BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 9241 (Giallombardo) would provide a nonrecurring sum of $5 million to fund the Cyber Florida - Local Government Infrastructure and Technical Assistance. This funding would create a program for Cyber Florida to offer threat assessments and grant funding to help local governments update their information technology. (Taggart)

CS/SB 620 (Hutson) and HB 569 (McClure) allow a business that has been engaged in a lawful business in a municipality for at least three years to claim business damages from the municipality if it enacts or amends an ordinance or charter provision that will cause a reduction of at least 15% of the business’ profit as applied on a per-location basis of a business operated within the jurisdiction. The bills provide three ways for a municipality to cure the business’ claim and avoid paying damages: repeal the ordinance or charter provision; amend the ordinance or charter provision; or grant a waiver to the business from enforcement of the ordinance or charter provision. The bills provide exemptions from business damages claims for various ordinances and charter provisions: ordinances required to comply with, or expressly authorized by, state or federal law; emergency ordinances, declarations or orders adopted pursuant to the state Emergency Management Act; a temporary emergency ordinance that remains in effect for no more than 90 days; ordinances or charter provisions enacted to implement: Part II of Chapter 163 (including zoning, development orders and development permits); the Florida Building Code; the Florida Fire Code; a contract or an agreement, including contracts or agreements relating to grants or other financial assistance; debt issuance or refinancing; procurement; budgets or budget amendments, including revenue sources necessary to fund the budget. The bills specify that in action to recover damages, the courts may award attorney fees and costs to the prevailing party.  The bills are prospective and apply to ordinances and charter provisions enacted or amended after the legislation becomes law.  (O’Hara)

HB 1563 (Tomkow) and SB 1748 (Brodeur) create an additional homestead exemption for certain public employees if HJR 1, SJR 1746 or a similar constitutional amendment is approved by the voters at the 2022 general election. The bills provide for an additional homestead exemption up to $50,000 on the assessed value greater than $100,000 and up to $150,000 for properties owned by a classroom teacher, a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a firefighter, a child welfare service provider, an active-duty member of the United States Armed Services or a member of the Florida National Guard. These bills only apply to non-school property taxes. (Hughes)

HJR 1 (Tomkow) and SJR 1746 (Brodeur) propose an amendment to the Florida Constitution to authorize the Legislature to create an additional $50,000 homestead exemption on the property's assessed value greater than $100,000 and up to $150,000 to certain public employees. The homestead property must be owned by a classroom teacher, a law enforcement officer, a correctional officer, a firefighter, a child welfare service provider, an active-duty member of the United States Armed Services or a member of the Florida National Guard. (Hughes)

HB 35 (Roach)  and SB 244 (Gruters) – Partisan Elections for Members of District School Boards

SB 442 (Rodriguez) and HB 571 (Mooney) – Powers of Land Authorities

HB 309 (Fetterhoff) and SB 856 (Brodeur) – Private Provider Inspections of Onsite Sewage Treatment  and Disposal Systems

SB 536 (Diaz) and HB 337 (McClain) – Administrative Procedures

SB 690 (Rodriguez, A.) and HB 691 (Slosberg) – Resilience-related Advisory Committees

HB 421 (Truenow) and SB 834 (Brodeur) – Long-term Cleanup of Water Bodies

SB 602 (Rodriguez, A.) and HB 449 (Mooney) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund (Florida Keys)

HB 603 (Bell) and SB 1400 (Burgess) – Land Acquisition Trust Fund (Heartland Headwaters)

HB 441 (Fabricio) and SB 984 (Diaz) – Construction Materials Mining Activities

HB 6071 (Fabricio) – Construction Materials Mining Activities Admin Recovery Act

HB 6073 (Fabricio) – Construction Materials Mining Activities Admin Recovery Act

HB 579 (Melo) and SB 1128 (Harrell) – Aquatic Plant Management

SB 840 (Albritton) and HB 841 (DiCeglie) – Residential Property Riparian Rights

HB 513 (Bartleman) and SB 1326 (Rodriguez) – Comprehensive Review Study of the Central and Southern Florida Project

