Florida Senate - 2015 SB 510
By Senator Garcia
38-00535A-15 2015510__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
3 Area; amending s. 373.4149, F.S.; requiring amendments
4 to local zoning and subdivision regulations concerning
5 properties located within a certain area to be
6 compatible with limestone mining activities;
7 prohibiting amendments to local zoning and subdivision
8 regulations which would result in an increase in
9 residential density for certain property until there
10 is no mining activity within a certain distance;
11 amending s. 373.41492, F.S.; conforming a cross
12 reference; including monitoring as an environmental
13 purpose for which the per-ton mitigation fee may be
14 applied; decreasing the amount of the per-ton
15 mitigation fee for limerock and sand sold after
16 certain dates; imposing an environmentally endangered
17 lands fee; rescinding the water treatment plant
18 upgrade fee; requiring the Department of Revenue to
19 administer, enforce, and collect the environmentally
20 endangered lands fee; adding water quality monitoring
21 to the required uses for mitigation fee proceeds;
22 requiring the environmentally endangered lands fee to
23 be used solely for purposes related to wetland and
24 threatened forest communities located in Miami-Dade
25 County; reenacting s. 373.41495(1),(2), and (3), F.S.,
26 relating to the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund to
27 incorporate the amendment made to s. 373.41492, F.S.,
28 in reference thereto; providing an effective date.
29
30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
31
32 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 373.4149, Florida
33 Statutes, is amended to read:
34 373.4149 Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Plan.—
35 (4) The identification of the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
36 Area shall not preempt local land use jurisdiction, planning, or
37 regulatory authority in regard to the use of land by private
38 land owners. When amending local comprehensive plans, or
39 implementing zoning regulations, development regulations, or
40 other local regulations, Miami-Dade County shall strongly
41 consider limestone mining activities and ancillary operations,
42 such as lake excavation, including use of explosives, rock
43 processing, cement, concrete and asphalt products manufacturing,
44 and ancillary activities, within the rock mining supported and
45 allowable areas of the Miami-Dade County Lake Plan adopted by
46 subsection (1); provided, however, that limerock mining
47 activities are consistent with wellfield protection. Rezonings,
48 or amendments to local zoning and subdivision regulations, and
49 amendments to local comprehensive plans concerning properties
50 that are located within 1 mile of the Miami-Dade Lake Belt Area
51 shall be compatible with limestone mining activities. No
52 rezonings, variances, amendments to local zoning and subdivision
53 regulations which would result in an increase in residential
54 density, or amendments to local comprehensive plans for any
55 residential purpose may be approved for any property located in
56 sections 35 and 36 and the east one-half of sections 24 and 25,
57 Township 53 South, Range 39 East until such time as there is no
58 active mining within 2 miles of the property. This section does
59 not preclude residential development that complies with current
60 regulations.
61 Section 2. Section 373.41492, Florida Statutes, is amended
62 to read:
63 373.41492 Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Mitigation Plan;
64 mitigation for mining activities within the Miami-Dade County
65 Lake Belt.—
66 (1) The Legislature finds that the impact of mining within
67 the rock mining supported and allowable areas of the Miami-Dade
68 County Lake Belt Plan adopted by s. 373.4149(1) can best be
69 offset by the implementation of a comprehensive mitigation plan.
70 The Lake Belt Mitigation Plan consists of those provisions
71 contained in subsections (2)-(8) (2)-(9). The per-ton mitigation
72 fee assessed on limestone sold from the Miami-Dade County Lake
73 Belt Area and sections 10, 11, 13, 14, Township 52 South, Range
74 39 East, and sections 24, 25, 35, and 36, Township 53 South,
75 Range 39 East, shall be used for acquiring environmentally
76 sensitive lands and for restoration, monitoring, maintenance,
77 and other environmental purposes. It is the intent of the
78 Legislature that the per-ton mitigation fee not be a revenue
79 source for purposes other than enumerated in this section.
