Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 648
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       31-00467-20                                            2020648__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to a Sargassum Seaweed Matching Grant
    3         Program; creating s. 403.926, F.S.; requiring the
    4         Department of Environmental Protection to establish a
    5         Sargassum Seaweed Matching Grant Program for a
    6         specified purpose; requiring the department to adopt
    7         rules to govern the program; requiring the department
    8         to submit an annual report to the Governor and the
    9         Legislature by a specified date; providing an
   10         effective date.
   11          
   12  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   13  
   14         Section 1. Section 403.926, Florida Statutes, is created to
   15  read:
   16         403.926 Sargassum Seaweed Matching Grant Program; financial
   17  assistance to local governments.—
   18         (1) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
   19  develop a Sargassum Seaweed Matching Grant Program to provide
   20  annual grants, subject to legislative appropriation, to
   21  qualified local governmental entities to fund projects related
   22  to the buildup of Sargassum seaweed in their coastal
   23  communities.
   24         (2) The department shall adopt, by rule, procedures to
   25  govern the program which, at a minimum, do all of the following:
   26         (a) Provide a selection process designed to maximize the
   27  benefit to the public.
   28         (b) Require that each grant for a project described in this
   29  section include a minimum of a 50 percent local match of funds.
   30         (c) Require that a grant recipient comply with the Dennis
   31  L. Jones Beach and Shore Preservation Act and any other rules
   32  established by the department regarding beach cleanup.
   33         (3) Beginning January 1, 2021, and each January 1
   34  thereafter, the department shall submit a report regarding the
   35  projects funded pursuant to this section to the Governor, the
   36  President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
   37  Representatives.
   38         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.