Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1438
       
       
        
       By Senator Grimsley
       
       
       
       
       
       26-01185-18                                           20181438__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to inland protection; amending s.
    3         376.3071, F.S.; revising legislative findings;
    4         revising legislative intent; authorizing the Inland
    5         Protection Trust Fund to be used for the cleanup of
    6         drycleaning solvents under the drycleaning solvent
    7         cleanup program; specifying an appropriation to the
    8         Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund for use in the
    9         drycleaning solvent cleanup program; specifying an
   10         annual appropriation; amending s. 376.3078, F.S.;
   11         revising the sources of funds for the drycleaning
   12         solvent cleanup program; revising the maximum amount
   13         of funds the Department of Environmental Protection
   14         may obligate under the program annually; making a
   15         technical change; revising the use of the scoring
   16         system application to include program sites;
   17         specifying that assignments use a specific scoring
   18         system created by rule; revising the annual funding
   19         available for advanced site assessment; requiring the
   20         department to have a specified number of individual
   21         contractors participating in the program by a
   22         specified date; requiring the department to adopt a
   23         scoring system by rule for scoring contractors;
   24         specifying system requirements; providing an effective
   25         date.
   26          
   27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   28  
   29         Section 1. Paragraphs (a), (d), and (g) of subsection (1),
   30  paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2), and subsections (3)
   31  and (4) of section 376.3071, Florida Statutes, are amended,
   32  paragraph (c) is added to subsection (12) of that section, and
   33  subsection (15) is added to that section, to read:
   34         376.3071 Inland Protection Trust Fund; creation; purposes;
   35  funding.—
   36         (1) FINDINGS.—In addition to the legislative findings set
   37  forth in s. 376.30, the Legislature finds and declares:
   38         (a) That significant quantities of petroleum, and petroleum
   39  products, and drycleaning solvents are being stored in storage
   40  systems in this state, which is a hazardous undertaking.
   41         (d) That adequate financial resources must be readily
   42  available, including the appropriation specified in subsection
   43  (15), to provide for the expeditious supply of safe and reliable
   44  alternative sources of potable water to affected persons and to
   45  provide a means for investigation and cleanup of contamination
   46  sites without delay.
   47         (g) That the drycleaning solvent cleanup program under s.
   48  376.3078 and the Petroleum Restoration Program must be
   49  implemented in a manner that reduces costs and improves the
   50  efficiency of rehabilitation activities to reduce the
   51  significant backlog of contaminated sites eligible for state
   52  funded rehabilitation and the corresponding threat to the public
   53  health, safety, and welfare, water resources, and the
   54  environment.
   55         (2) INTENT AND PURPOSE.—
   56         (a) It is the intent of the Legislature to establish the
   57  Inland Protection Trust Fund to serve as a repository for funds
   58  which will enable the department to respond without delay to
   59  incidents of inland contamination related to the storage of
   60  drycleaning solvents, petroleum, and petroleum products in order
   61  to protect the public health, safety, and welfare and to
   62  minimize environmental damage.
   63         (b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the department
   64  implement rules and procedures to improve the efficiency and
   65  productivity of the drycleaning solvent cleanup program under s.
   66  376.3078 and the Petroleum Restoration Program. The department
   67  is directed to implement rules and policies to eliminate and
   68  reduce duplication of site rehabilitation efforts, paperwork,
   69  and documentation, and micromanagement of site rehabilitation
   70  tasks. The department shall make efficiency and productivity a
   71  priority in the administration of the Petroleum Restoration
   72  Program and to this end, when necessary, shall use petroleum
   73  program contracted services to improve the efficiency and
   74  productivity of the program. Furthermore, when implementing
   75  rules and procedures to improve such efficiency and
   76  productivity, the department shall recognize and consider the
   77  potential value of utilizing contracted inspection and
   78  professional resources to efficiently and productively
   79  administer the program.
   80         (3) CREATION.—There is created the Inland Protection Trust
   81  Fund, hereinafter referred to as the “fund,” to be administered
   82  by the department. This fund shall be used by the department as
   83  a nonlapsing revolving fund, consisting of the appropriation
   84  specified in subsection (15), for carrying out the purposes of
   85  this section and ss. 376.3073 and 376.3078 s. 376.3073. To this
   86  fund shall also be credited all penalties, judgments,
   87  recoveries, reimbursements, loans, and other fees and charges
   88  related to the implementation of this section, ss. 376.3073 and
   89  376.3078, and s. 376.3073 and the excise tax revenues levied,
   90  collected, and credited pursuant to ss. 206.9935(3) and
   91  206.9945(1)(c). Charges against the fund shall be made pursuant
   92  to this section.
