CS/CS/CS/HB 981

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to agriculture; amending s. 193.461, F.S.;
3	clarifying that land classified as agricultural retains
4	that classification when offered for sale under certain
5	circumstances; providing for retroactive application;
6	providing the methodology for assessing certain structures
7	and improvements used for horticultural production;
8	amending s. 369.20, F.S.; authorizing the Fish and
9	Wildlife Conservation Commission to enter into an
10	agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection
11	for the uniform regulation of pesticides applied to waters
12	of the state; revising exemptions from water pollution
13	permits; amending s. 403.088, F.S.; providing permits for
14	applying pesticides to the waters of the state; requiring
15	the Department of Environmental Protection to enter into
16	agreements with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
17	Services and the commission for the uniform regulation of
18	pesticides applied to the waters of the state; authorizing
19	temporary deviations from certain rule provisions adopted
20	by the Department of Environmental Protection for certain
21	pesticides under certain conditions; amending s. 487.163,
22	F.S.; requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
23	Services to enter into an agreement with the Department of
24	Environmental Protection for the uniform regulation of
25	pesticides applied to the waters of the state; amending s.
26	573.112, F.S.; providing that the Citrus Research and
27	Development Foundation shall provide advice to the
28	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services with
29	respect to citrus research marketing orders, conduct
30	citrus research, and perform other duties assigned by the
31	department; amending s. 573.118, F.S.; providing for the
32	deposit of certain agricultural assessments; revising the
33	assessment rate on citrus fruit; amending s. 581.031,
34	F.S.; expanding the type of research projects that may be
35	conducted by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
36	Services; amending s. 601.07, F.S.; revising the location
37	of the executive offices of the Department of Citrus;
38	providing an effective date.
39
40	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
41
42	Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) and paragraph
43	(c) of subsection (6) of section 193.461, Florida Statutes, are
44	amended to read:
45	193.461 Agricultural lands; classification and assessment;
46	mandated eradication or quarantine program.-
47	(3)
48	(b) Subject to the restrictions specified set out in this
49	section, only lands that which are used primarily for bona fide
50	agricultural purposes shall be classified agricultural. The term
51	"bona fide agricultural purposes" means good faith commercial
52	agricultural use of the land.
53	1. In determining whether the use of the land for
54	agricultural purposes is bona fide, the following factors may be
55	taken into consideration:
56	a.1. The length of time the land has been so used.
57	b.2. Whether the use has been continuous.
58	c.3. The purchase price paid.
59	d.4. Size, as it relates to specific agricultural use, but
60	in no event shall a minimum acreage may not be required for
61	agricultural assessment.
62	e.5. Whether an indicated effort has been made to care
63	sufficiently and adequately for the land in accordance with
64	accepted commercial agricultural practices, including, without
65	limitation, fertilizing, liming, tilling, mowing, reforesting,
66	and other accepted agricultural practices.
67	f.6. Whether the such land is under lease and, if so, the
68	effective length, terms, and conditions of the lease.
69	g.7. Such other factors as may from time to time become
70	applicable.
71	2. Offering property for sale does not constitute a
72	primary use of land and may not be the basis for denying an
73	agricultural classification if the land continues to be used
74	primarily for bona fide agricultural purposes while it is being
75	offered for sale.
76	(6)
77	(c)1. For purposes of the income methodology approach to
78	assessment of property used for agricultural purposes,
79	irrigation systems, including pumps and motors, physically
80	attached to the land shall be considered a part of the average
81	yields per acre and shall have no separately assessable
82	contributory value.
83	2. Litter containment structures located on producing
84	poultry farms and animal waste nutrient containment structures
85	located on producing dairy farms shall be assessed by the
86	methodology described in subparagraph 1.
87	3. Structures or improvements used for horticultural
88	production that provide shade and shelter and improve the
89	quality or conservation of water, as designated by the
90	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' interim
91	measures or best management practices adopted pursuant to s.
92	570.085 or s. 403.067(7)(c), shall be assessed by the
93	methodology described in subparagraph 1.
