(1) The State Surgeon General shall have standing to challenge any rule or proposed rule of a board under its jurisdiction pursuant to s. 120.56. In addition to challenges for any invalid exercise of delegated legislative authority, the administrative law judge, upon such a challenge by the State Surgeon General, may declare all or part of a rule or proposed rule invalid if it:

(a) Does not protect the public from any significant and discernible harm or damages;

Terms Used In Florida Statutes 456.012

  • Board: means any board or commission, or other statutorily created entity to the extent such entity is authorized to exercise regulatory or rulemaking functions, within the department, except that, for ss. See Florida Statutes 456.001
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Department: means the Department of Health. See Florida Statutes 456.001
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
(b) Unreasonably restricts competition or the availability of professional services in the state or in a significant part of the state; or
(c) Unnecessarily increases the cost of professional services without a corresponding or equivalent public benefit.

However, there shall not be created a presumption of the existence of any of the conditions cited in this subsection in the event that the rule or proposed rule is challenged.

(2) In addition, either the State Surgeon General or the board shall be a substantially interested party for purposes of s. 120.54(7). The board may, as an adversely affected party, initiate and maintain an action pursuant to s. 120.68 challenging the final agency action.
(3) No board created within the department shall have standing to challenge a rule or proposed rule of another board. However, if there is a dispute between boards concerning a rule or proposed rule, the boards may avail themselves of the provisions of s. 456.011(5).