   93         (4) USES.—Whenever, in its determination, incidents of
   94  inland contamination related to the storage of drycleaning
   95  solvents, petroleum, or petroleum products may pose a threat to
   96  the public health, safety, or welfare, water resources, or the
   97  environment, the department shall obligate moneys available in
   98  the fund to provide for:
   99         (a) Prompt investigation and assessment of contamination
  100  sites.
  101         (b) Expeditious restoration or replacement of potable water
  102  supplies as provided in s. 376.30(3)(c)1.
  103         (c) Rehabilitation of contamination sites, which shall
  104  consist of cleanup of affected soil, groundwater, and inland
  105  surface waters, using the most cost-effective alternative that
  106  is technologically feasible and reliable and that provides
  107  adequate protection of the public health, safety, and welfare,
  108  and water resources, and that minimizes environmental damage,
  109  pursuant to the site selection and cleanup criteria established
  110  by the department under subsection (5), except that this
  111  paragraph does not authorize the department to obligate funds
  112  for payment of costs which may be associated with, but are not
  113  integral to, site rehabilitation, such as the cost for
  114  retrofitting or replacing petroleum storage systems.
  115         (d) Maintenance and monitoring of contamination sites.
  116         (e) Inspection and supervision of activities described in
  117  this subsection.
  118         (f) Payment of expenses incurred by the department in its
  119  efforts to obtain from responsible parties the payment or
  120  recovery of reasonable costs resulting from the activities
  121  described in this subsection.
  122         (g) Payment of any other reasonable costs of
  123  administration, including those administrative costs incurred by
  124  the Department of Health in providing field and laboratory
  125  services, toxicological risk assessment, and other assistance to
  126  the department in the investigation of drinking water
  127  contamination complaints and costs associated with public
  128  information and education activities.
  129         (h) Establishment and implementation of the compliance
  130  verification program as authorized in s. 376.303(1)(a),
  131  including contracting with local governments or state agencies
  132  to provide for the administration of such program through
  133  locally administered programs, to minimize the potential for
  134  further contamination sites.
  135         (i) Funding of the provisions of ss. 376.305(6), and
  136  376.3072, and 376.3078.
  137         (j) Activities related to removal and replacement of
  138  petroleum storage systems, exclusive of costs of any tank,
  139  piping, dispensing unit, or related hardware, if soil removal is
  140  approved as a component of site rehabilitation and requires
  141  removal of the tank where remediation is conducted under this
  142  section or if such activities were justified in an approved
  143  remedial action plan.
  144         (k) Reasonable costs of restoring property as nearly as
  145  practicable to the conditions which existed before activities
  146  associated with contamination assessment or remedial action
  147  taken under s. 376.303(4).
  148         (l) Repayment of loans to the fund.
  149         (m) Expenditure of sums from the fund to cover ineligible
  150  sites or costs as set forth in subsection (13), if the
  151  department in its discretion deems it necessary to do so. In
  152  such cases, the department may seek recovery and reimbursement
  153  of costs in the same manner and pursuant to the same procedures
  154  established for recovery and reimbursement of sums otherwise
  155  owed to or expended from the fund.
  156         (n) Payment of amounts payable under any service contract
  157  entered into by the department pursuant to s. 376.3075, subject
  158  to annual appropriation by the Legislature.
  159         (o) Drycleaning solvent remediation on eligible sites in
  160  the drycleaning solvent cleanup program and petroleum
  161  remediation pursuant to this section throughout a state fiscal
  162  year. The department shall establish a process to uniformly
  163  encumber appropriated funds throughout a state fiscal year and
  164  shall allow for emergencies and imminent threats to public
  165  health, safety, and welfare, water resources, and the
  166  environment as provided in paragraph (5)(a). This paragraph does
  167  not apply to appropriations associated with the free product
  168  recovery initiative provided in paragraph (5)(c) or the advanced
  169  cleanup program provided in s. 376.30713.