94	Section 2. The amendment by this act to s. 193.461(3)(b),
95	Florida Statutes, is remedial and clarifying in nature and
96	applies retroactively to all parcels for which a final court
97	order has not yet been entered as of the effective date of this
98	act.
99	Section 3. Subsections (4) and (9) of section 369.20,
100	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
101	369.20 Florida Aquatic Weed Control Act.-
102	(4) The commission shall also promote, develop, and
103	support research activities directed toward the more effective
104	and efficient control of aquatic plants. In the furtherance of
105	this purpose, the commission may is authorized to:
106	(a) Accept donations and grants of funds and services from
107	both public and private sources;
108	(b) Contract or enter into agreements with public or
109	private agencies or corporations for research and development of
110	aquatic plant control methods or for the performance of aquatic
111	plant control activities. The commission may enter into an
112	agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection to
113	ensure that pesticides applied to the waters of the state are
114	regulated uniformly, including provisions for the coordination
115	of agency staff and resources, through the implementation of
116	permitting, compliance, and enforcement activities under ss.
117	403.088 and 403.0885;
118	(c) Construct, acquire, operate, and maintain facilities
119	and equipment; and
120	(d) Enter upon, or authorize the entry upon, private
121	property for purposes of making surveys and examinations and to
122	engage in aquatic plant control activities; and such entry shall
123	not be deemed a trespass.
124	(9) A permit issued pursuant to this section for The
125	application of herbicides to waters of in the state for the
126	control of aquatic plants, algae, or invasive exotic plants is
127	exempt from the requirement to obtain a water pollution
128	operation permit except as provided in ss. pursuant to s.
129	403.088 and 403.0885.
130	Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 403.088, Florida
131	Statutes, is amended to read:
132	403.088 Water pollution operation permits; conditions.-
133	(1) No person, Without the written authorization of the
134	department, a person may not shall discharge any waste into the
135	waters of within the state any waste which, by itself or in
136	combination with the wastes of other sources, reduces the
137	quality of the receiving waters below the classification
138	established for such waters them. However, this section does
139	shall not be deemed to prohibit the application of pesticides to
140	such waters in the state for the control of insects, aquatic
141	weeds, or algae, or other pests if provided the application is
142	performed in accordance with this section.
143	(a) Upon execution of the agreement required in s.
144	487.163(3), the department may develop a permit or other
145	authorization as required by 33 U.S.C. s. 1342 for the
146	application of pesticides. A person must obtain such permit or
147	other authorization before applying pesticides to the waters of
148	the state.
149	(b) In consultation with the Department of Agriculture and
150	Consumer Services and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
151	Commission, the department shall also develop a general permit
152	under s. 403.0885(2), for the application of pesticides.
153	(c) The department shall also enter into agreements with
154	the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant to
155	a program approved by the Department of Health, in the case of
156	insect or other pest control, and with or the Fish and Wildlife
157	Conservation Commission, in the case of aquatic weed, other
158	aquatic pests, or algae control. The department is directed to
159	enter into interagency agreements to establish the procedures
160	for program approval. Such agreements must shall provide for
161	public health, welfare, and safety, as well as environmental
162	factors, and must ensure that pesticides applied to waters of
163	the state are regulated uniformly, including provisions for the
164	coordination of agency staff and resources, through the
165	implementation of permitting, compliance, and enforcement
166	activities under s. 403.0885 and this section. Pesticides that
167	are Approved programs must provide that only chemicals approved
168	for a the particular use by the United States Environmental
169	Protection Agency or by the Department of Agriculture and
170	Consumer Services may be employed and that they be applied in
171	accordance with registered label instructions, state standards
172	for such application, including any permit or other
173	authorization required by this subsection, and the provisions of
174	the Florida Pesticide Law, part I of chapter 487, are allowed a
175	temporary deviation from the acute toxicity provisions of the
176	department's rule establishing surface water quality standards,
177	not to exceed the time necessary to control the target pests and
178	only if the application does not reduce the quality of the
179	receiving waters below the classification for such waters and is
180	not likely to adversely affect any threatened or endangered
181	species.
