BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 122 (Stewart) repeals a state law preemption of local government regulation of tree pruning, trimming or removal on residential property. (O’Hara)

SB 406 (Rodriguez) requires that stormwater management systems be designed with side slope horizontal-to-vertical ratio of 4:1 or an equivalent substitute. The bill supersedes all other side slope rules adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection, water management districts or delegated local programs. (O’Hara)

SB 144 (Berman) and HB 193 (Eskamani) amend multiple provisions of law relating to renewable energy. The bills prohibit the drilling, exploration for or the production of oil, gas or other petroleum products on the lands and waters of the state. The bills provide that by 2050, 100% of the electricity used in the state will be generated from 100% renewable energy and that by 2051, the state will have net zero carbon emissions. The bills direct the Office of Energy within the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to coordinate with state, regional and local entities to develop a unified statewide renewable energy plan. (O’Hara)

HB 165 (Gossett-Seidman) and SB 338 (Berman) requires the Department of Health to adopt and enforce certain rules and issue health advisories for beach waters and public bathing places if the results of bacteriological water sampling at the site fail to meet health standards. The bill also expands the current law preemption of the issuance of health advisories related to bacteriological sampling of beach waters to include public bathing places. The bill specifies that beach waters and public bathing places must close if closure is necessary to protect health and safety and must remain closed until the water quality is restored in accordance with the Department's standards. The bill requires the Department to adopt by rule specifications for signage that must be used when it issues a health advisory against swimming in affected beach waters or public bathing places due to elevated levels of specified bacteria and requires such signage to be placed at beach access points and access points to public bathing places until the health advisory is removed. The bill specifies that municipalities and counties are responsible for posting and maintaining the signage around beaches and public bathing places they own. Finally, the bill requires the Department to develop an interagency database for reporting fecal indicator bacteria data and specify that fecal indicator bacteria relating to sampled beach waters and public bathing places must be published in the database within five business days after receipt of the data. (O'Hara)

SB 480 (DiCeglie) and HB 683 (Yeager) authorize an investor-owned utility to recover, through an appropriate cost-recovery mechanism administered by the Public Service Commission, prudently incurred renewable natural gas infrastructure project costs. The bill revises the required contents of a basin management action plan for an Outstanding Florida Spring to include identification of water quality improvement projects that can also produce and capture renewable natural gas through anaerobic digestion or other similar technologies at wastewater treatment plants, livestock farms, food production facilities and organic waste management operations. It encourages municipalities and counties to develop regional solutions to the processing, capture and reuse or sale of renewable natural gas from landfills and wastewater treatment facilities. Finally, it authorizes the Department of Agriculture to expand any “farm-to-fuel” initiative to address the production and capture of renewable natural gas. (O’Hara)

SB 602 (DiCeglie) and HB 321 (Chaney) revise the current law prohibiting the release of certain balloons. SB 602 deletes the specified timeframe and number of balloons subject to the prohibition, making the intentional release of any number of balloons over any timeframe a violation of state law. SB 602 also deletes the current law exemption from the prohibition for certain biodegradable or photodegradable balloons. Both bills provide that a person who violates the statutory prohibition commits the noncriminal infraction of littering, punishable as provided in Section 403.413(6)(a), Florida Statutes. (O’Hara)

SB 698 (Rodriguez) requires the Department of Environmental Protection to review and periodically update its 2010 report and recommendations relating to the use of plastic bags and auxiliary containers. The bill establishes a pilot program for coastal municipalities to establish a pilot program to regulate single-use plastic products upon meeting specified conditions. (O’Hara).

SB 1126 (Martin) preempts the regulation of auxiliary containers (reusable or single-use bags, cups, bottles or other packaging) and deletes a current law provision that requires the Department of Environmental Protection to review and update its 2010 report on retail bags and auxiliary containers. (O’Hara)

SB 498 (Stewart) removes the state law preemption of local laws regarding the regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings or disposable plastic bags and removes the state preemption of local law regarding the use or sale of polystyrene products. (O’Hara)

HB 777 (Brackett) and SB 1088 (Martin) remove statutory authorization for municipalities to impose any surcharge for serving customers outside their municipal boundaries. The bills specify that rates, fees, and charges for extraterritorial customers must be just and equitable and be based on the same factors used to fix rates, fees and charges for customers inside the municipality’s boundaries. The bills also require municipal utilities to conduct a rate study by January 1, 2027, and every seven years thereafter.  (O’Hara)

HB 47 (Robinson, F.) and SB 104 (Jones) require 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)

SB 836 (Simon) amends Section 373.414, Florida Statutes, relating to wetland and surface water mitigation areas and assessments. It specifies conditions under which the required “degree of risk” may not be considered when a uniform mitigation assessment method is being applied. For mitigation areas created after January 2022, and for which mitigation has not been determined by the state to be successful for a mitigation area as of July 2024, the bill specifies that no conservation easement or other similar form of encumbrance of real property may be required as a condition of approval of the permit or mitigation plan, and the mitigation credits attributable to the mitigation area will be determined without regard to the presence or absence of a conservation easement or other similar form of encumbrance. (O’Hara)