80 Further, the Legislature finds that the public benefit of a
81 sustainable supply of limestone construction materials for
82 public and private projects requires a coordinated approach to
83 permitting activities on wetlands within Miami-Dade County in
84 order to provide the certainty necessary to encourage
85 substantial and continued investment in the limestone processing
86 plant and equipment required to efficiently extract the
87 limestone resource. It is the intent of the Legislature that the
88 Lake Belt Mitigation Plan satisfy all local, state, and federal
89 requirements for mining activity within the rock mining
90 supported and allowable areas.
91 (2) To provide for the mitigation of wetland resources lost
92 to mining activities within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
93 Plan, effective October 1, 1999, a mitigation fee is imposed on
94 each ton of limerock and sand extracted by any person who
95 engages in the business of extracting limerock or sand from
96 within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area and the east one
97 half of sections 24 and 25 and all of sections 35 and 36,
98 Township 53 South, Range 39 East. The mitigation fee is imposed
99 for each ton of limerock and sand sold from within the
100 properties where the fee applies in raw, processed, or
101 manufactured form, including, but not limited to, sized
102 aggregate, asphalt, cement, concrete, and other limerock and
103 concrete products. The mitigation fee imposed by this subsection
104 for each ton of limerock and sand sold shall be 25 45 cents per
105 ton, beginning on January 1, 2016; 15 cents per ton beginning on
106 January 1, 2017; and 5 cents per ton beginning on January 1,
107 2018, and thereafter. To pay for Miami-Dade County seepage
108 mitigation projects, an environmentally endangered lands
109 including groundwater and surface water management structures
110 designed to improve wetland habitat and approved by the Lake
111 Belt Mitigation Committee, and to upgrade a water treatment
112 plant that treats water coming from the Northwest Wellfield in
113 Miami-Dade County, a water treatment plant upgrade fee is
114 imposed within the same Lake Belt Area subject to the mitigation
115 fee and upon the same kind of mined limerock and sand subject to
116 the mitigation fee. The environmentally endangered lands water
117 treatment plant upgrade fee imposed by this section subsection
118 for each ton of limerock and sand sold shall be 5 15 cents per
119 ton, and the collection of this fee shall cease once the total
120 amount of proceeds collected for this fee reaches the amount of
121 the actual moneys necessary to design and construct the water
122 treatment plant upgrade, as determined in an open, public
123 solicitation process. Any limerock or sand that is used within
124 the mine from which the limerock or sand is extracted is exempt
125 from the fees. The amount of the mitigation fee and the
126 environmentally endangered lands water treatment plant upgrade
127 fee imposed under this section must be stated separately on the
128 invoice provided to the purchaser of the limerock or sand
129 product from the limerock or sand miner, or its subsidiary or
130 affiliate, for which the fee or fees apply. The limerock or sand
131 miner, or its subsidiary or affiliate, who sells the limerock or
132 sand product shall collect the mitigation fee and the water
133 treatment plant upgrade fee and forward the proceeds of the fees
134 to the Department of Revenue on or before the 20th day of the
135 month following the calendar month in which the sale occurs. The
136 proceeds of a fee imposed by this section include all funds
137 collected and received by the Department of Revenue relating to
138 the fee, including interest and penalties on a delinquent fee.
139 The amount deducted for administrative costs may not exceed 3
140 percent of the total revenues collected under this section and
141 may equal only those administrative costs reasonably
142 attributable to the fee.
143 (3) The mitigation fee and the environmentally endangered
144 lands water treatment plant upgrade fee imposed by this section
145 must be reported to the Department of Revenue. Payment of the
146 mitigation and the environmentally endangered lands water
147 treatment plant upgrade fees must be accompanied by a form
148 prescribed by the Department of Revenue.
149 (a) The proceeds of the mitigation fee, less administrative
150 costs, must be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the
151 South Florida Water Management District and deposited into the
152 Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund.
