's difficult because it's hard as a rock.

If impacts are needed, they will need to be justified to meet the reasonable use portion of the rule.

There is a diverse array of wetland impact projects that are reviewed by EPC staff.

This includes but is not limited to single family homes, residential subdivisions, commercial, industrial, linear, and utility projects.

One of the original plans proposed almost an acre of impacts for a road through Bell Creek.

The developer and engineers were able to redesign the project and avoid the road impact to the creek.

Once the project meets reasonable use, the functional loss of the impact must be assessed.

This is because it's important that there is a no-net loss of wetland function when wetland impacts are authorized.

The form on the screen is part two of the uniform mitigation assessment method, which determines the value of functions provided by wetlands.

It is used for both the impact area and the mitigation area.

There are three categories of functions, which include location landscape, water environment, and community structure.

There is a numeric scoring for the wetland current condition, and then with the impact or the proposed mitigation, and a narrative to help support those scores.

Property owners can choose to complete their own mitigation either on-site or off-site, or they could mitigate in a bank by purchasing credits.

Mitigation can include wetland creation, enhancement, restoration, and wetland and upland preservation.

It is important to note that the mitigation must be located within the same watershed as the wetland impact.