Senate Bill 1172
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
By the Committee on Commerce and Economic Opportunities
310-912A-00
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to infrastructure development
3 in small communities; amending s. 220.701,
4 F.S.; revising the distribution of corporate
5 income tax revenues collected under ch. 220,
6 F.S.; amending s. 288.0655, F.S.; revising
7 deadlines relating to implementation of the
8 Rural Infrastructure Fund; amending s.
9 403.1835, F.S.; eliminating authority for the
10 Department of Environmental Protection to
11 assess grant allocations on loans made through
12 the sewage treatment facilities revolving loan
13 fund; making conforming changes; amending s.
14 403.1838, F.S.; expanding the criteria
15 governing communities eligible for grants under
16 the Small Community Sewer Construction
17 Assistance Act; prescribing grant evaluation
18 criteria; directing the Department of
19 Environmental Protection and the Environmental
20 Regulation Commission to make conforming rule
21 changes; requiring development of a strategic
22 plan for rural infrastructure; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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27 Section 1. Section 220.701, Florida Statutes, is
28 amended to read:
29 220.701 Collection authority.--The department shall
30 deposit the revenues it collects from collect the taxes
31 imposed by this chapter as follows:
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 (1) Seven percent of the amount collected each year is
2 to be deposited into the Department of Environmental
3 Protection Grants and Donations Trust Fund in support of the
4 Small Community Sewer Construction Assistance Act under s.
5 403.1838;
6 (2) Seven percent of the amount collected in fiscal
7 year 2000-2001, and 1 percent of the amount collected in each
8 year thereafter, is to be deposited into the Rural Economic
9 Development Trust Fund if that trust fund is otherwise created
10 by law; and
11 (3) The remaining balance collected each year is to be
12 deposited into the General Revenue Fund. and shall pay all
13 moneys received by it into the General Revenue Fund of the
14 state.
15 Section 2. Paragraph (d) of subsection (2) and
16 subsection (4) of section 288.0655, Florida Statutes, are
17 amended to read:
18 288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.--
19 (2)
20 (d) By September 1, 2000 1999, the office shall pursue
21 execution of a memorandum of agreement with the United States
22 Department of Agriculture under which state funds available
23 through the Rural Infrastructure Fund may be advanced, in
24 excess of the prescribed state share, for a project that has
25 received from the department a preliminary determination of
26 eligibility for federal financial support. State funds in
27 excess of the prescribed state share which are advanced
28 pursuant to this paragraph and the memorandum of agreement
29 shall be reimbursed when funds are awarded under an
30 application for federal funding.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 (4) By September 1, 2000 1999, the office shall, in
2 consultation with the organizations listed in subsection (3),
3 and other organizations, develop guidelines and criteria
4 governing submission of applications for funding, review and
5 evaluation of such applications, and approval of funding under
6 this section. The office shall consider factors including, but
7 not limited to, the project's potential for enhanced job
8 creation or increased capital investment, the demonstration of
9 local public and private commitment, the location of the
10 project in an enterprise zone, the location of the project in
11 a community development corporation service area as defined in
12 s. 290.035(2), the location of the project in a county
13 designated under s. 212.097, the unemployment rate of the
14 surrounding area, and the poverty rate of the community.
15 Section 3. Subsections (3) and (4) and paragraph (b)
16 of subsection (9) of section 403.1835, Florida Statutes, are
17 amended to read:
18 403.1835 Sewage treatment facilities revolving loan
19 program.--
20 (3) The department is authorized to make loans and
21 grants to local governmental agencies to assist them in
22 planning, designing, and constructing sewage treatment
23 facilities and stormwater management systems. The department
24 may administer the resulting portfolio of loans, including the
25 authority to sell or pledge the loans, or any portion of the
26 loans, with the approval of the Governor, the Treasurer, and
27 the Comptroller, acting as the State Board of Administration,
28 to ensure compliance with subsection (1).
29 (a) The department is authorized to make loans, to
30 provide loan guarantees, to purchase loan insurance, and to
31 refinance local debt through the issue of new loans for
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 projects approved by the department. Local governmental
2 agencies are authorized to borrow funds made available
3 pursuant to this section and may pledge any revenue available
4 to them to repay any funds borrowed. The department shall
5 administer loans to local governmental agencies so that at
6 least 15 percent of each annual allocation for loans is
7 reserved for small communities.
8 (b) The department may make grants to financially
9 disadvantaged small communities, as defined in s. 403.1838,
10 using funds made available from grant allocations on loans
11 authorized under subsection (4). The grants must be
12 administered in accordance with s. 403.1838.
13 (b)(c) The department may make grants to local
14 government agencies as authorized under the Federal Water
15 Pollution Control Act, or as a result of other federal action.
16 The grants must be administered in accordance with this
17 section and applicable federal requirements.
18 (4) The term of loans made pursuant to this section
19 shall not exceed 30 years. The department may assess grant
20 allocations on the loans for the purpose of making grants to
21 financially disadvantaged small communities. The combined rate
22 of interest and grant allocations on loans shall be no greater
23 than the interest rate paid on the last bonds sold pursuant to
24 s. 14, Art. VII of the State Constitution. The grant
25 allocations on a loan shall be equal to or less than the
26 interest rate on the loan.
