Senate Bill 1290

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1290

    By Senator King





    8-632-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to solid waste; requiring local

  3         governments providing solid-waste-management

  4         services to be subject to the same requirements

  5         as private companies; providing exceptions;

  6         providing requirements for a local government

  7         providing solid-waste-management services

  8         outside its jurisdiction; providing procedures

  9         for the displacement of private

10         solid-waste-management companies; amending s.

11         165.061, F.S.; providing for the disposition of

12         existing contracts for solid-waste-management

13         services when a new municipality is

14         incorporated; amending s. 171.062, F.S.;

15         providing for the disposition of solid-waste

16         franchises or contracts in areas that are

17         annexed; providing an effective date.

18

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

20

21         Section 1.  Solid-waste-management services in

22  competition with private companies.--A municipality, county,

23  or other local government that provides solid-waste-management

24  services in competition with private companies must, with

25  respect to the provision of the services:

26         (1)  Separately account for revenues, expenses and

27  depreciation, property, and source of investment funds

28  associated with the provision of the services.

29         (2)  Provide solid-waste-management services to its

30  customers without using other public moneys, other than state

31  awards or grants, including, but not limited to, state

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1290
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  1  recycling grants, innovative grants, and waste tire grants, to

  2  subsidize these services.

  3         (3)  Comply with any local requirement, including the

  4  requirement to pay any fee, specifically applicable to any

  5  private company that provides solid-waste-management services

  6  if the requirement gives the local government an advantage in

  7  its ability to compete with a private company in terms of cost

  8  or ability to promptly or efficiently provide the services.

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

10         (a)  "Solid-waste-managment services" means the process

11  by which solid waste is collected, transported, stored,

12  separated, processed, recycled, or disposed of in any way. The

13  term does not include services relating to recovered materials

14  as defined in section 403.703, Florida Statutes.

15         (b)  "Source of investment funds" means the fund or

16  funds from which the money used to provide the solid waste

17  services is derived or expended.

18         (5)  This section does not apply when the local

19  government:

20         (a)  Provides the solid-waste-management services only

21  upon request and does not in any way seek to market these

22  services; or

23         (b)  Is exclusively providing the

24  solid-waste-management services itself or under an exclusive

25  franchise.

26         (6)  Subsection (1) does not apply in a fiscal year if,

27  at the beginning of that fiscal year, the local government is

28  exclusively providing the solid-waste-management services

29  itself.

30

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1290
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  1         (7)  Any person injured by reason of violation of this

  2  section may sue therefor in circuit court and is entitled to

  3  injunctive relief and to reasonable attorney's fees.

  4         Section 2.  Solid-waste-management services outside

  5  jurisdiction.--

  6         (1)  A local government that provides

  7  solid-waste-management services outside its jurisdiction in

  8  competition with private companies must charge no less than

  9  full cost for these services, and, upon request of an affected

10  person, must demonstrate that it is charging full cost for

11  these services.

12         (2)  Any person injured by reason of violation of this

13  section or section 1 may sue therefor in circuit court and is

14  entitled to injunctive relief and to recover the damages and

15  the costs of the suit. The prevailing party is entitled to

16  recover reasonable attorney's fees.

17         (3)  As used in this section, the term "full cost"

18  includes all direct and indirect costs, including

19  depreciation, associated with the provision of the

20  solid-waste-management services.

21         Section 3.  Displacement of private waste companies.--

22         (1)  As used in this section, the term "displacement"

23  means a local government's provision of a service that

24  prohibits a private company from continuing to provide the

25  same service that it was providing when the decision to

26  displace was made. The term does not include:

27         (a)  Competition between the public sector and private

28  companies for individual contracts;

29         (b)  Actions by which a local government, at the

30  conclusion of a contract with a private company, refuses to

31  renew the contract and either awards the contract to another

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1290
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  1  private company or, following a competitive process, decides

  2  for any reason to provide the collection service itself;

  3         (c)  Actions taken against a private company because

  4  the company has acted in a manner threatening to the public

  5  health or safety or resulting in a substantial public

  6  nuisance;

  7         (d)  Actions taken against a private company because

  8  the company has materially breached its contract with the

  9  local government;

10         (e)  Refusal by a private company to continue

11  operations under the terms and conditions of its existing

12  agreement during the 5-year notice period;

13         (f)  Entering into a contract with a private company to

14  provide garbage, trash, or refuse collection which contract is

15  not entered into under an ordinance that displaces or

16  authorizes the displacement of another private company

17  providing garbage, trash, or refuse collection;

18         (g)  Situations in which at least 55 percent of the

19  property owners in the displacement area petition the

20  governing body to take over the collection service;

21         (h)  Situations in which the private companies are

22  licensed or permitted to do business within the local

23  government for a limited time and such license or permit

24  expires and is not renewed by the local government; however,

25  the local government must have enacted its licensing or

26  permitting process as of May 1, 1999, for this paragraph to

27  apply. This paragraph does not apply to occupational licenses;

28  or

29         (i)  Annexations, to the extent that section

30  171.062(4), Florida Statutes, applies.

