BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

CS/SB 458 (Rodriguez) and HB 827 (Basabe) authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to provide wastewater grant program grants to projects directed at or focused on a water body that is included in the Department's verified list of impaired waters. (O'Hara)

SB 970 (Berman) and HB 957 (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)

SB 798 (Ingoglia) and CS/HB 975 (Holcomb) provide that a city or county may not prohibit or "unreasonably restrain" a private entity from providing recycling or solid waste services to commercial, industrial or multifamily residential properties. In addition, the bills authorize a local government to require such private entities to obtain a permit, license or non-exclusive franchise but specify the local government's fee may not exceed the local government's administrative cost and that the fee must be commensurate with fees for other industries. The bills prohibit the use of exclusive franchise agreements and restrict a local government from providing its own solid waste or recycling services. Current contracts and franchises in place as of January 2023 would be permitted to continue to their date of expiration, but the bills specify that a local government may not recognize an "evergreen" contract or additional renewal or extension of a contract or agreement. CS/HB 975 was amended to provide that the bill does not apply to a local government that is the sole provider of solid waste collection services in its jurisdiction performed by employees of a municipality or county using municipal or county-owned equipment. (O'Hara)

HB 661 (Truenow) and SB 1420 (Rodriguez) 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 authorizes such programs to use specified state or local funds to evaluate and rehabilitate impaired laterals. (O'Hara)

SB 734 (Polsky) and HB 1079 (Cross) authorize the Department of Environmental Protection to provide grants to coastal counties for saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessments that analyze the effects of saltwater intrusion on a county's water supply, water utility infrastructure, wellfield protection and freshwater supply management. The bills require the Department to update its comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set to include information received from the county saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessments. The bills direct the Department to provide 50% cost-share funding to counties, up to $250,000, for each grant, and exempt counties with a population of 50,000 or less from the cost-share requirement. (O'Hara)

HB 177 (Gossett-Seldman) and SB 172 (Berman) require 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 bills also expand the current law preemption of the issuance of health advisories related to bacteriological sampling of beach waters to include public bathing places. The bills specify 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 bills require 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 require such signage to be placed at beach access points and access points to public bathing places until the health advisory is removed. The bills specify that municipalities and counties are responsible for posting and maintaining the signage around beaches and public bathing places they own. Finally, the bills require 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)

CS/HB 669 (Fine) and CS/SB 950 (Rodriguez) amend current law relating to Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) 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 bills expand the types of projects that are eligible for PACE financing, including septic tank upgrades, repair of lateral sewer lines, septic-to-sewer connections and remediation of certain environmental contaminants. The bills add nonresidential real property, which includes multifamily residential property composed of five or more dwelling units, to PACE program eligibility. The bills add several consumer protections to the current PACE program, including capping the total of all non-ad valorem assessments plus any mortgage debt on the property at 100% of a residential property's fair market value, requiring a determination that a property owner meets certain creditworthiness requirements, and allowing property owners to cancel a financing agreement within three days of execution. CS/HB 669 was amended to expand the qualifying improvements to include wastewater treatment and flood mitigation. (O'Hara)

SB 336 (Rodriguez) requires 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 bill also authorizes specified coastal communities to establish pilot programs to regulate single-use plastic products. (O'Hara)

