Florida Senate - 2024 SB 1354



By Senator Wright





8-01187-24 20241354__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Indian River Lagoon Protection
3 Program; amending s. 201.15, F.S.; revising the
4 percentages of funds to be distributed from the Land
5 Acquisition Trust Fund to various trust funds;
6 requiring that a specified amount of funds be used for
7 the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program; providing
8 criteria for the disbursement of such funds; amending
9 s. 373.469, F.S.; requiring the Department of
10 Environmental Protection, using data provided by
11 identified entities, to identify commercial or
12 residential properties that use onsite sewage
13 treatment and disposal systems located within the
14 Indian River Lagoon Protection Program; requiring the
15 department to conduct various analyses to determine
16 projects most worthy of state funding; requiring the
17 department to provide an annual report that includes a
18 prioritized list of onsite sewage treatment and
19 disposal systems eligible for state funding to the
20 Legislature and certain committee chairs within a
21 specified timeframe; providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (4) of
26 section 201.15, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
27 201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.—All taxes collected
28 under this chapter are hereby pledged and shall be first made
29 available to make payments when due on bonds issued pursuant to
30 s. 215.618 or s. 215.619, or any other bonds authorized to be
31 issued on a parity basis with such bonds. Such pledge and
32 availability for the payment of these bonds shall have priority
33 over any requirement for the costs of collection and enforcement
34 under this section. Before distribution pursuant to this
35 section, the Department of Revenue shall deduct amounts
36 necessary to pay the costs of the collection and enforcement of
37 the tax levied by this chapter. The costs may not be levied
38 against any portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds to
39 the extent that the costs are required to pay any amounts
40 relating to the bonds. All of the costs of the collection and
41 enforcement of the tax levied by this chapter shall be available
42 and transferred to the extent necessary to pay debt service and
43 any other amounts payable with respect to bonds authorized
44 before January 1, 2017, secured by revenues distributed pursuant
45 to this section. All taxes remaining after deduction of costs
46 shall be distributed as follows:
47 (4) After the required distributions to the Land
48 Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to subsections (1) and (2), the
49 lesser of 8 percent of the remainder or $150 million in each
50 fiscal year shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit
51 of the State Housing Trust Fund and shall be expended pursuant
52 to s. 420.50871. If 8 percent of the remainder is greater than
53 $150 million in any fiscal year, the difference between 8
54 percent of the remainder and $150 million shall be paid into the
55 State Treasury to the credit of the General Revenue Fund. The
56 remainder shall be distributed as follows:
57 (g) An amount equaling 2.875 5.4175 percent of the
58 remainder shall be paid into the Resilient Florida Trust Fund to
59 be used for the purposes for which the Resilient Florida Trust
60 Fund was created and exists by law. Funds may be used for
61 planning and project grants.
62 (h)1. An amount equaling 7.959 5.4175 percent of the
63 remainder shall be paid into the Water Protection and
64 Sustainability Program Trust Fund to be used to fund water
65 quality improvement grants as specified in s. 403.0673.
66 2. Of the proceeds paid into the Water Protection and
67 Sustainability Program Trust Fund, 40 percent or $60 million,
68 whichever is greater, shall be credited to the Department of
69 Environmental Protection to be used for the Indian River Lagoon
70 Protection Program. The funds may only be used to install and
71 connect those onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
72 within the Indian River Lagoon Protection Program to wastewater
73 treatment facilities that have been prioritized by the
74 Department of Environmental Protection under s. 373.469(3)(e).
75 The Department of Revenue shall disburse funds to local
76 governments but may not award grants to local governments to
77 cover more than 50 percent of the total cost to install and
78 connect identified onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
79 to wastewater treatment facilities.
80 Section 2. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (3) of
81 section 373.469, Florida Statutes, to read:
82 373.469 Indian River Lagoon Protection Program.—
83 (3) THE INDIAN RIVER LAGOON PROTECTION PROGRAM.—The Indian
84 River Lagoon Protection Program consists of the Banana River
85 Lagoon Basin Management Action Plan, Central Indian River Lagoon
86 Basin Management Action Plan, North Indian River Lagoon Basin
87 Management Action Plan, and Mosquito Lagoon Reasonable Assurance
88 Plan, and such plans are the components of the Indian River
89 Lagoon Protection Program which achieve phosphorous and nitrogen
90 load reductions for the Indian River Lagoon.
91 (e)1. The Indian River Lagoon Protection Wastewater
92 Connection Plan.—Using data provided by the Department of
93 Health, local governments, the St. Johns River Water Management
94 District, and the South Florida Water Management District, as
95 applicable, the Department of Environmental Protection must
96 identify all the commercial or residential properties that use
97 onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems located within the
98 regions encompassed by the Banana River Lagoon Basin Management
99 Action Plan, the Central Indian River Lagoon Basin Management
100 Action Plan, the North Indian River Lagoon Basin Management
101 Action Plan, and the Mosquito Lagoon Reasonable Assurance Plan
102 and place each of the systems into one of the following
103 categories and create maps to identify each of their locations:
104 a. Systems that directly impair a waterbody;
105 b. Systems that potentially impair a waterbody; or
106 c. Systems that do not impair a waterbody.
107 2. For each of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal
108 systems classified in subparagraph 1., the Department of
109 Environmental Protection must also determine the feasibility and
110 estimate the economic cost of connecting the system to a
111 wastewater treatment facility and place each of the systems into
112 one of the following categories:
113 a. Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
114 wastewater treatment facility is low;
115 b. Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
116 wastewater treatment facility is mid-tier; or
117 c. Systems for which the economic cost to connect to a
118 wastewater treatment facility is high.
119 3. Based on the results, the Department of Environmental
120 Protection must conduct a cost-benefit analysis to rank and
121 prioritize systems for which there is a high return on
122 investment in terms of providing water quality improvements to
123 the Indian River Lagoon Basin by connecting the systems to
124 wastewater treatment facilities. The highest ranking projects
125 shall be eligible for state funding.
126 4. The Department of Environmental Protection must submit
127 an annual report that includes the information in subparagraph
128 3. to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
129 Representatives, and the chairs of the appropriations committees
130 of the Legislature no later than 30 days before the first day of
131 the next regular session of the Legislature.
132 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.