House Bill 1757c2

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2000          CS/CS/HB 1757

        By the Committees on General Government Appropriations,
    Environmental Protection, Water & Resource Management and
    Representatives Alexander, Betancourt, K. Smith, Boyd, Cantens
    and Casey



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to water resources; amending s.

  3         403.0882, F.S.; reorganizing and clarifying the

  4         section; providing findings and declaration;

  5         providing definitions; directing the Department

  6         of Environmental Protection to initiate

  7         rulemaking, by a specified date, to address

  8         facilities that discharge demineralization

  9         concentrate; creating a technical advisory

10         committee to assist in rule development;

11         providing permitting requirements relating to

12         failure of toxicity tests due to naturally

13         occurring constituents; providing requirements

14         for discharge of demineralization concentrate

15         from small water utility businesses; providing

16         additional rulemaking authority; amending s.

17         403.061, F.S.; providing an exemption allowing

18         demineralization concentrate mixing zones in

19         Outstanding Florida Waters if specific

20         requirements are met; creating s. 403.065,

21         F.S.; providing findings and declarations;

22         providing for classification and permitting of

23         aquifer storage and recovery wells; providing a

24         zone of discharge for aquifer storage and

25         recovery wells meeting specific criteria;

26         providing monitoring requirements for aquifer

27         storage and recovery wells; requiring an

28         aquifer exemption for aquifer storage and

29         recovery wells not exceeding primary drinking

30         water standards other than total coliform

31         bacteria or sodium; requiring the department to

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  1         make a reasonable effort to issue or deny

  2         permits within 90 days; providing the

  3         department with rulemaking authority to

  4         implement this section; amending s. 287.042,

  5         F.S.; adding the water management districts to

  6         the agencies that can require bid protesters to

  7         file a bond; amending s. 197.432, F.S.;

  8         conforming cross references; amending s.

  9         197.502, F.S.; authorizing local governments to

10         file tax deed applications in a specified

11         manner; amending s. 197.522, F.S.; conforming a

12         cross reference; amending s. 199.1055, F.S.;

13         broadening the contaminated site rehabilitation

14         tax credit against the intangible personal

15         property tax to include in the preapproved

16         advanced cleanup program petroleum-contaminated

17         sites and other contaminated sites at which

18         cleanup is undertaken pursuant to a voluntary

19         rehabilitation agreement with the Department of

20         Environmental Protection under certain

21         circumstances; amending s. 212.08, F.S.;

22         providing an exemption from the sales and use

23         tax for building materials used in the

24         rehabilitation of real property located in a

25         designated brownfield area; providing an

26         exemption from the sales and use tax for

27         business property purchased for use by

28         businesses located in a designated brownfield

29         area; amending s. 212.096, F.S.; providing for

30         a brownfield area jobs credit against the sales

31         and use tax; amending s. 220.181, F.S.;

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  1         providing for a designated brownfield area jobs

  2         credit against the corporate income tax;

  3         amending s. 220.182, F.S.; providing for a

  4         designated brownfield area property tax credit

  5         against the corporate income tax; amending s.

  6         220.183, F.S.; providing a partial credit

  7         against the corporate income tax for community

  8         contributions that benefit designated

  9         brownfield areas; amending s. 220.1845, F.S.;

10         broadening the contaminated site rehabilitation

11         tax credit against the corporate income tax to

12         include in the preapproved advanced cleanup

13         program petroleum-contaminated sites and other

14         contaminated sites at which cleanup is

15         undertaken pursuant to a voluntary

16         rehabilitation agreement with the Department of

17         Environmental Protection under certain

18         circumstances; amending s. 290.007, F.S.;

19         providing for state incentives in designated

20         brownfield areas; creating s. 376.30702, F.S.;

21         creating the Florida State-Owned-Lands Cleanup

22         Program; providing intent; directing the

23         Department of Environmental Protection to use

24         existing site priority ranking and cleanup

25         criteria; amending s. 376.30781, F.S.;

26         broadening the partial tax credits for the

27         rehabilitation of certain contaminated sites;

28         clarifying provisions regarding the filing for

29         the tax credits; amending s. 376.84, F.S.;

30         authorizing entities approved by the local

31         government for the purpose of redeveloping

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  1         brownfield areas to use tax increment

  2         financing; authorizing levy of special

  3         assessments under certain circumstances;

  4         amending s. 376.86, F.S.; increasing the limits

  5         of the state loan guaranty in brownfield areas;

  6         creating s. 376.876, F.S.; providing for a

  7         Brownfield Redevelopment Grants Program in the

  8         Department of Environmental Protection;

  9         specifying the uses of grant funds; requiring

10         matching funds; authorizing the department to

11         adopt rules; repealing s. 211.3103(9), F.S.,

12         relating to requirements for a county that

13         accepts real property of mined or reclaimed

14         land from phosphate mining companies to forfeit

15         a portion of its share of severance tax equal

16         to the value of property donated; amending s.

17         288.047, F.S.; requiring Enterprise Florida,

18         Inc., to set aside each fiscal year a certain

19         amount of the appropriation for the Quick

20         Response Training Program for businesses

21         located in a brownfield area; amending s.

22         288.107, F.S.; redefining the term "eligible

23         business"; providing for bonus refunds for

24         businesses that can demonstrate a fixed capital

25         investment in certain mixed use activities in

26         the brownfield area; providing a limitation;

27         amending s. 288.905, F.S.; requiring Enterprise

28         Florida, Inc., to develop comprehensive

29         marketing strategies for redevelopment of

30         brownfield areas; amending s. 376.301, F.S.;

31         redefining the terms "antagonistic effects,"

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  1         "discharge," "institutional controls," "natural

  2         attenuation," and "site rehabilitation" and

  3         defining the term "risk reduction"; creating s.

  4         376.30701, F.S.; extending application of

  5         risk-based corrective action principles to all

  6         contaminated sites resulting from a discharge

  7         of pollutants or hazardous substances;

  8         providing for contamination cleanup criteria

  9         that incorporates risk-based corrective actions

10         to be adopted by rule; providing clarification

11         that cleanup criteria do not apply to offsite

12         relocation or treatment; providing the

13         conditions under which further rehabilitation

14         may be required; providing contaminated site

15         mapping requirements; providing for a

16         contaminated site registry; amending s.

17         376.3078, F.S.; modifying drycleaning facility

18         site rehabilitation criteria; amending s.

19         376.79, F.S.; defining the terms "contaminant"

20         and "risk reduction"; redefining the terms

21         "natural attenuation," "institutional control,"

22         and "source removal"; amending s. 376.80, F.S.;

23         allowing local governments or persons

24         responsible for brownfield area rehabilitation

25         and redevelopment to use an existing advisory

26         committee; deleting the requirement that the

27         advisory committee must review and provide

28         recommendations to the local government with

29         jurisdiction on the proposed brownfield site

30         rehabilitation agreement; providing that the

31         person responsible for site rehabilitation must

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  1         notify the advisory committee of the intent to

  2         rehabilitate and redevelop the site before

  3         executing the brownfield site rehabilitation

  4         agreement; requiring the person responsible for

  5         site rehabilitation to hold a meeting or attend

  6         a regularly scheduled meeting of the advisory

  7         committee to inform the advisory committee of

  8         the outcome of the environmental assessment;

  9         requiring the person responsible for site

10         rehabilitation to enter into a brownfield site

11         rehabilitation agreement only if actual

12         contamination exists; clarifying provisions

13         relating to the required comprehensive general

14         liability and comprehensive automobile

15         liability insurance; amending s. 376.81, F.S.;

16         providing direction regarding the risk-based

17         corrective action rule; requiring the

18         department to establish alternative cleanup

19         levels under certain circumstances; amending s.

20         376.82, F.S.; providing immunity for liability

21         regarding contaminated site remediation under

22         certain circumstances; creating s. 376.88,

23         F.S.; providing for the Brownfield Program

24         Review Advisory Council; providing duties and

25         responsibilities; amending s. 403.973, F.S.;

26         providing that projects located in a designated

27         brownfield area are eligible for the expedited

28         permitting process; amending s. 190.012, F.S.;

29         authorizing community development districts to

30         fund certain environmental costs under certain

31         circumstances; amending ss. 712.01 and 712.03,

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  1         F.S.; modifying definition of "covenant and

  2         restriction"; prohibiting subsequent property

  3         owners from removing certain deed restrictions

  4         under other provisions of the Marketable Record

  5         Title Act; repealing s. 211.3103(9), F.S.,

  6         relating to certain requirements for counties

  7         accepting donations of reclaimed land;

  8         repealing s. 258.398, F.S., 1997, relating to

  9         designation of Lake Weir as an aquatic

10         preserve; amending s. 373.083, F.S.;

11         authorizing water management district governing

12         boards to delegate certain activities to the

13         executive director or other staff; directing

14         the governing boards to establish the scope and

15         terms of any delegated activity; providing for

16         an appeals process to the governing board;

17         amending s. 373.323, F.S.; providing additional

18         licensure requirements for water well

19         contractors; amending s. 373.324, F.S.;

20         providing a continuing education requirement

21         for license renewal; providing for rules;

22         amending s. 373.406, F.S.; authorizing a water

23         management district or the Department of

24         Environmental Protection to provide exemptions

25         from pt. IV of ch. 373, F.S., relating to

26         management and storage of surface waters, by

27         rule; ratifying and affirming certain

28         previously adopted rules; amending s. 403.088,

29         F.S.; creating a process by which water

30         pollution operation permittees must notify the

31         Department of Environmental Protection of any

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  1         noncompliance action that may endanger public

  2         health or the environment; providing rulemaking

  3         authority; directing the department to notify

  4         permittees of the existing emergency management

  5         communications process; amending s. 403.813,

  6         F.S.; prohibiting the department and the Board

  7         of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust

  8         Fund from limiting the number of vessels that

  9         can use single-family residential docks;

10         providing exceptions; amending s. 403.852,

11         F.S.; revising definitions relating to the

12         "Florida Safe Drinking Water Act"; providing

13         for transient noncommunity water systems;

14         amending ss. 403.853, 403.8532, and 803.854,

15         F.S.; revising provisions relating to drinking

16         water regulation, community water system loan

17         funding, and waiver of disinfection and

18         certified operator requirements for certain

19         noncommunity water systems; amending ss.

20         403.865, 403.866, 403.867, 403.872, 403.875,

21         and 403.88, F.S.; expanding provisions relating

22         to water and wastewater facilities personnel to

23         include "water distribution systems," as

24         required by federal law; providing for a

25         navigational access channel in Santa Rosa

26         County; requiring certain mitigation, disposal,

27         water protection, and inspection plans;

28         requiring reports; providing responsibility for

29         costs; providing for an expedited process for

30         state dredge and fill permits; providing for

31

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  1         project criteria; providing an effective date.

  2

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

  4

  5         Section 1.  Section 403.0882, Florida Statutes, is

  6  amended to read:

  7         (Substantial rewording of section. See

  8         s. 403.0882, F.S., for present text.)

  9         403.0882  Discharge of demineralization concentrate.--

10         (1)  The Legislature finds and declares that it is in

11  the public interest to conserve and protect water resources;

12  provide adequate water supplies and provide for natural

13  systems; and promote brackish water demineralization as an

14  alternative to ground and surface water withdrawals of

15  freshwater, by removing institutional barriers to

16  demineralization and through conducting research, including

17  demonstration projects, to advance water and water byproduct

18  treatment technology, sound waste byproduct disposal methods,

19  and regional solutions to water resources issues.  In order to

20  promote the state objective of alternative water supply

21  development, including the use of demineralization

22  technologies, and encourage the conservation and protection of

23  Florida's natural resources, the concentrate resulting from

24  demineralization shall be classified as potable water

25  byproduct regardless of flow quantity and shall be

26  appropriately treated, and discharged or reused.

27         (2)  For the purposes of this section, the term:

28         (a)  "Demineralization concentrate" means the

29  concentrated byproduct water, brine, or reject water produced

30  by ion exchange or membrane separation technologies, such as

31  reverse osmosis, membrane softening, ultra-filtration,

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  1  membrane filtration, electrodialysis, and electrodialysis

  2  reversal, used for desalination, softening, or reducing total

  3  dissolved solids during water treatment for public water

  4  supply purposes.

  5         (b)  "Small water utility business" means any facility

  6  that distributes potable water to two or more customers with a

  7  concentrate discharge of less than 50,000 gallons per day.

  8         (3)  The department shall initiate rulemaking no later

  9  than October 1, 2000, to address facilities that discharge

10  demineralization concentrate.  The department shall convene a

11  technical advisory committee to assist in the development of

12  the rules, which shall include one representative each from

13  the demineralization industry, local government, water and

14  wastewater utilities, the engineering profession, business,

15  and environmental organizations.  The technical advisory

16  committee shall also include one member representing the five

17  water management districts and one representative from the

18  Florida Marine Research Institute with expertise in sea

19  grasses.  In convening the technical advisory committee,

20  consideration shall be given to geographical balance.  The

21  rules shall address, at a minimum:

22         (a)  Permit application forms for concentrate disposal.

23         (b)  Specific options and requirements for

24  demineralization concentrate disposal, including a

25  standardized list of effluent and monitoring parameters, which

26  may be adjusted or expanded by the department as necessary to

27  protect water quality.

28         (c)  Specific requirements and accepted methods for

29  evaluating mixing of effluent in receiving waters.

30         (d)  Specific toxicity provisions.

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  1         (4)(a)  For facilities that discharge demineralization

  2  concentrate, the failure of whole effluent toxicity tests

  3  predominately due to the presence of constituents naturally

  4  occurring in the source water, limited to calcium, potassium,

  5  sodium, magnesium, chloride, bromide, and other constituents

  6  designated by the department, shall not be the basis for

  7  denial of a permit, denial of a permit renewal, revocation of

  8  a permit, or other enforcement action by the department, as

  9  long as the volume of water necessary to achieve water quality

10  standards is available within a distance not in excess of two

11  times the natural water depth at the point of discharge under

12  all flow conditions.

13         (b)  In the event failure of whole effluent toxicity

14  tests is due predominately to the presence of the naturally

15  occurring constituents identified in paragraph (a), or

16  designated by the department pursuant to paragraph (a), the

17  department shall issue a permit for the demineralization

18  concentrate discharge, if:

19         1.  The volume of water necessary to achieve water

20  quality standards is available within a distance not in excess

21  of two times the natural water depth at the point of discharge

22  under all flow conditions; and

23         2.  All other permitting requirements are met.

24

25  A variance for toxicity under the circumstance described in

26  this paragraph shall not be required.

27         (c)  Facilities that fail to meet the requirements of

28  this subsection may be permitted in accordance with department

29  rule, including all applicable moderating provisions such as

30  variances, exemptions, and mixing zones.

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  1         (5)  Blending of demineralization concentrate with

  2  reclaimed water shall be allowed in accordance with the

  3  department's reuse rules.

  4         (6)  This subsection applies only to small water

  5  utility businesses.

  6         (a)  The discharge of demineralization concentrate from

  7  small water utility businesses shall be presumed to be

  8  allowable and permittable in all waters in the state, if:

  9         1.  The discharge meets the effluent limitations in s.

10  403.086(4), except that high-level disinfection shall not be

11  required unless the presence of fecal coliforms in the source

12  water will result in the discharge not meeting applicable

13  water quality standards;

14         2.  The discharge of demineralization concentrate

15  achieves a minimum of 4-to-1 dilution within a distance not in

16  excess of two times the natural water depth at the point of

17  discharge under all flow conditions; and

18         3.  The point of discharge is located at a reasonably

19  accessible point that minimizes water quality impacts to the

20  greatest extent possible.

21         (b)  The presumption in paragraph (a) that the

22  discharge of demineralization concentrate from a small water

23  utility is allowable and permittable may be overcome only by a

24  demonstration that one or more of the following conditions is

25  present:

26         1.  The discharge will be made directly into an

27  Outstanding Florida Water, except as provided in chapter

28  90-262, Laws of Florida.

29         2.  The discharge will be made directly to Class I or

30  Class II waters.

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  1         3.  The discharge will be made to a water body having a

  2  total maximum daily load established by the department and the

  3  discharge will cause or contribute to a violation of the

  4  established load.

  5         4.  The discharge fails to meet the requirements of the

  6  antidegradation policy contained in the department rules.

  7         5.  The discharge will be made to a sole-source

  8  aquifer.

  9         6.  The discharge fails to meet applicable surface

10  water and groundwater quality standards.

11         7.  The results of any toxicity test performed by the

12  applicant under paragraph (d) or by the department indicate

13  the discharge does not meet toxicity requirements at the

14  boundary of the mixing zone under subparagraph (a)2.

15         (c)  If one or more of the conditions in paragraph (b)

16  has been demonstrated, the department may:

17         1.  Require more stringent effluent limitations;

18         2.  Require relocation of the discharge point or a

19  change in the method of discharge;

20         3.  Limit the duration or volume of the discharge; or

21         4.  Prohibit the discharge if there is no alternative

22  that meets the conditions of subparagraphs 1.-3.

23         (d)  For facilities owned by small water utility

24  businesses, the department shall not:

25         1.  Require such businesses to perform toxicity testing

26  at other than the time of permit application, permit renewal,

27  or any requested permit modification, unless the initial

28  toxicity test or any subsequent toxicity test performed by the

29  department does not meet toxicity requirements.

30         2.  Require such businesses to obtain a

31  water-quality-based effluent limitation determination.

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  1         (7)  The department may adopt additional rules for the

  2  regulation of demineralization and to implement the provisions

  3  of this section and s. 403.061(11)(b).

  4         Section 2.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (11) of section

  5  403.061, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  6         403.061  Department; powers and duties.--The department

  7  shall have the power and the duty to control and prohibit

  8  pollution of air and water in accordance with the law and

  9  rules adopted and promulgated by it and, for this purpose, to:

10         (11)  Establish ambient air quality and water quality

11  standards for the state as a whole or for any part thereof,

12  and also standards for the abatement of excessive and

13  unnecessary noise.  The department is authorized to establish

14  reasonable zones of mixing for discharges into waters.

15         (b)  No mixing zone for point source discharges shall

16  be permitted in Outstanding Florida Waters except for:

17         1.  Sources which have received permits from the

18  department prior to April 1, 1982, or the date of designation,

19  whichever is later.;

20         2.  Blowdown from new power plants certified pursuant

21  to the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act.; and

22         3.  Discharges of water necessary for water management

23  purposes which have been approved by the governing board of a

24  water management district and, if required by law, by the

25  secretary.

26         4.  The discharge of demineralization concentrate which

27  has been determined permittable under s. 403.0882 and which

28  meets the specific provisions of s. 403.0882(4)(a) and (b), if

29  the proposed discharge is clearly in the public interest.

30         Section 3.  Section 403.065, Florida Statutes, is

31  created to read:

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  1         403.065  Aquifer storage and recovery wells.--

  2         (1)  The Legislature finds and declares that it is in

  3  the public interest to conserve and protect water resources,

  4  provide adequate water supplies, provide for natural systems,

  5  and promote quality aquifer storage and recovery projects by

  6  removing inappropriate institutional barriers.

  7         (2)  Aquifer storage and recovery wells shall be

  8  classified and permitted according to department rules,

  9  consistent with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Such

10  wells shall be constructed to prevent violation of state

11  groundwater quality standards at the point of discharge,

12  except as specifically provided in this section.

13         (3)  Aquifer storage and recovery wells shall be

14  allowed a zone of discharge for sodium and secondary drinking

15  water standards, provided the requirements of paragraphs

16  (4)(b), (c), and (d) and subsection (6) are met.

17         (4)  Aquifer storage and recovery wells used to inject

18  water from a surface water or groundwater source shall be

19  allowed a zone of discharge for total coliform bacteria when

20  the applicant for the aquifer storage and recovery well permit

21  demonstrates, through a risk-based analysis, the following:

22         (a)  The native groundwater within the proposed zone of

23  discharge contains no less than 1,500 milligrams per liter

24  total dissolved solids.

25         (b)  The native groundwater within the proposed zone of

26  discharge is not currently being used as a public or private

27  drinking water supply, nor can any person other than the

28  permit applicant be reasonably expected to withdraw water from

29  the zone of discharge in the future for such use.

30         (c)  The presence of the stored water shall not cause

31  any person other than the permit applicant to treat its source

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  1  water in any way that would not have been required in the

  2  absence of the aquifer storage and recovery well.

  3         (d)  The department has approved a monitoring plan that

  4  specifies the number and location of monitor wells, monitoring

  5  parameters, and frequency of monitoring.

  6         (e)  Total coliform bacteria is the only primary

  7  drinking water standard other than sodium that will not be met

  8  prior to injection.

  9         (f)  The permit applicant demonstrates that biological

10  contaminants will experience die-off such that primary

11  drinking water standards will be met at the edge of the zone

12  of discharge and that those contaminants will not pose an

13  adverse risk to human health.

14         (g)  The permit applicant documents the environmental

15  benefits to be derived from the storage, recovery, and future

16  use of the injected water.

17         (h)  The use of the recovered water is consistent with

18  its intended primary purpose.

19         (i)  The storage of water shall not endanger drinking

20  water sources, as defined in the federal Safe Drinking Water

21  Act, 42 U.S.C. ss. 300h.

22         (5)  The department may allow a zone of discharge for

23  sodium, total coliform bacteria, and secondary drinking water

24  standards if the total dissolved solids concentration of the

25  native groundwater within the proposed zone of discharge is

26  less than 1,500 milligrams per liter and if the requirements

27  of paragraphs (4)(b)-(i) are satisfied, and:

28         (a)  The applicant for the aquifer storage and recovery

29  well permit demonstrates that no person, other than the permit

30  applicant, may in the future withdraw water from the zone of

31  discharge for use as a public or private drinking water supply

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  1  because of legal restrictions imposed by a water management

  2  district, state agency, local government, or other

  3  governmental entity having jurisdiction over water supply or

  4  well construction.