SB 986 (Burton) provides an exemption from surface water management and storage regulations for implementing water quality improvements and specified measures for environmental habitat restoration, enhancement and creation on certain agricultural lands or government-owned lands. The measures may alter topography of the land, divert or impede the flow of surface waters on the land, or impact wetlands if the measures result in a net increase in wetland functions. The bill prohibits the use of the exemption to establish mitigation banks or regional offsite mitigation areas. (O’Hara)

HB 527 (Maggard) and SB 664 (Burgess) require a local government to use eminent domain to acquire any land or water buffer area that exceeds the minimum land or water buffer areas required under state law for development in or around wetlands. The bills also preempt dredge and fill permitting to the state and eliminate statutory authority for Land Management Review Teams at water management districts. (O’Hara)

SB 784 (Gruters) revises the application and installation requirements for uniform waterway markers. It requires that all waterway markers and information markers be affixed to plastic breakaway structures or floating buoys by January 1, 2025. The bill prohibits a governmental entity from affixing a waterway marker to a steel beam or wood piling. (O’Hara)

HB 1005 (Roth) requires 40% or $60 million, whichever is greater, of the proceeds paid into the state’s Water Protection and Sustainability Trust Fund to be used for the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program (Program). The funds may only be used to install and connect septic systems within the Program area to wastewater treatment facilities that have been prioritized by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The funds shall be disbursed to local governments but may not be used to cover more than 50% of the total cost to install and connect dwellings to wastewater treatment facilities. In addition, the bill requires DEP to identify and categorize all the commercial or residential properties that use septic systems within Basin Management Action plan areas that are within the Program area and estimate the economic cost of connecting the septic systems to a wastewater treatment facility. It directs DEP to perform a cost-benefit analysis to rank and prioritize systems for funding connection grants. The bill requires DEP to submit an annual report on its actions relating to the Program, to the Governor and the Legislature. (O’Hara)

SB 770 (Martin) and HB 927 (Trabulsy) revise requirements relating to the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program. The bills define “commercial property,” “facility,” “government commercial property,” “nongovernmental lessee,” “program administrator,” “qualifying improvement contractor,” “qualifying improvement program,” “qualifying improvement” and “residential property” for purposes of the PACE program. In addition, HB 927 revises the definition of “local government” in the PACE statute to clarify that an interlocal entity created pursuant to section 163.01(7) may have jurisdiction only within the boundaries of the participating members of an interlocal agreement. The bills authorize local governments to enter financing agreements with property owners to finance or refinance qualifying improvements and require such agreements to meet specified conditions. The definition of “qualifying improvement” is expanded to include wastewater improvements relating to repair, replacement, or conversion of a septic tank system, and flood and water damage mitigation and resiliency improvements. The bills define “qualifying improvements” for commercial properties. The bills revise and specify public recording requirements for assessment financing agreements and notices of lien. The bills authorize local governments to include in any contracts with program administrators provisions for performing annual reviews to confirm compliance. The bills prohibit liens relating to PACE improvements from being enforced in a manner that accelerates the remaining nondelinquent unpaid balance. Numerous new consumer protection requirements are imposed on the approval of PACE financing agreements, including requirements that a local government or program administrator determine whether a property owner has the ability to pay the assessment, requirements for disclosures to property owners, requirements for obtaining the consent of certain mortgage holders or loan servicers, requirements for monitoring compliance by qualifying improvement contractors, and requirements for annual reporting by local governments. (O’Hara)

HB 749 (Basabe) provides that the maximum voluntary freeboard requirements for new construction and substantial improvements to existing construction is 10 feet. The bill prohibits voluntary freeboard from being used to calculate the maximum allowable height of a structure. It defines “freeboard” as the additional height above the base flood elevation for determining the level at which a structure’s lowest floor or the bottom of the lowest horizontal structure member must be elevated in accordance with floodplain management regulations and the Florida Building Code. “Voluntary freeboard” is defined as the additional height above the freeboard required by floodplain management regulations and the Florida Building Code. It authorizes local governments to adopt by ordinance minimum freeboard requirements or maximum voluntary freeboard that exceeds minimum requirements. In addition, it requires the Florida Building Commission to adopt by rule minimum freeboard requirements and to incorporate such requirements into the next edition of the Florida Building Code and to review such requirements every five years. (O’Hara)

SB 510 (Stewart) imposes an excise tax on persons extracting water from waters of the state for commercial or industrial use. The bill specifies that tax proceeds must be deposited in the state Water Protection and Sustainability Program Trust Fund. In addition, it specifies that tax proceeds must also be used by the Department of Environmental Protection for geological surveys to monitor the health of waters of the state and for saltwater intrusion prevention and management. (O’Hara)

HB 789 (Overdorf) and SB 738 (Burgess) provide that a prevailing party in actions against the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) or water management district relating to authorizations issued pursuant to chapters 403 or 373 is entitled to reasonable attorney costs and fees. The bills also require that nonindustrial stormwater management systems be designed with side slopes that meet certain minimum design requirements. The bills require DEP and water management districts to conduct reviews of their coastal permitting processes and permit programs and to submit reports of their findings and recommendations to the Governor and Legislature by December 2024. The review must include coastal construction control line permits, section 404 permits, and permitting processes related to water supply infrastructure, wastewater infrastructure and onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems. The purpose of the review is to identify areas of improvement and increase efficiency. (O’Hara)