SB 1000 (Albritton) and HB 1291 (McClure) – Nutrient Application Rates

HB 6085 (Eskamani) and SB 1102 (Farmer) – Farming Operations

HB 711 (Diamond) and SB 238 (Jones) – Endangered and Threatened Species

SB 1110 (Rouson) and HB 1177 (Chaney) – Grease Waste Removal and Disposal

HB 901 (Chambliss) and SB 1212 (Polsky) – Roadside Farm Stand Signage

HB 7003 (Public Integrity  and Elections Committee) – Implementation of Constitutional Prohibition Against Lobbying by a Former Justice of Judge

SB 1432 (Rodriguez) and HB 1065 (Mooney) – Vessel Anchoring

SB 1352 (Brodeur) and HB 921 (Drake) – Limitations on Political Contributions

SB 416 (Garcia) and HB 1129 (Avila) – Mangrove Planting  and Restoration

SB 1914 (Taddeo) and HB 1353 (Thompson) – Elections

SB 1722 (Jones) and HB 6105 (Hinson) – Elections

SB 1586 (Polsky) and HB 1217 (Diamond) – Elections 

HB 1381 (Silvers) – Retail Petroleum Fuel Measuring Devices

SB 1612 (Ausley) and HB 1289 (Alexander) – Department of Agriculture  and Consumer Services

SB 1678 (Gibson) and HB 1285 (Hinson) – Energy Equity Task Force

SB 1584 (Gruters) – Outstanding Florida Springs

SB 208 (Farmer) creates the Stop Fracking Act. The bill prohibits extreme well stimulation, which is defined to include the various forms of fracking used to increase the production at an oil or gas well. (O'Hara)

HB 349 (Sirois) authorizes the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Board) to grant easements for mitigation banks under certain conditions. The bill also exempts certain docks on recorded easements from state permit requirements and authorizes such docks to use submerged lands upon the Board's approval. (O'Hara)

SB 1426 (Burgess) and HB 965 (Truenow) provide for the construction, operation, maintenance and long-term management of offsite, regional, compensatory water treatment areas called "water quality enhancement areas." These areas will be used to offset impacts to water quality caused by increases in nutrient loading from development projects. Under the bills, water quality enhancement credits could be purchased from a water quality enhancement area to offset such development impacts. An "enhancement credit" is defined in the bills as a standard unit of measure which represents a quantity of pollutant removed. The bills specify that water quality enhancement areas must be regulated through permits issued by the Department of Environmental Protection. While the bills allow governmental entities to use water quality enhancement areas to address their water quality needs, the bills specify that governmental entities may not act as sponsors to construct, operate, manage, maintain or market enhancement credits to third parties. In addition, the bills provide that local governments may not require a permit or impose regulations governing the operation of an enhancement area. A water quality enhancement area permit applicant must provide reasonable assurances that an enhancement area will achieve defined performance criteria, benefit water quality and assure long-term pollutant reduction. The bills specify requirements for an enhancement area and require that such areas correspond to the appropriate basin management action plan boundary. The bills specify requirements for the generation of enhancement credits and provide that a local government may not deny the use of credits due to the location of the enhancement area being outside the jurisdiction of the local government. (O'Hara)

HB 323 (Sirois) and CS/SB 494 (Hutson) revise the vessel conditions that an officer of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (Commission) or law enforcement agency may use to determine that a vessel is at risk of becoming derelict to include vessels that are tied to an unlawful or unpermitted mooring or other structure. The bills prohibit local governments from designating public bathing beach areas or swim areas within the marked channel portion of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway or within 100 feet of the marked channel. The bills repeal Section 376.15, Florida Statutes, relating to derelict vessels and the relocation and removal of such vessels. The bills amend the definition of "abandoned property" to include vessels declared to be a public nuisance and clarify the notice requirements and procedure for vessels declared to be public nuisances. The bills authorize the Commission to establish a grant program for local governments regarding derelict vessels and vessels declared a public nuisance. (Branch)

HB 481 (Duggan) and SB 1332 (Wright) prohibit counties and municipalities from enacting regulations that prevent electric utilities from installing temporary underground power panels that meet the requirements of the National Electrical Code, and prevent counties and municipalities from requiring permanent inspections if the local government has already performed a temporary inspection. (O'Hara)

