BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 336 (Rodriguez) and HB 363 (Mooney) require the Department of Environmental Protection to submit updated reports analyzing the need for regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings or disposable plastic bags to the Legislature. The bills also authorize specified coastal communities to establish pilot programs to regulate single-use plastic products. (O'Hara)

HB 691 (Basabe) and SB 1030 (Trumbull) establish the statewide Covered Electronic Device Recovery Program within the Department of Environmental Protection. A covered electronic device means a computer, portable computer, computer monitor or television. The term does not include devices that are part of a car, an appliance or other equipment, and it does not include phones. The bills specify requirements for a statewide plan for the recycling of covered electronic devices and require counties to submit a plan for the disposal of covered electronic devices by January 2025. In addition, the bills require the owners or operators of industrial, institutional or commercial facilities to dispose of the facilities' covered electronic devices in a permitted reclamation facility beginning January 2026. The bills prohibit any person from disposing of covered electronic devices except at a permitted reclamation facility beginning January 2028. (O'Hara)

SB 7002 (Environment and Natural Resources Committee) ratifies rules relating to the standards for on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems and for domestic wastewater facility planning for facilities expansion, collection/transmission systems and an operation and maintenance manual. State law requires legislative ratification of agency rules exceeding a specified fiscal regulatory impact threshold. (O'Hara)

HB 111 (Hunschofsky) revises current law provisions that require certain public-financed projects and infrastructure undergo a Sea Level Impact Projection Study prior to construction. The bill expands the types of projects and infrastructure subject to the requirement by including "potentially at-risk" projects within an area that is "at-risk due to sea-level rise." The bill defines "at-risk due to sea-level rise" and "potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure." The bill also adds a requirement that a public-financed constructor provide a list of flood mitigation strategies evaluated as part of the design of the potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure and identify the flood mitigation strategies that have been implemented or are being considered as part of the structure or infrastructure design. (O'Hara)

SB 886 (Stewart) repeals a state law preemption of local government regulation of tree pruning, trimming or removal on residential property. (O'Hara).

SB 498 (Stewart) removes the state preemption of local government laws relating to auxiliary containers, wrappings or disposable plastic bags and removes the state preemption of local government laws relating to the use or sale of polystyrene products. (O'Hara)

HB 361 (Robinson, F.) requires a municipality that operates a water or sewer utility providing services to customers in another recipient municipality using a facility or plant located in the recipient municipality to charge customers in the recipient municipality the same rates, fees, and charges it imposes on customers within its own municipal boundaries. (O'Hara)

HB 371 (Killebrew) and SB 910 (Burton) provide an exemption from surface water management and storage regulations for implementing certain projects for environmental habitat creation, restoration and enhancement activities, and water quality improvements on agricultural lands and government-owned lands. The bills remove current law requirements for the Department of Environmental Protection and water management districts to be notified of such projects. (O'Hara)

HB 559 (Roth) and SB 928 (Stewart) extend the retirement date of bond issues to fund the Florida Forever Act. The bills revise distributions for various programs funded by the Land Acquisition Trust Fund. HB 559 specifies that the lesser of 40% or $350 million shall be appropriated annually to the Florida Forever Trust Fund. SB 928 specifies that the lesser of 40% or $300 million shall be appropriated annually to the Florida Forever Trust Fund. Both bills prohibit moneys distributed from the Trust Fund from being used for executive direction and support services by state agencies. (O'Hara)

HB 423 (Cross) requires septic tank owners to have the system inspected every five years and directs the Department of Environmental Protection to implement the inspection program. It requires basin management action plans to include estimated pollutant load reductions that meet or exceed the amount of load reductions needed to meet the total maximum daily load requirements under the plan. The bill requires the allocation of pollutant load reductions in a basin management action plan to consider projected increases in pollutant loading due to growth in population or agricultural activity and requires the plan to provide strategies for mitigating or eliminating pollutant load increases for the life of the plan. It requires the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct assessments of projects included in a plan to determine whether the project is working as intended. (O'Hara)

SB 106 (Brodeur) and HB 915 (Botana) authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to establish a program to recognize local communities located along or in proximity to one or more long-distance nonmotorized recreational trails as "trail towns." The bills revise provisions relating to the Florida Greenways and Trails Program. The bills authorize the Greenways and Trails Council to recommend priorities for regionally significant trails for inclusion by the Florida Department of Transportation in the Florida Shared Use Nonmotorized Trail Network. The bills revise the responsibilities of the Division of Tourism Marketing to include promotion of the Florida Greenways and Trails System and the Florida Shared-Use Nonmotorized Trail Network and to coordinate with the Office of Greenways and Trails to promote and assist local communities to maximize use of nearby trails as economic assets. They direct the Department of Transportation to give funding priority to specified trails and to ensure that local support exists for projects and trail segments. The bills authorize state agencies and local governments to obtain sponsorships from nonprofit or commercial entities and to use the sponsorship revenue for maintenance, signage, and amenities. (O'Hara)