  170         (p) Enforcement of this section and ss. 376.30-376.317 by
  171  the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The department
  172  shall disburse moneys to the commission for such purpose.
  173         (q) Payments for program deductibles, copayments, and
  174  limited contamination assessment reports that otherwise would be
  175  paid by another state agency for state-funded drycleaning
  176  solvent or petroleum contamination site rehabilitation.
  177  
  178  The issuance of a site rehabilitation completion order pursuant
  179  to subsection (5) or paragraph (12)(b) for contamination
  180  eligible for programs funded by this section does not alter the
  181  project’s eligibility for state-funded remediation if the
  182  department determines that site conditions are not protective of
  183  human health under actual or proposed circumstances of exposure
  184  under subsection (5). The Inland Protection Trust Fund may be
  185  used only to fund the activities in ss. 376.30-376.317 except s.
  186  376.3079 ss. 376.3078 and 376.3079. Amounts on deposit in the
  187  fund in each fiscal year must first be applied or allocated for
  188  the payment of amounts payable by the department pursuant to
  189  paragraph (n) under a service contract entered into by the
  190  department pursuant to s. 376.3075 and appropriated in each year
  191  by the Legislature before making or providing for other
  192  disbursements from the fund. This subsection does not authorize
  193  the use of the fund for cleanup of contamination caused
  194  primarily by a discharge of solvents as defined in s.
  195  206.9925(6), or polychlorinated biphenyls when their presence
  196  causes them to be hazardous wastes, except solvent contamination
  197  that which is the result of chemical or physical breakdown of
  198  petroleum products and is otherwise eligible or solvent
  199  contamination from a drycleaning facility that is eligible for
  200  funding in the drycleaning solvent cleanup program. Facilities
  201  used primarily for the storage of motor or diesel fuels as
  202  defined in ss. 206.01 and 206.86 are not excluded from
  203  eligibility pursuant to this section.
  204         (12) SITE CLEANUP.—
  205         (c)Drycleaning solvent facility restoration.—An annual
  206  appropriation of $30 million shall be deposited from the fund
  207  into the Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund to be used for the
  208  drycleaning solvent cleanup program under s. 376.3078.
  209         (15)APPROPRIATION.—A minimum of $150 million is
  210  appropriated annually to the Inland Protection Trust Fund to
  211  implement this section.
  212         Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (2),
  213  paragraph (m) of subsection (3), paragraphs (d) and (e) of
  214  subsection (8), and paragraph (e) of subsection (14) of section
  215  376.3078, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (15) is
  216  added to that section, to read:
  217         376.3078 Drycleaning facility restoration; funds; uses;
  218  liability; recovery of expenditures.—
  219         (2) FUNDS; USES.—
  220         (a) All penalties, judgments, recoveries, reimbursements,
  221  loans, and other fees and charges related to the implementation
  222  of this section and the tax revenues levied, collected, and
  223  credited pursuant to ss. 376.70 and 376.75, and fees collected
  224  pursuant to s. 376.303(1)(d);, and deductibles collected
  225  pursuant to paragraph (3)(d); and the funds appropriated from
  226  the Inland Protection Trust Fund pursuant to s. 376.3071(12)(c),
  227  shall be deposited into the Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund,
  228  to be used upon appropriation as provided in this section and s.
  229  376.3071(12)(c). Charges against the funds for drycleaning
  230  facility or wholesale supply site rehabilitation shall be made
  231  in accordance with the provisions of this section.
  232         (b) Whenever, in its determination, incidents of
  233  contamination by drycleaning solvents related to the operation
  234  of drycleaning facilities and wholesale supply facilities may
  235  pose a threat to the environment or the public health, safety,
  236  or welfare, the department shall obligate moneys available
  237  pursuant to this section to provide for:
  238         1. Prompt investigation and assessment of the contaminated
  239  drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility sites.
  240         2. Expeditious treatment, restoration, or replacement of
  241  potable water supplies as provided in s. 376.30(3)(c)1.