SB 1156 (Stewart) and HB 935 (Morales) require the Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a study on the establishment of a new long-term, statewide recycling goal. The bills specify the requirements for the study and require DEP to submit a report and any policy recommendations to the Governor and Legislature upon completion of the study. (O'Hara)

SB 1940 (Brodeur) establishes the Office of Resiliency within the Executive Office of the Governor and provides for the appointment of a Chief Resilience Officer. (O'Hara)

HB 81 (Eskamani) and SB 366 (Berman) prohibit the drilling, exploration or production of petroleum products in the state. In addition, the bills direct the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop a statewide plan to generate 100% of the electricity used in the state from renewable energy by 2040 and for the state to have net-zero carbon emissions statewide by 2050. (O'Hara)

HB 745 (Alexander) and SB 1562 (Ausley) direct the Department of Environmental Protection, in coordination with the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, to conduct a study of brownfield sites and closed landfill sites to determine viable locations for redevelopment as solar photovoltaic facilities. The bills specify requirements for the study and directs DEP to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature by August 2023. (O'Hara)

SB 1418 (Albritton) and HB 1475 (McClure) require the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt rules for statewide cleanup target levels for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil and groundwater. Such rules may not take effect until ratified by the legislature. Until the rules for a particular PFAS constituent have been ratified by the legislature, a person may not be subject to enforcement action by any state or local government entity to compel or enjoin site rehabilitation for that PFAS constituent. In addition, SB 1418 requires the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability to conduct an analysis of assessment and cleanup programs used in other states and submit a report to the Governor and Legislature by a specified date. (O'Hara)

SB 198 (Rodriguez) authorizes the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund to establish seagrass mitigation banks under certain conditions. (O'Hara)

HB 303 (Truenow) and SB 608 (Brodeur) authorize counties and municipalities to access sanitary sewer laterals within their jurisdiction to investigate, repair or replace the lateral. A sanitary sewer lateral is a privately-owned pipeline connecting a property to the main sewer line. The bills require municipalities and counties to notify private property owners within a specified timeframe if the government intends to access the owner's sanitary sewer lateral and an anticipated timeframe for the work. The bills specify that local governments who establish sanitary sewer lateral programs are legally and financially responsible for all work that is performed and authorize such programs to use specified state or local funds to evaluate and rehabilitate impaired laterals. (O'Hara)

SB 1238 (Polsky) and HB 1019 (Duggan) require coastal counties to conduct vulnerability assessments that analyze the effects of saltwater intrusion on their water supplies. The assessments must be conducted by September 2022. The bills require each coastal county to provide copies of its assessment to the Department of Environmental Protection and the respective water management districts. The bills require water management districts, in collaboration with coastal counties, to submit annually to DEP a list of proposed projects based on the assessments. (O'Hara)

HB 101 (Fine) and CS/SB 228 (Rodriguez) amend current law relating to Property Assessed Clean Energy programs, whereby local governments, alone or in partnership with a program administrator, may finance qualifying improvements on residential property relating to energy conservation and efficiency or renewable energy. The program is renamed the "Resiliency Energy Environment Florida Program." The bills expand the program to include nonresidential real property, including government leased property. The bills impose various requirements on a program administrator to reasonably determine a property owner has the ability to pay the estimated annual assessment. The bills impose obligations on a program administrator before it may enter a contract for a residential property, such as providing a financing estimate and specified disclosures to the owner. The bills require additional obligations on administrators relating to contractors, such as confirming the contractor has performed the applicable work or service before disbursing funds to the contractor. The bills also impose specified marketing and communications guidelines on PACE administrators and contractors and impose additional monitoring and reporting requirements on administrators. (Hughes)

SB 518 (Brodeur) and HB 1555 (McClain) amend current law provisions that prohibit local governments from requiring permits for the removal of "dangerous" trees on residential property. The bills clarify what constitutes residential property and clarify the level of assessment and type of documentation that must be provided by an arborist or landscape architect under the law. (O'Hara)