Senate Bill 1442
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1442
By Senator Latvala
19-577C-98
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to regional water supply
3 authorities; amending s. 120.52, F.S.;
4 providing that a member government is not
5 considered a party in administrative
6 proceedings under certain conditions; amending
7 s. 373.1963, F.S.; revising criteria for
8 governance of authorities and member
9 governments under interlocal agreements;
10 repealing a process for review of the
11 modification of a consumptive use permit;
12 amending s. 682.02, F.S.; providing for the
13 arbitration of controversies concerning water
14 use; amending s. 768.28, F.S.; allowing an
15 authority to indemnify its member governments;
16 declaring legislative intent to supersede other
17 laws; providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Subsection (12) of section 120.52, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 120.52 Definitions.--As used in this act:
24 (12) "Party" means:
25 (a) Specifically named persons whose substantial
26 interests are being determined in the proceeding.
27 (b) Any other person who, as a matter of
28 constitutional right, provision of statute, or provision of
29 agency regulation, is entitled to participate in whole or in
30 part in the proceeding, or whose substantial interests will be
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1442
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1 affected by proposed agency action, and who makes an
2 appearance as a party.
3 (c) Any other person, including an agency staff
4 member, allowed by the agency to intervene or participate in
5 the proceeding as a party. An agency may by rule authorize
6 limited forms of participation in agency proceedings for
7 persons who are not eligible to become parties.
8 (d) Any county representative, agency, department, or
9 unit funded and authorized by state statute or county
10 ordinance to represent the interests of the consumers of a
11 county, when the proceeding involves the substantial interests
12 of a significant number of residents of the county and the
13 board of county commissioners has, by resolution, authorized
14 the representative, agency, department, or unit to represent
15 the class of interested persons. The authorizing resolution
16 shall apply to a specific proceeding and to appeals and
17 ancillary proceedings thereto, and it shall not be required to
18 state the names of the persons whose interests are to be
19 represented.
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21 The term "party" does not include a member government of a
22 regional water supply authority in proceedings under s.
23 120.569, s. 120.57, or s. 120.68, to the extent that an
24 interlocal agreement under ss. 163.01 and 373.1962 exists in
25 which the member government has agreed that its substantial
26 interests are not affected by the proceedings or that it is to
27 be bound by alternative dispute resolution in lieu of
28 participating in the proceedings. This exclusion applies only
29 to those particular types of disputes or controversies, if
30 any, identified in an interlocal agreement.
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1442
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1 Section 2. Subsection (5) of section 373.1963, Florida
2 Statutes, is repealed and subsection (1) of that section, is
3 amended to read:
4 373.1963 Assistance to West Coast Regional Water
5 Supply Authority.--
6 (1) It is the intent of the Legislature to authorize
7 encourage and facilitate the implementation of changes in
8 governance recommended by the West Coast Regional Water Supply
9 Authority in its reports report to the Legislature dated
10 February 1, 1997 and. The authority shall submit a
11 supplemental report to the President of the Senate and the
12 Speaker of the House of Representatives on the status of
13 implementing its prior recommendations for changes in
14 governance by January 5, 1998. The authority and its member
15 governments may reconstitute the authority's its governance in
16 a manner consistent with its report to the Legislature, and
17 with the provisions set forth herein, under a voluntary
18 interlocal agreement with a term of not less than 20 years.
19 The interlocal agreement must comply with this subsection,
20 which substantially provides as follows:
21 (a) The authority and its member governments agree
22 that cooperative efforts are mandatory to meet their water
23 needs in a manner that will provide adequate and dependable
24 supplies of water where needed without resulting in adverse
25 environmental effects upon the areas from which the water is
26 withdrawn or otherwise produced.
27 (b) In accordance with s. 4, Art. VIII of the State
28 Constitution and notwithstanding s. 163.01, the interlocal
29 agreement may include the following terms, which are
30 considered approved by the parties without a vote of their
31 electors, upon execution of the interlocal agreement by all
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1 member governments and upon satisfaction of all conditions
2 precedent in the interlocal agreement: To the extent provided
3 in the interlocal agreement, and to the extent permitted by
4 law:
5 1. All member governments shall relinquish to the
6 authority their individual rights to develop potable water
7 supply sources;
8 2. The authority shall be the sole and exclusive
9 wholesale potable water supplier for all member governments;
10 and
11 3. The authority shall have the absolute and
12 unequivocal obligation to meet the wholesale needs of the
13 member governments for potable water.
14 4. A member government may not restrict or prohibit
15 the use of land within a member's jurisdictional boundaries by
16 the authority for water supply purposes through use of zoning
17 land use, comprehensive planning, or other form of regulation.
18 5. A member government may not impose any tax, fee, or
19 charge upon the authority in conjunction with the production
20 or supply of water.
21 6. The authority may use the powers provided in part
22 II, chapter 159 for financing and refinancing water treatment,
23 production, or transmission facilities, including, but not
24 limited to, desalinization facilities. All such water
25 treatment, production, or transmission facilities are
26 considered a "manufacturing plant" for purposes of s.
27 159.27(5) and serve a paramount public purpose by providing
28 water to citizens of the state.
29 (c) The authority shall acquire full or lesser
30 interests in all regionally significant member government
31 wholesale water supply facilities and tangible assets and each
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1 member government shall convey such interests in the
2 facilities and assets to the authority, at an agreed value.
3 (d) The authority shall charge a uniform per gallon
4 wholesale rate to member governments for the wholesale supply
5 of potable water. All capital, operation, maintenance, and
6 administrative costs for existing facilities and acquired
7 facilities, authority master water plan facilities, and other
8 future projects must be allocated to member governments based
9 on water usage at the uniform per gallon wholesale rate.