HB 1147 (Buchanan) and SB 1200 (Grall) create the Resilience District Act of 2023 by amending Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, relating to Community Development Districts. The bills establish the exclusive and uniform method for the establishment of a special district to address infrastructure through a petition from taxpayers who own real property within the district (“infrastructure resilience district”). The bills also establish the exclusive and uniform method for the establishment of a special district by petition from residents and taxpayers who are unit owners of condominiums or an associated group of condominiums within the district’s proposed boundaries (“condominium resilience district”). The bills prohibit local governments from creating resilience districts. They provide for the process of creation of taxpayer-initiated districts and condominium owner-initiated districts, with input, review and approval by the affected local government. For taxpayer-initiated petitions, the bills specify the petition must be filed with the local government, which will serve as manager for the district unless the district hires a private individual to serve as manager. It specifies the required contents of the petition, including a description of the property to be included in the district, why the district is needed, a proposed budget and a timeline for the expenditure of funds. The bills require the county or municipality receiving a petition to conduct a public hearing to consider its merits and whether it meets specified criteria. They authorize the local government to adopt a resolution supporting or opposing creation of the district by a supermajority vote. A local government is authorized to consider the following factors in granting of denying the petition: whether statements made in the petition are correct; whether the district boundaries comply with Section 190.1052, Florida Statutes; whether the local government has committed to funding the proposed infrastructure project, will implement the project within the next five years and it is included in the capital improvements plan; whether an engineering professional hired by the local government has determined the proposed plan would not adequately solve the problem; whether the district would primarily serve one parcel or owner; whether the projects being proposed are not within the jurisdictional boundary of any local government included as a cooperative partner in the project; whether the proposed improvements would have a significant negative impact on other property owners outside the district; whether the operation and maintenance of the proposed infrastructure would create an undue burden on the local government; and whether establishment of the district is inconsistent with the local government’s comprehensive plan. If the local government denies the petition and fails to implement the infrastructure improvement within five years, the petition must be reheard and may not be subsequently denied, and the local government is responsible for any increased costs of the project and may not receive a project management fee. If the local government inappropriately denies the petition without working with the petitioner to find an agreeable alternative, the local government will be responsible for implementing the project, paying all costs and commencing the project within 180 days. If the proposed district overlaps the boundaries of more than one local government, the affected local governments must enter an interlocal agreement. For condominium unit owner-initiated petitions, the bills specify that counties must develop processes to receive and process petitions by December 2023. The bills specify the required contents for petitions for the establishment of a resilience district by condominiums and the duties and responsibilities of county governments upon receiving a petition. The bills establish Section 190.1052, Florida Statutes, for the purpose of specifying requirements for district boundaries and property to be included in a proposed district. If a proposed district is identical to or shares more than 90% of the geography of any existing special taxing district that primarily serves a similar function, the bills specify the existing district must be dissolved and reconstituted as a resilience district and all assets transferred to the resilience district. The bills create Section 190.1054 to specify accepted uses of infrastructure resilience districts, which may include the following: projects that mitigate flood risk and sea-level rise; infrastructure to improve access to property during floods or storm events; septic to sewer conversion; redevelopment of nonresilient housing stock; and debt service. Acceptable uses of a condominium resilience district include fully funding condominium reserves and executing mandates of the Florida Building Code, Fire Prevention Code or local building codes. The bills create Section 190.1056, Florida Statutes, for the purpose of addressing management and service fees of infrastructure resilience districts and condominium resilience districts, including limitations on management fees paid to local governments and private providers. The bills specify board membership and eligibility for infrastructure resilience districts and condominium resilience districts. The bills create Section 190.111, Florida Statutes, for the purpose of describing the powers and duties of the district boards. Among these powers include the power to borrow money and issue bonds, levy special assessments, collect fees and charges, contract for professional consulting services, and cooperate and contract with other governmental agencies. The bills provide for the reduction, expansion or termination of districts. They provide a local government must take ownership of all infrastructure built by an infrastructure resilience district upon completion of the project, with the district continuing to service the debt. (O’Hara)

HB 691 (Basabe) and CS/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. CS/SB 1030 was amended to expand the list of covered electronic devices. (O'Hara)

HB 7027 (Water Quality, Supply & Treatment Subcommittee) ratifies rules relating to the standards for on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems and 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.