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  1         (2)  A local government or combination of local

  2  governments may not displace a private company that provides

  3  garbage, trash, or refuse collection service without first:

  4         (a)  Holding at least one public hearing seeking

  5  comment on the advisability of the local government or

  6  combination of local governments providing the service;

  7         (b)  Providing at least 45 days' written notice of the

  8  hearing, delivered by first class mail to all private

  9  companies that provide the service within the jurisdiction;

10  and

11         (c)  Providing public notice of the hearing.

12         (3)  Following the final public hearing held under

13  subsection (1) but not later than 1 year after the hearing,

14  the local government may proceed to take measures necessary to

15  provide the service. A local government must provide 5-years'

16  notice to a private company before it engages in the actual

17  provision of the service that displaces the company. As an

18  alternative to delaying displacement for 5 years, a local

19  government may pay a displaced company an amount equal to the

20  company's preceding 18 months' gross receipts for the

21  displaced service in the displacement area. The 5-year notice

22  period lapses as to any private company being displaced when

23  the company ceases to provide service within the displacement

24  area. This subsection does not prohibit the local government

25  and the company from voluntarily negotiating a different

26  notice period or amount of compensation.

27         Section 4.  Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (2) of

28  section 165.061, Florida Statutes, to read:

29         165.061  Standards for incorporation, merger, and

30  dissolution.--

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  1         (2)  The incorporation of a new municipality through

  2  merger of existing municipalities and associated

  3  unincorporated areas must meet the following conditions:

  4         (d)  In accordance with s. 10 of Art. I of the State

  5  Constitution, the plan for merger or incorporation must honor

  6  existing contracts for solid-waste-management services in the

  7  affected geographic area subject to merger or incorporation.

  8  However, the plan for merger or incorporation may provide that

  9  existing contracts for solid-waste-management services need be

10  honored only for 5 years or the remainder of the contract

11  term, whichever is shorter.

12         Section 5.  Subsection (4) of section 171.062, Florida

13  Statutes, is amended to read:

14         171.062  Effects of annexations or contractions.--

15         (4)(a)  A party that has a an exclusive franchise or

16  contract that which was in effect for at least 6 months prior

17  to the initiation of an annexation to provide solid waste

18  collection services in an unincorporated area may continue to

19  provide such services to an annexed area for 5 years or the

20  remainder of the franchise or contract term, whichever is

21  shorter, if:

22         1.  The party franchisee provides, if the annexing

23  municipality requires, a level of quality and frequency of

24  service which is equivalent to that required by the

25  municipality in other areas of the municipality not served by

26  the party franchisee, and

27         2.  The party franchisee provides such service to the

28  annexed area at a reasonable cost.  The cost must include the

29  following as related to providing services to the annexed

30  area:

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    Florida Senate - 2000                                  SB 1290
    8-632-00




  1         a.  Capital costs for land, structures, vehicles,

  2  equipment, and other items used for solid waste management;

  3         b.  Operating and maintenance costs for solid waste

  4  management;

  5         c.  Costs to comply with applicable statutes, rules,

  6  permit conditions, and insurance requirements;

  7         d.  Disposal costs; and

  8         e.  A reasonable profit.

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10  If the municipality and the party franchisee cannot enter into

11  an agreement as to such cost, they shall submit the matter of

12  cost to arbitration.

13         3.  The party provides the annexing municipality with a

14  copy of the contract within a reasonable time following a

15  written request to do so.

16         (b)  A municipality, at its option, may allow the party

17  franchisee to continue providing services pursuant to the

18  existing franchise agreement.

19         (c)  A municipality may terminate any franchise or

20  contract if the party franchisee does not agree to comply with

21  the requirements of paragraph (a) within 90 days after the

22  effective date of the proposed annexation.

23         Section 6.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2000.

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26                          SENATE SUMMARY

27    Provides for the regulation of solid-waste-management
      services provided by local governments and private
28    companies.

29

30

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