153 (b) Beginning July 1, 2015 2012, the proceeds of the water
154 treatment plant upgrade fee previously imposed by this section
155 is rescinded and is no longer imposed on the sale of mined
156 limerock and sand, less administrative costs, must be
157 transferred by the Department of Revenue to the South Florida
158 Water Management District and deposited into the Lake Belt
159 Mitigation Trust Fund until:
160 1. A total of $20 million from the proceeds of the water
161 treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs, is
162 deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund; or
163 2. The quarterly pathogen sampling conducted as a condition
164 of the permits issued by the department for rock mining
165 activities in the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area demonstrates
166 that the water in any quarry lake in the vicinity of the
167 Northwest Wellfield would be classified as being in Bin 2 or
168 higher as defined in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Long
169 Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule.
170 (c) The proceeds of the environmentally endangered lands
171 fee Upon the earliest occurrence of the criterion under
172 subparagraph (b)1. or subparagraph (b)2., the proceeds of the
173 water treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs,
174 must be transferred by the Department of Revenue to a trust fund
175 established by Miami-Dade County, for the sole purpose
176 authorized by paragraph (6)(a).
177 (4)(a) The Department of Revenue shall administer, collect,
178 and enforce the mitigation and environmentally endangered lands
179 treatment plant upgrade fees authorized under this section in
180 accordance with the procedures used to administer, collect, and
181 enforce the general sales tax imposed under chapter 212. The
182 provisions of chapter 212 with respect to the authority of the
183 Department of Revenue to audit and make assessments, the keeping
184 of books and records, and the interest and penalties imposed on
185 delinquent fees apply to this section. The fees may not be
186 included in computing estimated taxes under s. 212.11, and the
187 dealer’s credit for collecting taxes or fees provided for in s.
188 212.12 does not apply to the fees imposed by this section.
189 (b) In administering this section, the Department of
190 Revenue may employ persons and incur expenses for which funds
191 are appropriated by the Legislature. The Department of Revenue
192 shall adopt rules and prescribe and publish forms necessary to
193 administer this section. The Department of Revenue shall
194 establish audit procedures and may assess delinquent fees.