  5         (b)  The permit applicant provides written notice,

  6  including specific information about the proposed aquifer

  7  storage and recovery project, to each landowner whose property

  8  overlies the zone of discharge.

  9         (6)  A zone of discharge for aquifer storage and

10  recovery wells shall not intersect or include any part of a

11  500-foot radius surrounding any well that uses the injection

12  zone to supply drinking water.

13         (7)  The department shall specify in the permit for the

14  aquifer storage and recovery well the vertical and lateral

15  limits of the approved zone of discharge. The zone of

16  discharge limits shall be based on hydrogeological conditions,

17  for which the permit applicant shall provide calculations or

18  the results of modeling that include, but are not limited to,

19  reasonable assumptions about the expected volume of water to

20  be stored and recovered and reasonable assumptions regarding

21  aquifer thickness and porosity.  Compliance with the primary

22  drinking water standard for total coliform bacteria, sodium,

23  and the secondary drinking water standards shall be required

24  at the edge of the zone of discharge.

25         (8)  After the aquifer storage and recovery well is in

26  operation, groundwater monitoring must demonstrate that

27  biological die-off is occurring, no exceedances of the primary

28  drinking water standards have occurred outside of the zone of

29  discharge, and there is no adverse risk to human health from

30  the injection activity. Failure of the applicant to make this

31

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  1  demonstration shall result in revocation of the zone of

  2  discharge.

  3         (9)  If drinking water supply wells are present in the

  4  injection zone within 2.5 miles of the edge of the zone of

  5  discharge, additional monitor wells may be required to detect

  6  the possible movement of injected fluids in the direction of

  7  the drinking water wells.

  8         (10)  Monitor wells shall be sampled at least monthly

  9  for the parameters specified in the permit for the aquifer

10  storage and recovery well. The department may modify the

11  monitoring requirements if necessary to provide reasonable

12  assurance that underground sources of drinking water are

13  adequately protected.

14         (11)  An aquifer exemption shall be obtained prior to

15  injection if the injection fluid exceeds any primary drinking

16  water standard maximum contaminant level other than total

17  coliform bacteria or sodium, or if the presence of any

18  contaminant in the injection fluid may adversely affect the

19  health of persons.

20         (12)  The department shall make a reasonable effort to

21  issue or deny a permit within 90 days after determining the

22  permit application to be complete. In accordance with s.

23  403.0876(2)(b), the failure of the department to issue or deny

24  an underground injection control permit for an aquifer storage

25  and recovery well within the 90-day time period shall not

26  result in the automatic issuance or denial of the permit and

27  shall not prevent the inclusion of specific permit conditions

28  which are necessary to ensure compliance with applicable

29  statutes and rules.

30

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  1         (13)  The department may adopt rules for the regulation

  2  of aquifer storage and recovery wells to implement the

  3  provisions of this section.

  4         Section 4.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) of section

  5  287.042, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  6         287.042  Powers, duties, and functions.--The department

  7  shall have the following powers, duties, and functions:

  8         (2)

  9         (c)  Any person who files an action protesting a

10  decision or intended decision pertaining to contracts

11  administered by the department, a water management district,

12  or a state agency pursuant to s. 120.57(3)(b) shall post with

13  the department, the water management district, or the state

14  agency at the time of filing the formal written protest a bond

15  payable to the department, water management district, or state

16  agency in an amount equal to 1 percent of the department's,

17  the water management district's, or the state agency's

18  estimate of the total volume of the contract or $5,000,

19  whichever is less, which bond shall be conditioned upon the

20  payment of all costs which may be adjudged against him or her

21  in the administrative hearing in which the action is brought

22  and in any subsequent appellate court proceeding. For protests

23  of decisions or intended decisions of the department

24  pertaining to agencies' requests for approval of exceptional

25  purchases, the bond shall be in an amount equal to 1 percent

26  of the requesting agency's estimate of the contract amount for

27  the exceptional purchase requested or $5,000, whichever is

28  less. In lieu of a bond, the department, water management

29  district, or state agency may, in either case, accept a

30  cashier's check or money order in the amount of the bond. If,

31  after completion of the administrative hearing process and any

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  1  appellate court proceedings, the water management district or

  2  agency prevails, it shall recover all costs and charges which

  3  shall be included in the final order or judgment, excluding

  4  attorney's fees. This section shall not apply to protests

  5  filed by the Minority Business Advocacy and Assistance Office.

  6  Upon payment of such costs and charges by the person

  7  protesting the award, the bond, cashier's check, or money

  8  order shall be returned to him or her. If the person

  9  protesting the award prevails, he or she shall recover from

10  the agency or water management district all costs and charges

11  which shall be included in the final order of judgment,

12  excluding attorney's fees.

13         Section 5.  Subsection (4) of section 197.432, Florida

14  Statutes, is amended to read:

15         197.432  Sale of tax certificates for unpaid taxes.--

16         (4)  A tax certificate representing less than $100 in

17  delinquent taxes on property that has been granted a homestead

18  exemption for the year in which the delinquent taxes were

19  assessed may not be sold at public auction but shall be issued

20  by the tax collector to the county at the maximum rate of

21  interest allowed by this chapter.  The provisions of s.

22  197.502(4)(3) shall not be invoked as long as the homestead

23  exemption is granted to the person who received the homestead

24  exemption for the year in which the tax certificate was

25  issued. However, when all such tax certificates and accrued

26  interest thereon represent an amount of $100 or more, the

27  provisions of s. 197.502(4)(3) shall be invoked.

28         Section 6.  Present subsections (2), (3), (4), (5),

29  (6), (7), (8), (9), (10), and (11) of section 197.502, Florida

30  Statutes, are renumbered as subsections (3), (4), (5), (6),

31

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  1  (7), (8), (9), (10), (11), and (12), respectively, and a new

  2  subsection (2) is added to said section to read:

  3         197.502  Application for obtaining tax deed by holder

  4  of tax sale certificate; fees.--

  5         (2)  When a tax certificate that is 2 years old or

  6  older exists against a parcel that is located within a

  7  designated brownfield area under s. 376.80, the municipality

  8  or county may file a tax deed application in the same manner

  9  in which an application on a county-held tax certificate is

10  filed and processed under chapter 197.

11         Section 7.  Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section

12  197.522, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

13         197.522  Notice to owner when application for tax deed

14  is made.--

15         (1)(a)  The clerk of the circuit court shall notify, by

16  certified mail with return receipt requested or by registered

17  mail if the notice is to be sent outside the continental

18  United States, the persons listed in the tax collector's

19  statement pursuant to s. 197.502(5)(4) that an application for

20  a tax deed has been made.  Such notice shall be mailed at

21  least 20 days prior to the date of sale. If no address is

22  listed in the tax collector's statement, then no notice shall

23  be required.

24         Section 8.  Subsection (1) of section 199.1055, Florida

25  Statutes, is amended to read:

26         199.1055  Contaminated site rehabilitation tax

27  credit.--

28         (1)  AUTHORIZATION FOR TAX CREDIT; LIMITATIONS.--

29         (a)  A credit in the amount of 35 percent of the costs

30  of voluntary cleanup activity that is integral to site

31  rehabilitation at the following sites is allowed against any

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  1  tax due for a taxable year under s. 199.032, less any credit

  2  allowed by s. 220.68 for that year:

  3         1.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site eligible

  4  for state-funded site rehabilitation under s. 376.3078(3);

  5         2.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site at which

  6  cleanup is undertaken by the real property owner pursuant to

  7  s. 376.3078(11), if the real property owner is not also, and

  8  has never been, the owner or operator of the drycleaning

  9  facility where the contamination exists; or

10         3.  A brownfield site in a designated brownfield area

11  under s. 376.80; or.

12         4.  Any other contaminated site at which cleanup is

13  undertaken by a person pursuant to a voluntary cleanup

14  agreement approved by the Department of Environmental

15  Protection, if the person did not cause or contribute to the

16  contamination at the site.

17         (b)  For all applications received by the Department of

18  Environmental Protection by January 15, if, as of the

19  following March 1, the credits granted under paragraph (a) do

20  not exhaust the annual maximum allowable credits under

21  paragraph (g), any remaining credits may be granted for

22  petroleum-contaminated sites at which site rehabilitation is

23  being conducted pursuant to the preapproved advanced cleanup

24  program authorized in s. 376.30713, but tax credits may be

25  granted only for 35 percent of the amount of the cost-share

26  percentage of site rehabilitation costs paid for with private

27  funding. Tax credit applications submitted for preapproved

28  advanced cleanup sites shall not be included in the

29  carryforward provision of s. 376.30781(9), which otherwise

30  allows applications that do not receive credits due to an

31  exhaustion of the annual tax credit authorization to be

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  1  carried forward in the same order for the next year's annual

  2  tax credit allocation, if any, based on the prior year

  3  application.

  4         (c)(b)  A taxpayer, or multiple taxpayers working

  5  jointly to clean up a single site, may not receive more than

  6  $250,000 per year in tax credits for each site voluntarily

  7  rehabilitated. Multiple taxpayers shall receive tax credits in

  8  the same proportion as their contribution to payment of

  9  cleanup costs. Subject to the same conditions and limitations

10  as provided in this section, a municipality or county which

11  voluntarily rehabilitates a site may receive not more than

12  $250,000 per year in tax credits which it can subsequently

13  transfer subject to the provisions in paragraph (h) (g).

14         (d)(c)  If the credit granted under this section is not

15  fully used in any one year because of insufficient tax

16  liability on the part of the taxpayer, the unused amount may

17  be carried forward for a period not to exceed 5 years.

18         (e)(d)  A taxpayer that receives a credit under s.

19  220.1845 is ineligible to receive credit under this section in

20  a given tax year.

21         (f)(e)  A taxpayer that receives state-funded site

22  rehabilitation pursuant to s. 376.3078(3) for rehabilitation

23  of a drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site is ineligible to

24  receive credit under this section for costs incurred by the

25  taxpayer in conjunction with the rehabilitation of that site

26  during the same time period that state-administered site

27  rehabilitation was underway.

28         (g)(f)  The total amount of the tax credits which may

29  be granted under this section and s. 220.1845 is $2 million

30  annually.

31

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  1         (h)(g)1.  Tax credits that may be available under this

  2  section to an entity eligible under s. 376.30781 may be

  3  transferred after a merger or acquisition to the surviving or

  4  acquiring entity and used in the same manner with the same

  5  limitations.

  6         2.  The entity or its surviving or acquiring entity as

  7  described in subparagraph 1., may transfer any unused credit

  8  in whole or in units of no less than 25 percent of the

  9  remaining credit.  The entity acquiring such credit may use it

10  in the same manner and with the same limitation as described

11  in this section. Such transferred credits may not be

12  transferred again although they may succeed to a surviving or

13  acquiring entity subject to the same conditions and

14  limitations as described in this section.

15         3.  In the event the credit provided for under this

16  section is reduced either as a result of a determination by

17  the Department of Environmental Protection or an examination

18  or audit by the Department of Revenue, such tax deficiency

19  shall be recovered from the first entity, or the surviving or

20  acquiring entity, to have claimed such credit up to the amount

21  of credit taken.  Any subsequent deficiencies shall be

22  assessed against any entity acquiring and claiming such

23  credit, or in the case of multiple succeeding entities in the

24  order of credit succession.

25         (i)(h)  In order to encourage completion of site

26  rehabilitation at contaminated sites being voluntarily cleaned

27  up and eligible for a tax credit under this section, the

28  taxpayer may claim an additional 10 percent of the total

29  cleanup costs, not to exceed $50,000, in the final year of

30  cleanup as evidenced by the Department of Environmental

31  Protection issuing a "No Further Action" order for that site.

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  1         Section 9.  Paragraphs (g) and (h) of subsection (5) of

  2  section 212.08, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

  3         212.08  Sales, rental, use, consumption, distribution,

  4  and storage tax; specified exemptions.--The sale at retail,

  5  the rental, the use, the consumption, the distribution, and

  6  the storage to be used or consumed in this state of the

  7  following are hereby specifically exempt from the tax imposed

  8  by this chapter.

  9         (5)  EXEMPTIONS; ACCOUNT OF USE.--

10         (g)  Building materials used in the rehabilitation of

11  real property located in an enterprise zone or designated

12  brownfield area.--

13         1.  Beginning July 1, 1995, building materials used in

14  the rehabilitation of real property located in an enterprise

15  zone, and, after July 1, 1997, in a designated brownfield area

16  under s. 376.80, shall be exempt from the tax imposed by this

17  chapter upon an affirmative showing to the satisfaction of the

18  department that the items have been used for the

19  rehabilitation of real property located in an enterprise zone

20  or designated brownfield area. Except as provided in

21  subparagraph 2., this exemption inures to the owner, lessee,

22  or lessor of the rehabilitated real property located in an

23  enterprise zone or designated brownfield area only through a

24  refund of previously paid taxes. To receive a refund pursuant

25  to this paragraph, the owner, lessee, or lessor of the

26  rehabilitated real property located in an enterprise zone or

27  designated brownfield area must file an application under oath

28  with the governing body or enterprise zone development agency

29  having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or designated

30  brownfield area where the business is located, as applicable,

31  which includes:

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  1         a.  The name and address of the person claiming the

  2  refund.

  3         b.  An address and assessment roll parcel number of the

  4  rehabilitated real property in an enterprise zone or

  5  designated brownfield area for which a refund of previously

  6  paid taxes is being sought.

  7         c.  A description of the improvements made to

  8  accomplish the rehabilitation of the real property.

  9         d.  A copy of the building permit issued for the

10  rehabilitation of the real property.

11         e.  A sworn statement, under the penalty of perjury,

12  from the general contractor licensed in this state with whom

13  the applicant contracted to make the improvements necessary to

14  accomplish the rehabilitation of the real property, which

15  statement lists the building materials used in the

16  rehabilitation of the real property, the actual cost of the

17  building materials, and the amount of sales tax paid in this

18  state on the building materials. In the event that a general

19  contractor has not been used, the applicant shall provide this

20  information in a sworn statement, under the penalty of

21  perjury. Copies of the invoices which evidence the purchase of

22  the building materials used in such rehabilitation and the

23  payment of sales tax on the building materials shall be

24  attached to the sworn statement provided by the general

25  contractor or by the applicant. Unless the actual cost of

26  building materials used in the rehabilitation of real property

27  and the payment of sales taxes due thereon is documented by a

28  general contractor or by the applicant in this manner, the

29  cost of such building materials shall be an amount equal to 40

30  percent of the increase in assessed value for ad valorem tax

31  purposes.

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  1         f.  The identifying number assigned pursuant to s.

  2  290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

  3  in which the rehabilitated real property is located.

  4         g.  A certification by the local building inspector

  5  that the improvements necessary to accomplish the

  6  rehabilitation of the real property are substantially

  7  completed.

  8         h.  Whether the business is a small business as defined

  9  by s. 288.703(1).

10         i.  If applicable, the name and address of each

11  permanent employee of the business, including, for each

12  employee who is a resident of an enterprise zone or designated

13  brownfield area, the identifying number assigned pursuant to

14  s. 290.0065 to the enterprise zone in which the employee

15  resides.

16         2.  This exemption inures to a city, county, or other

17  governmental agency through a refund of previously paid taxes

18  if the building materials used in the rehabilitation of real

19  property located in an enterprise zone or designated

20  brownfield area are paid for from the funds of a community

21  development block grant or similar grant or loan program. To

22  receive a refund pursuant to this paragraph, a city, county,

23  or other governmental agency must file an application which

24  includes the same information required to be provided in

25  subparagraph 1. by an owner, lessee, or lessor of

26  rehabilitated real property. In addition, the application must

27  include a sworn statement signed by the chief executive

28  officer of the city, county, or other governmental agency

29  seeking a refund which states that the building materials for

30  which a refund is sought were paid for from the funds of a

31

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  1  community development block grant or similar grant or loan

  2  program.

  3         3.  Within 10 working days after receipt of an

  4  application, the governing body or enterprise zone development

  5  agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or

  6  designated brownfield area shall review the application to

  7  determine if it contains all the information required pursuant

  8  to subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. and meets the criteria

  9  set out in this paragraph. The governing body or agency shall

10  certify all applications that contain the information required

11  pursuant to subparagraph 1. or subparagraph 2. and meet the

12  criteria set out in this paragraph as eligible to receive a

13  refund. If applicable, the governing body or agency shall also

14  certify if 20 percent of the employees of the business are

15  residents of an enterprise zone or designated brownfield area,

16  excluding temporary and part-time employees. The certification

17  shall be in writing, and a copy of the certification shall be

18  transmitted to the executive director of the Department of

19  Revenue. The applicant shall be responsible for forwarding a

20  certified application to the department within the time

21  specified in subparagraph 4.

22         4.  An application for a refund pursuant to this

23  paragraph must be submitted to the department within 6 months

24  after the rehabilitation of the property is deemed to be

25  substantially completed by the local building inspector.

26         5.  The provisions of s. 212.095 do not apply to any

27  refund application made pursuant to this paragraph. No more

28  than one exemption through a refund of previously paid taxes

29  for the rehabilitation of real property shall be permitted for

30  any one parcel of real property. No refund shall be granted

31  pursuant to this paragraph unless the amount to be refunded

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  1  exceeds $500. No refund granted pursuant to this paragraph

  2  shall exceed the lesser of 97 percent of the Florida sales or

  3  use tax paid on the cost of the building materials used in the

  4  rehabilitation of the real property as determined pursuant to

  5  sub-subparagraph 1.e. or $5,000, or, if no less than 20

  6  percent of the employees of the business are residents of an

  7  enterprise zone or designated brownfield area, excluding

  8  temporary and part-time employees, the amount of refund

  9  granted pursuant to this paragraph shall not exceed the lesser

10  of 97 percent of the sales tax paid on the cost of such

11  building materials or $10,000. A refund approved pursuant to

12  this paragraph shall be made within 30 days of formal approval

13  by the department of the application for the refund.

14         6.  The department shall adopt rules governing the

15  manner and form of refund applications and may establish

16  guidelines as to the requisites for an affirmative showing of

17  qualification for exemption under this paragraph.

18         7.  The department shall deduct an amount equal to 10

19  percent of each refund granted under the provisions of this

20  paragraph from the amount transferred into the Local

21  Government Half-cent Sales Tax Clearing Trust Fund pursuant to

22  s. 212.20 for the county area in which the rehabilitated real

23  property is located and shall transfer that amount to the

24  General Revenue Fund.

25         8.  For the purposes of the exemption provided in this

26  paragraph:

27         a.  "Building materials" means tangible personal

28  property that which becomes a component part of improvements

29  to real property.

30         b.  "Real property" has the same meaning as provided in

31  s. 192.001(12).

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  1         c.  "Rehabilitation of real property" means the

  2  reconstruction, renovation, restoration, rehabilitation,

  3  construction, or expansion of improvements to real property.

  4         d.  "Substantially completed" has the same meaning as

  5  provided in s. 192.042(1).

  6         9.  The provisions of this paragraph shall expire and

  7  be void on December 31, 2005.

  8         (h)  Business property used in an enterprise zone or

  9  designated brownfield area.--

10         1.  Beginning July 1, 1995, business property purchased

11  for use by businesses located in an enterprise zone that which

12  is subsequently used in an enterprise zone or, after July 1,

13  1997, in a designated brownfield area under s. 376.80, shall

14  be exempt from the tax imposed by this chapter. This exemption

15  inures to the business only through a refund of previously

16  paid taxes. A refund shall be authorized upon an affirmative

17  showing by the taxpayer to the satisfaction of the department

18  that the requirements of this paragraph have been met.

19         2.  To receive a refund, the business must file under

20  oath with the governing body or enterprise zone development

21  agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or

22  designated brownfield area where the business is located, as

23  applicable, an application which includes:

24         a.  The name and address of the business claiming the

25  refund.

26         b.  The identifying number assigned pursuant to s.

27  290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

28  in which the business is located.

29         c.  A specific description of the property for which a

30  refund is sought, including its serial number or other

31  permanent identification number.

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  1         d.  The location of the property.

  2         e.  The sales invoice or other proof of purchase of the

  3  property, showing the amount of sales tax paid, the date of

  4  purchase, and the name and address of the sales tax dealer

  5  from whom the property was purchased.

  6         f.  Whether the business is a small business as defined

  7  by s. 288.703(1).

  8         g.  If applicable, the name and address of each

  9  permanent employee of the business, including, for each

10  employee who is a resident of an enterprise zone or designated

11  brownfield area, the identifying number assigned pursuant to

12  s. 290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated brownfield

13  area in which the employee resides.

14         3.  Within 10 working days after receipt of an

15  application, the governing body or enterprise zone development

16  agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or

17  designated brownfield area shall review the application to

18  determine if it contains all the information required pursuant

19  to subparagraph 2. and meets the criteria set out in this

20  paragraph. The governing body or agency shall certify all

21  applications that contain the information required pursuant to

22  subparagraph 2. and meet the criteria set out in this

23  paragraph as eligible to receive a refund. If applicable, the

24  governing body or agency shall also certify if 20 percent of

25  the employees of the business are residents of an enterprise

26  zone or designated brownfield area, excluding temporary and

27  part-time employees. The certification shall be in writing,

28  and a copy of the certification shall be transmitted to the

29  executive director of the Department of Revenue. The business

30  shall be responsible for forwarding a certified application to

31  the department within the time specified in subparagraph 4.

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  1         4.  An application for a refund pursuant to this

  2  paragraph must be submitted to the department within 6 months

  3  after the business property is purchased.

  4         5.  The provisions of s. 212.095 do not apply to any

  5  refund application made pursuant to this paragraph. The amount

  6  refunded on purchases of business property under this

  7  paragraph shall be the lesser of 97 percent of the sales tax

  8  paid on such business property or $5,000, or, if no less than

  9  20 percent of the employees of the business are residents of

10  an enterprise zone or designated brownfield area, excluding

11  temporary and part-time employees, the amount refunded on

12  purchases of business property under this paragraph shall be

13  the lesser of 97 percent of the sales tax paid on such

14  business property or $10,000. A refund approved pursuant to

15  this paragraph shall be made within 30 days of formal approval

16  by the department of the application for the refund. No refund

17  shall be granted under this paragraph unless the amount to be

18  refunded exceeds $100 in sales tax paid on purchases made

19  within a 60-day time period.