  242         3. Rehabilitation of contaminated drycleaning facility or
  243  wholesale supply facility sites, which shall consist of
  244  rehabilitation of affected soil, groundwater, and surface
  245  waters, using the most cost-effective alternative that is
  246  technologically feasible and reliable and that provides adequate
  247  protection of the public health, safety, and welfare and
  248  minimizes environmental damage, in accordance with the site
  249  selection and rehabilitation criteria established by the
  250  department under subsection (4), except that nothing in this
  251  subsection shall be construed to authorize the department to
  252  obligate drycleaning facility restoration funds for payment of
  253  costs that may be associated with, but are not integral to,
  254  drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility site
  255  rehabilitation.
  256         4. Maintenance and monitoring of contaminated drycleaning
  257  facility or wholesale supply facility sites.
  258         5. Inspection and supervision of activities described in
  259  this subsection.
  260         6. Payment of expenses incurred by the department in its
  261  efforts to obtain from responsible parties the payment or
  262  recovery of reasonable costs resulting from the activities
  263  described in this subsection.
  264         7. Payment of any other reasonable costs of administration,
  265  including those administrative costs incurred by the Department
  266  of Health in providing field and laboratory services,
  267  toxicological risk assessment, and other assistance to the
  268  department in the investigation of drinking water contamination
  269  complaints and costs associated with public information and
  270  education activities.
  271         8. Reasonable costs of restoring property as nearly as
  272  practicable to the conditions that existed prior to activities
  273  associated with contamination assessment or remedial action.
  274  
  275  The department may shall not obligate funds in excess of the sum
  276  of the annual appropriation plus the appropriation specified in
  277  s. 376.3071(12)(c).
  278         (3) REHABILITATION LIABILITY.—
  279         (m) The owner, operator, and either the real property owner
  280  or agent of the real property owner may apply for the
  281  drycleaning solvent contamination cleanup program by jointly
  282  submitting a completed application package to the department
  283  pursuant to the rules that shall be adopted by the department.
  284  If the application cannot be jointly submitted, then the
  285  applicant shall provide notice of the application to other
  286  interested parties. After reviewing the completed application
  287  package, the department may shall notify the applicant in
  288  writing as to whether the drycleaning facility or wholesale
  289  supply facility is eligible for the program. If the department
  290  denies eligibility for a completed application package, the
  291  notice of denial shall specify the reasons for the denial,
  292  including specific and substantive findings of fact, and shall
  293  constitute agency action subject to the provisions of chapter
  294  120. For the purposes of ss. 120.569 and 120.57, the real
  295  property owner and the owner and operator of a drycleaning
  296  facility or wholesale supply facility which is the subject of a
  297  decision by the department with regard to eligibility shall be
  298  deemed to be parties whose substantial interests are determined
  299  by the department’s decision to approve or deny eligibility.
  300         (8) SCORING SYSTEM APPLICATION.—
  301         (d) Assignments for program tasks or sites to be conducted
  302  by state contractors shall be made according to the current
  303  priority list and shall be based on the department scoring
  304  system created pursuant to paragraph (15)(b) determination of
  305  contractor logistics, geographical considerations, and other
  306  criteria the department determines are necessary to achieve
  307  cost-effective site rehabilitation.
  308         (e) Assignments for the program tasks or sites shall be
  309  made beginning with the highest-ranked sites on the priority
  310  list at the effective date the assignment is made and proceed
  311  through lower-ranked sites.
  312         (14) ADVANCED SITE ASSESSMENT.—It is in the public
  313  interest, and of substantial environmental and economic benefit
  314  to the state, to provide an opportunity to conduct site
  315  assessment on a limited basis at contaminated sites in advance
  316  of the ranking of the sites on the priority list as specified in
  317  subsection (8).
  318         (e) Available funding for advanced site assessments may not
  319  exceed 10 percent of the annual Water Quality Assurance Trust
  320  Fund appropriation for the drycleaning solvent cleanup program
  321  under this section plus the appropriation specified in s.
  322  376.3071(12)(c).
  323         (15)STATE CONTRACTOR PARTICIPATION AND SCORING SYSTEM.—
  324         (a)The department must have at least 25 individual state
  325  contractors participating in the drycleaning solvent cleanup
  326  program by December 31, 2018.
  327         (b)The department shall by rule create a system for
  328  scoring contractors to be assigned to drycleaning solvent
  329  cleanup program tasks and sites. Such system, at a minimum, must
  330  consider the contractor’s qualifications, the contractor’s
  331  rates, and any of the contractor’s performance evaluations for
  332  previous work performed pursuant to this section.
  333         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.