Bill Text: FL S1354 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Indian River Lagoon Protection Program

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Environment and Natural Resources [S1354 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S1354-Introduced.html
       Florida Senate - 2024                                    SB 1354
       
       
        
       By Senator Wright
       
       
       
       
       
       8-01187-24                                            20241354__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Indian River Lagoon Protection
    3         Program; amending s. 201.15, F.S.; revising the
    4         percentages of funds to be distributed from the Land
    5         Acquisition Trust Fund to various trust funds;
    6         requiring that a specified amount of funds be used for
    7         the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program; providing
    8         criteria for the disbursement of such funds; amending
    9         s. 373.469, F.S.; requiring the Department of
   10         Environmental Protection, using data provided by
   11         identified entities, to identify commercial or
   12         residential properties that use onsite sewage
   13         treatment and disposal systems located within the
   14         Indian River Lagoon Protection Program; requiring the
   15         department to conduct various analyses to determine
   16         projects most worthy of state funding; requiring the
   17         department to provide an annual report that includes a
   18         prioritized list of onsite sewage treatment and
   19         disposal systems eligible for state funding to the
   20         Legislature and certain committee chairs within a
   21         specified timeframe; providing an effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (4) of
   26  section 201.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   27         201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.—All taxes collected
   28  under this chapter are hereby pledged and shall be first made
   29  available to make payments when due on bonds issued pursuant to
   30  s. 215.618 or s. 215.619, or any other bonds authorized to be
   31  issued on a parity basis with such bonds. Such pledge and
   32  availability for the payment of these bonds shall have priority
   33  over any requirement for the costs of collection and enforcement
   34  under this section. Before distribution pursuant to this
   35  section, the Department of Revenue shall deduct amounts
   36  necessary to pay the costs of the collection and enforcement of
   37  the tax levied by this chapter. The costs may not be levied
   38  against any portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds to
   39  the extent that the costs are required to pay any amounts
   40  relating to the bonds. All of the costs of the collection and
   41  enforcement of the tax levied by this chapter shall be available
   42  and transferred to the extent necessary to pay debt service and
   43  any other amounts payable with respect to bonds authorized
   44  before January 1, 2017, secured by revenues distributed pursuant
   45  to this section. All taxes remaining after deduction of costs
   46  shall be distributed as follows:
   47         (4) After the required distributions to the Land
   48  Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to subsections (1) and (2), the
   49  lesser of 8 percent of the remainder or $150 million in each
   50  fiscal year shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit
   51  of the State Housing Trust Fund and shall be expended pursuant
   52  to s. 420.50871. If 8 percent of the remainder is greater than
   53  $150 million in any fiscal year, the difference between 8
   54  percent of the remainder and $150 million shall be paid into the
   55  State Treasury to the credit of the General Revenue Fund. The
   56  remainder shall be distributed as follows:
   57         (g) An amount equaling 2.875 5.4175 percent of the
   58  remainder shall be paid into the Resilient Florida Trust Fund to
   59  be used for the purposes for which the Resilient Florida Trust
   60  Fund was created and exists by law. Funds may be used for
   61  planning and project grants.
   62         (h)1. An amount equaling 7.959 5.4175 percent of the
   63  remainder shall be paid into the Water Protection and
   64  Sustainability Program Trust Fund to be used to fund water
   65  quality improvement grants as specified in s. 403.0673.
   66         2.Of the proceeds paid into the Water Protection and
   67  Sustainability Program Trust Fund, 40 percent or $60 million,
   68  whichever is greater, shall be credited to the Department of
   69  Environmental Protection to be used for the Indian River Lagoon
   70  Protection Program. The funds may only be used to install and
   71  connect those onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
   72  within the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program to wastewater
   73  treatment facilities that have been prioritized by the
   74  Department of Environmental Protection under s. 373.469(3)(e).
   75  The Department of Revenue shall disburse funds to local
   76  governments but may not award grants to local governments to
   77  cover more than 50 percent of the total cost to install and
   78  connect identified onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
   79  to wastewater treatment facilities.
   80         Section 2. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (3) of
   81  section 373.469, Florida Statutes, to read:
   82         373.469 Indian River Lagoon Protection Program.—
   83         (3) THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON PROTECTION PROGRAM.—The Indian
   84  River Lagoon Protection Program consists of the Banana River
   85  Lagoon Basin Management Action Plan, Central Indian River Lagoon
   86  Basin Management Action Plan, North Indian River Lagoon Basin
   87  Management Action Plan, and Mosquito Lagoon Reasonable Assurance
   88  Plan, and such plans are the components of the Indian River
   89  Lagoon Protection Program which achieve phosphorous and nitrogen
   90  load reductions for the Indian River Lagoon.
   91         (e)1.The Indian River Lagoon Protection Wastewater
   92  Connection Plan.—Using data provided by the Department of
   93  Health, local governments, the St. Johns River Water Management
   94  District, and the South Florida Water Management District, as
   95  applicable, the Department of Environmental Protection must
   96  identify all the commercial or residential properties that use
   97  onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems located within the
   98  regions encompassed by the Banana River Lagoon Basin Management
   99  Action Plan, the Central Indian River Lagoon Basin Management
  100  Action Plan, the North Indian River Lagoon Basin Management
  101  Action Plan, and the Mosquito Lagoon Reasonable Assurance Plan
  102  and place each of the systems into one of the following
  103  categories and create maps to identify each of their locations:
  104         a.Systems that directly impair a waterbody;
  105         b.Systems that potentially impair a waterbody; or
  106         c.Systems that do not impair a waterbody.
  107         2.For each of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal
  108  systems classified in subparagraph 1., the Department of
  109  Environmental Protection must also determine the feasibility and
  110  estimate the economic cost of connecting the system to a
  111  wastewater treatment facility and place each of the systems into
  112  one of the following categories:
  113         a.Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
  114  wastewater treatment facility is low;
  115         b.Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
  116  wastewater treatment facility is mid-tier; or
  117         c.Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
  118  wastewater treatment facility is high.
  119         3.Based on the results, the Department of Environmental
  120  Protection must conduct a cost-benefit analysis to rank and
  121  prioritize systems for which there is a high return on
  122  investment in terms of providing water quality improvements to
  123  the Indian River Lagoon Basin by connecting the systems to
  124  wastewater treatment facilities. The highest ranking projects
  125  shall be eligible for state funding.
  126         4.The Department of Environmental Protection must submit
  127  an annual report that includes the information in subparagraph
  128  3. to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
  129  Representatives, and the chairs of the appropriations committees
  130  of the Legislature no later than 30 days before the first day of
  131  the next regular session of the Legislature.
  132         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.

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