In early 1994 the Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a permit for Avatar Development Corp. to stabilize the banks of an existing man-made canal system connected to the Intracoastal Waterway. In 1995 the state charged Avatar with violating two conditions of the permit, a first-degree misdemeanor. The trial court dismissed the charges on grounds that the legislature had improperly delegated DEP authority to determine what constitutes a crime. The Fourth District reversed.