Senate Bill 1022

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1022

    By Senator Campbell





    33-642-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to water resources; amending s.

  3         373.1501, F.S.; providing for restrictions on

  4         the sale or transfer of water rights; creating

  5         s. 373.255, F.S.; providing for restrictions on

  6         permits for the consumptive use of water;

  7         providing an effective date.

  8

  9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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11         Section 1.  Present subsection (8) of section 373.1501,

12  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (9), and a new

13  subsection (8) is added to that section to read:

14         373.1501  South Florida Water Management District as

15  local sponsor.--

16         (8)  Ownership rights to any water may not be conveyed

17  to a private person, including any right to sell or resell

18  water to other private persons or governmental entities, nor

19  may consumptive use permit rights to resell water be granted

20  to private or governmental persons in return for investment or

21  participation in any project component of the restudy.

22         Section 2.  Section 373.255, Florida Statutes, is

23  created to read:

24         373.255  Consumptive use permits; restrictions.--

25         (1)  The Legislature finds that:

26         (a)  Water is a natural resource that is essential to

27  the economic health of the state and should remain as a

28  publicly owned and controlled resource;

29         (b)  Because water is an essential natural resource,

30  private market economic forces acting on the supply and

31  allocation of water may not at all times operate consistently

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1022
    33-642-00




  1  with the best interests of the public at large, the natural

  2  environment, and the state's industries and agriculture; and

  3         (c)  The role of water management districts in ensuring

  4  that use of the state's water supply is consistent with the

  5  immediate and long-term best interest of the public should be

  6  preserved, notwithstanding benefits that may be derived from

  7  any use of private market forces in the water supply which is

  8  otherwise authorized by the Legislature.

  9         (2)  As used in this section, the term:

10         (a)  "Permitted quantity" means the amount of water

11  which a user is allowed to withdraw under a permit issued by a

12  water management district, whether the withdrawals under the

13  permit are from the same or different wellheads or

14  surface-water withdrawal locations.

15         (b)  "Permittee" means a user who has a valid

16  consumptive water use permit.

17         (c)  "Proposed transferred permittee" means a user who

18  seeks to receive the transfer of all or part of the permitted

19  quantity from a permitted user, including any transfer of

20  water withdrawals associated with a conveyance of property or

21  any real property rights.

22         (3)  A permittee may not sell or transfer any rights it

23  has under a consumptive use permit, including any portion of a

24  permitted quantity, to a proposed transferred permittee. Any

25  attempted sale or transfer of a permitted quantity must be

26  considered a new use by the proposed transferred permittee for

27  which application for a new consumptive use permit is

28  required.

29         (4)  The sale of any property to which a consumptive

30  use permit relates gives rise to a new use for which a

31  consumptive use permit must be applied.

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1022
    33-642-00




  1         (5)  A proposed transferred permittee must apply for a

  2  new consumptive use permit as to any part of the permitted

  3  quantity and the transfer does not create any presumption of

  4  entitlement to a consumptive use permit or to any particular

  5  terms of which applied to the original permit, permittee, or

  6  permitted quantity. If any proposed transferred permittee

  7  elects to acquire land before obtaining a consumptive use

  8  permit from a water management district, the action is

  9  considered a voluntary risk assumed by the proposed

10  transferred permittee, and the fact of the prior acquistion is

11  not admissible in any administrative or judicial proceeding

12  relating to consumptive use permitting under this chapter,

13  including any appeal taken from a water management district

14  decision.

15         (6)  An application for a new consumptive use permit

16  sought by a proposed transferred permittee must be considered

17  based upon conditions as they exist at the time of the

18  application. Conditions may be imposed on any permit issued to

19  the proposed transferred permittee which were not previously

20  imposed on the existing permittee.

21         (7)  Water management districts may not authorize the

22  sale or transfer of a permit or any rights under a permit to a

23  permitted quantity in any manner inconsistent with this

24  section.

25         (8)  Water management districts may adopt rules to

26  implement this section.

27         Section 3.  If any provision of this act or the

28  application thereof to any person or circumstance is held

29  invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or

30  applications of the act which can be given effect without the

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1022
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  1  invalid provision or application, and, to this end, the

  2  provisions of this act are declared severable.

  3         Section 4.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

  4  law.

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  7                          SENATE SUMMARY

  8    Provides restrictions on the sale or transfer of water
      resources.
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