HB 377

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
3Mitigation Plan; amending s. 373.41492, F.S.; deleting
4references to a report by the Miami-Dade County Lake
5Belt Plan Implementation Committee; providing for the
6redirection of funds for seepage mitigation projects;
7requiring the proceeds of the water treatment plant
8upgrade fee to be transferred by the Department of
9Revenue to the South Florida Water Management District
10and to be deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation
11Trust Fund; providing criterion when the transfer is
12not required; providing for the proceeds of the
13mitigation fee to be used to conduct mitigation
14activities that are approved by the Miami-Dade County
15Lake Belt Mitigation Committee; clarifying the
16authorized uses for the proceeds from the water
17treatment plant upgrade fee; providing an effective
18date.
19
20Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
21
22     Section 1.  Subsections (1), (2), (3), and (6) of section
23373.41492, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
24     373.41492  Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Mitigation Plan;
25mitigation for mining activities within the Miami-Dade County
26Lake Belt.-
27     (1)  The Legislature finds that the impact of mining within
28the rock mining supported and allowable areas of the Miami-Dade
29County Lake Belt Plan adopted by s. 373.4149(1) can best be
30offset by the implementation of a comprehensive mitigation plan
31as recommended in the 1998 Progress Report to the Florida
32Legislature by the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Plan
33Implementation Committee. The Lake Belt Mitigation Plan consists
34of those provisions contained in subsections (2)-(9). The per-
35ton mitigation fee assessed on limestone sold from the Miami-
36Dade County Lake Belt Area and sections 10, 11, 13, 14, Township
3752 South, Range 39 East, and sections 24, 25, 35, and 36,
38Township 53 South, Range 39 East, shall be used for acquiring
39environmentally sensitive lands and for restoration,
40maintenance, and other environmental purposes. It is the intent
41of the Legislature that the per-ton mitigation fee shall not be
42a revenue source for purposes other than enumerated in this
43section herein. Further, the Legislature finds that the public
44benefit of a sustainable supply of limestone construction
45materials for public and private projects requires a coordinated
46approach to permitting activities on wetlands within Miami-Dade
47County in order to provide the certainty necessary to encourage
48substantial and continued investment in the limestone processing
49plant and equipment required to efficiently extract the
50limestone resource. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
51Lake Belt Mitigation Plan satisfy all local, state, and federal
52requirements for mining activity within the rock mining
53supported and allowable areas.
54     (2)  To provide for the mitigation of wetland resources
55lost to mining activities within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
56Plan, effective October 1, 1999, a mitigation fee is imposed on
57each ton of limerock and sand extracted by any person who
58engages in the business of extracting limerock or sand from
59within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area and the east one-
60half of sections 24 and 25 and all of sections 35 and 36,
61Township 53 South, Range 39 East. The mitigation fee is imposed
62for each ton of limerock and sand sold from within the
63properties where the fee applies in raw, processed, or
64manufactured form, including, but not limited to, sized
65aggregate, asphalt, cement, concrete, and other limerock and
66concrete products. The mitigation fee imposed by this subsection
67for each ton of limerock and sand sold shall be 12 cents per ton
68beginning January 1, 2007; 18 cents per ton beginning January 1,
692008; 24 cents per ton beginning January 1, 2009; and 45 cents
70per ton beginning close of business December 31, 2011. To pay
71for seepage mitigation projects, including groundwater and
72surface water management structures designed to improve wetland
73habitat and approved by the Lake Belt Mitigation Committee, and
74to upgrade a water treatment plant that treats water coming from
75the Northwest Wellfield in Miami-Dade County, a water treatment
76plant upgrade fee is imposed within the same Lake Belt Area
77subject to the mitigation fee and upon the same kind of mined
78limerock and sand subject to the mitigation fee. The water
79treatment plant upgrade fee imposed by this subsection for each
80ton of limerock and sand sold shall be 15 cents per ton
81beginning on January 1, 2007, and the collection of this fee
82shall cease once the total amount of proceeds collected for this
83fee reaches the amount of the actual moneys necessary to design
84and construct the water treatment plant upgrade, as determined
85in an open, public solicitation process. Any limerock or sand
86that is used within the mine from which the limerock or sand is
87extracted is exempt from the fees. The amount of the mitigation
88fee and the water treatment plant upgrade fee imposed under this
89section must be stated separately on the invoice provided to the
90purchaser of the limerock or sand product from the limerock or
91sand miner, or its subsidiary or affiliate, for which the fee or
92fees apply. The limerock or sand miner, or its subsidiary or
93affiliate, who sells the limerock or sand product shall collect
94the mitigation fee and the water treatment plant upgrade fee and
95forward the proceeds of the fees to the Department of Revenue on
96or before the 20th day of the month following the calendar month
97in which the sale occurs. The proceeds of a fee imposed by this
98section include all funds collected and received by the
99Department of Revenue relating to the fee, including interest
100and penalties on a delinquent fee. The amount deducted for
101administrative costs may not exceed 3 percent of the total
102revenues collected under this section and may equal only those
103administrative costs reasonably attributable to the fee.