195 (5) Each January 1, beginning January 1, 2010, through
196 December 31, 2011, the per-ton mitigation fee shall be increased
197 by 2.1 percentage points, plus a cost growth index. The cost
198 growth index shall be the percentage change in the weighted
199 average of the Employment Cost Index for All Civilian Workers
200 (ecu 10001I), issued by the United States Department of Labor
201 for the most recent 12-month period ending on September 30, and
202 the percentage change in the Producer Price Index for All
203 Commodities (WPU 00000000), issued by the United States
204 Department of Labor for the most recent 12-month period ending
205 on September 30, compared to the weighted average of these
206 indices for the previous year. The weighted average shall be
207 calculated as 0.6 times the percentage change in the Employment
208 Cost Index for All Civilian Workers (ecu 10001I), plus 0.4 times
209 the percentage change in the Producer Price Index for All
210 Commodities (WPU 00000000). If either index is discontinued, it
211 shall be replaced by its successor index, as identified by the
212 United States Department of Labor.
213 (6)(a) The proceeds of the mitigation fee must be used to
214 conduct mitigation activities that are appropriate to offset the
215 loss of the value and functions of wetlands as a result of
216 mining activities and to conduct water quality monitoring to
217 ensure the protection of water resources within the Lake Belt
218 Area and be approved by the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
219 Mitigation Committee. Such mitigation may include the purchase,
220 enhancement, restoration, and management of wetlands and uplands
221 in the Everglades watershed, the purchase of mitigation credit
222 from a permitted mitigation bank, and any structural
223 modifications to the existing drainage system to enhance the
224 hydrology of the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area or the
225 Everglades watershed. Funds may also be used to reimburse other
226 funding sources, including the Save Our Rivers Land Acquisition
227 Program, the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the South Florida
228 Water Management District, and Miami-Dade County, for the
229 purchase of lands that were acquired in areas appropriate for
230 mitigation due to rock mining and to reimburse governmental
231 agencies that exchanged land under s. 373.4149 for mitigation
232 due to rock mining. The proceeds of the water treatment plant
233 upgrade fee deposited into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund
234 shall be used solely to pay for seepage mitigation projects,
235 including groundwater or surface water management structures
236 designed to improve wetland habitat and approved by the Lake
237 Belt Mitigation Committee. The proceeds of the environmentally
238 endangered lands water treatment plant upgrade fee which are
239 transmitted to a trust fund established by Miami-Dade County
240 shall be used solely for the acquisition, preservation,
241 enhancement, restoration, conservation, and maintenance of
242 wetland and threatened forest communities located to upgrade a
243 water treatment plant that treats water coming from the
244 Northwest Wellfield in Miami-Dade County. As used in this
245 section, the terms “upgrade a water treatment plant” or
246 “treatment plant upgrade” mean those works necessary to treat or
247 filter a surface water source or supply or both.
248 (b) Expenditures of the mitigation fee must be approved by
249 an interagency committee consisting of representatives from each
250 of the following: the Miami-Dade County Department of
251 Environmental Resource Management, the Department of
252 Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management
253 District, and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In
254 addition, the limerock mining industry shall select a
255 representative to serve as a nonvoting member of the interagency
256 committee. At the discretion of the committee, additional
257 members may be added to represent federal regulatory,
258 environmental, and fish and wildlife agencies.
259 (7) Payment of the mitigation fee imposed by this section
260 satisfies the mitigation requirements imposed under ss. 373.403
261 373.439 and any applicable county ordinance for loss of the
262 value and functions from mining of the wetlands identified as
263 rock mining supported and allowable areas of the Miami-Dade
264 County Lake Plan adopted by s. 373.4149(1). In addition, it is
265 the intent of the Legislature that the payment of the mitigation
266 fee imposed by this section satisfy all federal mitigation
267 requirements for the wetlands mined.
268 (8) If a general permit by the United States Army Corps of
269 Engineers, or an appropriate long-term permit for mining,
270 consistent with the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Plan, this
271 section, and ss. 373.4149, 373.4415, and 378.4115 is not issued
272 on or before September 30, 2000, the fee imposed by this section
273 is suspended until revived by the Legislature.
274 (8)(9)(a) The interagency committee established in this
275 section shall annually prepare and submit to the governing board
276 of the South Florida Water Management District a report
277 evaluating the mitigation costs and revenues generated by the
278 mitigation fee.
279 (b) No sooner than January 31, 2010, and no more frequently
280 than every 2 years thereafter, the interagency committee shall
281 submit to the Legislature a report recommending any needed
282 adjustments to the mitigation fee, including the annual
283 escalator provided for in subsection (5), to ensure that the
284 revenue generated reflects the actual costs of the mitigation.
285 Section 3. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment
286 made by this act to section 373.41492, Florida Statutes, in a
287 reference thereto, subsections (1), (2), and (3) of section
288 373.41495, Florida Statutes, are reenacted to read:
289 373.41495 Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund; bonds.—
290 (1) The Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund is hereby created,
291 to be administered by the South Florida Water Management
292 District. Funds shall be credited to the trust fund as provided
293 in s. 373.41492, to be used for the purposes set forth therein.
294 (2) The South Florida Water Management District may issue
295 revenue bonds pursuant to s. 373.584, payable from revenues from
296 the Lake Belt Mitigation fee imposed under s. 373.41492.
297 (3) Net proceeds from the Lake Belt Mitigation fee and any
298 revenue bonds issued under subsection (2) shall be deposited
299 into the trust fund and, together with any interest earned on
300 such moneys, shall be applied to Lake Belt mitigation projects
301 as provided in s. 373.41492.
302 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.