20         6.  The department shall adopt rules governing the

21  manner and form of refund applications and may establish

22  guidelines as to the requisites for an affirmative showing of

23  qualification for exemption under this paragraph.

24         7.  If the department determines that the business

25  property is used outside an enterprise zone or designated

26  brownfield area within 3 years from the date of purchase, the

27  amount of taxes refunded to the business purchasing such

28  business property shall immediately be due and payable to the

29  department by the business, together with the appropriate

30  interest and penalty, computed from the date of purchase, in

31

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  1  the manner provided by this chapter.  Notwithstanding this

  2  subparagraph, business property used exclusively in:

  3         a.  Licensed commercial fishing vessels,

  4         b.  Fishing guide boats, or

  5         c.  Ecotourism guide boats

  6

  7  that leave and return to a fixed location within an area

  8  designated under s. 370.28 are eligible for the exemption

  9  provided under this paragraph if all requirements of this

10  paragraph are met. Such vessels and boats must be owned by a

11  business that is eligible to receive the exemption provided

12  under this paragraph. This exemption does not apply to the

13  purchase of a vessel or boat.

14         8.  The department shall deduct an amount equal to 10

15  percent of each refund granted under the provisions of this

16  paragraph from the amount transferred into the Local

17  Government Half-cent Sales Tax Clearing Trust Fund pursuant to

18  s. 212.20 for the county area in which the business property

19  is located and shall transfer that amount to the General

20  Revenue Fund.

21         9.  For the purposes of this exemption, "business

22  property" means new or used property defined as "recovery

23  property" in s. 168(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954,

24  as amended, except:

25         a.  Property classified as 3-year property under s.

26  168(c)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954, as amended;

27         b.  Industrial machinery and equipment as defined in

28  sub-subparagraph (b)6.a. and eligible for exemption under

29  paragraph (b); and

30         c.  Building materials as defined in sub-subparagraph

31  (g)8.a.

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  1         10.  The provisions of this paragraph shall expire and

  2  be void on December 31, 2005.

  3         Section 10.  Section 212.096, Florida Statutes, is

  4  amended to read:

  5         212.096  Sales, rental, storage, use tax; brownfield

  6  area and enterprise zone jobs credit against sales tax.--

  7         (1)  For the purposes of the credit provided in this

  8  section:

  9         (a)  "Eligible business" means any sole proprietorship,

10  firm, partnership, corporation, bank, savings association,

11  estate, trust, business trust, receiver, syndicate, or other

12  group or combination, or successor business, located in an

13  enterprise zone or a brownfield area designated under s.

14  376.80. An eligible business does not include any business

15  which has claimed the credit permitted under s. 220.181 for

16  any new business employee first beginning employment with the

17  business after July 1, 1995.

18         (b)  "Month" means either a calendar month or the time

19  period from any day of any month to the corresponding day of

20  the next succeeding month or, if there is no corresponding day

21  in the next succeeding month, the last day of the succeeding

22  month.

23         (c)  "New employee" means a person residing in an

24  enterprise zone or a designated brownfield area, a qualified

25  Job Training Partnership Act classroom training participant,

26  or a WAGES Program participant who begins employment with an

27  eligible business after July 1, 1995, and who has not been

28  previously employed within the preceding 12 months by the

29  eligible business, or a successor eligible business, claiming

30  the credit allowed by this section.

31

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  1  A person shall be deemed to be employed if the person performs

  2  duties in connection with the operations of the business on a

  3  regular, full-time basis, provided the person is performing

  4  such duties for an average of at least 36 hours per week each

  5  month, or a part-time basis, provided the person is performing

  6  such duties for an average of at least 20 hours per week each

  7  month throughout the year. The person must be performing such

  8  duties at a business site located in the enterprise zone or

  9  designated brownfield area.

10         (2)(a)  It is the legislative intent to encourage the

11  provision of meaningful employment opportunities that which

12  will improve the quality of life of those employed and to

13  encourage economic expansion of enterprise zones or designated

14  brownfield areas and the state. Therefore, beginning July 1,

15  1995, upon an affirmative showing by a business to the

16  satisfaction of the department that the requirements of this

17  section have been met, the business shall be allowed a credit

18  against the tax remitted under this chapter.

19         (b)  The credit shall be computed as follows:

20         1.  Ten percent of the monthly wages paid in this state

21  to each new employee whose wages do not exceed $1,500 a month.

22  If no less than 20 percent of the employees of the business

23  are residents of an enterprise zone or a designated brownfield

24  area, excluding temporary and part-time employees, the credit

25  shall be computed as 15 percent of the monthly wages paid in

26  this state to each new employee;

27         2.  Five percent of the first $1,500 of actual monthly

28  wages paid in this state for each new employee whose wages

29  exceed $1,500 a month; or

30

31

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  1         3.  Fifteen percent of the first $1,500 of actual

  2  monthly wages paid in this state for each new employee who is

  3  a WAGES Program participant pursuant to chapter 414.

  4

  5  For purposes of this paragraph, monthly wages shall be

  6  computed as one-twelfth of the expected annual wages paid to

  7  such employee. The amount paid as wages to a new employee is

  8  the compensation paid to such employee that is subject to

  9  unemployment tax. The credit shall be allowed for up to 12

10  consecutive months, beginning with the first tax return due

11  pursuant to s. 212.11 after approval by the department.

12         (3)  In order to claim this credit, an eligible

13  business must file under oath with the governing body or

14  enterprise zone development agency having jurisdiction over

15  the enterprise zone or designated brownfield area where the

16  business is located, as applicable, a statement which

17  includes:

18         (a)  For each new employee for whom this credit is

19  claimed, the employee's name and place of residence, including

20  the identifying number assigned pursuant to s. 290.0065 to the

21  enterprise zone or designated brownfield area in which the

22  employee resides if the new employee is a person residing in

23  an enterprise zone, and, if applicable, documentation that the

24  employee is a qualified Job Training Partnership Act classroom

25  training participant or a WAGES Program participant.

26         (b)  If applicable, the name and address of each

27  permanent employee of the business, including, for each

28  employee who is a resident of an enterprise zone or a

29  designated brownfield area, the identifying number assigned

30  pursuant to s. 290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated

31  brownfield area in which the employee resides.

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  1         (c)  The name and address of the eligible business.

  2         (d)  The starting salary or hourly wages paid to the

  3  new employee.

  4         (e)  The identifying number assigned pursuant to s.

  5  290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

  6  in which the business is located.

  7         (f)  Whether the business is a small business as

  8  defined by s. 288.703(1).

  9         (g)  Within 10 working days after receipt of an

10  application, the governing body or enterprise zone development

11  agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or

12  designated brownfield area shall review the application to

13  determine if it contains all the information required pursuant

14  to this subsection and meets the criteria set out in this

15  section. The governing body or agency shall certify all

16  applications that contain the information required pursuant to

17  this subsection and meet the criteria set out in this section

18  as eligible to receive a credit. If applicable, the governing

19  body or agency shall also certify if 20 percent of the

20  employees of the business are residents of an enterprise zone

21  or designated brownfield area, excluding temporary and

22  part-time employees. The certification shall be in writing,

23  and a copy of the certification shall be transmitted to the

24  executive director of the Department of Revenue. The business

25  shall be responsible for forwarding a certified application to

26  the department within the time specified in paragraph (h).

27         (h)  All applications for a credit pursuant to this

28  section must be submitted to the department within 4 months

29  after the new employee is hired.

30         (4)  In the event the application is insufficient to

31  support the credit authorized in this section, the department

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  1  shall deny the credit and notify the business of that fact.

  2  The business may reapply for this credit.

  3         (5)  The credit provided in this section does not

  4  apply:

  5         (a)  For any new employee who is an owner, partner, or

  6  stockholder of an eligible business.

  7         (b)  For any new employee who is employed for any

  8  period less than 3 full calendar months.

  9         (6)  The credit provided in this section shall not be

10  allowed for any month in which the tax due for such period or

11  the tax return required pursuant to s. 212.11 for such period

12  is delinquent.

13         (7)  In the event an eligible business has a credit

14  larger than the amount owed the state on the tax return for

15  the time period in which the credit is claimed, the amount of

16  the credit for that time period shall be the amount owed the

17  state on that tax return.

18         (8)  Any business which has claimed this credit shall

19  not be allowed any credit under the provisions of s. 220.181

20  for any new employee beginning employment after July 1, 1995.

21         (9)  It shall be the responsibility of each business to

22  affirmatively demonstrate to the satisfaction of the

23  department that it meets the requirements of this section.

24         (10)  Any person who fraudulently claims this credit is

25  liable for repayment of the credit plus a mandatory penalty of

26  100 percent of the credit plus interest at the rate provided

27  in this chapter, and such person is guilty of a misdemeanor of

28  the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.

29  775.083.

30

31

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  1         (11)  The provisions of this section, except for

  2  subsection (10), shall expire and be void on December 31,

  3  2005.

  4         Section 11.  Section 220.181, Florida Statutes, is

  5  amended to read:

  6         220.181  Enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

  7  jobs credit.--

  8         (1)(a)  Beginning July 1, 1995, There shall be allowed

  9  a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter to any

10  business located in an enterprise zone or a brownfield area

11  designated under s. 376.80 which employs one or more new

12  employees. The credit shall be computed as follows:

13         1.  Ten percent of the actual monthly wages paid in

14  this state to each new employee whose wages do not exceed

15  $1,500 a month. If no less than 20 percent of the employees of

16  the business are residents of an enterprise zone or a

17  brownfield area designated under s. 376.80, excluding

18  temporary and part-time employees, the credit shall be

19  computed as 15 percent of the actual monthly wages paid in

20  this state to each new employee, for a period of up to 12

21  consecutive months;

22         2.  Five percent of the first $1,500 of actual monthly

23  wages paid in this state for each new employee whose wages

24  exceed $1,500 a month; or

25         3.  Fifteen percent of the first $1,500 of actual

26  monthly wages paid in this state for each new employee who is

27  a WAGES Program participant pursuant to chapter 414.

28         (b)  This credit applies only with respect to wages

29  subject to unemployment tax and does not apply for any new

30  employee who is employed for any period less than 3 full

31  months.

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  1         (c)  If this credit is not fully used in any one year,

  2  the unused amount may be carried forward for a period not to

  3  exceed 5 years. The carryover credit may be used in a

  4  subsequent year when the tax imposed by this chapter for such

  5  year exceeds the credit for such year after applying the other

  6  credits and unused credit carryovers in the order provided in

  7  s. 220.02(10).

  8         (2)  When filing for an enterprise zone jobs credit or

  9  a brownfield area jobs credit, a business must file under oath

10  with the governing body or enterprise zone development agency

11  having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or the designated

12  brownfield area where the business is located, as applicable,

13  a statement which includes:

14         (a)  For each new employee for whom this credit is

15  claimed, the employee's name and place of residence during the

16  taxable year, including the identifying number assigned

17  pursuant to s. 290.0065 to the enterprise zone, or to the

18  brownfield area designated under s. 376.80, in which the new

19  employee resides if the new employee is a person residing in

20  an enterprise zone or a designated brownfield area, and, if

21  applicable, documentation that the employee is a qualified Job

22  Training Partnership Act classroom training participant or a

23  WAGES Program participant.

24         (b)  If applicable, the name and address of each

25  permanent employee of the business, including, for each

26  employee who is a resident of an enterprise zone or a

27  designated brownfield area, the identifying number assigned

28  pursuant to s. 290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated

29  brownfield area in which the employee resides.

30         (c)  The name and address of the business.

31

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  1         (d)  The identifying number assigned pursuant to s.

  2  290.0065 to the enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

  3  in which the eligible business is located.

  4         (e)  The salary or hourly wages paid to each new

  5  employee claimed.

  6         (f)  Whether the business is a small business as

  7  defined by s. 288.703(1).

  8         (3)  Within 10 working days after receipt of an

  9  application, the governing body or enterprise zone development

10  agency having jurisdiction over the enterprise zone or

11  designated brownfield area shall review the application to

12  determine if it contains all the information required pursuant

13  to subsection (2) and meets the criteria set out in this

14  section. The governing body or agency shall certify all

15  applications that contain the information required pursuant to

16  subsection (2) and meet the criteria set out in this section

17  as eligible to receive a credit. If applicable, the governing

18  body or agency shall also certify if 20 percent of the

19  employees of the business are residents of an enterprise zone

20  or designated brownfield area, excluding temporary and

21  part-time employees. The certification shall be in writing,

22  and a copy of the certification shall be transmitted to the

23  executive director of the Department of Revenue. The business

24  shall be responsible for forwarding a certified application to

25  the department.

26         (4)  It shall be the responsibility of the taxpayer to

27  affirmatively demonstrate to the satisfaction of the

28  department that it meets the requirements of this act.

29         (5)  For the purpose of this section, the term "month"

30  means either a calendar month or the time period from any day

31  of any month to the corresponding day of the next succeeding

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  1  month or, if there is no corresponding day in the next

  2  succeeding month, the last day of the succeeding month.

  3         (6)  No business which files an amended return for a

  4  taxable year shall be allowed any amount of credit or credit

  5  carryforward pursuant to this section in excess of the amount

  6  claimed by such business on its original return for the

  7  taxable year. The provisions of this subsection do not apply

  8  to increases in the amount of credit claimed under this

  9  section on an amended return due to the use of any credit

10  amount previously carried forward for the taxable year on the

11  original return or any eligible prior year under paragraph

12  (1)(c).

13         (7)  Any business which has claimed this credit shall

14  not be allowed any credit under the provision of s. 212.096

15  for any new employee beginning employment after July 1, 1995.

16  The provisions of this subsection shall not apply when a

17  corporation converts to an S corporation for purposes of

18  compliance with the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended;

19  however, no corporation shall be allowed the benefit of this

20  credit and the credit under s. 212.096 either for the same new

21  employee or for the same taxable year. In addition, such a

22  corporation shall not be allowed any credit under s. 212.096

23  until it has filed notice of its intent to change its status

24  for tax purposes and until its final return under this chapter

25  for the taxable year prior to such change has been filed.

26         (8)(a)  Any person who fraudulently claims this credit

27  is liable for repayment of the credit, plus a mandatory

28  penalty in the amount of 200 percent of the credit, plus

29  interest at the rate provided in s. 220.807, and commits a

30  felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s.

31  775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

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  1         (b)  Any person who makes an underpayment of tax as a

  2  result of a grossly overstated claim for this credit is guilty

  3  of a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s.

  4  775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. For purposes of this

  5  paragraph, a grossly overstated claim means a claim in an

  6  amount in excess of 100 percent of the amount of credit

  7  allowable under this section.

  8         (9)  The provisions of this section, except paragraph

  9  (1)(c) and subsection (8), shall expire and be void on June

10  30, 2005, and no business shall be allowed to begin claiming

11  such enterprise zone jobs credit after that date; however, the

12  expiration of this section shall not affect the operation of

13  any credit for which a business has qualified under this

14  section prior to June 30, 2005, or any carryforward of unused

15  credit amounts as provided in paragraph (1)(c).

16         Section 12.  Section 220.182, Florida Statutes, is

17  amended to read:

18         220.182  Enterprise zone and brownfield area property

19  tax credit.--

20         (1)(a)  Beginning July 1, 1995, There shall be allowed

21  a credit against the tax imposed by this chapter to any

22  business which establishes a new business as defined in s.

23  220.03(1)(p)2., expands an existing business as defined in s.

24  220.03(1)(k)2., or rebuilds an existing business as defined in

25  s. 220.03(1)(u) in this state. The credit shall be computed

26  annually as ad valorem taxes paid in this state, in the case

27  of a new business; the additional ad valorem tax paid in this

28  state resulting from assessments on additional real or

29  tangible personal property acquired to facilitate the

30  expansion of an existing business; or the ad valorem taxes

31  paid in this state resulting from assessments on property

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  1  replaced or restored, in the case of a rebuilt business,

  2  including pollution and waste control facilities, or any part

  3  thereof, and including one or more buildings or other

  4  structures, machinery, fixtures, and equipment.

  5         (b)  If the credit granted pursuant to this section is

  6  not fully used in any one year, the unused amount may be

  7  carried forward for a period not to exceed 5 years. The

  8  carryover credit may be used in a subsequent year when the tax

  9  imposed by this chapter for such year exceeds the credit for

10  such year under this section after applying the other credits

11  and unused credit carryovers in the order provided in s.

12  220.02(10). The amount of credit taken under this section in

13  any one year, however, shall not exceed $25,000, or, if no

14  less than 20 percent of the employees of the business are

15  residents of an enterprise zone or a brownfield area

16  designated under s. 376.80, excluding temporary employees, the

17  amount shall not exceed $50,000.

18         (2)  To be eligible to receive an expanded enterprise

19  zone or a designated brownfield area property tax credit of up

20  to $50,000, the business must provide a statement, under oath,

21  on the form prescribed by the department for claiming the

22  credit authorized by this section, that no less than 20

23  percent of its employees, excluding temporary and part-time

24  employees, are residents of an enterprise zone or a designated

25  brownfield area. It shall be a condition precedent to the

26  granting of each annual tax credit that such employment

27  requirements be fulfilled throughout each year during the

28  5-year period of the credit. The statement shall set forth the

29  name and place of residence of each permanent employee on the

30  last day of business of the tax year for which the credit is

31  claimed or, if the employee is no longer employed or eligible

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  1  for the credit on that date, the last calendar day of the last

  2  full calendar month the employee was employed or eligible for

  3  the credit at the relevant site.

  4         (3)  The credit shall be available to a new business

  5  for a period not to exceed the year in which ad valorem taxes

  6  are first levied against the business and the 4 years

  7  immediately thereafter. The credit shall be available to an

  8  expanded existing business for a period not to exceed the year

  9  in which ad valorem taxes are first levied on additional real

10  or tangible personal property acquired to facilitate the

11  expansion or rebuilding and the 4 years immediately

12  thereafter. No business shall be entitled to claim the credit

13  authorized by this section, except any amount attributable to

14  the carryover of a previously earned credit, for more than 5

15  consecutive years.

16         (4)  To be eligible for an enterprise zone or a

17  designated brownfield area property tax credit, a new,

18  expanded, or rebuilt business shall file a notice with the

19  property appraiser of the county in which the business

20  property is located or to be located. The notice shall be

21  filed no later than April 1 of the year in which new or

22  additional real or tangible personal property acquired to

23  facilitate such new, expanded, or rebuilt facility is first

24  subject to assessment. The notice shall be made on a form

25  prescribed by the department and shall include separate

26  descriptions of:

27         (a)  Real and tangible personal property owned or

28  leased by the business prior to expansion, if any.

29         (b)  Net new or additional real and tangible personal

30  property acquired to facilitate the new, expanded, or rebuilt

31  facility.

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  1         (5)  When filing for an enterprise zone or a designated

  2  brownfield area property tax credit as a new business, a

  3  business shall include a copy of its receipt indicating

  4  payment of ad valorem taxes for the current year.

  5         (6)  When filing for an enterprise zone or a designated

  6  brownfield area property tax credit as an expanded or rebuilt

  7  business, a business shall include copies of its receipts

  8  indicating payment of ad valorem taxes for the current year

  9  for prior existing property and for expansion-related or

10  rebuilt property.

11         (7)  The receipts described in subsections (5) and (6)

12  shall indicate the assessed value of the property, the

13  property taxes paid, a brief description of the property, and

14  an indication, if applicable, that the property was separately

15  assessed as expansion-related or rebuilt property.

16         (8)  The department has authority to adopt rules

17  pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement the

18  provisions of this act.

19         (9)  It shall be the responsibility of the taxpayer to

20  affirmatively demonstrate to the satisfaction of the

21  department that he or she meets the requirements of this act.

22         (10)  When filing for an enterprise zone or a

23  designated brownfield area property tax credit as an expansion

24  of an existing business or as a new business, it shall be a

25  condition precedent to the granting of each annual tax credit

26  that there have been, throughout each year during the 5-year

27  period, no fewer than five more employees than in the year

28  preceding the initial granting of the credit.

29         (11)  To apply for an enterprise zone or a designated

30  brownfield area property tax credit, a new, expanded, or

31  rebuilt business must file under oath with the governing body

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  1  or enterprise zone development agency having jurisdiction over

  2  the enterprise zone or the designated brownfield area where

  3  the business is located, as applicable, an application

  4  prescribed by the department for claiming the credit

  5  authorized by this section. Within 10 working days after

  6  receipt of an application, the governing body or enterprise

  7  zone development agency shall review the application to

  8  determine if it contains all the information required pursuant

  9  to this section and meets the criteria set out in this

10  section. The governing body or agency shall certify all

11  applications that contain the information required pursuant to

12  this section and meet the criteria set out in this section as

13  eligible to receive a credit. If applicable, the governing

14  body or agency shall also certify if 20 percent of the

15  employees of the business are residents of an enterprise zone

16  or a designated brownfield area, excluding temporary and

17  part-time employees. The certification shall be in writing,

18  and a copy of the certification shall be transmitted to the

19  executive director of the Department of Revenue. The business

20  shall be responsible for forwarding all certified applications

21  to the department.

22         (12)  When filing for an enterprise zone or a

23  designated brownfield area property tax credit, a business

24  shall include the identifying number assigned pursuant to s.

25  290.0065 to the enterprise zone in which the business is

26  located.

27         (13)  When filing for an enterprise zone or a

28  designated brownfield area property tax credit, a business

29  shall indicate whether the business is a small business as

30  defined by s. 288.703(1).

