Senate Bill 0654
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy
301-169A-99
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act terminating specified trust funds and
3 fund accounts within the Department of
4 Environmental Protection; providing for
5 disposition of balances in and revenues of such
6 trust funds and fund accounts; prescribing
7 procedures for the termination of such trust
8 funds and fund accounts; amending ss. 253.781,
9 253.7824, 253.7829, 253.783, F.S.; removing
10 reference to the Cross Florida Barge Canal
11 Trust Fund; providing an effective date.
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. (1) The following trust funds and fund
16 accounts within the Department of Environmental Protection are
17 terminated:
18 (a) The Cross Florida Barge Canal Trust Fund, FLAIR
19 number 37-2-888.
20 (b) The Hurricane Andrew Disaster Relief Trust Fund,
21 FLAIR number 37-2-200.
22 (2) Unless otherwise provided, all current balances
23 remaining in, and all revenues of, the trust funds terminated
24 by this act shall be transferred to the General Revenue Fund.
25 (3) For each trust fund and fund account terminated by
26 this act, the agency or branch that administers the trust fund
27 or fund account shall pay any outstanding debts and
28 obligations of the terminated fund or account as soon as
29 practicable, and the Comptroller shall close out and remove
30 the terminated fund or account from the various state
31 accounting systems using generally accepted accounting
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
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1 principles concerning warrants outstanding, assets, and
2 liabilities.
3 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 253.781, Florida
4 Statutes, is amended to read:
5 253.781 Retention of state-owned lands along former
6 Cross Florida Barge Canal route; creation of Cross Florida
7 Greenways State Recreation and Conservation Area; authorizing
8 transfer to the Federal Government for inclusion in Ocala
9 National Forest.--
10 (3) The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement
11 Trust Fund may acquire by purchase, exchange of other state
12 lands, or the exercise of the power of eminent domain the fee
13 title to lands acquired in less-than-fee title and to
14 privately owned lands that break the continuity of publicly
15 owned lands within the original canal corridor as specified in
16 the University Planning Team Greenway Management Plan along
17 the canal route, using canal authority assets transferred to
18 the department or; using state, local, or federal funds
19 dedicated to acquiring lands for conservation and recreation;
20 or using funds from the Cross Florida Barge Canal Trust Fund.
21 The Legislature finds that such exercise of the power of
22 eminent domain to accomplish the purposes of this section is
23 necessary and for a public purpose. Such power of eminent
24 domain must be exercised pursuant to chapter 73.
25 Section 3. Section 253.7824, Florida Statutes, is
26 amended to read:
27 253.7824 Sale of products; proceeds.--The department
28 may authorize the removal and sale of products from the land
29 where environmentally appropriate, the proceeds from which
30 shall be deposited in the Cross Florida Barge Canal Trust
31 Fund.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
301-169A-99
1 Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 253.7829, Florida
2 Statutes, is amended to read:
3 253.7829 Management plan for retention or disposition
4 of former Cross Florida Barge Canal lands; authority to manage
5 lands until disposition.--
6 (1) It is declared to be in the public interest that
7 the department shall do and is hereby authorized to do any and
8 all things and incur and pay from the Cross Florida Barge
9 Canal Trust Fund or from the canal authority assets, for the
10 public purposes described herein, any and all expenses
11 necessary, convenient, and proper to:
12 (a) Develop a management plan for the retention or
13 disposition of lands acquired for the Cross Florida Barge
14 Canal to be submitted to the Governor and Cabinet no later
15 than 2 years after the date of enactment of the Cross Florida
16 Barge Canal deauthorization act, which plan shall reflect a
17 consideration of alternatives for disposition as provided in
18 this section of all lands in fee or less than fee owned by the
19 Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund,
20 including those lands previously owned by the canal authority
21 and the United States Army Corps of Engineers, and lands to be
22 transferred to the state by the United States Army Corps of
23 Engineers. The management plan shall establish a plan for
24 delineating the specific boundaries of the Cross Florida
25 Greenways State Recreation and Conservation Area. The
26 Legislature intends that such boundaries include, at a
27 minimum, a 300-yard-wide corridor, except where the original
28 corridor is a lesser width or except in areas where bridges
29 and roads cross the canal corridor, on former canal lands
30 within the original canal corridor extending from the St.
31 Johns River to the Gulf of Mexico, including all of the
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
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1 Oklawaha River Valley and Rodman Reservoir, and all canal
2 works in all areas whether completed and in use or not, but
3 excluding all parts of Lake Rousseau. Such boundaries may
4 include other former canal lands according to the following
5 criteria:
6 1. The proximity of the lands to former canal corridor
7 lands.
8 2. The environmental sensitivity or importance of the
9 lands or its characteristics as a unique or significant
10 wildlife habitat.
11 3. The proximity of the lands to existing state or
12 federal land which is maintained, at least in part, as natural
13 wildlife habitat, so that the addition of the parcel would
14 function as a wildlife corridor, or as additional habitat.
15 4. The potential of the lands to be developed as
16 outdoor recreation lands.