10 (e) To the extent provided in The interlocal agreement
11 may include and to the extent permitted by law, member
12 governments shall develop procedures for resolving their
13 parties' differences regarding water management district
14 proposed agency action in the water use permitting process
15 within the authority. Such procedures should minimize the
16 potential for litigation and include alternative dispute
17 resolution. Nothing herein or in said procedures shall affect
18 the rights of participants under chapter 120.
19 (f) Upon execution of the voluntary interlocal
20 agreement provided for herein, the authority shall jointly
21 develop with the Southwest Florida Water Management District
22 alternative sources of potable water and transmission
23 pipelines to interconnect regionally significant water supply
24 sources and facilities of the authority in amounts sufficient
25 to meet the needs of all member governments for a period of at
26 least 20 years and for natural systems. Nothing herein,
27 however, shall preclude the authority and its member
28 governments from developing traditional water sources pursuant
29 to the voluntary interlocal agreement. Development and
30 construction costs for alternative source facilities, which
31 may include a desalination facility and significant regional
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1 interconnects, must be borne as mutually agreed to by both the
2 authority and the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
3 Nothing herein shall preclude authority or district cost
4 sharing with private entities for the construction or
5 ownership of alternative source facilities. By December 31,
6 1997, the authority and the Southwest Florida Water Management
7 District shall:
8 1. Enter into a mutually acceptable agreement
9 detailing the development and implementation of directives
10 contained in this paragraph; or
11 2. Jointly prepare and submit to the President of the
12 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a
13 report describing the progress made and impediments
14 encountered in their attempts to implement the water resource
15 development and water supply development directives contained
16 in this paragraph.
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18 Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to modify the
19 rights or responsibilities of the authority, its member
20 governments, or the Southwest Florida Water Management
21 District as otherwise set forth by statutes.
22 (g) Unless otherwise provided in the interlocal
23 agreement, the authority shall be governed by a board of
24 commissioners consisting of nine voting members, all of whom
25 must be elected officers, as follows:
26 1. Three members from Hillsborough County who must be
27 selected by the county commission; provided, however, that one
28 member shall be selected by the Mayor of Tampa in the event
29 that the City of Tampa elects to be a member of the authority;
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1 2. Three members from Pasco County, two of whom must
2 be selected by the county commission and one of whom must be
3 selected by the City Council of New Port Richey;
4 3. Three members from Pinellas County, two of whom
5 must be selected by the county commission and one of whom must
6 be selected by the City Council of St. Petersburg.
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8 Except as otherwise provided in this section or in the
9 voluntary interlocal agreement between the member governments,
10 a majority vote shall bind the authority and its member
11 governments in all matters relating to the funding of
12 wholesale water supply, production, delivery, and related
13 activities.
14 Section 3. Section 682.02, Florida Statutes, is
15 amended to read:
16 682.02 Arbitration agreements made valid, irrevocable,
17 and enforceable; scope.--Two or more parties may agree in
18 writing to submit to arbitration any controversy existing
19 between them at the time of the agreement, or they may include
20 in a written contract a provision for the settlement by
21 arbitration of any controversy thereafter arising between them
22 relating to such contract or the failure or refusal to perform
23 the whole or any part thereof. This section also applies to
24 written interlocal agreements under ss. 163.01 and 373.1962 in
25 which two or more parties agree to submit to arbitration any
26 controversy between them concerning water-use permit
27 applications and other matters, regardless of whether or not
28 the water management district with jurisdiction over the
29 subject application is a party to the interlocal agreement or
30 a participant in the arbitration. Such agreement or provision
31 shall be valid, enforceable, and irrevocable without regard to
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Florida Senate - 1998 SB 1442
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1 the justiciable character of the controversy; provided that
2 this act shall not apply to any such agreement or provision to
3 arbitrate in which it is stipulated that this law shall not
4 apply or to any arbitration or award thereunder.
5 Section 4. Subsection (18) of section 768.28, Florida
6 Statutes, is amended to read:
7 768.28 Waiver of sovereign immunity in tort actions;
8 recovery limits; limitation on attorney fees; statute of
9 limitations; exclusions; indemnification; risk management
10 programs.--
11 (18) Neither the state nor any agency or subdivision
12 of the state waives any defense of sovereign immunity, or
13 increases the limits of its liability, upon entering into a
14 contractual relationship with another agency or subdivision of
15 the state. Such a contract must not contain any provision that
16 requires one party to indemnify or insure the other party for
17 the other party's negligence or to assume any liability for
18 the other party's negligence. This does not preclude a party
19 from requiring a nongovernmental entity to provide such
20 indemnification or insurance. The restrictions of this
21 subsection do not prevent a regional water supply authority
22 from indemnifying and assuming the liabilities of its member
23 governments for obligations arising from past acts or
24 omissions at or with property acquired from a member
25 government by the authority and arising from the acts or
26 omissions of the authority in performing activities
27 contemplated by an interlocal agreement. Such indemnification
28 may not be considered to increase or otherwise waive the
29 limits of liability to third-party claimants established by
30 this section.
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1 Section 5. The provisions of this act supersede all
2 other laws general or special on the same subject, and are
3 intended to be a complete revision of all laws related to a
4 water supply authority created under sections 373.1962 and
5 373.1963, Florida Statutes.
6 Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
7 law.
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10 SENATE SUMMARY
11 Provides that a member government of a regional water
supply authority is not considered a party in
12 administrative proceedings under certain conditions
agreed to by the member government. Authorizes an
13 authority and its member governments to reconstitute
governance through an interlocal agreement. Revises
14 criteria for interlocal agreements between member
governments and authorities. Provides for the submission
15 of water-use permit application controversies to
arbitration. Allows an authority to indemnify member
16 governments under certain conditions.
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