BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 446 (Brandes) allows the owner of a business or contracted third party to install, maintain and operate a renewable energy source device on or about the structure in which the business operates or on any property the business leases. The bill provides the business owner or third party may sell the electricity that is generated from the device to another business immediately adjacent to or within the same parcel as the business, and such sales shall not be considered or regulated as retail sales of electricity. The bill provides that if the energy-producing business or its customers require additional related services from a utility, such as backup generation capacity or transmission services, the utility may recover the full cost of providing those services. The bill authorizes a utility to enter a contract with a business to install, maintain or operate any type of renewable energy source device on or about the structure from which the business operates and to sell the electricity to an adjacent business, and provides that such electricity sales shall not be considered or regulated as retail sales of electricity. The bill specifies that if the Public Service Commission determines that the level of reduction in electricity purchases by customers using renewable energy source devices is significant enough to adversely impact the rates that other customers pay in the rate territory, the commission may approve a utility’s requests to recover its costs of providing the electricity needed by all customers, including customers using a renewable energy source device. The bill provides for methodology of such cost recovery, a process for customers to challenge the cost recovery and authorized rulemaking by the commission. The bill may have a negative fiscal impact on municipal revenues, including potential impacts to municipal electric franchise revenues and municipal public service utility taxes. (O’Hara)

SB 454 (Rodriguez) prohibits the construction of new deep injection wells for domestic wastewater discharge or the expansion of existing wells. It limits the discharge capacity of domestic wastewater deep well injection and required current ocean outfall and deep well injection permitholders to install a functioning reuse system by specified dates. The bill prohibits the discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean outfalls and deep injection wells after specified dates and requires current deep injection well permitholders to submit a plan with specified requirements and annual progress reports to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. (O’Hara)

HB 225 (Zika) substantially amends current law relating to “Property Assessed Clean Energy” (PACE) programs and requirements. The bill provides definitions for PACE administrator, PACE contractor, PACE loan, PACE loan contract, qualifying commercial real property and qualifying residential property. It provides that a local government may enter an agreement with a PACE administrator to administer the program and specifies that local government or PACE administrator may enter into a PACE loan contract only with the record owner of the property. It eliminates current language in law stating that a recorded PACE loan contract provides constructive notice that the assessment to be levied constitutes a lien of equal dignity to county taxes and assessments. The bill includes new provisions regarding a PACE loan’s lien position. It provides that a PACE loan is: subordinate to all liens on the property recorded before the PACE lien notice is recorded; subordinate to a first mortgage on the property recorded after the PACE notice is recorded; and superior to any lien recorded after the PACE notice is recorded. The bill imposes substantial new requirements on local governments financing for qualifying residential property (maturity date of PACE loan, limits on loan amount, total combined debt may not exceed 75 percent of assessed value). The bill specifies required contents for PACE loan contracts for residential real property and prohibits such contracts from resulting in negative amortization, charging any interest upon interest or fees or containing any provision requiring forced arbitration or restricting class action. The bill prohibits a residential PACE contract from being entered until it has been verified the property owner has the ability to repay the loan: owner’s monthly debt to income ratio does not exceed 43 percent and must have sufficient residual income to meet basic living expenses. The bill specifies methodology and sources for verification of property owner’s income, debt and expenses. The bill requires the local government or PACE administrator, prior to execution of a contract, to confirm the key terms of the PACE agreement and scope of energy improvement work with the property owner in a live, recorded telephone conversation. The bill requires specific disclosures be made to the owner during the telephone call. The bill requires that prior to entering a PACE loan on residential property, the household be screened for eligibility for low-or no-cost programs that may be provided by government or utility service providers. The bill prohibits a local government from permitting a property owner from entering a contract unless the owner is given a right to cancel the contract within a specified timeframe. It requires the use of a specified financing estimate and disclosure form and that such form be provided to an owner at least three business days before a contract is signed. The bill delineates prohibited practices by PACE administrators or PACE contractors. The bill prohibits a local government or PACE administrator from entering into a PACE contract unless written notice has been provided to, and written consent obtained from, each of the holders of any mortgage on the qualifying residential or commercial property. It provides that a PACE loan shall not be made unless the holder of any mortgage on the qualifying property provides signed confirmation that entering into the loan contract does not constitute an event of default or give rise to any remedies under the terms of the mortgage loan. The bill provides for preservation of claims and defenses for successors in interest to property owners and provides for attorney fees and costs for aggrieved residential property owners. (O’Hara)

SB 686 (Gruters) and HB 405 (Good) direct the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt statewide environmental resource permitting rules for stormwater management in coordination with the water management districts. The bills direct the water management districts to adopt rules governing design and performance standards that increase the removal of nutrients from stormwater discharges from all new development and redevelopment projects, and direct DEP to incorporate the design and performance standards by reference for use within each district to ensure that new pollutant loadings are not discharged into water bodies. The bills direct that by December 2020, the department and districts shall amend the applicant’s handbook to include revised best management practices design criteria, low-impact design best management practices and design criteria that increase the removal of nutrients from stormwater discharges from all new development and redevelopment and measure for consistent application of net improvement performance standards to ensure that new pollutant loadings are not discharged into impaired water bodies. The bills provide for a rebuttable presumption that a stormwater system designed, constructed and maintained in accordance with the criteria adopted by the DEP and districts and a valid permit issued pursuant to such standards does not cause or contribute to violations of applicable water quality standards. The bills require training and assessment of government staff including coordination of field inspections of publicly and privately owned stormwater controls. The bills require the rules to be updated based on new scientific information by July 2021. Finally, the bills modify requirements for electronic self-certification by registered professionals for stormwater system permits serving project areas of 10 acres or less. (O’Hara)