Effective date: Upon becoming law. (O'Hara)

CS/HB 111 (Hunschofsky) revises current law provisions that require certain public-financed projects and infrastructure to undergo a Sea Level Impact Projection (SLIP) 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." This means the requirement is expanded to certain structures within any area that is at risk due to sea level rise, not just areas within the coastal building zone. It defines "at-risk due to sea-level rise" and "potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure." The bill requires the SLIP study standard risk assessment to provide an estimated probability of significant flood damage to the structure or infrastructure, to provide a list of flood mitigation strategies evaluated as part of the design of the structure or infrastructure, and to identify appropriate flood mitigation strategies for consideration as part of the structure or infrastructure design. In addition, the bill revises entities and projects eligible for funding under the Resilient Florida Grant Program to include feasibility studies and permitting costs for innovative measures that focus on nature-based solutions and water management districts in support of local government adaptation planning efforts if the grant is used for the express purpose of supporting the Florida Flood Hub and the Department of Environmental Protection in data collection and creation, modeling and the implementation of statewide standards. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (O'Hara)

CS/CS/HB 1281 (Buchanan) prohibits a local government from enacting or enforcing an ordinance, resolution, rule, code or policy or from taking any action that restricts or prohibits or has the effect of restricting or prohibiting the use of any major appliances, including stoves and gas grills. The bill exempts local government actions and regulations necessary to implement the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (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)

CS/CS/HB 1379 (Steele) imposes new requirements and restrictions on local governments relating to pollutant load reduction, local government comprehensive plans, basin management action plans, on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems, mandatory connection to central sewer systems, septic system and wastewater treatment facility remediation plans and advanced waste treatment systems. 

Comprehensive Plans and Capital Improvements Schedule

The bill requires counties and municipalities within a BMAP area to include in their comprehensive plans' capital improvements schedules a list of projects necessary to achieve the pollutant load reductions attributable to the local government pursuant to a basin management action plan. It also requires counties and municipalities to include within their comprehensive plans' potable water, drainage, sewer, solid waste, and aquifer recharge element a consideration of the feasibility of providing sanitary sewer services within a 10-year planning horizon to any group of more than 50 built or unbuilt residential lots with a density of more than one septic tank per acre. It further specifies that counties and municipalities should also address within that comprehensive plan element the coordination of the treatment or upgrade of facilities providing such services and to prioritize advanced waste treatment. These comprehensive plan updates must be made by July 1, 2024. Local governments within a Rural Area of Opportunity are exempted from these new requirements. 

Indian River Lagoon Protection Program

The bill establishes this program within the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), which consists of the various basin management action plans around the Indian River Lagoon. The Department water management districts, local governments and other stakeholders are directed to identify and prioritize strategies necessary to meet water quality standards. Beginning January 2024, the bill prohibits the installation of new septic systems for areas within the Program where central sewer is available. If central sewer is not available, only advanced nutrient-reducing on-site systems or distributed wastewater systems will be permitted. By July 2030, the bill requires any existing septic system within the areas subject to the Program to connect to central sewer if available or upgrade to an advanced on-site system. 

Outstanding Florida Springs

The bill requires DEP and relevant local governments and relevant public and private wastewater utilities, as part of a BMAP that contains an Outstanding Florida Spring, to develop a septic tank remediation plan for a spring if DEP determines that septic tanks within a BMAP contribute at least 20% of nitrogen pollution if DEP determines remediation is necessary to achieve the TMDL. It prohibits the installation of septic systems where connection to central sewer is available. For lots of less than 1 acre where central sewer is not available, the bill requires the use of advanced treatment on-site systems. 

Basin Management Action Plans (BMAPs)

The bill requires BMAPs to include five-year implementation milestones. It specifies additional required contents for BMAPs, including a requirement that any entity with a specific pollutant load reduction requirement established in a plan identify the projects or strategies the entity will undertake to meet the BMAP's current five-year milestone. Each project identified must include an estimated amount of nutrient reduction that is expected. The applicable five-year milestone for new or revised BMAPs must include a list of projects that will achieve the pollutant load reductions needed to meet the TMDL or established load allocations, and each BMAP project must include a planning-level cost estimate and an estimated date of completion. Each new or revised BMAP must include a list of projects developed in connection with a cooperative agricultural regional water quality improvement element, which is part of a BMAP. The bill prohibits the installation of new septic systems within areas subject to a basin management action plan or reasonable assurance plan where connection to central sewer is available. In addition, the bill requires the installation of advanced on-site septic systems on lots of 1 acre or less located within such areas if central sewer is not available. 