182	Section 5. Subsection (3) is added to section 487.163,
183	Florida Statutes, to read:
184	487.163 Information; interagency cooperation.-
185	(3) The department shall enter into an agreement with the
186	Department of Environmental Protection to ensure that pesticides
187	applied to waters of the state are regulated uniformly,
188	including provisions for the coordination of agency staff and
189	resources, through the implementation of permitting, compliance,
190	and enforcement activities under ss. 403.088 and 403.0885.
191	Section 6. Subsection (7) is added to section 573.112,
192	Florida Statutes, to read:
193	573.112 Advisory council.-
194	(7) Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the
195	Citrus Research and Development Foundation, Inc., a direct-
196	support organization of the University of Florida established
197	pursuant to s. 1004.28, shall serve as the advisory council for
198	a citrus research marketing order, provide the department with
199	advice on administering the order, and, in accordance with the
200	order, conduct citrus research and perform other duties assigned
201	by the department. Notwithstanding s. 1004.28(3), the
202	foundation's board of directors shall be composed of 13 members,
203	including 10 citrus growers, 2 representatives of the
204	university's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, and 1
205	member appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture.
206	Section 7. Subsections (1) and (6) of section 573.118,
207	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
208	573.118 Assessment; funds; audit; loans.-
209	(1) To provide funds to defray the necessary expenses
210	incurred by the department in the formulation, issuance,
211	administration, and enforcement of any marketing order, every
212	person engaged in the production, distributing, or handling of
213	agricultural commodities within this state, and directly
214	affected by any marketing order, shall pay to the department, at
215	such times and in such installments as the department may
216	prescribe, such person's pro rata share of necessary expenses.
217	Each person's share of expenses shall be that proportion which
218	the total volume of agricultural commodities produced,
219	distributed, or handled by the person during the current
220	marketing season, or part thereof covered by such marketing
221	order, is of the total volume of the commodities produced,
222	distributed, or handled by all such persons during the same
223	current marketing season or part thereof. The department, after
224	receiving the recommendations of the advisory council, shall fix
225	the rate of assessment on the volume of agricultural commodities
226	sold or some other equitable basis. For convenience of
227	collection, upon request of the department, handlers of the
228	commodities shall pay any producer assessments. Handlers paying
229	assessments for and on behalf of any producers may shall, at
230	their discretion, collect the producer assessments from any
231	moneys owed by the handlers to the producers. The collected
232	assessments shall be deposited into the appropriate General
233	Inspection trust fund and shall be used for the sole purpose of
234	implementing the marketing order for which the assessment was
235	collected. The department is not subject to the procedures found
236	in s. 287.057 in the expenditure of these funds. However, the
237	director of the Division of Marketing and Development shall file
238	with the internal auditor of the department a certification of
239	conditions and circumstances justifying each contract or
240	agreement entered into without competitive bidding.
241	(6) An Any assessment levied upon citrus fruit under this
242	section may not exceed the rate established in the marketing
243	order and shall be at a rate not to exceed 1 cent per standard-
244	packed box of citrus fruit grown and placed into the primary
245	channel of trade in this state. All revenues from such
246	assessment collected by the department shall be deposited into
247	the Citrus Inspection Trust Fund.
248	Section 8. Subsection (32) of section 581.031, Florida
249	Statutes, is amended to read:
250	581.031 Department; powers and duties.-The department has
251	the following powers and duties:
252	(32) To The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
253	Services shall conduct or cause to be conducted those
254	projects on citrus diseases, including, but not limited to,
255	citrus canker and citrus greening, which are recommended by the
256	Florida Citrus Production Research and Development Foundation,
257	Inc. Advisory Council, within the limits of appropriations made
258	specifically for such purpose.
259	Section 9. Section 601.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to
260	read:
261	601.07 Location of executive offices.-The executive
262	offices of the Department of Citrus shall be established and
263	maintained at Bartow Lakeland.
264	Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.