HB 847 (Stark) provides that structures associated with a dock or structures wholly contained within a boat slip that does not exceed 500 square feet (or 200 feet in an Outstanding Florida Water) as specified in Section 403.813(1)(s)2., Florida Statutes, create a presumption of compliance with certain environmental impact requirements of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. (O'Hara)

SB 810 (Gruters) amends Section 163.08, Florida Statutes, relating to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs and financing. It expands the purpose of the program to include resiliency-qualifying improvements to commercial or residential property. It defines commercial property to include multifamily, commercial, industrial, agricultural, nonprofit, long-term care facilities or government-commercial property. Government-commercial property is defined as real property owned by a local government and leased to a nongovernmental lessee. The bill amends the current law definition of "qualifying improvement" to include any other improvements necessary to achieve a sustainable building rating or compliance with a national model green building code. It provides that a non-ad valorem assessment on a commercial property securing financing for a qualifying improvement is subject to a maximum annual fee of 1% of the annual assessment collected or $5,000, whichever is less. It specifies that a delinquent assessment pursuant to a financing agreement with a nongovernmental lessee must be enforced in the manner provided by law for taxes and assessments on property owned by nongovernmental lessees of government commercial property. The bill specifies conditions for entering financing agreements with commercial properties and governmental-commercial properties, as well as residential properties. It clarifies the changes made by the bill are prospective and do not affect or amend any existing non-ad valorem assessment or any existing interlocal agreement between local governments. (O'Hara)

HB 175 (Busatta Cabrera) and SB 192 (Avila) require comprehensive plans and plan amendments that apply to any land within, or within two miles of, the Everglades Protection Area (EPA) to follow the state-coordinated review process for state agency compliance review under Part II, Chapter 163, Florida Statutes, and requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to coordinate with the affected local governments on mitigation measures for plans or plan amendments that would impact Everglades restoration. The EPA consists of the three state-designated Water Conservations Areas (WCA-1, WCA-2 and WCA-3) as well as Everglades National Park. If DEP determines that any portion of a proposed plan or proposed amendment will adversely impact the EPA or Everglades restoration objectives, the local government must modify the plan or plan amendment to mitigate such impacts before adoption of the plan or amendment, or that portion of the plan or amendment may not be adopted. Plan amendments that apply to any land within, or within two miles of, the EPA must be transmitted to DEP within 10 days of the second public hearing on the amendment. Finally, the bills require a county whose boundaries include any portion of the EPA, and the municipalities within the county (any municipality within Palm Beach, Broward or Miami-Dade County), to transmit a copy of any small-scale plan amendment to the Department of Economic Opportunity within 10 days after adoption. (O'Hara)

HB 293 (Hinson) and SB 680 (Davis) would create the Energy Transition Task Force within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to provide recommendations for fostering a fair and equitable transition of the state's energy infrastructure to renewable energy technologies within minority, underserved, rural and low-income communities. It directs the Task Force to submit a report with its recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by September 2024. (O'Hara)

HB 77 (Fabricio) and SB 186 (Avila) provide that beginning July 2023, the ground vibration limit for construction materials mining activities within one mile of residentially zoned areas may not exceed .15 inches per second. The bills authorize the Chief Financial Officer to direct the State Fire Marshal to modify the standards for the use of explosives in connection with construction materials mining activities within one mile of residentially zoned areas. (O'Hara)

SB 506 (Stewart) requires the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a comprehensive waste reduction and recycling plan by July 2024, based on recommendations from the Department's 2020 75% Recycling Goal Final Report. It also requires the Department to convene a technical assistance group to help develop the plan. The plan must include the following: recycling goals based on sustainable materials management and waste diversion; a 30-year plan to implement strategies relating to recycling education and outreach; local government recycling assistance; and recycling materials market development. The bill requires the Department to submit a report and recommendations to the Legislature following completion of the plan. (O'Hara)

SB 880 (Brodeur) authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to provide grants for projects that convert wastewater residuals to Class A biosolids and Class AA biosolids. The bill also prohibits the Department from authorizing a land application site permit for Class B biosolids within the subwatershed of a waterbody designated as impaired for either nitrogen or phosphorus or within an adjoining upstream subwatershed containing surface waters that flow to a waterbody designated as impaired for either nitrogen or phosphorus unless the applicant demonstrates the biosolids will not add to the nutrient load of the impaired watershed. The bill specifies that new or renewed Class B biosolid land application site permits issued after July 2023 must meet the requirements of the bill by July 2024 and that all permits for biosolid land application sites must meet the new requirements by July 2025. (O'Hara)

SB 64 (Hooper) – Department of Transportation

HB 155 (Holcomb) and SB 198 (DiCeglie) – Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority

HB 349 (Bankson) promotes the development of a network of vertiports that will provide residents in Florida with equitable access to advanced air mobility operations for passenger and cargo services. For vertiports to operate in the state, the owner must comply with the Federal Aviation Administration's regulations and guidance relating to vertiport design and performance standards as well as submit a layout plan to the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration. The bill specifies that a local government may not exercise its zoning and land use authority to give an exclusive right to one or more vertiport owners or operators. (Branch)