CEO 76-78 -- April 16, 1976

WATER MANAGEMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISORY BOARDS

APPLICABILITY OF DISCLOSURE LAW TO MEMBERS

To: (Name withheld at the person's request.)

Prepared by: Bonnie Johnson

SUMMARY:

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides that each local officer is subject to the disclosure provisions of Florida Statute s. 112.3145(1975). The term "local officer" is defined to include appointed members of all boards other than advisory bodies. However, the definition goes further to stipulate that "[a] body with land-planning, zoning, or natural resources responsibilities shall not be considered an advisory body." Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(1)(a)2.(1975). A county environmental advisory council which is charged with the duty to advise the county commission on "matters concerning air, land and water pollution as an aid to proper planning and zoning and the preservation of our environment" clearly exercises responsibilities in these three areas. Similarly, a water management advisory board which is charged with the purpose of reviewing and advising the county commission "on projects which would affect the surface and/or ground water" of the county cannot be deemed to be an advisory body pursuant to the mandate of s. 112.3145(1)(a)2. Members of both boards therefore are deemed to be local officers subject to the disclosure requirements of s. 112.3145.

QUESTION:

Are members of a county water management advisory board and of a county environmental advisory council "local officers" for purposes of disclosure?

Your question is answered in the affirmative.

The Code of Ethics for Public Officers and Employees provides that each "local officer" is subject to the disclosure provisions of Florida Statute s. 112.3145(1975). The term "local officer" is defined to include:

Any appointed member of a board, commission, authority, community college district board of trustees, or council of any political subdivision of the state, excluding any member of an advisory body. A governmental body with land-planning, zoning, or natural resources responsibilities shall not be considered an advisory body. [Emphasis supplied; Fla. Stat. s. 112.3145(1)(a)2.(1975).]

As you suggest in your letter of inquiry, the question before us turns on whether the subject boards are charged with "natural resources responsibilities."

The stated purpose of the environmental advisory council, as prescribed by the board of county commissioners at its regular meeting on October 19, 1972, is "[t]o collect biological, hydrological and geological facts affecting [the] County in order to advise the County Commission on matters concerning air, land and water pollution as an aid to proper planning and zoning and the preservation of our environment." At its meeting on October 26, 1972, the county commission established a water management advisory board charged with the purpose of reviewing and advising the commission "on projects which would affect the surface and/or ground water of [the] County," including, but not limited to, "the chemical and biological quality of the water." Clearly, as you concede, both boards were established for the purpose of advising the board of county commissioners on matters relating to natural resources. You submit, however, that "[n]either board has any official responsibility or power to approve or disapprove any action concerning their specific areas of responsibilities." [Emphasis supplied.]

While we agree that neither board exercises any power or authority, but rather is solely advisory in nature, we cannot agree that they have no responsibilities in the area of natural resources. As implied by your own language, quoted above, the board's "specific areas of responsibilities" embrace natural resource considerations. Were the word "responsibility" read to mean having the power or authority to take action in a regulatory or policymaking sense, as you suggest, there would be no purpose in the statute's stipulation that boards with certain responsibilities are not to be considered advisory; i.e., if "responsibility" is interpreted to mean "power" or "authority to act," any board with responsibility would be nonadvisory.

Accordingly, responsibility is not, in our opinion, to be confused with power, but is more nearly analogous to "duty." Both the water management advisory board and the environmental advisory council are charged with duties or responsibilities in the area of natural resources. Members of both boards therefore are deemed to be "local officers" subject to the disclosure requirements of Florida Statute s. 112.3145(1975).