31

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  1         (14)  The provisions of this section shall expire and

  2  be void on June 30, 2005, and no business shall be allowed to

  3  begin claiming such enterprise zone or designated brownfield

  4  area property tax credit after that date; however, the

  5  expiration of this section shall not affect the operation of

  6  any credit for which a business has qualified under this

  7  section prior to June 30, 2005, or any carryforward of unused

  8  credit amounts as provided in paragraph (1)(b).

  9         Section 13.  Subsections (1) and (2) and paragraph (d)

10  of subsection (4) of section 220.183, Florida Statutes, are

11  amended to read:

12         220.183  Community contribution tax credit.--

13         (1)  LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.--The Legislature finds that:

14         (a)  There exist in the counties and municipalities

15  conditions of blight evidenced by extensive deterioration of

16  public and private facilities, abandonment of sound

17  structures, and high unemployment which conditions impede the

18  conservation and development of healthy, safe, and

19  economically viable communities.

20         (b)  Deterioration of housing and industrial,

21  commercial, and public facilities contributes to the decline

22  of neighborhoods and communities and leads to the loss of

23  their historic character and the sense of community which this

24  inspires; reduces the value of property comprising the tax

25  base of local communities; discourages private investment; and

26  requires a disproportionate expenditure of public funds for

27  the social services, unemployment benefits, and police

28  protection required to combat the social and economic problems

29  found in slum communities.

30         (c)  In order to ultimately restore social and economic

31  viability to enterprise zones and brownfield areas designated

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  1  under s. 376.80, it is necessary to renovate or construct new

  2  housing, water and sewer infrastructure, and transportation

  3  facilities and to specifically provide mechanisms to attract

  4  and encourage private economic activity.

  5         (d)  The various local governments and other

  6  redevelopment organizations now undertaking physical

  7  revitalization projects are limited by tightly constrained

  8  budgets and inadequate resources.

  9         (e)  In order to significantly improve revitalization

10  efforts by local governments and community development

11  organizations and to retain as much of the historic character

12  of our communities as possible, it is necessary to provide

13  additional resources, and the participation of private

14  enterprise in revitalization efforts is an effective means for

15  accomplishing that goal.

16         (2)  POLICY AND PURPOSE.--It is the policy of this

17  state to encourage the participation of private corporations

18  in revitalization projects undertaken by public redevelopment

19  organizations. The purpose of this section is to provide to

20  the greatest extent possible an incentive for such

21  participation by granting partial state income tax credits to

22  corporations that contribute resources to public redevelopment

23  organizations for the revitalization of enterprise zones and

24  brownfield areas designated under s. 376.80 for the benefit of

25  low-income and moderate-income persons or to preserve existing

26  historically significant properties within enterprise zones or

27  brownfield areas designated under s. 376.80 to the greatest

28  extent possible. The Legislature thus declares this a public

29  purpose for which public money may be borrowed, expended,

30  loaned, and granted.

31         (4)  ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.--

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  1         (d)  The project shall be located in an area designated

  2  as an enterprise zone pursuant to s. 290.0065 or a brownfield

  3  area designated under s. 376.80.  Any project designed to

  4  construct or rehabilitate low-income housing is exempt from

  5  the area requirement of this paragraph.

  6         Section 14.  Subsection (1) of section 220.1845,

  7  Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  8         220.1845  Contaminated site rehabilitation tax

  9  credit.--

10         (1)  AUTHORIZATION FOR TAX CREDIT; LIMITATIONS.--

11         (a)  A credit in the amount of 35 percent of the costs

12  of voluntary cleanup activity that is integral to site

13  rehabilitation at the following sites is allowed against any

14  tax due for a taxable year under this chapter:

15         1.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site eligible

16  for state-funded site rehabilitation under s. 376.3078(3);

17         2.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site at which

18  cleanup is undertaken by the real property owner pursuant to

19  s. 376.3078(11), if the real property owner is not also, and

20  has never been, the owner or operator of the drycleaning

21  facility where the contamination exists; or

22         3.  A brownfield site in a designated brownfield area

23  under s. 376.80; or.

24         4.  Any other contaminated site at which cleanup is

25  undertaken by a person pursuant to a voluntary cleanup

26  agreement approved by the Department of Environmental

27  Protection, if the person did not cause or contribute to the

28  contamination at the site.

29         (b)  For all applications received by the Department of

30  Environmental Protection by January 15, if, as of the

31  following March 1, the credits granted under paragraph (a) do

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  1  not exhaust the annual maximum allowable credits under

  2  paragraph (h), any remaining credits may be granted for

  3  petroleum-contaminated sites at which site rehabilitation is

  4  being conducted pursuant to the preapproved advanced cleanup

  5  program authorized in s. 376.30713, but tax credits may be

  6  granted only for 35 percent of the amount of the cost-share

  7  percentage of site rehabilitation costs paid for with private

  8  funding. Tax credit applications submitted for preapproved

  9  advanced cleanup sites shall not be included in the

10  carryforward provision of s. 376.30781(9), which otherwise

11  allows applications that do not receive credits due to an

12  exhaustion of the annual tax credit authorization to be

13  carried forward in the same order for the next year's annual

14  tax credit allocation, if any, based on the prior year

15  application.

16         (c)(b)  A taxpayer, or multiple taxpayers working

17  jointly to clean up a single site, may not receive more than

18  $250,000 per year in tax credits for each site voluntarily

19  rehabilitated. Multiple taxpayers shall receive tax credits in

20  the same proportion as their contribution to payment of

21  cleanup costs. Subject to the same conditions and limitations

22  as provided in this section, a municipality or county which

23  voluntarily rehabilitates a site may receive not more than

24  $250,000 per year in tax credits which it can subsequently

25  transfer subject to the provisions in paragraph (i) (h).

26         (d)(c)  If the credit granted under this section is not

27  fully used in any one year because of insufficient tax

28  liability on the part of the corporation, the unused amount

29  may be carried forward for a period not to exceed 5 years. The

30  carryover credit may be used in a subsequent year when the tax

31  imposed by this chapter for that year exceeds the credit for

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  1  which the corporation is eligible in that year under this

  2  section after applying the other credits and unused carryovers

  3  in the order provided by s. 220.02(10).

  4         (e)(d)  A taxpayer that files a consolidated return in

  5  this state as a member of an affiliated group under s.

  6  220.131(1) may be allowed the credit on a consolidated return

  7  basis up to the amount of tax imposed upon and paid by the

  8  taxpayer that incurred the rehabilitation costs.

  9         (f)(e)  A taxpayer that receives credit under s.

10  199.1055 is ineligible to receive credit under this section in

11  a given tax year.

12         (g)(f)  A taxpayer that receives state-funded site

13  rehabilitation under s. 376.3078(3) for rehabilitation of a

14  drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site is ineligible to receive

15  credit under this section for costs incurred by the taxpayer

16  in conjunction with the rehabilitation of that site during the

17  same time period that state-administered site rehabilitation

18  was underway.

19         (h)(g)  The total amount of the tax credits which may

20  be granted under this section and s. 199.1055 is $2 million

21  annually.

22         (i)(h)1.  Tax credits that may be available under this

23  section to an entity eligible under s. 376.30781 may be

24  transferred after a merger or acquisition to the surviving or

25  acquiring entity and used in the same manner and with the same

26  limitations.

27         2.  The entity or its surviving or acquiring entity as

28  described in subparagraph 1., may transfer any unused credit

29  in whole or in units of no less than 25 percent of the

30  remaining credit.  The entity acquiring such credit may use it

31  in the same manner and with the same limitation as described

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  1  in this section. Such transferred credits may not be

  2  transferred again although they may succeed to a surviving or

  3  acquiring entity subject to the same conditions and

  4  limitations as described in this section.

  5         3.  In the event the credit provided for under this

  6  section is reduced either as a result of a determination by

  7  the Department of Environmental Protection or an examination

  8  or audit by the Department of Revenue, such tax deficiency

  9  shall be recovered from the first entity, or the surviving or

10  acquiring entity, to have claimed such credit up to the amount

11  of credit taken.  Any subsequent deficiencies shall be

12  assessed against any entity acquiring and claiming such

13  credit, or in the case of multiple succeeding entities in the

14  order of credit succession.

15         (j)(i)  In order to encourage completion of site

16  rehabilitation at contaminated sites being voluntarily cleaned

17  up and eligible for a tax credit under this section, the

18  taxpayer may claim an additional 10 percent of the total

19  cleanup costs, not to exceed $50,000, in the final year of

20  cleanup as evidenced by the Department of Environmental

21  Protection issuing a "No Further Action" order for that site.

22         Section 15.  Section 290.007, Florida Statutes, is

23  amended to read:

24         290.007  State incentives available in enterprise zones

25  and brownfield areas.--The following incentives are provided

26  by the state to encourage the revitalization of enterprise

27  zones and brownfield areas designated under s. 376.80:

28         (1)  The enterprise zone jobs credit and the designated

29  brownfield area jobs credit provided in s. 220.181.

30         (2)  The enterprise zone or designated brownfield area

31  property tax credit provided in s. 220.182.

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  1         (3)  The community contribution tax credits provided in

  2  ss. 220.183 and 624.5105.

  3         (4)  The sales tax exemption for building materials

  4  used in the rehabilitation of real property in enterprise

  5  zones or designated brownfield areas provided in s.

  6  212.08(5)(g).

  7         (5)  The sales tax exemption for business equipment

  8  used in an enterprise zone or a designated brownfield area

  9  provided in s. 212.08(5)(h).

10         (6)  The sales tax exemption for electrical energy used

11  in an enterprise zone or a designated brownfield area provided

12  in s. 212.08(15).

13         (7)  The enterprise zone jobs credit and the designated

14  brownfield area jobs credit against the sales tax provided in

15  s. 212.096.

16         (8)  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, the

17  Public Service Commission may allow public utilities and

18  telecommunications companies to grant discounts of up to 50

19  percent on tariffed rates for services to small businesses

20  located in an enterprise zone designated pursuant to s.

21  290.0065 or a brownfield area designated under s. 376.80. Such

22  discounts may be granted for a period not to exceed 5 years.

23  For purposes of this subsection, "public utility" has the same

24  meaning as in s. 366.02(1) and "telecommunications company"

25  has the same meaning as in s. 364.02(12)(7).

26         Section 16.  Section 376.30702, Florida Statutes, is

27  created to read:

28         376.30702  State-Owned-Lands Cleanup Program.--

29         (1)  FINDINGS; INTENT.--In addition to the legislative

30  findings set forth in s. 376.30, the Legislature finds and

31  declares that:

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  1         (a)  Significant quantities of pollutants or hazardous

  2  substances have been discharged in the past on state-owned

  3  lands. Generally, these discharges have occurred as part of

  4  the normal operation of facilities that existed on the

  5  property. Many of these discharges occurred prior to the state

  6  acquiring title to the property, or the discharges resulted

  7  from the acts of tenants or lessees of the state-owned lands.

  8         (b)  These discharges of pollutants and hazardous

  9  substances on state-owned lands may pose a significant threat

10  to the quality of the groundwaters and inland surface waters

11  of this state.

12         (c)  Where contamination of the groundwater or surface

13  water has occurred, remedial measures have often been delayed

14  for long periods while determinations as to liability and the

15  extent of liability have been made, and such delays have

16  resulted in the continuation and intensification of the threat

17  to the public health, safety, and welfare; in greater damage

18  to the environment; and in potentially higher costs to contain

19  and remove the contamination.

20         (d)  Adequate financial resources must be readily

21  available to provide for the expeditious supply of safe and

22  reliable alternative sources of potable water to affected

23  persons and to provide a means for investigation and

24  rehabilitation without delay of contaminated sites on

25  state-owned lands.

26         (e)  Site rehabilitation at contaminated sites on

27  state-owned lands should be based on the actual risk that

28  contamination may pose to the environment and public health,

29  taking into account current and future land and water use and

30  the degree to which contamination may spread and place the

31  public or the environment at risk.

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  1         (2)  CREATION; PURPOSES OF PROGRAM.--

  2         (a)  There is created the Florida State-Owned-Lands

  3  Cleanup Program to be administered by the department. To

  4  encourage detection, reporting, and cleanup of contamination

  5  on state-owned lands, the department shall, within the

  6  guidelines established in this section, implement a cleanup

  7  program to provide state-funded and state-managed site

  8  rehabilitation for all state-owned property contaminated by

  9  discharges of pollutants or hazardous substances that are

10  reported to the department. It is not the intent of this

11  program to provide funding for environmental compliance for

12  ongoing operations on state-owned lands.

13         (b)  Continuation of this program is subject to an

14  annual appropriation from the Legislature. Continued state

15  funding will not be considered an entitlement or a vested

16  right under this section. The department shall not obligate

17  funds in excess of the annual appropriation for this program.

18         (c)  Whenever, in its determination, incidents of

19  contamination on state-owned lands caused by pollutants or

20  hazardous substances may pose a threat to the environment or

21  the public health, safety, or welfare, the department shall

22  obligate moneys available under this section to provide for:

23         1.  Prompt investigation and assessment of the

24  contaminated site.

25         2.  Expeditious treatment, restoration, or replacement

26  of potable water supplies as provided in s. 376.30(3)(c)1.

27         3.  Rehabilitation of contaminated sites, which shall

28  consist of rehabilitation of affected soil, groundwater,

29  sediment and surface waters, using the most cost-effective

30  alternative that is technologically feasible and reliable and

31  that provides adequate protection of the public health,

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  1  safety, and welfare and minimizes environmental damage, in

  2  accordance with the rehabilitation criteria established by the

  3  department under s. 376.30701, except that nothing in this

  4  subsection may be construed to authorize the department to

  5  obligate funds for payment of costs that may be associated

  6  with, but are not integral to, site rehabilitation.

  7         4.  Maintenance and monitoring of contaminated sites.

  8         5.  Inspection and supervision of activities described

  9  in this subsection.

10         6.  Payment of expenses incurred by the department in

11  its efforts to obtain from responsible parties the payment or

12  recovery of reasonable costs resulting from the activities

13  described in this subsection.

14         7.  Payment of any other reasonable costs of

15  administration, including those administrative costs incurred

16  by the Department of Health in providing field and laboratory

17  services, toxicological risk assessment, and other assistance

18  to the department in the investigation of drinking water

19  contamination complaints and costs associated with public

20  information and education activities.

21         8.  Reasonable costs of restoring property as nearly as

22  practicable to the conditions that existed prior to activities

23  associated with contamination assessment or remedial action.

24         (3)  SITE PRIORITY RANKING AND CLEANUP CRITERIA.--

25         (a) The department shall determine the priority ranking

26  of all known contaminated sites on state-owned lands using the

27  criteria listed in s. 376.3078(7) and (8), except for s.

28  376.3078(7)(e). In applying s. 376.3078(8)(h), the department

29  shall consider all pollutants and hazardous substances. It is

30  the intent of the Legislature that site rehabilitation be

31  conducted first at those sites that pose the greatest threat

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  1  to human health and the environment, within the availability

  2  of funds appropriated annually for this program. However,

  3  nothing in this subsection shall be construed to restrict the

  4  department from modifying the priority status of a

  5  rehabilitation site where conditions warrant, taking into

  6  consideration the actual distance between the contamination

  7  site and groundwater or surface water receptors or other

  8  factors that affect the risk of exposure to pollutants and

  9  hazardous substances, or where the United States Environmental

10  Protection Agency is requiring that the state or a local

11  government undertake site rehabilitation at a contaminated

12  site that is state-owned in advance of the site's priority

13  ranking under this subsection.

14         (b)  The department shall conduct site rehabilitation

15  at contaminated sites being cleaned up under this program

16  using the cleanup criteria established in s. 376.30701 and

17  chapter 62-777, Florida Administrative Code, as that chapter

18  may hereafter be amended.

19         (c)  It is recognized that restoration of groundwater

20  resources contaminated with pollutants or hazardous substances

21  may not be achievable using currently available technology. In

22  situations where the use of available technology is not

23  expected to achieve water quality standards, the department

24  may use innovative technology that has been field-tested and

25  that has engineering and cost data available.

26         (d)  This subsection may not be construed to restrict

27  the department from temporarily postponing completion of any

28  site rehabilitation activities at a contaminated site on

29  state-owned lands for which funds are being expended under

30  this section whenever the postponement is deemed necessary in

31  order to make funds available for rehabilitation of another

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  1  contamination site on state-owned lands having a higher

  2  priority status.

  3         (e)  Regardless of a site's priority ranking, the

  4  department is authorized to temporarily postpone site

  5  rehabilitation at a contaminated site on state-owned lands for

  6  which federal funding may be available pursuant to the

  7  Formerly Used Defense Sites Program. The department, at its

  8  discretion, may proceed with state-funded cleanup of such

  9  sites if the likelihood of timely federal response is low.

10         Section 17.  Section 376.30781, Florida Statutes, is

11  amended to read:

12         376.30781  Partial tax credits for rehabilitation of

13  contaminated drycleaning-solvent-contaminated sites and

14  brownfield sites in designated brownfield areas; application

15  process; rulemaking authority; revocation authority.--

16         (1)  The Legislature finds that:

17         (a)  To facilitate property transactions and economic

18  growth and development, it is in the interest of the state to

19  encourage the voluntary cleanup, at the earliest possible

20  time, of contaminated drycleaning-solvent-contaminated sites

21  and brownfield sites in designated brownfield areas.

22         (b)  It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage

23  the voluntary cleanup of contaminated

24  drycleaning-solvent-contaminated sites and brownfield sites in

25  designated brownfield areas by providing a partial tax credit

26  for the restoration of such property in specified

27  circumstances.

28         (2)(a)  A credit in the amount of 35 percent of the

29  costs of voluntary cleanup activity that is integral to site

30  rehabilitation at the following sites is allowed pursuant to

31  ss. 199.1055 and 220.1845:

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  1         1.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site eligible

  2  for state-funded site rehabilitation under s. 376.3078(3);

  3         2.  A drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site at which

  4  cleanup is undertaken by the real property owner pursuant to

  5  s. 376.3078(11), if the real property owner is not also, and

  6  has never been, the owner or operator of the drycleaning

  7  facility where the contamination exists; or

  8         3.  A brownfield site in a designated brownfield area

  9  under s. 376.80; or.

10         4.  Any other contaminated site at which cleanup is

11  undertaken by a person pursuant to a voluntary cleanup

12  agreement approved by the Department of Environmental

13  Protection, if the person did not cause or contribute to the

14  contamination at the site.

15         (b)  For all applications received by the Department of

16  Environmental Protection by January 15, if, as of the

17  following March 1, the credits granted under paragraph (a) do

18  not exhaust the annual maximum allowable credits under

19  subsection (3), any remaining credits may be granted for

20  petroleum-contaminated sites at which site rehabilitation is

21  being conducted pursuant to the preapproved advanced cleanup

22  program authorized in s. 376.30713, but tax credits may be

23  granted only for 35 percent of the amount of the cost-share

24  percentage of site rehabilitation costs paid for with private

25  funding. Tax credit applications submitted for preapproved

26  advanced cleanup sites shall not be included in the

27  carryforward provision of subsection (9), which otherwise

28  allows applications that do not receive credits due to an

29  exhaustion of the annual tax credit authorization to be

30  carried forward in the same order for the next year's annual

31

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  1  tax credit allocation, if any, based on the prior year

  2  application.

  3         (c)(b)  A taxpayer, or multiple taxpayers working

  4  jointly to clean up a single site, may not receive more than

  5  $250,000 per year in tax credits for each site voluntarily

  6  rehabilitated. Multiple taxpayers shall receive tax credits in

  7  the same proportion as their contribution to payment of

  8  cleanup costs. Tax credits are available only for site

  9  rehabilitation conducted during the calendar tax year for in

10  which the tax credit application is submitted.

11         (d)(c)  In order to encourage completion of site

12  rehabilitation at contaminated sites that are being

13  voluntarily cleaned up and that are eligible for a tax credit

14  under this section, the tax credit applicant may claim an

15  additional 10 percent of the total cleanup costs, not to

16  exceed $50,000, in the final year of cleanup as evidenced by

17  the Department of Environmental Protection issuing a "no

18  further action" order for that site.

19         (3)  The Department of Environmental Protection shall

20  be responsible for allocating the tax credits provided for in

21  ss. 199.1055 and 220.1845, not to exceed a total of $2 million

22  in tax credits annually.

23         (4)  To claim the credit for site rehabilitation

24  conducted during the current calendar year, each applicant

25  must apply to the Department of Environmental Protection for

26  an allocation of the $2 million annual credit by January 15 of

27  the following year December 31 on a form developed by the

28  Department of Environmental Protection in cooperation with the

29  Department of Revenue. The form shall include an affidavit

30  from each applicant certifying that all information contained

31  in the application, including all records of costs incurred

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  1  and claimed in the tax credit application, are true and

  2  correct. If the application is submitted pursuant to

  3  subparagraph (2)(a)2., the form must include an affidavit

  4  signed by the real property owner stating that it is not, and

  5  has never been, the owner or operator of the drycleaning

  6  facility where the contamination exists. If the application is

  7  submitted under subparagraph (2)(a)4., the form must include

  8  an affidavit signed by the person agreeing to conduct

  9  voluntary cleanup stating that he or she did not cause or

10  contribute to the contamination at the site. Approval of

11  partial tax credits must be accomplished on a first-come,

12  first-served basis based upon the date complete applications

13  are received by the Division of Waste Management. An applicant

14  shall submit only one complete application per site for each

15  calendar year's site rehabilitation costs. Placeholder

16  applications may not be accepted and will not secure a place

17  in the first-come, first-served application line per year. To

18  be eligible for a tax credit the applicant must:

19         (a)  Have entered into a voluntary cleanup agreement

20  with the Department of Environmental Protection for a

21  contaminated drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site or into a

22  Brownfield Site Rehabilitation Agreement, as applicable; and

23         (b)  Have paid all deductibles pursuant to s.

24  376.3078(3)(d) for eligible drycleaning-solvent-cleanup

25  program sites.