17
18 Commercially valuable parcels, including those parcels near
19 road crossings, within the canal corridor which do not meet
20 the criteria of subparagraphs 1.-4. and other former canal
21 lands which are not included within the boundaries of the
22 Cross Florida Greenways State Recreation and Conservation Area
23 under the criteria of subparagraphs 1.-4., may be disposed of
24 as surplus lands pursuant to s. 253.783(2)(a)-(d). Such
25 alternatives for disposition will include retention by the
26 state or any agency thereof for the specific public purposes
27 outlined in this paragraph or by the counties or adjacent
28 municipalities for recreational or conservation purposes, and
29 a declaration of lands not to be retained as surplus lands to
30 be disposed of pursuant to s. 253.783(2)(a)-(d). The
31 management plan shall also address any remedial measures
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1 necessary to correct any environmental or economic damage
2 caused by works constructed as a part of or as a result of the
3 Cross Florida Barge Canal.
4 (b) Operate and maintain existing lands and interests
5 in lands, appurtenances, structures, and facilities. Operation
6 and maintenance of water control structures may be delegated
7 by the department to the St. Johns River Water Management
8 District or the Southwest Florida Water Management District,
9 as necessary. Rights-of-way necessary for the construction and
10 maintenance of electric transmission lines may be authorized.
11 Section 5. Subsection (2) of section 253.783, Florida
12 Statutes, is amended to read:
13 253.783 Additional powers and duties of the
14 department; disposition of surplus lands; payments to
15 counties.--
16 (2) It is declared to be in the public interest that
17 the department shall do and is hereby authorized to do any and
18 all things and incur and pay from the Cross Florida Barge
19 Canal Trust Fund, for the public purposes described herein,
20 any and all expenses necessary, convenient, and proper to:
21 (a) Offer any land declared to be surplus, at current
22 appraised value, to the counties in which the surplus land
23 lies, for acquisition for specific public purposes. Any
24 county, at its option, may elect to acquire any lands so
25 offered without monetary payment. The fair market value of
26 any parcels so transferred shall be subtracted from the
27 county's reimbursement under paragraph (e). These offers will
28 be made within 3 calendar months after the date the management
29 plan is adopted and will be valid for 180 days after the date
30 of the offer.
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1 (b) Extend the second right of refusal, at current
2 appraised value, to the original owner from whom the Canal
3 Authority of the State of Florida or the United States Army
4 Corps of Engineers acquired the land or the original owner's
5 heirs. These offers shall be made by public advertisement in
6 not fewer than three newspapers of general circulation within
7 the area of the canal route, one of which shall be a newspaper
8 in the county in which the lands declared to be surplus are
9 located. The public advertisements shall be run for a period
10 of 14 days. These offers will be valid for 30 days after the
11 expiration date of any offers made under paragraph (a), or 30
12 days after the date publication begins, whichever is later.
13 (c) Extend the third right of refusal, at current
14 appraised value, to any person having a leasehold interest in
15 the land from the canal authority. These offers shall be
16 advertised as provided in paragraph (b) and will be valid for
17 30 days after the expiration date of the offers made under
18 paragraph (b), or 30 days after the date publication begins,
19 whichever is later.
20 (d) Offer surplus lands not purchased or transferred
21 under paragraphs (a)-(c) to the highest bidder at public sale.
22 Such surplus lands and the public sale shall be described and
23 advertised in a newspaper of general circulation within the
24 county in which the lands are located not less than 14
25 calendar days prior to the date on which the public sale is to
26 be held. The current appraised value of such surplus lands
27 will be the minimum acceptable bid.
28 (e) Refund to the counties of the Cross Florida Canal
29 Navigation District moneys pursuant to this paragraph from the
30 funds remaining in the Cross Florida Barge Canal Trust Fund
31 from the funds derived from the conveyance of lands of the
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
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1 project to the Federal Government or any agency thereof,
2 pursuant to s. 253.781, and from the sales of surplus lands
3 pursuant to this section. Following federal deauthorization of
4 the project, such refunds shall consist of the $9,340,720
5 principal in ad valorem taxes contributed by the counties and
6 the interest which had accrued on that amount from the time of
7 payment to June 30, 1985. In no event shall the counties be
8 paid less than the aggregate sum of $32 million in cash or the
9 appraised values of the surplus lands. Such refunds shall be
10 in proportion to the ad valorem tax share paid to the Cross
11 Florida Canal Navigation District by the respective counties.
12 Should the remaining funds in the Cross Florida Barge Canal
13 Trust Fund and the funds derived from the conveyance of lands
14 of the project to the Federal Government for payment or from
15 the sale of surplus land be inadequate to pay the total of the
16 principal plus interest, first priority shall be given to
17 repaying the principal and second priority shall be given to
18 repaying the interest. Interest to be refunded to the counties
19 shall be compounded annually at the following rates:
20 1937-1950, 4 percent; 1951-1960, 5 percent; 1961-1970, 6
21 percent; 1971-1975, 7 percent; 1976-June 30, 1985, 8 percent.
22 In computing interest, amounts already repaid to the counties
23 shall not be subject to further assessments of interest. Any
24 partial repayments provided to the counties under this act
25 shall be considered as contributing to the total repayment
26 owed to the counties. Should the funds generated by conveyance
27 to the Federal Government and sales of surplus lands be more
28 than sufficient to repay said counties in accordance with this
29 section, such excess funds may be used for the maintenance of
30 the greenways corridor.
31 (f) Carry out the purposes of this act.
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Florida Senate - 1999 SB 654
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1 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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4 SENATE SUMMARY
5 Terminates various trust funds and fund accounts within
the Department of Environmental Protection.
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