Grants and Loans for Septic-to-Sewer Conversions

The bill encourages local governments that receive grants or loans from DEP to offset the cost of connecting to sewer to identify the owners of septic tanks within their jurisdictions who are eligible to apply for grants or loans and notify them of such funding availability. It encourages such local governments to maintain a publicly available website with information relating to grant or loan availability.

Wastewater Grant Program

The bill renames the Wastewater Grant Program in Section 403.0673, Florida Statutes, to the "Water Quality Improvement Grant Program" and expands funding eligibility to the following project types: connecting septic tanks to sewer; upgrading wastewater treatment facilities to advanced waste treatment or greater; repairing, upgrading, expanding or constructing stormwater treatment facilities; repairing, upgrading, expanding or constructing wastewater treatment facilities that result in improvements to water quality, including reuse and collection systems; projects identified pursuant to the development of a BMAP or a cooperative agricultural regional water quality improvement element; projects identified in a wastewater treatment plan or a septic tank remediation plan; projects listed in a city or county capital improvement element; and projects retrofitting septic tanks to enhanced nutrient-reducing systems where central sewer is unavailable. The bill specifies that funding priority must be given to projects most likely to achieve the maximum pollutant reduction. 

Advanced Waste Treatment

For facilities that discharge to specified waters and are required by current law to upgrade to advanced waste treatment by a specified date, the bill authorizes the Department of Environmental Protection to require even more stringent treatment standards of these facilities if necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load or applicable water quality criteria. In addition, beginning January 2033, waters that are not attaining nutrient standards or that are subject to a nutrient basin management action plan or reasonable assurance plan are subject to the requirement to upgrade to advanced wastewater treatment facilities or to a more stringent treatment standard. Finally, the bill provides that sewage disposal facilities may not dispose of any wastes in the following waters without providing advanced waste treatment or a more stringent treatment standard within a 10-year period: a waterbody that does not attain nutrient standards after July 2023, a water body that is subject to a nutrient related basin management action plan after July 2023, or a waterbody that is subject to an adopted reasonable assurance plan after July 2023. 

Florida Forever

The bill dedicates $100 million annually to DEP from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund for the acquisition of lands through the Florida Forever Program. 

Effective date: July 1, 2023. (O'Hara)

SB 1472 (Bradley) and CS/HB 1361 (Truenow) amend the Florida Right to Farm Act. The definition of “farm” is amended to include the production of organic material, and the definition of “farm operation” is amended to include the collection, storage, processing and distribution of organic material products. Organic material is defined as vegetative matter resulting from landscaping maintenance or land clearing operations, including clean wood and materials such as tree and shrub trimmings, grass clippings, palm fronds, trees and tree stumps and associated rocks and solids. (O’Hara)

HB 1425 (Caruso) requires onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems to be inspected at least once every five years and directs the Department of Environmental Protection to administer the inspection program with a phased-in implementation plan that prioritizes areas within a basin management action plan. The inspection is to be paid by the system owner, and an owner would be required to take remedial measures if an inspection identifies a system failure. (O’Hara)

HB 361 (Robinson, F.) and SB 1712 (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)

CS/HB 1331 (Busatta Cabrera) substantially amends provisions of law relating to municipal water and electric utility extraterritorial surcharges, extraterritorial service and transfers of enterprise funds. The bill authorizes a municipal utility to transfer a portion of its earnings to the municipality for general government purposes. The revenues transferred to fund general government purposes may not exceed a rate equal to the amount derived by applying the average of the midpoints of the rates of return on equity approved by the PSC for investor-owned utilities in the state. The amount of the transfer must be further reduced based on the percentage of extraterritorial customers served by the utility. The bill eliminates the automatic 25% surcharge that may be added to the rates and fees charged to extraterritorial customers. (O’Hara)