27 (9) Funds for the loans and grants authorized under
28 this section must be managed as follows:
29 (b) Revenues from the loan grant allocations
30 authorized under subsection (4), federal appropriations, state
31 matching funds for grants authorized by federal statute or
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 other federal action, and service fees, and all earnings
2 thereon, shall be deposited into the department's Grants and
3 Donations Trust Fund. Service fees and all earnings thereon
4 must be used solely for program administration. The loan grant
5 allocation revenues and earnings thereon must be used solely
6 for the purpose of making grants to financially disadvantaged
7 small communities. Federal appropriations and state matching
8 funds for grants authorized by federal statute or other
9 federal action, and earnings thereon, must be used solely for
10 the purposes authorized. All deposits into the department's
11 Grants and Donations Trust Fund under this section, and
12 earnings thereon, must be accounted for separately from all
13 other moneys deposited into the fund.
14 Section 4. Section 403.1838, Florida Statutes, is
15 amended to read:
16 403.1838 Small Community Sewer Construction Assistance
17 Act.--
18 (1) This section may be cited as the "Small Community
19 Sewer Construction Assistance Act."
20 (2) The department shall use funds specifically
21 appropriated to award grants under this section to assist
22 financially disadvantaged small communities with their needs
23 for adequate sewer facilities. For purposes of this section,
24 the term "financially disadvantaged small community" means a
25 municipality or an unincorporated area with a population of
26 15,000 7,500 or less, according to the latest decennial census
27 and a per capita annual income less than the state per capita
28 annual income as determined by the United States Department of
29 Commerce. A grant awarded for an unincorporated area must be
30 administered under the authority of a unit of local
31 government.
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1 (3)(a) In accordance with rules adopted by the
2 Environmental Regulation Commission under this section, the
3 department may provide grants, from funds specifically
4 appropriated for this purpose, to financially disadvantaged
5 small communities for up to 100 percent of the costs of
6 planning, designing, constructing, upgrading, or replacing
7 wastewater collection, transmission, treatment, disposal, and
8 reuse facilities, including necessary legal and administrative
9 expenses.
10 (b) The rules of the Environmental Regulation
11 Commission must be adopted in consultation with the Office of
12 Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development and Enterprise
13 Florida, Inc., and must:
14 1. Require that projects to plan, design, construct,
15 upgrade, or replace wastewater collection, transmission,
16 treatment, disposal, and reuse facilities be cost-effective,
17 environmentally sound, permittable, and implementable.
18 2. Require appropriate user charges, connection fees,
19 and other charges sufficient to ensure the long-term
20 operation, maintenance, and replacement of the facilities
21 constructed under each grant.
22 3. Require grant applications to be submitted on
23 appropriate forms with appropriate supporting documentation,
24 such as documentation of need for the project and
25 documentation that the community is economically
26 disadvantaged, and require records to be maintained.
27 4. Establish a system to determine eligibility of
28 grant applications.
29 5. Establish a system and criteria to determine the
30 relative priority of grant applications. The system and
31 criteria must consider at a minimum:
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 a. Public health protection;
2 b. Water pollution abatement; and
3 c. The potential impact of the project on the economic
4 development of the community. public health protection and
5 water pollution abatement.
6 6. Establish requirements for competitive procurement
7 of engineering and construction services, materials, and
8 equipment.
9 7. Provide for termination of grants when program
10 requirements are not met.
11 (c) The department must perform adequate overview of
12 each grant, including technical review, regular inspections,
13 disbursement approvals, and auditing, to successfully
14 implement this section.
15 (d) The department may use up to 2 percent of the
16 grant funds made available each year for the costs of program
17 administration.
18 (e) Any grant awarded before July 1, 1994, under this
19 section, remains subject to the applicable department rules in
20 existence on June 30, 1993, until all rule requirements have
21 been met.
22 (4) The department shall consult with the Office of
23 Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development and Enterprise
24 Florida, Inc., in assessing the potential economic development
25 impact of a project proposed for funding under this section.
26 Section 5. The Department of Environmental Protection
27 and the Environmental Regulation Commission shall adopt rules
28 necessary and appropriate for administering the changes made
29 by this act to sections 403.1835 and 403.1838, Florida
30 Statutes.
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Florida Senate - 2000 SB 1172
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1 Section 6. The Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic
2 Development, Enterprise Florida, Inc., and the Florida Tourism
3 Industry Marketing Corporation, in consultation with the
4 participating agencies and organizations of the Rural Economic
5 Development Initiative, shall develop a strategic plan for the
6 use of the Rural Infrastructure Fund under section 288.0655,
7 Florida Statutes, as well as other available programs, to
8 support economic development activities in rural communities
9 in the state. The plan shall, at a minimum, consider the
10 appropriate timing and priority for development of
11 infrastructure in support of nature-based and other rural
12 tourism, implementation of marketing initiatives directed
13 toward the use of such tourism infrastructure, creation of
14 microenterprise and other businesses in the tourism industry,
15 and development of infrastructure in support of other economic
16 development activities. This plan must be submitted to the
17 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
18 House of Representatives by October 1, 2000.
19 Section 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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22 SENATE SUMMARY
23 Revises the allocation of corporate income tax revenues.
Changes deadlines for administration of the Rural
24 Infrastructure Fund. Revises the authority of the
Department of Environmental Protection to administer the
25 sewage treatment facilities revolving loan program.
Expands criteria for grants under the Small Community
26 Sewer Construction Assistance Act. Directs the Office of
Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development, Enterprise
27 FLorida, Inc., and the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing
Corporation to develop a strategic plan for use of the
28 Rural Infrastructure Fund.
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