26         (5)  To obtain the tax credit certificate, an applicant

27  must annually file an application for certification, which

28  must be received by the Department of Environmental

29  Protection's Division of Waste Management Protection by

30  January 15 of the year following the calendar year for which

31  site rehabilitation costs are being claimed in a tax credit

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  1  application December 31. The applicant must provide all

  2  pertinent information requested on the tax credit application

  3  form, including, at a minimum, the name and address of the

  4  applicant and the address and tracking identification number

  5  of the eligible site. Along with the application form, the

  6  applicant must submit the following:

  7         (a)  A nonrefundable review fee of $250 made payable to

  8  the Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund to cover the

  9  administrative costs associated with the department's review

10  of the tax credit application;

11         (b)  Copies of contracts and documentation of contract

12  negotiations, accounts, invoices, sales tickets, or other

13  payment records from purchases, sales, leases, or other

14  transactions involving actual costs incurred for that tax year

15  related to site rehabilitation, as that term is defined in ss.

16  376.301 and 376.79;

17         (c)  Proof that the documentation submitted pursuant to

18  paragraph (b) has been reviewed and verified by an independent

19  certified public accountant in accordance with standards

20  established by the American Institute of Certified Public

21  Accountants. Specifically, the certified public accountant

22  must attest to the accuracy and validity of the costs incurred

23  and paid by conducting an independent review of the data

24  presented by the applicant. Accuracy and validity of costs

25  incurred and paid would be determined once the level of effort

26  was certified by an appropriate professional registered in

27  this state in each contributing technical discipline.  The

28  certified public accountant's report would also attest that

29  the costs included in the application form are not duplicated

30  within the application. A copy of the accountant's report

31

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  1  shall be submitted to the Department of Environmental

  2  Protection with the tax credit application; and

  3         (d)  A certification form stating that site

  4  rehabilitation activities associated with the documentation

  5  submitted pursuant to paragraph (b) have been conducted under

  6  the observation of, and related technical documents have been

  7  signed and sealed by, an appropriate professional registered

  8  in this state in each contributing technical discipline. The

  9  certification form shall be signed and sealed by the

10  appropriate registered professionals stating that the costs

11  incurred were integral, necessary, and required for site

12  rehabilitation, as that term is defined in ss. 376.301 and

13  376.79.

14         (6)  The certified public accountant and appropriate

15  registered professionals submitting forms as part of a tax

16  credit application must verify such forms. Verification must

17  be accomplished as provided in s. 92.525(1)(b) and subject to

18  the provisions of s. 92.525(3).

19         (7)  The Department of Environmental Protection shall

20  review the tax credit application and any supplemental

21  documentation that the applicant may submit before the annual

22  application deadline in order to have the application

23  considered complete submitted by each applicant, for the

24  purpose of verifying that the applicant has met the qualifying

25  criteria in subsections (2) and (4) and has submitted all

26  required documentation listed in subsection (5). Upon

27  verification that the applicant has met these requirements,

28  the department shall issue a written decision granting

29  eligibility for partial tax credits (a tax credit certificate)

30  in the amount of 35 percent of the total costs claimed,

31  subject to the $250,000 limitation, for the calendar tax year

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  1  for in which the tax credit application is submitted based on

  2  the report of the certified public accountant and the

  3  certifications from the appropriate registered technical

  4  professionals.

  5         (8)  On or before March 1, the Department of

  6  Environmental Protection shall inform each eligible applicant

  7  for sites listed in paragraph (2)(a) of the amount of its

  8  partial tax credit and provide each eligible applicant with a

  9  tax credit certificate that must be submitted with its tax

10  return to the Department of Revenue to claim the tax credit.

11  Credits will not result in the payment of refunds if total

12  credits exceed the amount of tax owed.

13         (9)  Except for applicants for sites listed in

14  paragraph (2)(b), if an applicant does not receive a tax

15  credit allocation due to an exhaustion of the $2 million

16  annual tax credit authorization, such application will then be

17  included in the same first-come, first-served order in the

18  next year's annual tax credit allocation, if any, based on the

19  prior year application.

20         (10)  The Department of Environmental Protection may

21  adopt rules to prescribe the necessary forms required to claim

22  tax credits under this section and to provide the

23  administrative guidelines and procedures required to

24  administer this section. Prior to the adoption of rules

25  regulating the tax credit application, the department shall,

26  by September 1, 1998, establish reasonable interim application

27  requirements and forms.

28         (11)  The Department of Environmental Protection may

29  revoke or modify any written decision granting eligibility for

30  partial tax credits under this section if it is discovered

31  that the tax credit applicant submitted any false statement,

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  1  representation, or certification in any application, record,

  2  report, plan, or other document filed in an attempt to receive

  3  partial tax credits under this section. The Department of

  4  Environmental Protection shall immediately notify the

  5  Department of Revenue of any revoked or modified orders

  6  affecting previously granted partial tax credits.

  7  Additionally, the taxpayer must notify the Department of

  8  Revenue of any change in its tax credit claimed.

  9         (12)  An owner, operator, or real property owner who

10  receives state-funded site rehabilitation under s. 376.3078(3)

11  for rehabilitation of a drycleaning-solvent-contaminated site

12  is ineligible to receive a tax credit under s. 199.1055 or s.

13  220.1845 for costs incurred by the taxpayer in conjunction

14  with the rehabilitation of that site during the same time

15  period that state-administered site rehabilitation was

16  underway.

17         (13)  Any person who receives partial state-funded site

18  rehabilitation under the preapproved advanced cleanup program

19  authorized in s. 376.30713(4) is ineligible to receive tax

20  credits under s. 199.1055 or s. 220.1845 for the portion of

21  site rehabilitation costs paid for by the state.

22         (14)  Regardless of the effective date of this statute,

23  the Legislature intends to allow tax credit applications filed

24  under subparagraph (2)(a)4. and paragraph (2)(b) to include

25  site rehabilitation costs for the entire 2000 calendar year,

26  rather than only those costs incurred and paid from July 1,

27  2000, forward.

28         Section 18.  Section 376.84, Florida Statutes, is

29  amended to read:

30         376.84  Brownfield redevelopment economic

31  incentives.--It is the intent of the Legislature that

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  1  brownfield redevelopment activities be viewed as opportunities

  2  to significantly improve the utilization, general condition,

  3  and appearance of these sites. Alternative Different standards

  4  than those in place for new development, as allowed under

  5  current state and local laws, should be used to the fullest

  6  extent to encourage the redevelopment of a brownfield. State

  7  and local governments are encouraged to offer redevelopment

  8  incentives for this purpose, as an ongoing public investment

  9  in infrastructure and services, to help eliminate the public

10  health and environmental hazards, and to promote the creation

11  of jobs in these areas. These Such incentives may include

12  financial, regulatory, and technical assistance to persons and

13  businesses involved in the redevelopment of the brownfield

14  pursuant to this act.

15         (1)  Financial incentives and local incentives for

16  redevelopment may include, but not be limited to:

17         (a)  Tax increment financing through community

18  redevelopment agencies, pursuant to part III of chapter 163,

19  or any other entities approved by the local government for the

20  purpose of redeveloping brownfield areas.

21         (b)  Enterprise zone tax exemptions for businesses

22  pursuant to chapters 196 and 290.

23         (c)  Safe neighborhood improvement districts as

24  provided in ss. 163.501-163.523.

25         (d)  Waiver, reduction, or limitation by line of

26  business with respect to occupational license taxes pursuant

27  to chapter 205.

28         (e)  Tax exemption for historic properties as provided

29  in s. 196.1997.

30

31

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  1         (f)  Residential electricity exemption of up to the

  2  first 500 kilowatts of use may be exempted from the municipal

  3  public service tax pursuant to s. 166.231.

  4         (g)  Minority business enterprise programs as provided

  5  in s. 287.0943.

  6         (h)  Electric and gas tax exemption as provided in s.

  7  166.231(6).

  8         (i)  Economic development tax abatement as provided in

  9  s. 196.1995.

10         (j)  Grants, including community development block

11  grants.

12         (k)  Pledging of revenues to secure bonds.

13         (l)  Low-interest revolving loans and zero-interest

14  loan pools.

15         (m)  Local grant programs for facade, storefront,

16  signage, and other business improvements.

17         (n)  Governmental coordination of loan programs with

18  lenders, such as microloans, business reserve fund loans,

19  letter of credit enhancements, gap financing, land lease and

20  sublease loans, and private equity.

21         (o)  Payment schedules over time for payment of fees,

22  within criteria, and marginal cost pricing.

23         (2)  Regulatory incentives may include, but not be

24  limited to:

25         (a)  Cities' absorption of developers' concurrency

26  needs.

27         (b)  Developers' performance of certain analyses.

28         (c)  Exemptions and lessening of state and local review

29  requirements.

30         (d)  Water and sewer regulatory incentives.

31

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  1         (e)  Waiver of transportation impact fees and permit

  2  fees.

  3         (f)  Zoning incentives to reduce review requirements

  4  for redevelopment changes in use and occupancy; establishment

  5  of code criteria for specific uses; and institution of credits

  6  for previous use within the area.

  7         (g)  Flexibility in parking standards and buffer zone

  8  standards.

  9         (h)  Environmental management through specific code

10  criteria and conditions allowed by current law.

11         (i)  Maintenance standards and activities by ordinance

12  and otherwise, and increased security and crime prevention

13  measures available through special assessments.

14         (j)  Traffic-calming measures.

15         (k)  Historic preservation ordinances, loan programs,

16  and review and permitting procedures.

17         (l)  One-stop permitting and streamlined development

18  and permitting process.

19         (3)  Technical assistance incentives may include, but

20  not be limited to:

21         (a)  Expedited development applications.

22         (b)  Formal and informal information on business

23  incentives and financial programs.

24         (c)  Site design assistance.

25         (d)  Marketing and promotion of projects or areas.

26         (4)  A local government having a designated brownfield

27  area under s. 376.80 and a brownfield site rehabilitation

28  agreement under s. 376.80(5) may issue revenue bonds under s.

29  163.385 and employ tax increment financing under s. 163.387

30  for the purpose of financing the implementation of the

31  brownfield site rehabilitation agreement and the local

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  1  government's approved plan for revitalizing the brownfield

  2  area, except that in a charter county such incentive shall be

  3  employed consistent with the provisions of s. 163.410.

  4         (5)  A local government having a designated brownfield

  5  area as described in subsection (4) may also exercise the

  6  powers granted under s. 163.514 for community redevelopment

  7  improvement districts, including the authority to levy special

  8  assessments when such mechanisms will assist in revitalizing

  9  the brownfield area.

10         Section 19.  Subsection (1) of section 376.86, Florida

11  Statutes, is amended to read:

12         376.86  Brownfield Areas Loan Guarantee Program.--

13         (1)  The Brownfield Areas Loan Guarantee Council is

14  created to review and approve or deny by a majority vote of

15  its membership, the situations and circumstances for

16  participation in partnerships by agreements with local

17  governments, financial institutions, and others associated

18  with the redevelopment of brownfield areas pursuant to the

19  Brownfields Redevelopment Act for a limited state guaranty of

20  up to 4 5 years of loan guarantees or loan loss reserves

21  issued pursuant to law. The limited state loan guaranty

22  applies only to 20 10 percent of the primary lenders' lenders

23  loans for redevelopment projects in brownfield areas. A

24  limited state guaranty of private loans or a loan loss reserve

25  is authorized for lenders licensed to operate in the state

26  upon a determination by the council that such an arrangement

27  is would be in the public interest and that the likelihood of

28  the success of the loan is great.

29         Section 20.  Section 376.876, Florida Statutes, is

30  created to read:

31         376.876  Brownfield Redevelopment Grants Program.--

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  1         (1)  The Department of Environmental Protection shall

  2  administer a program to make grants to local governments that

  3  have designated brownfield areas under s. 376.80 and need

  4  financial assistance for site assessment and cleanup

  5  activities to make the redevelopment project financially

  6  feasible. The grants may not be used for general

  7  administrative costs incurred by a local government for

  8  oversight and administration of a brownfield area

  9  redevelopment program, but instead the state grants must be

10  used for actual site assessment and cleanup activities,

11  including integrally related engineering design, soil removal,

12  and soil treatment, and customary nonadministrative activities

13  undertaken in the remediation of contamination at a designated

14  brownfield site. The department shall take into consideration

15  the following factors when reviewing each applicant's grant

16  proposal:

17         (a)  The level of unemployment and poverty in the

18  census tract in the brownfield area and in which the project

19  site is located;

20         (b)  The likelihood that the proposed response action

21  will be adequate to clean up the property in accordance with

22  the requirements of all applicable laws;

23         (c)  The presence of community benefits associated with

24  the project, including, without limitation, the creation or

25  revitalization of open space;

26         (d)  The proximity of the project site to existing

27  transportation and utility infrastructure appropriate to

28  support the proposed reuse of the project site;

29         (e)  Whether the project site is located in an area

30  that has received pilot project funding for redevelopment of

31

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  1  brownfield areas from the United States Environmental

  2  Protection Agency;

  3         (f)  Whether the local government in which the project

  4  site is located has made available substantial funds in

  5  furtherance of remediation and redevelopment of the designated

  6  brownfield area; and

  7         (g)  Whether the local government having the designated

  8  brownfield area has completed any projects in the brownfield

  9  area.

10         (2)  While grants must be applied for by municipalities

11  or counties, the local governments may by agreement allow the

12  grant funds to be used by local redevelopment authorities,

13  economic development authorities, community redevelopment

14  agencies, or other similar entities approved by the municipal

15  or county governing body that has designated the brownfield

16  area under s. 376.80 and has jurisdiction over the location

17  where the redevelopment grant funds will be used.

18         (3)  Each grant requires a 20-percent match from the

19  applicant in either cash or in-kind services. A single grant

20  may not be larger than $300,000 during each state fiscal year.

21  Of each grant, no more than $100,000 may be used for site

22  assessment activities. The remainder of the grant amount is to

23  be used for cleanup activities at a brownfield site. In the

24  first fiscal year in which the Legislature provides an

25  appropriation for this grant program, the department shall

26  administer the funds to assure that at least one-half of the

27  amount available is awarded to local governments that can

28  demonstrate compliance with paragraphs (1)(e), (f), and (g).

29         (4)  The department may adopt rules to administer the

30  grant program authorized by this section relating to

31  application forms, timeframes for submission of applications,

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  1  notification of grant awards, and grant agreement documents

  2  required.

  3         Section 21.  Subsection (9) of section 211.3103,

  4  Florida Statutes, is repealed.

  5         Section 22.  Subsection (5) of section 288.047, Florida

  6  Statutes, is amended to read:

  7         288.047  Quick-response training for economic

  8  development.--

  9         (5)  For the first 6 months of each fiscal year,

10  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall set aside 30 percent of the

11  amount appropriated for the Quick-Response Training Program by

12  the Legislature to fund instructional programs for businesses

13  located in an enterprise zone or brownfield area to instruct

14  residents of an enterprise zone. Any unencumbered funds

15  remaining undisbursed from this set-aside at the end of the

16  6-month period may be used to provide funding for any program

17  qualifying for funding pursuant to this section.

18         Section 23.  Section 288.107, Florida Statutes, is

19  amended to read:

20         288.107  Brownfield redevelopment bonus refunds.--

21         (1)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:

22         (a)  "Account" means the Economic Development

23  Incentives Account as authorized in s. 288.095.

24         (b)  "Brownfield sites" means sites that are generally

25  abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial

26  properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by

27  actual or perceived environmental contamination.

28         (c)  "Brownfield area" means a contiguous area of one

29  or more brownfield sites, some of which may not be

30  contaminated, and which has been designated by a local

31  government by resolution. Such areas may include all or

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  1  portions of community redevelopment areas, enterprise zones,

  2  empowerment zones, other such designated economically deprived

  3  communities and areas, and

  4  Environmental-Protection-Agency-designated brownfield pilot

  5  projects.

  6         (d)  "Director" means the director of the Office of

  7  Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development.

  8         (e)  "Eligible business" means a qualified target

  9  industry business as defined in s. 288.106(2)(o) or other

10  business that can demonstrate a fixed capital investment of at

11  least $2 million in mixed-use business activities, including

12  multi-unit housing, commercial, retail, and industrial in

13  brownfield areas and which pays wages that are at least 80

14  percent of the average of all private-sector wages in the

15  county in which the business is located.

16         (f)  "Jobs" means full-time equivalent positions,

17  consistent with the use of such terms by the Department of

18  Labor and Employment Security for the purpose of unemployment

19  compensation tax, resulting directly from a project in this

20  state.  This number does not include temporary construction

21  jobs involved with the construction of facilities for the

22  project and which are not associated with the implementation

23  of the site rehabilitation as provided in s. 376.80.

24         (g)  "Office" means the Office of Tourism, Trade, and

25  Economic Development.

26         (h)  "Project" means the creation of a new business or

27  the expansion of an existing business as defined in s.

28  288.106.

29         (2)  BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT BONUS REFUND.--There

30  shall be allowed from the account a bonus refund of $2,500 to

31  any qualified target industry business or other eligible

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  1  business as defined in paragraph (1)(e) for each new Florida

  2  job created in a brownfield which is claimed on the qualified

  3  target industry business's annual refund claim authorized in

  4  s. 288.106(6) or other similar annual claim procedure for

  5  other eligible business as defined in paragraph (1)(e) and

  6  approved by the office as specified in the final order issued

  7  by the director.

  8         (3)  CRITERIA.--The minimum criteria for participation

  9  in the brownfield redevelopment bonus refund are:

10         (a)  The creation of at least 10 new full-time

11  permanent jobs.  Such jobs shall not include construction or

12  site rehabilitation jobs associated with the implementation of

13  a brownfield site agreement as described in s. 376.80(5).

14         (b)  The completion of a fixed capital investment of at

15  least $2 million in mixed-use business activities, including

16  multi-unit housing, commercial, retail, and industrial in

17  brownfield areas and which pay wages that are at least 80

18  percent of the average of all private-sector wages in the

19  county in which the business is located.

20         (c)(b)  That the designation as a brownfield will

21  diversify and strengthen the economy of the area surrounding

22  the site.

23         (d)(c)  That the designation as a brownfield will

24  promote capital investment in the area beyond that

25  contemplated for the rehabilitation of the site.

26         (4)  PAYMENT OF BROWNFIELD REDEVELOPMENT BONUS

27  REFUNDS.--

28         (a)  To be eligible to receive a bonus refund for new

29  Florida jobs created in a brownfield, a business must have

30  been certified as a qualified target industry business under

31  s. 288.106 or eligible business as defined in paragraph (1)(e)

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  1  and must have indicated on the qualified target industry tax

  2  refund application form submitted in accordance with s.

  3  288.106(4) or other similar agreement for other eligible

  4  business as defined in paragraph (1)(e) that the project for

  5  which the application is submitted is or will be located in a

  6  brownfield and that the business is applying for certification

  7  as a qualified brownfield business under this section, and

  8  must have signed a qualified target industry tax refund

  9  agreement with the office which indicates that the business

10  has been certified as a qualified target industry business

11  located in a brownfield and specifies the schedule of

12  brownfield redevelopment bonus refunds that the business may

13  be eligible to receive in each fiscal year.

14         (b)  To be considered to receive an eligible brownfield

15  redevelopment bonus refund payment, the business meeting the

16  requirements of paragraph (a) must submit a claim once each

17  fiscal year on a claim form approved by the office which

18  indicates the location of the brownfield, the address of the

19  business facility's brownfield location, the name of the

20  brownfield in which it is located, the number of jobs created,

21  and the average wage of the jobs created by the business

22  within the brownfield as defined in s. 288.106 or other

23  eligible business as defined in paragraph (1)(e) and the

24  administrative rules and policies for that section.

25         (c)  The bonus refunds shall be available on the same

26  schedule as the qualified target industry tax refund payments

27  scheduled in the qualified target industry tax refund

28  agreement authorized in s. 288.106 or other similar agreement

29  for other eligible businesses as defined in paragraph (1)(e).

30         (d)  After entering into a tax refund agreement as

31  provided in s. 288.106 or other similar agreement for other

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  1  eligible businesses as defined in paragraph (1)(e), an

  2  eligible business may receive brownfield redevelopment bonus

  3  refunds from the account pursuant to s. 288.106(3)(c).

  4         (e)  An eligible business that fraudulently claims a

  5  refund under this section:

  6         1.  Is liable for repayment of the amount of the refund

  7  to the account, plus a mandatory penalty in the amount of 200

  8  percent of the tax refund, which shall be deposited into the

  9  General Revenue Fund.

10         2.  Commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as

11  provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

12         (f)  The office shall review all applications submitted

13  under s. 288.106 or other similar application forms for other

14  eligible businesses as defined in paragraph (1)(e) which

15  indicate that the proposed project will be located in a

16  brownfield and determine, with the assistance of the

17  Department of Environmental Protection, that the project

18  location is within a brownfield as provided in this act.

19         (g)  The office may shall approve all claims for a

20  brownfield redevelopment bonus refund payment that are found

21  to meet the requirements of paragraphs (b) and (d).

22         (h)  The director, with such assistance as may be

23  required from the office and the Department of Environmental

24  Protection, may shall specify by written final order the

25  amount of the brownfield redevelopment bonus refund that is

26  authorized for the qualified target industry business for the

27  fiscal year within 30 days after the date that the claim for

28  the annual tax refund is received by the office.

29         (i)  The office may approve applications for

30  certification pursuant to this section, provided, however,

31  that the total of tax refund payments scheduled in all active

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  1  certifications for any fiscal year shall not exceed $3

  2  million.