SB 648 (Berman) directs the Department of Environmental Protection to develop a Sargassum Seaweed Matching Grant Program to provide annual grants, subject to legislative appropriation, to qualified local government entities to fund projects related to the buildup of Sargassum seaweed in coastal communities. The bill directs the grant program to require a 50 percent match of local funds and requires the department to provide annual reports regarding the projects funded. (O’Hara)

HB 365 (Watson, B.) amends the definition of “qualifying improvements” under the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Program to include sewage treatment and seawall improvements. PACE is a means for property owners to voluntarily finance private property improvements related to renewable energy and energy efficiency through assessments levied on their property tax bill. (O’Hara)

SB 332 (Stewart) appropriates $100 million annually from the state Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Florida Forever Trust Fund and prohibits the use of moneys in the state Land Acquisition Trust Fund from being used for agency executive direction and support services. (O’Hara)

SB 182 (Stewart) deletes existing statutory preemptions of local laws relating to the regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings or disposable plastic bags and repeals the statutory preemption of local laws regarding the use or sale of polystyrene products to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. (O’Hara)

SB 592 (Pizzo) and HB 6039 (Duran) delete a preemption in existing state law that prohibits local governments from regulating the types of paint or marking device, or from requiring removal of such marks used to identify underground facilities. (O’Hara)

SB 278 (Rodriguez) requires the Florida Department of Health to prepare an annual climate health planning report to assess the threat to human health caused by climate change and to develop strategies to help the state’s communities prepare for the health effects of climate change. The bill directs the DOH to consult with various state and local agencies in preparing the report and include one-year, five-year, 10-year and 20-year recommendations for policy and budget priorities associated with identified threats. (O’Hara)

SB 280 (Rodriguez) directs the state Economic Estimating Conference to annually prepare a climate fiscal responsibility report in cooperation with various state agencies. The bill requires the report to analyze the estimated impact of climate change on the state’s general obligation credit rating, debt capacity and tax base associated with increased frequency and intensity of natural disasters, as well as long-term trends like sea level rise and global temperature changes. The report must also recommend actions to be taken over the next five, 10 and 20 years. (O’Hara)

SB 200 (Montford) prohibits the performance of “high-pressure well stimulation” and “matrix acidization” (commonly referred to as “fracking”) as defined in the bill. (O’Hara)

SB 144 (Brandes) creates the Energy 2040 Task Force within the Florida Public Service Commission to project the state’s electric energy needs over the next 20 years and determine how to best meet those needs while increasing competition and consumer choice. It directs the task force to recommend appropriate electric policies and statutory changes, including consideration of the effects of allowing nonutility retail sales of renewable energy, the use of microgrids, emerging electric technologies and concepts, the impacts of state and local government taxes on government revenues and the electric supply, and the environmental impact of electricity production, generation and transmission. The bill specifies task force members, authorizes the task force to establish any necessary advisory committees and directs the task force to submit its recommendations to the governor and Legislature by January 2022. (O’Hara)

HB 147 (Jacobs) and SB 690 (Albritton) direct the Florida Department of Environmental Protection  to develop a comprehensive and quantitative needs-based overview of the state’s water resources. To determine the level of need, the overview must include an assessment of funds necessary for current and future demands with respect to infrastructure, including amounts necessary to address hazard mitigation, infrastructure replacement costs, future capacity costs, natural resources protection and restoration, and flood protection. The overview must cover short-term (five-year) and long-term (20-year) planning timeframes. In addition, the overview must identify potential funding options to meet anticipated demands. The initial overview must be submitted to the governor and Legislature by January 1, 2022, with subsequent reports due every five years thereafter. (O’Hara)

SB 368 (Rouson) and HB 503 (Diamond) – Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority

SB 676 (Mayfield) and HB 465 (Sirois) provide guidelines for the creation of safe and cost-effective transportation options for residents and visitors of this state, including a high-speed rail system. The bills enhance the safety requirements of high-speed passenger rail in order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public. The bills also require the Florida Division of Emergency Management to offer training to local emergency officials on responding to an accident involving rail passengers or hazardous materials. (Branch)

SB 452 (Rodriguez) requires the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Florida Clean Cities Coalitions, to develop a master plan for installing electric vehicle charging stations on the state highway system. (Branch)

SB 308 (Baxley) and HB 455 (McClain) provide criminal penalties for a person who commits a moving violation that causes serious bodily injury to or causes the death of a vulnerable road user. Of interest to cities, current law defines “vulnerable road user” to include a person engaged in work on a highway such as a utility service worker. (Branch)

SB 450 (Brandes) – Whistleblower's Act 2020

HB 255 (Antone) – Florida Commission on Human Relations

SB 562 (Bracy) revises the circumstances under which a law enforcement officer is authorized to use objectively reasonable force and prohibits the use of deadly force against a person based on the danger that person poses to the law enforcement officer, if an objectively reasonable law enforcement officer would believe that the person does not pose an imminent threat of death or serious physical harm to the law enforcement officer or others. (Cook)