The Florida Senate

403.885  Stormwater management; wastewater management; and Water Restoration Grant Program.--

(1)  The Department of Environmental Protection shall administer a grant program to use funds transferred pursuant to s. 212.20 to the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Trust Fund or other moneys as appropriated by the Legislature for stormwater management, wastewater management, and water restoration project grants. Eligible recipients of such grants include counties, municipalities, water management districts, and special districts that have legal responsibilities for storm water management, wastewater management, and water restoration projects. Drinking water projects are not eligible for funding pursuant to this section.

(2)  The grant program shall provide for the evaluation of annual grant proposals. The department shall evaluate such proposals to determine if they:

(a)  Protect public health and the environment.

(b)  Implement plans developed pursuant to the Surface Water Improvement and Management Act created in part IV of chapter 373, other water restoration plans required by law, management plans prepared pursuant to s. 403.067, or other plans adopted by local government for water quality improvement and water restoration.

(3)  In addition to meeting the criteria in subsection (2), annual grant proposals must also meet the following requirements:

(a)  An application for a stormwater management project may be funded only if the application is approved by the water management district with jurisdiction in the project area. District approval must be based on a determination that the project provides a benefit to a priority water body.

(b)  Except as provided in paragraph (c), an application for a wastewater management project may be funded only if:

1.  The project has been funded previously through a line item in the General Appropriations Act; and

2.  The project is under construction.

(c)  An application for a wastewater management project that would qualify as a water pollution control project and activity in s. 403.1838 may be funded only if the project sponsor has submitted an application to the department for funding pursuant to that section.

(4)  All project applicants must provide local matching funds as follows:

(a)  An applicant for state funding of a stormwater management project shall provide local matching funds equal to at least 50 percent of the total cost of the project; and

(b)  An applicant for state funding of a wastewater management project shall provide matching funds equal to at least 25 percent of the total cost of the project.

The requirement for matching funds may be waived if the applicant is a financially disadvantaged small local government as defined in subsection (5).

(5)  Each fiscal year, at least 20 percent of the funds available pursuant to this section shall be used for projects to assist financially disadvantaged small local governments. For purposes of this section, the term "financially disadvantaged small local government" means a municipality having a population of 7,500 or less, a county having a population of 35,000 or less, according to the latest decennial census and a per capita annual income less than the state per capita annual income as determined by the United States Department of Commerce, or a county in an area designated by the Governor as a rural area of critical economic concern pursuant to s. 288.0656 Grants made to these eligible local governments shall not require matching local funds.

(6)  Each year, stormwater management and wastewater management projects submitted for funding through the legislative process shall be submitted to the department by the appropriate fiscal committees of the House of Representatives and the Senate. The department shall review the projects and must provide each fiscal committee with a list of projects that appear to meet the eligibility requirements under this grant program.

History.--s. 11, ch. 2002-291; s. 16, ch. 2005-291.