  3         (j)(i)  The total amount of the bonus refunds approved

  4  by the director under this section in any fiscal year must not

  5  exceed the total amount appropriated to the Economic

  6  Development Incentives Account for this purpose for the fiscal

  7  year.  In the event that the Legislature does not appropriate

  8  an amount sufficient to satisfy projections by the office for

  9  brownfield redevelopment bonus refunds under this section in a

10  fiscal year, the office shall, not later than July 15 of such

11  year, determine the proportion of each brownfield

12  redevelopment bonus refund claim which shall be paid by

13  dividing the amount appropriated for tax refunds for the

14  fiscal year by the projected total of brownfield redevelopment

15  bonus refund claims for the fiscal year. The amount of each

16  claim for a brownfield redevelopment bonus tax refund shall be

17  multiplied by the resulting quotient.  If, after the payment

18  of all such refund claims, funds remain in the Economic

19  Development Incentives Account for brownfield redevelopment

20  tax refunds, the office shall recalculate the proportion for

21  each refund claim and adjust the amount of each claim

22  accordingly.

23         (k)(j)  Upon approval of the brownfield redevelopment

24  bonus refund, payment shall be made for the amount specified

25  in the final order.  If the final order is appealed, payment

26  may not be made for a refund to the qualified target industry

27  business until the conclusion of all appeals of that order.

28         (5)  ADMINISTRATION.--

29         (a)  The office is authorized to verify information

30  provided in any claim submitted for tax credits under this

31  section with regard to employment and wage levels or the

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  1  payment of the taxes to the appropriate agency or authority,

  2  including the Department of Revenue, the Department of Labor

  3  and Employment Security, or any local government or authority.

  4         (b)  To facilitate the process of monitoring and

  5  auditing applications made under this program, the office may

  6  provide a list of qualified target industry businesses to the

  7  Department of Revenue, to the Department of Labor and

  8  Employment Security, to the Department of Environmental

  9  Protection, or to any local government authority.  The office

10  may request the assistance of those entities with respect to

11  monitoring the payment of the taxes listed in s. 288.106(3).

12         Section 24.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section

13  288.905, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

14         288.905  Duties of the board of directors of Enterprise

15  Florida, Inc.--

16         (3)

17         (b)1.  The strategic plan required under this section

18  shall include specific provisions for the stimulation of

19  economic development and job creation in rural areas and

20  midsize cities and counties of the state.

21         2.  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall involve local

22  governments, local and regional economic development

23  organizations, and other local, state, and federal economic,

24  international, and workforce development entities, both public

25  and private, in developing and carrying out policies,

26  strategies, and programs, seeking to partner and collaborate

27  to produce enhanced public benefit at a lesser cost.

28         3.  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall involve rural,

29  urban, small-business, and minority-business development

30  agencies and organizations, both public and private, in

31

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  1  developing and carrying out policies, strategies, and

  2  programs.

  3         4.  Enterprise Florida, Inc., shall develop a

  4  comprehensive marketing plan for redevelopment of brownfield

  5  areas designated pursuant to s. 376.80. The plan must include,

  6  but is not limited to, strategies to distribute information

  7  about current designated brownfield areas and the available

  8  economic incentives for redevelopment of brownfield areas.

  9  Such strategies are to be used in the promotion of business

10  formation, expansion, recruitment, retention, and workforce

11  development programs.

12         Section 25.  Section 376.301, Florida Statutes, is

13  amended to read:

14         376.301  Definitions of terms used in ss.

15  376.30-376.319, 376.70, and 376.75.--When used in ss.

16  376.30-376.319, 376.70, and 376.75, unless the context clearly

17  requires otherwise, the term:

18         (1)  "Aboveground hazardous substance tank" means any

19  stationary aboveground storage tank and onsite integral piping

20  that contains hazardous substances which are liquid at

21  standard temperature and pressure and has an individual

22  storage capacity greater than 110 gallons.

23         (2)  "Additive effects" means a scientific principle

24  that the toxicity that occurs as a result of exposure is the

25  sum of the toxicities of the individual chemicals to which the

26  individual is exposed.

27         (3)  "Antagonistic effects" means a scientific

28  principle that the toxicity that occurs as a result of

29  exposure is less than the sum of the toxicities of the

30  individual chemicals to which the individual is exposed.

31

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  1         (4)  "Backlog" means reimbursement obligations incurred

  2  pursuant to s. 376.3071(12), prior to March 29, 1995, or

  3  authorized for reimbursement under the provisions of s.

  4  376.3071(12), pursuant to chapter 95-2, Laws of Florida.

  5  Claims within the backlog are subject to adjustment, where

  6  appropriate.

  7         (5)  "Barrel" means 42 U.S. gallons at 60 degrees

  8  Fahrenheit.

  9         (6)  "Bulk product facility" means a waterfront

10  location with at least one aboveground tank with a capacity

11  greater than 30,000 gallons which is used for the storage of

12  pollutants.

13         (7)  "Cattle-dipping vat" means any structure,

14  excavation, or other facility constructed by any person, or

15  the site where such structure, excavation, or other facility

16  once existed, for the purpose of treating cattle or other

17  livestock with a chemical solution pursuant to or in

18  compliance with any local, state, or federal governmental

19  program for the prevention, suppression, control, or

20  eradication of any dangerous, contagious, or infectious

21  diseases.

22         (8)  "Compression vessel" means any stationary

23  container, tank, or onsite integral piping system, or

24  combination thereof, which has a capacity of greater than 110

25  gallons, that is primarily used to store pollutants or

26  hazardous substances above atmospheric pressure or at a

27  reduced temperature in order to lower the vapor pressure of

28  the contents. Manifold compression vessels that function as a

29  single vessel shall be considered as one vessel.

30         (9)  "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical,

31  biological, or radiological substance present in any medium

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  1  which may result in adverse effects to human health or the

  2  environment or which creates an adverse nuisance,

  3  organoleptic, or aesthetic condition in groundwater.

  4         (10)  "Contaminated site" means any contiguous land,

  5  sediment, surface water, or groundwater areas that contain

  6  contaminants that may be harmful to human health or the

  7  environment.

  8         (11)  "Department" means the Department of

  9  Environmental Protection.

10         (12)  "Discharge" includes, but is not limited to, any

11  spilling, leaking, seeping, pouring, misapplying, emitting,

12  emptying, releasing, or dumping of any pollutant or hazardous

13  substance which occurs and which affects lands and the surface

14  and ground waters of the state not regulated by ss.

15  376.011-376.21.

16         (13)  "Drycleaning facility" means a commercial

17  establishment that operates or has at some time in the past

18  operated for the primary purpose of drycleaning clothing and

19  other fabrics utilizing a process that involves any use of

20  drycleaning solvents. The term "drycleaning facility" includes

21  laundry facilities that use drycleaning solvents as part of

22  their cleaning process. The term does not include a facility

23  that operates or has at some time in the past operated as a

24  uniform rental company or a linen supply company regardless of

25  whether the facility operates as or was previously operated as

26  a drycleaning facility.

27         (14)  "Drycleaning solvents" means any and all

28  nonaqueous solvents used in the cleaning of clothing and other

29  fabrics and includes perchloroethylene (also known as

30  tetrachloroethylene) and petroleum-based solvents, and their

31  breakdown products. For purposes of this definition,

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  1  "drycleaning solvents" only includes those drycleaning

  2  solvents originating from use at a drycleaning facility or by

  3  a wholesale supply facility.

  4         (15)  "Dry drop-off facility" means any commercial

  5  retail store that receives from customers clothing and other

  6  fabrics for drycleaning or laundering at an offsite

  7  drycleaning facility and that does not clean the clothing or

  8  fabrics at the store utilizing drycleaning solvents.

  9         (16)  "Engineering controls" means modifications to a

10  site to reduce or eliminate the potential for exposure to

11  petroleum products' chemicals of concern, drycleaning

12  solvents, or other contaminants.  Such modifications may

13  include, but are not limited to, physical or hydraulic control

14  measures, capping, point of use treatments, or slurry walls.

15         (17)  "Wholesale supply facility" means a commercial

16  establishment that supplies drycleaning solvents to

17  drycleaning facilities.

18         (18)  "Facility" means a nonresidential location

19  containing, or which contained, any underground stationary

20  tank or tanks which contain hazardous substances or pollutants

21  and have individual storage capacities greater than 110

22  gallons, or any aboveground stationary tank or tanks which

23  contain pollutants which are liquids at standard ambient

24  temperature and pressure and have individual storage

25  capacities greater than 550 gallons. This subsection shall not

26  apply to facilities covered by chapter 377, or containers

27  storing solid or gaseous pollutants, and agricultural tanks

28  having storage capacities of less than 550 gallons.

29         (19)  "Flow-through process tank" means an aboveground

30  tank that contains hazardous substances or specified mineral

31  acids as defined in s. 376.321 and that forms an integral part

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  1  of a production process through which there is a steady,

  2  variable, recurring, or intermittent flow of materials during

  3  the operation of the process.  Flow-through process tanks

  4  include, but are not limited to, seal tanks, vapor recovery

  5  units, surge tanks, blend tanks, feed tanks, check and delay

  6  tanks, batch tanks, oil-water separators, or tanks in which

  7  mechanical, physical, or chemical change of a material is

  8  accomplished.

  9         (20)  "Hazardous substances" means those substances

10  defined as hazardous substances in the Comprehensive

11  Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of

12  1980, Pub. L. No. 96-510, 94 Stat. 2767, as amended by the

13  Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986.

14         (21)  "Institutional controls" means the restriction on

15  use or access to a site to eliminate or minimize exposure to

16  petroleum products' chemicals of concern, drycleaning

17  solvents, or other contaminants.  Such restrictions may

18  include, but are not limited to, deed restrictions,

19  restrictive covenants, or conservation easements use

20  restrictions, or restrictive zoning.

21         (22)  "Laundering on a wash, dry, and fold basis" means

22  the service provided by the owner or operator of a

23  coin-operated laundry to its customers whereby an employee of

24  the laundry washes, dries, and folds laundry for its

25  customers.

26         (23)  "Marine fueling facility" means a commercial or

27  recreational coastal facility, excluding a bulk product

28  facility, providing fuel to vessels.

29         (24)  "Natural attenuation" means a verifiable an

30  approach to site rehabilitation that allows natural processes

31  to contain the spread of contamination and reduce the

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  1  concentrations of contaminants in contaminated groundwater and

  2  soil. Natural attenuation processes may include the following:

  3  sorption, biodegradation, chemical reactions with subsurface

  4  materials, diffusion, dispersion, and volatilization.

  5         (25)  "Operator" means any person operating a facility,

  6  whether by lease, contract, or other form of agreement.

  7         (26)  "Owner" means any person owning a facility.

  8         (27)  "Person" means any individual, partner, joint

  9  venture, or corporation; any group of the foregoing, organized

10  or united for a business purpose; or any governmental entity.

11         (28)  "Person in charge" means the person on the scene

12  who is in direct, responsible charge of a facility from which

13  pollutants are discharged, when the discharge occurs.

14         (29)  "Person responsible for conducting site

15  rehabilitation" means the site owner, operator, or the person

16  designated by the site owner or operator on the reimbursement

17  application.  Mortgage holders and trust holders may be

18  eligible to participate in the reimbursement program pursuant

19  to s. 376.3071(12).

20         (30)  "Petroleum" includes:

21         (a)  Oil, including crude petroleum oil and other

22  hydrocarbons, regardless of gravity, which are produced at the

23  well in liquid form by ordinary methods and which are not the

24  result of condensation of gas after it leaves the reservoir;

25  and

26         (b)  All natural gas, including casinghead gas, and all

27  other hydrocarbons not defined as oil in paragraph (a).

28         (31)  "Petroleum product" means any liquid fuel

29  commodity made from petroleum, including, but not limited to,

30  all forms of fuel known or sold as diesel fuel, kerosene, all

31  forms of fuel known or sold as gasoline, and fuels containing

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  1  a mixture of gasoline and other products, excluding liquefied

  2  petroleum gas and American Society for Testing and Materials

  3  (ASTM) grades no. 5 and no. 6 residual oils, bunker C residual

  4  oils, intermediate fuel oils (IFO) used for marine bunkering

  5  with a viscosity of 30 and higher, asphalt oils, and

  6  petrochemical feedstocks.

  7         (32)  "Petroleum products' chemicals of concern" means

  8  the constituents of petroleum products, including, but not

  9  limited to, xylene, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene,

10  naphthalene, and similar chemicals, and constituents in

11  petroleum products, including, but not limited to, methyl

12  tert-butyl ether (MTBE), lead, and similar chemicals found in

13  additives, provided the chemicals of concern are present as a

14  result of a discharge of petroleum products.

15         (33)  "Petroleum storage system" means a stationary

16  tank not covered under the provisions of chapter 377, together

17  with any onsite integral piping or dispensing system

18  associated therewith, which is used, or intended to be used,

19  for the storage or supply of any petroleum product. Petroleum

20  storage systems may also include oil/water separators, and

21  other pollution control devices installed at petroleum product

22  terminals as defined in this chapter and bulk product

23  facilities pursuant to, or required by, permits or best

24  management practices in an effort to control surface discharge

25  of pollutants.  Nothing herein shall be construed to allow a

26  continuing discharge in violation of department rules.

27         (34)  "Pollutants" includes any "product" as defined in

28  s. 377.19(11), pesticides, ammonia, chlorine, and derivatives

29  thereof, excluding liquefied petroleum gas.

30         (35)  "Pollution" means the presence on the land or in

31  the waters of the state of pollutants in quantities which are

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  1  or may be potentially harmful or injurious to human health or

  2  welfare, animal or plant life, or property or which may

  3  unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property,

  4  including outdoor recreation.

  5         (36)  "Real property owner" means the individual or

  6  entity that is vested with ownership, dominion, or legal or

  7  rightful title to the real property, or which has a ground

  8  lease interest in the real property, on which a drycleaning

  9  facility or wholesale supply facility is or has ever been

10  located.

11         (37)  "Response action" means any activity, including

12  evaluation, planning, design, engineering, construction, and

13  ancillary services, which is carried out in response to any

14  discharge, release, or threatened release of a hazardous

15  substance, pollutant, or other contaminant from a facility or

16  site identified by the department under the provisions of ss.

17  376.30-376.319.

18         (38)  "Response action contractor" means a person who

19  is carrying out any response action, including a person

20  retained or hired by such person to provide services relating

21  to a response action.

22         (39)  "Risk reduction" means the lowering or

23  elimination of the level of risk posed to human health or the

24  environment through interim remedial actions, remedial action,

25  or institutional and, if appropriate, engineering controls.

26         (40)(39)  "Secretary" means the Secretary of

27  Environmental Protection.

28         (41)(40)  "Site rehabilitation" means the assessment of

29  site contamination and the remediation activities that reduce

30  the levels of contaminants at a site through accepted

31  treatment methods to meet the cleanup target levels

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  1  established for that site. For purposes of sites subject to

  2  the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, as amended, the

  3  term includes removal, decontamination, and corrective action

  4  of releases of hazardous substances.

  5         (42)(41)  "Source removal" means the removal of free

  6  product, or the removal of contaminants from soil or sediment

  7  that has been contaminated to the extent that leaching to

  8  groundwater or surface water has occurred or is occurring.

  9         (43)(42)  "Storage system" means a stationary tank not

10  covered under the provisions of chapter 377, together with any

11  onsite integral piping or dispensing system associated

12  therewith, which is or has been used for the storage or supply

13  of any petroleum product, pollutant, or hazardous substance as

14  defined herein, and which is registered with the Department of

15  Environmental Protection under this chapter or any rule

16  adopted pursuant hereto.

17         (44)(43)  "Synergistic effects" means a scientific

18  principle that the toxicity that occurs as a result of

19  exposure is more than the sum of the toxicities of the

20  individual chemicals to which the individual is exposed.

21         (45)(44)  "Terminal facility" means any structure,

22  group of structures, motor vehicle, rolling stock, pipeline,

23  equipment, or related appurtenances which are used or capable

24  of being used for one or more of the following purposes:

25  pumping, refining, drilling for, producing, storing, handling,

26  transferring, or processing pollutants, provided such

27  pollutants are transferred over, under, or across any water,

28  estuaries, tidal flats, beaches, or waterfront lands,

29  including, but not limited to, any such facility and related

30  appurtenances owned or operated by a public utility or a

31  governmental or quasi-governmental body. In the event of a

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  1  ship-to-ship transfer of pollutants, the vessel going to or

  2  coming from the place of transfer and a terminal facility

  3  shall also be considered a terminal facility. For the purposes

  4  of ss. 376.30-376.319, the term "terminal facility" shall not

  5  be construed to include spill response vessels engaged in

  6  response activities related to removal of pollutants, or

  7  temporary storage facilities created to temporarily store

  8  recovered pollutants and matter, or waterfront facilities

  9  owned and operated by governmental entities acting as agents

10  of public convenience for persons engaged in the drilling for

11  or pumping, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or

12  refining of pollutants. However, each person engaged in the

13  drilling for or pumping, storing, handling, transferring,

14  processing, or refining of pollutants through a waterfront

15  facility owned and operated by such a governmental entity

16  shall be construed as a terminal facility.

17         (46)(45)  "Transfer" or "transferred" includes

18  onloading, offloading, fueling, bunkering, lightering, removal

19  of waste pollutants, or other similar transfers, between

20  terminal facility and vessel or vessel and vessel.

21         Section 26.  Section 376.30701, Florida Statutes, is

22  created to read:

23         376.30701  Application of risk-based corrective action

24  principles to contaminated sites; cleanup criteria; mapping;

25  site registry.--

26         (1)  APPLICABILITY.--

27         (a)  This section shall not create or establish any new

28  liability for site rehabilitation at contaminated sites.  This

29  section is intended to describe a risk-based corrective action

30  process to be applied at sites where legal responsibility for

31  site rehabilitation exists pursuant to paragraph (1)(b), and

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  1  where the person responsible for site rehabilitation elects to

  2  have the provisions of this section, and any rules adopted

  3  pursuant thereto, apply.

  4         (b)  This section shall apply to all contaminated sites

  5  resulting from a prohibited discharge, as defined in s.

  6  376.302, of pollutants or hazardous substances, where legal

  7  responsibility for site rehabilitation exists pursuant to

  8  other provisions of chapter 376 or chapter 403, except for

  9  those contaminated sites subject to the risk-based corrective

10  action cleanup criteria described for the petroleum,

11  brownfields, and drycleaning programs pursuant to ss.

12  376.3071, 376.81, and 376.3078, respectively.

13         (c)  This section shall apply to a variety of site

14  rehabilitation scenarios, including, but not limited to, site

15  rehabilitation conducted voluntarily, conducted pursuant to

16  the department's enforcement authority, or conducted as a

17  state-managed cleanup by the department.

18         (d)  The cleanup criteria described in subsection (2)

19  are defined as calculations using a lifetime cancer risk of

20  1.0E-6, a hazard index of 1 or less, the best achievable

21  detection limit, background concentrations, or nuisance,

22  organoleptic, and aesthetic considerations.

23         (e)  This section does not affect the goal of

24  expediency in emergency response actions to releases to soil

25  that result in soil contamination at levels above the soil

26  target cleanup levels. The need for uniformity in requirements

27  and accountability necessitates that emergency response

28  actions to releases be subject solely to the requirements of

29  the department, the Department of Community Affairs, and any

30  federal agencies with statewide enforcement authority that are

31  given jurisdiction over releases by federal law. The

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  1  risk-based corrective action process at these sites shall

  2  allow department-recognized field screening techniques to be

  3  used.

  4         (f)  The cleanup criteria described in this section are

  5  not intended to impose cleanup criteria independent of the

  6  risk-based corrective action process for site

  7  rehabilitation.  The cleanup criteria described in this

  8  section shall apply only at contaminated sites at which

  9  alternative cleanup target levels, in conjunction with

10  institutional controls, engineering controls, or natural

11  attenuation, are available and feasible.

12         (2)  INTENT; RULEMAKING AUTHORITY; CLEANUP

13  CRITERIA.--It is the intent of the Legislature to protect the

14  health of all people under actual circumstances of exposure.

15  By July 1, 2001, the secretary of the department shall

16  establish criteria by rule for the purpose of determining, on

17  a site-specific basis, the rehabilitation program tasks that

18  comprise a site rehabilitation program, including a voluntary

19  site rehabilitation program, and the level at which a

20  rehabilitation program task and a site rehabilitation program

21  may be deemed completed.  In establishing these rules, the

22  department shall apply, to the maximum extent feasible, a

23  risk-based corrective action process to achieve protection of

24  human health and safety and the environment in a

25  cost-effective manner based on the principles set forth in

26  this subsection. These rules shall prescribe a phased

27  risk-based corrective action process that is iterative and

28  that tailors site rehabilitation tasks to site-specific

29  conditions and risk.  The cleanup criteria described in this

30  subsection shall be applied when deriving cleanup target

31  levels throughout each phase of the risk-based corrective

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  1  action process.  The department and the person responsible for

  2  site rehabilitation are encouraged to establish decision

  3  points at which risk management decisions will be made. The

  4  department shall provide an early decision, when requested,

  5  regarding applicable exposure factors and a risk management

  6  approach based on the current and future land use at the site.

  7  These rules must also include protocols for the use of natural

  8  attenuation, the use of institutional and engineering

  9  controls, and the issuance of "no further action" letters. The

10  criteria for determining what constitutes a rehabilitation

11  program task or completion of a site rehabilitation program

12  task or site rehabilitation program, including a voluntary

13  site rehabilitation program, must:

14         (a)  Consider the current exposure and potential risk

15  of exposure to humans and the environment, including multiple

16  pathways of exposure.  The physical, chemical, and biological

17  characteristics of each contaminant must be considered in

18  order to determine the feasibility of risk-based corrective

19  action assessment.

