(1) The FCMP shall use the criteria and procedures established in this rule chapter to evaluate project applications and determine their eligibility to be included as part of Florida’s official cooperative agreement application for federal assistance under the Act. The final decision whether or not to fund a project is made by the Department and NOAA.
    (2) Funding of any application submitted in response to the FCMP’s notice of availability of funds and in accordance with this rule chapter is subject to the amount of federal coastal zone management funds awarded to the FCMP and the amount allocated to the CPI by the FCMP.
    (3) Notice of funding decisions shall be published on the FAR website at https://www.flrules.org/. Any person whose substantial interests are affected may request a hearing pursuant to Florida Statutes § 120.569, within 21 days of publication of the notice. Failure to request a hearing within the applicable time period shall constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing.
    (4) A timely filed petition for an administrative hearing shall not cause the suspension of further action on other applications. If, as a result of a Florida Statutes Chapter 120, administrative or judicial proceeding, the Department’s determination of ranking for an application is reversed, and as a result an applicant obtains a rank high enough that it would qualify for inclusion in the Department’s application to NOAA, the Department shall include the application in the following year’s application to NOAA for coastal zone management funds.
    (5) Any recipient of a previous grant awarded by the Department that did not complete the tasks specified in the grant agreement or substantially failed to abide by the terms of the grant agreement, without good cause, shall be ineligible to be considered for funding under the CPI program for two consecutive funding cycles. The FCMP shall determine within 30 days of the grant end date whether the grant recipient is ineligible pursuant to this paragraph and shall notify the ineligible grant recipient in writing. Any person whose substantial interests are affected may request a hearing pursuant to Florida Statutes § 120.569, within 21 days of receipt of notice. Failure to request a hearing within the applicable time period shall constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing.
Rulemaking Authority 120.569, 120.57, 380.22(3) FS. Law Implemented 120.569, 380.22 FS. History-New 1-29-09, Amended 9-2-10.