104     (3)  The mitigation fee and the water treatment plant
105upgrade fee imposed by this section must be reported to the
106Department of Revenue. Payment of the mitigation and the water
107treatment plant upgrade fees must be accompanied by a form
108prescribed by the Department of Revenue.
109     (a)  The proceeds of the mitigation fee, less
110administrative costs, must be transferred by the Department of
111Revenue to the South Florida Water Management District and
112deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund.
113     (b)  Beginning July 1, 2012, the proceeds of the water
114treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs, must be
115transferred by the Department of Revenue to the South Florida
116Water Management District and deposited into the Lake Belt
117Mitigation Trust Fund until:
118     1.  A total of $20 million from the proceeds of the water
119treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs, is
120deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund; or
121     2.  The quarterly pathogen sampling conducted as a
122condition of the permits issued by the department for rock
123mining activities in the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area
124demonstrates that the water in any quarry lake in the vicinity
125of the Northwest Wellfield would be classified as being in Bin 2
126or higher as defined in the Environmental Protection Agency's
127Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.
128     (c)  Upon the earliest occurrence of the criterion under
129subparagraph (b)1. or subparagraph (b)2., the proceeds of the
130water treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs,
131must be transferred by the Department of Revenue to a trust fund
132established by Miami-Dade County, for the sole purpose
133authorized by paragraph (6)(a). As used in this section, the
134term "proceeds of the fee" means all funds collected and
135received by the Department of Revenue under this section,
136including interest and penalties on delinquent fees. The amount
137deducted for administrative costs may not exceed 3 percent of
138the total revenues collected under this section and may equal
139only those administrative costs reasonably attributable to the
140fees.
141     (6)(a)  The proceeds of the mitigation fee must be used to
142conduct mitigation activities that are appropriate to offset the
143loss of the value and functions of wetlands as a result of
144mining activities and must be approved used in a manner
145consistent with the recommendations contained in the reports
146submitted to the Legislature by the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
147Mitigation Plan Implementation Committee and adopted under s.
148373.4149. Such mitigation may include the purchase, enhancement,
149restoration, and management of wetlands and uplands in the
150Everglades watershed, the purchase of mitigation credit from a
151permitted mitigation bank, and any structural modifications to
152the existing drainage system to enhance the hydrology of the
153Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area or the Everglades watershed.
154Funds may also be used to reimburse other funding sources,
155including the Save Our Rivers Land Acquisition Program, the
156Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the South Florida Water
157Management District, and Miami-Dade County, for the purchase of
158lands that were acquired in areas appropriate for mitigation due
159to rock mining and to reimburse governmental agencies that
160exchanged land under s. 373.4149 for mitigation due to rock
161mining. The proceeds of the water treatment plant upgrade fee
162deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund shall be used
163solely to pay for seepage mitigation projects, including
164groundwater or surface water management structures designed to
165improve wetland habitat and approved by the Lake Belt Mitigation
166Committee. The proceeds of the water treatment plant upgrade fee
167which are transmitted to a trust fund established by Miami-Dade
168County shall be used to upgrade a water treatment plant that
169treats water coming from the Northwest Wellfield in Miami-Dade
170County. As used in this section, the terms "upgrade a water
171treatment plant" or "treatment plant upgrade" mean means those
172works necessary to treat or filter a surface water source or
173supply or both.
174     (b)  Expenditures of the mitigation fee must be approved by
175an interagency committee consisting of representatives from each
176of the following: the Miami-Dade County Department of
177Environmental Resource Management, the Department of
178Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management
179District, and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In
180addition, the limerock mining industry shall select a
181representative to serve as a nonvoting member of the interagency
182committee. At the discretion of the committee, additional
183members may be added to represent federal regulatory,
184environmental, and fish and wildlife agencies.
185     Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.