20         (b)  Establish the point of compliance at the source of

21  the contamination.  However, the department is authorized to

22  temporarily move the point of compliance to the boundary of

23  the property, or to the edge of the plume when the plume is

24  within the property boundary, while cleanup, including cleanup

25  through natural attenuation processes in conjunction with

26  appropriate monitoring, is proceeding.  The department also is

27  authorized, pursuant to criteria provided for in this section,

28  to temporarily extend the point of compliance beyond the

29  property boundary with appropriate monitoring, if such

30  extension is needed to facilitate natural attenuation or to

31  address the current conditions of the plume, provided that

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  1  human health, public safety, and the environment are

  2  protected.  When temporarily extending the point of compliance

  3  beyond the property boundary, it cannot be extended further

  4  than the lateral extent of the plume, if known, at the time of

  5  execution of a cleanup agreement, if required, or the lateral

  6  extent of the plume as defined at the time of site assessment.

  7  Temporary extension of the point of compliance beyond the

  8  property boundary, as provided in this paragraph, must include

  9  actual notice by the person responsible for site

10  rehabilitation to local governments and the owners of any

11  property into which the point of compliance is allowed to

12  extend and constructive notice to residents and business

13  tenants of the property into which the point of compliance is

14  allowed to extend. Persons receiving notice pursuant to this

15  paragraph shall have the opportunity to comment within 30 days

16  of receipt of the notice.

17         (c)  Ensure that the site-specific cleanup goal is that

18  all contaminated sites being cleaned up under this section

19  ultimately achieve the applicable cleanup target levels

20  provided in subsection (1). If human health, public safety,

21  and the environment are protected, and after constructive

22  notice and opportunity to comment within 30 days from receipt

23  of the notice to local government, to owners of any property

24  into which the point of compliance is allowed to extend, and

25  to residents on any property into which the point of

26  compliance is allowed to extend, the department may allow

27  concentrations of contaminants to temporarily exceed the

28  applicable cleanup target levels while cleanup, including

29  cleanup through natural attenuation processes in conjunction

30  with appropriate monitoring, is proceeding.

31

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  1         (d)  Allow the use of institutional or engineering

  2  controls at contaminated sites being cleaned up under this

  3  section, where appropriate, to eliminate or control the

  4  potential exposure to contaminants of humans or the

  5  environment. The use of controls must be preapproved by the

  6  department and only after constructive notice and opportunity

  7  to comment within 30 days from receipt of notice is provided

  8  to local governments, to owners of any property into which the

  9  point of compliance is allowed to extend, and to residents on

10  any property into which the point of compliance is allowed to

11  extend. When institutional or engineering controls are

12  implemented to control exposure, the removal of the controls

13  must have prior department approval and must be accompanied by

14  the resumption of active cleanup, or other approved controls,

15  unless cleanup target levels under this section have been

16  achieved.

17         (e)  Consider the additive effects of contaminants.

18  The synergistic and antagonistic effects must also be

19  considered when the scientific data become available.

20         (f)  Take into consideration individual site

21  characteristics, which shall include, but not be limited to,

22  the current and projected use of the affected groundwater and

23  surface water in the vicinity of the site, current and

24  projected land uses of the area affected by the contamination,

25  the exposed population, the degree and extent of

26  contamination, the rate of contaminant migration, the apparent

27  or potential rate of contaminant degradation through natural

28  attenuation processes, the location of the plume, and the

29  potential for further migration in relation to site property

30  boundaries.

31         (g)  Apply state water quality standards as follows:

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  1         1.  Cleanup target levels for each contaminant found in

  2  groundwater shall be the applicable state water quality

  3  standards.  Where such standards do not exist, the cleanup

  4  target levels for groundwater shall be based on the minimum

  5  criteria specified in department rule.  The department shall

  6  apply the following, as appropriate, in establishing the

  7  applicable cleanup target levels:  calculations using a

  8  lifetime cancer risk level of 1.0E-6; a hazard index of 1 or

  9  less; the best achievable detection limit; and nuisance,

10  organoleptic, and aesthetic considerations. However, the

11  department shall not require site rehabilitation to achieve a

12  cleanup target level for any individual contaminant that is

13  more stringent than the site-specific, background

14  concentration, or the applicable standard for that

15  contaminant.

16         2.  Where surface waters are exposed to contaminated

17  groundwater, the cleanup target levels for the contaminants

18  shall be based on the more protective of the groundwater or

19  surface water standards as established by department

20  rule.  The determination of compliance with surface water

21  standards shall begin by measurement of the groundwater at the

22  nearest practicable location adjacent to the surface water

23  body.  If surface water quality standards are exceeded,

24  groundwater modeling will be conducted to determine if the

25  applicable surface water quality standard is exceeded within

26  the receiving water body.  The water quality modeling shall

27  include calculations of site-specific exposure assessments

28  based on plume dilution and spatial dimensional descriptions,

29  and a receiving water flow-weighted analysis of the dilution

30  of the contaminated groundwater under different receiving

31  water conditions.

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  1         3.  Using risk-based corrective action principles, the

  2  department shall approve alternative cleanup target levels in

  3  conjunction with institutional and engineering controls, if

  4  needed, based upon an applicant's demonstration, using

  5  site-specific data, modeling results, risk assessment studies,

  6  risk-reduction techniques, or a combination thereof, that

  7  human health, public safety, and the environment are protected

  8  to the same degree as provided in subparagraphs 1. and 2.

  9  Where a state water quality standard is applicable, a

10  deviation may not result in the application of cleanup target

11  levels more stringent than the standard.  In determining

12  whether it is appropriate to establish alternative cleanup

13  target levels at a site while protecting human health, public

14  safety, and the environment, the department must consider:

15         a.  Whether removal of the source has or will reduce

16  the risk, and the effectiveness of source removal, if any,

17  that has been completed at the site;

18         b.  The practical likelihood of the use of low-yield or

19  poor-quality groundwater;

20         c.  The use of groundwater near marine surface water

21  bodies;

22         d.  The current and projected use of the affected

23  groundwater in the vicinity of the site; or

24         e.  The use of groundwater in the immediate vicinity of

25  the contaminated area, where it has been demonstrated that the

26  groundwater contamination is not migrating away from such

27  localized source; provided human health, public safety, and

28  the environment are protected.

29         4.  When using alternative cleanup target levels at a

30  contaminated site, institutional controls shall not be

31  required if:

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  1         a.  The only cleanup target levels exceeded are the

  2  groundwater cleanup target levels derived from nuisance,

  3  organoleptic, or aesthetic considerations;

  4         b.  Concentrations of all contaminants meet the state

  5  water quality standards or minimum criteria, based on

  6  protection of human health, provided in subparagraph 1.;

  7         c.  All of the groundwater cleanup target levels

  8  described in subparagraph 1. are met at the property boundary;

  9         d.  The person responsible for contaminated site

10  rehabilitation has demonstrated that the contaminants will not

11  migrate beyond the property boundary at concentrations

12  exceeding the groundwater cleanup target levels described in

13  subparagraph 1.

14         e.  The property has access to and is using an offsite

15  water supply and no unplugged private wells are used for

16  domestic purposes; and

17         f.  The real property owner provides written acceptance

18  of the "no further action" proposal to the department or the

19  local pollution control program.

20         (h)  Provide for the department to issue a "no further

21  action order," with conditions including, but not limited to,

22  the use of institutional or engineering controls where

23  appropriate, when alternative cleanup target levels described

24  in subparagraph (g)3. have been achieved, or when the person

25  responsible for site rehabilitation can demonstrate that the

26  cleanup target level is unachievable within available

27  technologies.  Prior to issuing such an order, the department

28  shall consider the feasibility of an alternative site

29  rehabilitation technology at the contaminated site.

30         (i)  Establish appropriate cleanup target levels for

31  soils.

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  1         1.  In establishing soil cleanup target levels for

  2  human exposure to each contaminant found in soils from the

  3  land surface to 2 feet below land surface, the department

  4  shall apply the following, as appropriate: calculations using

  5  a lifetime cancer risk level of 1.0E-6; a hazard index of 1 or

  6  less; and the best achievable detection limit. However, the

  7  department shall not require site rehabilitation to achieve a

  8  cleanup target level for an individual contaminant that is

  9  more stringent than the site-specific, naturally occurring

10  background concentration for that contaminant. Institutional

11  controls or other methods shall be used to prevent human

12  exposure to contaminated soils more than 2 feet below the land

13  surface.  Any removal of such institutional controls shall

14  require such contaminated soils to be remediated.

15         2.  Leachability-based soil target levels shall be

16  based on protection of the groundwater cleanup target levels

17  or the alternate cleanup target levels for groundwater

18  described in this paragraph, as appropriate. Source removal

19  and other cost-effective alternatives that are technologically

20  feasible shall be considered in achieving the leachability

21  soil target levels established by the department.  The

22  leachability goals shall not be applicable if the department

23  determines, based upon individual site characteristics and in

24  conjunction with institutional and engineering controls, if

25  needed, that contaminants will not leach into the groundwater

26  at levels that pose a threat to human health, public safety,

27  or the environment.

28         3.  Using risk-based corrective action principles, the

29  department shall approve alternative cleanup target levels in

30  conjunction with institutional and engineering controls, if

31  needed, based upon an applicant's demonstration, using

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  1  site-specific data, modeling results, risk assessment studies,

  2  risk-reduction techniques, or a combination thereof, that

  3  human health, public safety, and the environment are protected

  4  to the same degree as provided in subparagraphs 1. and 2.

  5

  6  The department shall require source removal as a

  7  risk-reduction measure, if warranted and cost-effective.  Once

  8  source removal at a site is complete, the department shall

  9  reevaluate the site to determine the degree of active cleanup

10  needed to continue.  Further, the department shall determine

11  if the reevaluated site qualifies for monitoring only or if no

12  further action is required to rehabilitate the site.  If

13  additional site rehabilitation is necessary to reach "no

14  further action" status, the department is encouraged to

15  utilize natural attenuation and monitoring where site

16  conditions warrant.

17         (3)  LIMITATIONS.--The cleanup criteria described in

18  this section govern only site rehabilitation activities

19  occurring at the contaminated site. Removal of contaminated

20  media from a site for offsite relocation or treatment must be

21  in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local

22  laws and regulations.

23         (4)  REOPENERS.--Upon completion of site rehabilitation

24  in compliance with subsection (2), additional site

25  rehabilitation is not required unless it is demonstrated:

26         (a)  That fraud was committed in demonstrating site

27  conditions or completion of site rehabilitation;

28         (b)  That new information confirms the existence of an

29  area of previously unknown contamination that exceeds the

30  site-specific rehabilitation levels described in accordance

31  with subsection (2), or that otherwise poses the threat of

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  1  real and substantial harm to public health, safety, or the

  2  environment;

  3         (c)  That the remediation efforts failed to achieve the

  4  site rehabilitation criteria established under this section;

  5         (d)  That the level of risk is increased beyond the

  6  acceptable risk established under subsection (2) due to

  7  substantial changes in exposure conditions, such as a change

  8  in land use from nonresidential to residential use. Any person

  9  who changes the land use of the site, thus causing the level

10  of risk to increase beyond the acceptable risk level, may be

11  required by the department to undertake additional remediation

12  measures to assure that human health, public safety, and the

13  environment are protected consistent with this section; or

14         (e)  That a new discharge of pollutants or hazardous

15  substances or disposal of solid waste or hazardous waste

16  occurs at the site subsequent to the issuance of a "no further

17  action" letter or site rehabilitation completion order

18  associated with the original contamination being addressed

19  pursuant to this section.

20         (5)  MAPPING.--Notwithstanding the exceptions in

21  paragraph (1)(b), if an institutional control is implemented

22  at any contaminated site, including sites in the petroleum,

23  brownfields, or drycleaning programs, the property owner must

24  provide information regarding the institutional control to the

25  local government for mapping purposes. The local government

26  must then note the existence of the institutional control on

27  any relevant local land use and zoning maps with a cross

28  reference to the department's site registry developed pursuant

29  to subsection (6). If the type of institutional control used

30  requires recording with the local government, then the map

31  notation shall also provide a cross reference to the book and

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  1  page number where recorded. When a local government is

  2  provided with evidence that the department has subsequently

  3  issued a "no further action order" without institutional

  4  controls for a site currently noted on such maps, the local

  5  government shall remove the notation.

  6         (6)  REGISTRY.--Notwithstanding the exceptions in

  7  paragraph (1)(b), the department shall prepare and maintain a

  8  registry of all contaminated sites subject to institutional

  9  and engineering controls, in order to provide a mechanism for

10  the public and local governments to: monitor the status of

11  these controls; monitor the department's short-term and

12  long-term protection of human health and the environment in

13  relation to these sites; and evaluate economic revitalization

14  efforts in these areas. At a minimum, the registry shall

15  include the type of institutional or engineering controls

16  employed at a particular site, types of contaminants and

17  affected media, land use limitations, and the county in which

18  the site is located. Sites listed on the registry at which the

19  department has subsequently issued a "no further action order"

20  without institutional controls shall be removed from the

21  registry. The department shall make the registry available to

22  the public and local governments within 1 year after the

23  effective date of this act. The department shall provide local

24  governments with actual notice when the registry becomes

25  available. Local zoning and planning offices shall post

26  information on how to access the registry in public view.

27         Section 27.  Paragraph (i) of subsection (4) of section

28  376.3078, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

29         376.3078  Drycleaning facility restoration; funds;

30  uses; liability; recovery of expenditures.--

31

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  1         (4)  REHABILITATION CRITERIA.--It is the intent of the

  2  Legislature to protect the health of all people under actual

  3  circumstances of exposure.  By July 1, 1999, the secretary of

  4  the department shall establish criteria by rule for the

  5  purpose of determining, on a site-specific basis, the

  6  rehabilitation program tasks that comprise a site

  7  rehabilitation program, including a voluntary site

  8  rehabilitation program, and the level at which a

  9  rehabilitation program task and a site rehabilitation program

10  may be deemed completed.  In establishing the rule, the

11  department shall incorporate, to the maximum extent feasible,

12  risk-based corrective action principles to achieve protection

13  of human health and safety and the environment in a

14  cost-effective manner as provided in this subsection.  The

15  rule shall also include protocols for the use of natural

16  attenuation and the issuance of "no further action" letters.

17  The criteria for determining what constitutes a rehabilitation

18  program task or completion of a site rehabilitation program

19  task or site rehabilitation program, including a voluntary

20  site rehabilitation program, must:

21         (i)  Establish appropriate cleanup target levels for

22  soils.

23         1.  In establishing soil cleanup target levels for

24  human exposure to each contaminant found in soils from the

25  land surface to 2 feet below land surface, the department

26  shall consider the following, as appropriate: calculations

27  using a lifetime cancer risk level of 1.0E-6; a hazard index

28  of 1 or less; the best achievable detection limit; or the

29  naturally occurring background concentration. Institutional

30  controls or other methods shall be used to prevent human

31  exposure to contaminated soils more than 2 feet below the land

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  1  surface.  Any removal of such institutional controls shall

  2  require such contaminated soils to be remediated.

  3         2.  Leachability-based soil target levels shall be

  4  based on protection of the groundwater cleanup target levels

  5  or the alternate cleanup target levels for groundwater

  6  established pursuant to this paragraph, as appropriate. Source

  7  removal and other cost-effective alternatives that are

  8  technologically feasible shall be considered in achieving the

  9  leachability soil target levels established by the department.

10  The leachability goals shall not be applicable if the

11  department determines, based upon individual site

12  characteristics, that contaminants will not leach into the

13  groundwater at levels which pose a threat to human health,

14  public safety, and the environment.

15         3.  The department may set alternative cleanup target

16  levels based upon the person responsible for site

17  rehabilitation demonstrating, using site-specific modeling and

18  risk assessment studies, that human health, public safety, and

19  the environment are protected.

20

21  The department shall require source removal, if warranted and

22  cost-effective.  Once source removal at a site is complete,

23  the department shall reevaluate the site to determine the

24  degree of active cleanup needed to continue.  Further, the

25  department shall determine if the reevaluated site qualifies

26  for monitoring only or if no further action is required to

27  rehabilitate the site.  If additional site rehabilitation is

28  necessary to reach "no further action" status, the department

29  is encouraged to utilize natural attenuation and monitoring

30  where site conditions warrant.

31

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  1         Section 28.  Section 376.79, Florida Statutes, is

  2  amended to read:

  3         376.79  Definitions.--As used in ss. 376.77-376.85, the

  4  term:

  5         (1)  "Additive effects" means a scientific principle

  6  that the toxicity that occurs as a result of exposure is the

  7  sum of the toxicities of the individual chemicals to which the

  8  individual is exposed.

  9         (2)  "Antagonistic effects" means a scientific

10  principle that the toxicity that occurs as a result of

11  exposure is less than the sum of the toxicities of the

12  individual chemicals to which the individual is exposed.

13         (3)  "Brownfield sites" means sites that are generally

14  abandoned, idled, or underused industrial and commercial

15  properties where expansion or redevelopment is complicated by

16  actual or perceived environmental contamination.

17         (4)  "Brownfield area" means a contiguous area of one

18  or more brownfield sites, some of which may not be

19  contaminated, and which has been designated by a local

20  government by resolution. Such areas may include all or

21  portions of community redevelopment areas, enterprise zones,

22  empowerment zones, other such designated economically deprived

23  communities and areas, and Environmental Protection

24  Agency-designated brownfield pilot projects.

25         (5)  "Contaminant" means any physical, chemical,

26  biological, or radiological substance present in any medium

27  which may result in adverse effects to human health or the

28  environment or which creates an adverse nuisance,

29  organoleptic, or aesthetic condition in groundwater.

30

31

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  1         (6)(5)  "Contaminated site" means any contiguous land,

  2  surface water, or groundwater areas that contain contaminants

  3  that may be harmful to human health or the environment.

  4         (7)(6)  "Department" means the Department of

  5  Environmental Protection.

  6         (8)(7)  "Engineering controls" means modifications to a

  7  site to reduce or eliminate the potential for exposure to

  8  contaminants.  Such modifications may include, but are not

  9  limited to, physical or hydraulic control measures, capping,

10  point of use treatments, or slurry walls.

11         (9)(8)  "Environmental justice" means the fair

12  treatment of all people of all races, cultures, and incomes

13  with respect to the development, implementation, and

14  enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.

15         (10)(9)  "Institutional controls" means the restriction

16  on use of or access to a site to eliminate or minimize

17  exposure to contaminants.  Such restrictions may include, but

18  are not limited to, deed restrictions, restrictive covenants,

19  or conservation easements use restrictions, or restrictive

20  zoning.

21         (11)(10)  "Local pollution control program" means a

22  local pollution control program that has received delegated

23  authority from the Department of Environmental Protection

24  under ss. 376.80(11) and 403.182.

25         (12)(11)  "Natural attenuation" means a verifiable

26  approach to site rehabilitation which allows natural processes

27  to contain the spread of contamination and reduce the

28  concentrations of contaminants in contaminated groundwater and

29  soil. Natural attenuation processes may include sorption,

30  biodegradation, chemical reactions with subsurface materials,

31  diffusion, dispersion, and volatilization. the verifiable

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  1  reduction of contaminants through natural processes, which may

  2  include diffusion, dispersion, adsorption, and biodegradation.

  3         (13)(12)  "Person responsible for brownfield site

  4  rehabilitation" means the individual or entity that is

  5  designated by the local government to enter into the

  6  brownfield site rehabilitation agreement with the department

  7  or an approved local pollution control program and enters into

  8  an agreement with the local government for redevelopment of

  9  the site.

10         (14)(13)  "Person" means any individual, partner, joint

11  venture, or corporation; any group of the foregoing, organized

12  or united for a business purpose; or any governmental entity.

13         (15)  "Risk reduction" means the lowering or

14  elimination of the level of risk posed to human health or the

15  environment through interim remedial actions, remedial action,

16  or institutional, and if appropriate, engineering controls.

17         (16)(14)  "Secretary" means the secretary of the

18  Department of Environmental Protection.

19         (17)(15)  "Site rehabilitation" means the assessment of

20  site contamination and the remediation activities that reduce

21  the levels of contaminants at a site through accepted

22  treatment methods to meet the cleanup target levels

23  established for that site.

24         (18)(16)  "Source removal" means the removal of free

25  product, or the removal of contaminants from soil or sediment

26  that has been contaminated to the extent that leaching to

27  groundwater or surface water has occurred or is occurring.

28         (19)(17)  "Synergistic effects" means a scientific

29  principle that the toxicity that occurs as a result of

30  exposure is more than the sum of the toxicities of the

31  individual chemicals to which the individual is exposed.

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  1         Section 29.  Subsections (4) and (5) and paragraph (c)

  2  of subsection (7) of section 376.80, Florida Statutes, are

  3  amended to read:

  4         376.80  Brownfield program administration process.--

  5         (4)  Local governments or persons responsible for

  6  rehabilitation and redevelopment of brownfield areas must

  7  establish an advisory committee or use an existing advisory

  8  committee that has formally expressed its intent to address

  9  redevelopment of the specific brownfield area for the purpose

10  of improving public participation and receiving public

11  comments on rehabilitation and redevelopment of the brownfield

12  area, future land use, local employment opportunities,

13  community safety, and environmental justice. Such advisory

14  committee should include residents within or adjacent to the

15  brownfield area, businesses operating within the brownfield

16  area, and others deemed appropriate. The person responsible

17  for brownfield site rehabilitation must notify the advisory

18  committee of the intent to rehabilitate and redevelop the site

19  before executing the brownfield site rehabilitation agreement,

20  and provide the committee with a copy of the draft plan for

21  site rehabilitation which addresses elements required by

22  subsection (5). This includes disclosing potential reuse of

23  the property as well as site rehabilitation activities, if

24  any, to be performed. The advisory committee shall review the

25  proposed redevelopment agreement required pursuant to

26  paragraph (5)(i) and provide comments, if appropriate, to the

27  board of the local government with jurisdiction over the

28  brownfield area. The advisory committee must receive a copy of

29  the executed brownfield site rehabilitation agreement. When

30  the person responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation

31  submits a site assessment report or the technical document

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  1  containing the proposed course of action following site

  2  assessment to the department or the local pollution control

  3  program for review, the person responsible for brownfield site

  4  rehabilitation must hold a meeting or attend a regularly

  5  scheduled meeting to inform the advisory committee of the

  6  findings and recommendations in the site assessment report or

  7  the technical document containing the proposed course of

  8  action following site assessment.  The advisory committee must

  9  review and provide recommendations to the board of the local

10  government with jurisdiction on the proposed site

11  rehabilitation agreement provided in subsection (5).

12         (5)  The person responsible for brownfield site

13  rehabilitation must enter into a brownfield site

14  rehabilitation agreement with the department or an approved

15  local pollution control program if actual contamination exists

16  at the brownfield site. The brownfield site rehabilitation

17  agreement must include:

18         (a)  A brownfield site rehabilitation schedule,

19  including milestones for completion of site rehabilitation

20  tasks and submittal of technical reports and rehabilitation

21  plans as agreed upon by the parties to the agreement;

22         (b)  A commitment to conduct site rehabilitation

23  activities under the observation of professional engineers or

24  geologists who are registered in accordance with the

25  requirements of chapter 471 or chapter 492, respectively.

26  Submittals provided by the person responsible for brownfield

27  site rehabilitation must be signed and sealed by a

28  professional engineer registered under chapter 471, or a

29  professional geologist registered under chapter 492,

30  certifying that the submittal and associated work comply with

31  the law and rules of the department and those governing the

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  1  profession.  In addition, upon completion of the approved

  2  remedial action, the department shall require a professional

  3  engineer registered under chapter 471 or a professional

  4  geologist registered under chapter 492 to certify that the

  5  corrective action was, to the best of his or her knowledge,

  6  completed in substantial conformance with the plans and

  7  specifications approved by the department;

  8         (c)  A commitment to conduct site rehabilitation in

  9  accordance with an approved comprehensive quality assurance

10  plan under department rules;

11         (d)  A commitment to conduct site rehabilitation

12  consistent with state, federal, and local laws and consistent

13  with the brownfield site contamination cleanup criteria in s.

14  376.81, including any applicable requirements for risk-based

15  corrective action;

16         (e)  Timeframes for the department's review of

17  technical reports and plans submitted in accordance with the

18  agreement.  The department shall make every effort to adhere

19  to established agency goals for reasonable timeframes for

20  review of such documents;

21         (f)  A commitment to secure site access for the

22  department or approved local pollution control program to all

23  brownfield sites within the eligible brownfield area for

24  activities associated with site rehabilitation;

25         (g)  Other provisions that the person responsible for

26  brownfield site rehabilitation and the department agree upon,

27  that are consistent with ss. 376.77-376.85, and that will

28  improve or enhance the brownfield site rehabilitation process;

29         (h)  A commitment to consider appropriate pollution

30  prevention measures and to implement those that the person

31  responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation determines are

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  1  reasonable and cost-effective, taking into account the

  2  ultimate use or uses of the brownfield site.  Such measures

  3  may include improved inventory or production controls and

  4  procedures for preventing loss, spills, and leaks of hazardous

  5  waste and materials, and include goals for the reduction of

  6  releases of toxic materials; and

  7         (i)  Certification that an agreement exists between the

  8  person responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation and the

  9  local government with jurisdiction over the brownfield area.

10  Such agreement shall contain terms for the redevelopment of

11  the brownfield area.

12         (7)  The contractor must certify to the department that

13  the contractor:

14         (c)  Maintains comprehensive general liability and

15  comprehensive automobile liability insurance with minimum

16  limits of at least $1 million per claim occurrence and $1

17  million annual aggregate, sufficient to protect it from claims

18  for damage for personal injury, including accidental death, as

19  well as claims for property damage which may arise from

20  performance of work under the program, designating the state

21  as an additional insured party.

22         Section 30.  Section 376.81, Florida Statutes, is

23  amended to read:

24         376.81  Brownfield site and brownfield areas

25  contamination cleanup criteria.--

26         (1)  It is the intent of the Legislature to protect the

27  health of all people under actual circumstances of exposure.

28  By July 1, 2001 1998, the secretary of the department shall

29  establish criteria by rule for the purpose of determining, on

30  a site-specific basis, the rehabilitation program tasks that

31  comprise a site rehabilitation program and the level at which

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  1  a rehabilitation program task and a site rehabilitation

  2  program may be deemed completed.  In establishing the rule,

  3  the department shall apply incorporate, to the maximum extent

  4  feasible, a risk-based corrective action process principles to

  5  achieve protection of human health and safety and the

  6  environment in a cost-effective manner based on the principles

  7  set forth as provided in this subsection. The rule must

  8  prescribe a phased risk-based corrective action process that

  9  is iterative and that tailors site rehabilitation tasks to

10  site-specific conditions and risks. The department and the

11  person responsible for brownfield site rehabilitation are

12  encouraged to establish decision points at which risk

13  management decisions will be made. The department shall

14  provide an early decision, when requested, regarding

15  applicable exposure factors and a risk management approach

16  based on the current and future land use at the site. The rule

17  shall also include protocols for the use of natural

18  attenuation, the use of institutional and engineering

19  controls, and the issuance of "no further action" letters. The

20  criteria for determining what constitutes a rehabilitation

21  program task or completion of a site rehabilitation program

22  task or site rehabilitation program must:

23         (a)  Consider the current exposure and potential risk

24  of exposure to humans and the environment, including multiple

25  pathways of exposure.  The physical, chemical, and biological

26  characteristics of each contaminant must be considered in

27  order to determine the feasibility of risk-based corrective

28  action assessment.

29         (b)  Establish the point of compliance at the source of

30  the contamination.  However, the department is authorized to

31  temporarily move the point of compliance to the boundary of

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  1  the property, or to the edge of the plume when the plume is

  2  within the property boundary, while cleanup, including cleanup

  3  through natural attenuation processes in conjunction with

  4  appropriate monitoring, is proceeding.  The department also is

  5  authorized, pursuant to criteria provided for in this section,

  6  to temporarily extend the point of compliance beyond the

  7  property boundary with appropriate monitoring, if such

  8  extension is needed to facilitate natural attenuation or to

  9  address the current conditions of the plume, provided human

10  health, public safety, and the environment are protected.

11  When temporarily extending the point of compliance beyond the

12  property boundary, it cannot be extended further than the

13  lateral extent of the plume at the time of execution of the

14  brownfield site rehabilitation agreement, if known, or the

15  lateral extent of the plume as defined at the time of site

16  assessment. Temporary extension of the point of compliance

17  beyond the property boundary, as provided in this paragraph,

18  must include actual notice by the person responsible for

19  brownfield site rehabilitation to local governments and the

20  owners of any property into which the point of compliance is

21  allowed to extend and constructive notice to residents and

22  business tenants of the property into which the point of

23  compliance is allowed to extend. Persons receiving notice

24  pursuant to this paragraph shall have the opportunity to

25  comment within 30 days of receipt of the notice.

26         (c)  Ensure that the site-specific cleanup goal is that

27  all contaminated brownfield sites and brownfield areas

28  ultimately achieve the applicable cleanup target levels

29  provided in this section. In the circumstances provided below,

30  and after constructive notice and opportunity to comment

31  within 30 days from receipt of the notice to local government,

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  1  to owners of any property into which the point of compliance

  2  is allowed to extend, and to residents on any property into

  3  which the point of compliance is allowed to extend, the

  4  department may allow concentrations of contaminants to

  5  temporarily exceed the applicable cleanup target levels while

  6  cleanup, including cleanup through natural attenuation

  7  processes in conjunction with appropriate monitoring, is

  8  proceeding, if human health, public safety, and the

  9  environment are protected.

10         (d)  Allow brownfield site and brownfield area

11  rehabilitation programs to include the use of institutional or

12  engineering controls, where appropriate, to eliminate or

13  control the potential exposure to contaminants of humans or

14  the environment. The use of controls must be preapproved by

15  the department and only after constructive notice and

16  opportunity to comment within 30 days from receipt of notice

17  is provided to local governments, to owners of any property

18  into which the point of compliance is allowed to extend, and

19  to residents on any property into which the point of

20  compliance is allowed to extend. When institutional or

21  engineering controls are implemented to control exposure, the

22  removal of the controls must have prior department approval

23  and must be accompanied by the resumption of active cleanup,

24  or other approved controls, unless cleanup target levels under

25  this section have been achieved.

26         (e)  Consider the additive effects of contaminants.

27  The synergistic and antagonistic effects shall also be

28  considered when the scientific data become available.

29         (f)  Take into consideration individual site

30  characteristics, which shall include, but not be limited to,

31  the current and projected use of the affected groundwater and

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  1  surface water in the vicinity of the site, current and

  2  projected land uses of the area affected by the contamination,

  3  the exposed population, the degree and extent of

  4  contamination, the rate of contaminant migration, the apparent

  5  or potential rate of contaminant degradation through natural

  6  attenuation processes, the location of the plume, and the

  7  potential for further migration in relation to site property

  8  boundaries.

  9         (g)  Apply state water quality standards as follows:

10         1.  Cleanup target levels for each contaminant found in

11  groundwater shall be the applicable state water quality

12  standards.  Where such standards do not exist, the cleanup

13  target levels for groundwater shall be based on the minimum

14  criteria specified in department rule.  The department shall

15  apply consider the following, as appropriate, in establishing

16  the applicable cleanup target levels minimum criteria:

17  calculations using a lifetime cancer risk level of 1.0E-6; a

18  hazard index of 1 or less; the best achievable detection

19  limit; and the naturally occurring background concentration;

20  or nuisance, organoleptic, and aesthetic considerations.

21  However, the department shall not require site rehabilitation

22  to achieve a cleanup target level for any individual

23  contaminant which is more stringent than the site-specific,

24  naturally occurring background concentration for that

25  contaminant.

26         2.  Where surface waters are exposed to contaminated

27  groundwater, the cleanup target levels for the contaminants

28  shall be based on the more protective of the groundwater or

29  surface water standards as established by department rule.

30  The point of measuring compliance with the surface water

31

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  1  standards shall be in the groundwater immediately adjacent to

  2  the surface water body.

  3         3.  The department shall approve may set alternative

  4  cleanup target levels in conjunction with institutional and

  5  engineering controls, if needed, based upon an applicant's

  6  demonstration, using site-specific data, modeling results, and

  7  risk assessment studies, risk reduction techniques, or a

  8  combination thereof, that human health, public safety, and the

  9  environment are protected to the same degree as provided in

10  subparagraphs 1. and 2. Where a state water quality standard

11  is applicable, a deviation may not result in the application

12  of cleanup target levels more stringent than the standard.  In

13  determining whether it is appropriate to establish alternative

14  cleanup target levels at a site, the department must consider

15  the effectiveness of source removal, if any, which that has

16  been completed at the site and the practical likelihood of the

17  use of low yield or poor quality groundwater, the use of

18  groundwater near marine surface water bodies, the current and

19  projected use of the affected groundwater in the vicinity of

20  the site, or the use of groundwater in the immediate vicinity

21  of the contaminated area, where it has been demonstrated that

22  the groundwater contamination is not migrating away from such

23  localized source, provided human health, public safety, and

24  the environment are protected. When using alternative cleanup

25  target levels at a brownfield site, institutional controls

26  shall not be required if:

27         a.  The only cleanup target levels exceeded are the

28  groundwater cleanup target levels derived from nuisance,

29  organoleptic, or aesthetic considerations;

30

31

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  1         b.  Concentrations of all contaminants meet the state

  2  water quality standards or minimum criteria, based on

  3  protection of human health, provided in subparagraph 1.;

  4         c.  All of the groundwater cleanup target levels

  5  established pursuant to subparagraph 1. are met at the

  6  property boundary;

  7         d.  The person responsible for brownfield site

  8  rehabilitation has demonstrated that the contaminants will not

  9  migrate beyond the property boundary at concentrations

10  exceeding the groundwater cleanup target levels established

11  pursuant to subparagraph 1.;

12         e.  The property has access to and is using an offsite

13  water supply and no unplugged private wells are used for

14  domestic purposes; and

15         f.  The real property owner provides written acceptance

16  of the "no further action" proposal to the department or the

17  local pollution control program.

18         (h)  Provide for the department to issue a "no further

19  action order," with conditions, including, but not limited to,

20  the use of institutional or engineering controls where

21  appropriate, when alternative cleanup target levels

22  established pursuant to subparagraph (g)3. have been achieved,

23  or when the person responsible for brownfield site

24  rehabilitation can demonstrate that the cleanup target level

25  is unachievable within available technologies.  Prior to

26  issuing such an order, the department shall consider the

27  feasibility of an alternative site rehabilitation technology

28  in the brownfield area.

29         (i)  Establish appropriate cleanup target levels for

30  soils.

31

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  1         1.  In establishing soil cleanup target levels for

  2  human exposure to each contaminant found in soils from the

  3  land surface to 2 feet below land surface, the department

  4  shall apply consider the following, as appropriate:

  5  calculations using a lifetime cancer risk level of 1.0E-6; a

  6  hazard index of 1 or less; and the best achievable detection

  7  limit; or the naturally occurring background concentration.

  8  However, the department shall not require site rehabilitation

  9  to achieve a cleanup target level for an individual

10  contaminant which is more stringent than the site-specific,

11  naturally occurring background concentration for that

12  contaminant. Institutional controls or other methods shall be

13  used to prevent human exposure to contaminated soils more than

14  2 feet below the land surface.  Any removal of such

15  institutional controls shall require such contaminated soils

16  to be remediated.

17         2.  Leachability-based soil target levels shall be

18  based on protection of the groundwater cleanup target levels

19  or the alternate cleanup target levels for groundwater

20  established pursuant to this paragraph, as appropriate. Source

21  removal and other cost-effective alternatives that are

22  technologically feasible shall be considered in achieving the

23  leachability soil target levels established by the department.

24  The leachability goals shall not be applicable if the

25  department determines, based upon individual site

26  characteristics, and in conjunction with institutional and

27  engineering controls, if needed, that contaminants will not

28  leach into the groundwater at levels that which pose a threat

29  to human health, public safety, and the environment.

30         3.  The department shall approve may set alternative

31  cleanup target levels in conjunction with institutional and

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  1  engineering controls, if needed, based upon an applicant's

  2  demonstration, using site-specific data, modeling results, and

  3  risk assessment studies, risk reduction techniques, or a

  4  combination thereof, that human health, public safety, and the

  5  environment are protected to the same degree as provided in

  6  subparagraphs 1. and 2.

  7         (2)  The department shall require source removal, if

  8  warranted and cost-effective.  Once source removal at a site

  9  is complete, the department shall reevaluate the site to

10  determine the degree of active cleanup needed to continue.

11  Further, the department shall determine if the reevaluated

12  site qualifies for monitoring only or if no further action is

13  required to rehabilitate the site.  If additional site

14  rehabilitation is necessary to reach "no further action"

15  status, the department is encouraged to utilize natural

16  attenuation and monitoring where site conditions warrant.

17         (3)  The cleanup criteria established pursuant to this

18  section govern only site rehabilitation activities occurring

19  at the contaminated site. Removal of contaminated media from a

20  site for offsite relocation or treatment must be in accordance

21  with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and

22  regulations.

23         Section 31.  Paragraph (k) is added to subsection (2)

24  of section 376.82, Florida Statutes, to read:

25         376.82  Eligibility criteria and liability

26  protection.--

27         (2)  LIABILITY PROTECTION.--

28         (k)  A person whose property becomes contaminated due

29  to geophysical or hydrologic reasons, including the migration

30  of contaminants onto their property from the operation of

31  facilities and activities on a nearby designated brownfield

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  1  area, and whose property has never been occupied by a business

  2  that utilized or stored the contaminants or similar

  3  constituents is not subject to administrative or judicial

  4  action brought by or on behalf of another to compel the

  5  rehabilitation of or the payment of the costs for the

  6  rehabilitation of sites contaminated by materials that

  7  migrated onto the property from the designated brownfield

  8  area, if the person:

  9         1.  Does not own and has never held an ownership

10  interest in, or shared in the profits of, activities in the

11  designated brownfield area operated at the source location;

12         2.  Did not participate in the operation or management

13  of the activities in the designated brownfield area operated

14  at the source location; and

15         3.  Did not cause, contribute to, or exacerbate the

16  release or threat of release of any hazardous substance

17  through any act or omission.

18         Section 32.  Section 376.88, Florida Statutes, is

19  created to read:

20         376.88  Brownfield Program Review Advisory Council.--

21         (1)  The Brownfield Program Review Advisory Council is

22  created to provide for continuous review of the progress in

23  the administration of Florida's Brownfield Program and to make

24  recommendations for its improvement. The council shall consist

25  of the following:

26         (a)  A representative of a city that participated in

27  the pilot grant program for brownfields sponsored by the

28  United States Environmental Protection Agency;

29         (b)  A representative of a county that participated in

30  the pilot grant program for brownfields sponsored by the

31  United States Environmental Protection Agency;

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  1         (c)  A representative of a statewide business

  2  organization;

  3         (d)  A representative of Enterprise Florida, Inc.;

  4         (e)  A representative of response action contractor

  5  companies involved in activities at brownfield sites;

  6         (f)  The secretary of the Department of Environmental

  7  Protection or his or her designee;

  8         (g)  The secretary of the Department of Community

  9  Affairs or his or her designee;

10         (h)  The Director of the Office of Tourism, Trade, and

11  Economic Development in the Executive Office of the Governor;

12         (i)  A representative of a financial institution;

13         (j)  A representative of the Sierra Club; and

14         (k)  A representative of the Community Environmental

15  Health Advisory Board.

16         (2)  The Brownfield Program Review Advisory Council

17  shall:

18         (a)  Perform a comprehensive review of activities

19  related to rehabilitation of brownfield areas;

20         (b)  Determine and recommend any additional economic

21  incentives that should be available to help accelerate

22  rehabilitation activities; and

23         (c)  Review the administrative processes for approving

24  and permitting rehabilitation activities by the Department of

25  Environmental Protection and local programs and make

26  recommendations for improvements in these processes.

27         (3)  The initial term for service of the council shall

28  be 2 years from the date of the first meeting and may be

29  extended at the discretion of the Secretary of Environmental

30  Protection, or his or her designee, based upon the needs of

31  the brownfields program.

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  1         (4)  Each member shall provide his or her own per diem

  2  and expenses for travel while carrying out the business of the

  3  council.

  4         (5)  The Secretary of the Department of Environmental

  5  Protection or his or her designee shall appoint the council

  6  members, serve as chairperson of the council, and convene the

  7  council on at least a semiannual basis.

  8         (6)  The council shall submit a report to the

  9  Legislature as often as needed to address issues requiring

10  legislative changes or appropriations.

11         Section 33.  Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (3)

12  of section 403.973, Florida Statutes, to read:

13         403.973  Expedited permitting; comprehensive plan

14  amendments.--

15         (3)

16         (d)  Projects located in a designated brownfield area

17  are eligible for the expedited permitting process.

18         Section 34.  Subsection (1) of section 190.012, Florida

19  Statutes, is amended to read:

20         190.012  Special powers; public improvements and

21  community facilities.--The district shall have, and the board

22  may exercise, subject to the regulatory jurisdiction and

23  permitting authority of all applicable governmental bodies,

24  agencies, and special districts having authority with respect

25  to any area included therein, any or all of the following

26  special powers relating to public improvements and community

27  facilities authorized by this act:

28         (1)  To finance, fund, plan, establish, acquire,

29  construct or reconstruct, enlarge or extend, equip, operate,

30  and maintain systems, facilities, and basic infrastructures

31  for the following:

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  1         (a)  Water management and control for the lands within

  2  the district and to connect some or any of such facilities

  3  with roads and bridges.

  4         (b)  Water supply, sewer, and wastewater management,

  5  reclamation, and reuse or any combination thereof, and to

  6  construct and operate connecting intercepting or outlet sewers

  7  and sewer mains and pipes and water mains, conduits, or

  8  pipelines in, along, and under any street, alley, highway, or

  9  other public place or ways, and to dispose of any effluent,

10  residue, or other byproducts of such system or sewer system.

11         (c)  Bridges or culverts that may be needed across any

12  drain, ditch, canal, floodway, holding basin, excavation,

13  public highway, tract, grade, fill, or cut and roadways over

14  levees and embankments, and to construct any and all of such

15  works and improvements across, through, or over any public

16  right-of-way, highway, grade, fill, or cut.

17         (d)1.  District roads equal to or exceeding the

18  specifications of the county in which such district roads are

19  located, and street lights.

20         2.  Buses, trolleys, transit shelters, ridesharing

21  facilities and services, parking improvements, and related

22  signage.

23         (e)  Investigation and remediation costs associated

24  with the cleanup of actual or perceived environmental

25  contamination within the district under the supervision or

26  direction of a competent governmental authority unless the

27  covered costs benefit any person who is a landowner within the

28  district and who caused or contributed to the contamination.

29         (f)(e)  Conservation areas, mitigation areas, and

30  wildlife habitat, including the maintenance of any plant or

31

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  1  animal species, and any related interest in real or personal

  2  property.

  3         (g)(f)  Any other project within or without the

  4  boundaries of a district when a local government issued a

  5  development order pursuant to s. 380.06 or s. 380.061

  6  approving or expressly requiring the construction or funding

  7  of the project by the district, or when the project is the

  8  subject of an agreement between the district and a

  9  governmental entity and is consistent with the local

10  government comprehensive plan of the local government within

11  which the project is to be located.

12         Section 35.  Section 712.01, Florida Statutes, is

13  amended to read:

14         712.01  Definitions.--As used in this law:

15         (1)  The term "person" as used herein denotes singular

16  or plural, natural or corporate, private or governmental,

17  including the state and any political subdivision or agency

18  thereof as the context for the use thereof requires or denotes

19  and including any homeowners' association.

20         (2)  "Root of title" means any title transaction

21  purporting to create or transfer the estate claimed by any

22  person and which is the last title transaction to have been

23  recorded at least 30 years prior to the time when

24  marketability is being determined.  The effective date of the

25  root of title is the date on which it was recorded.

26         (3)  "Title transaction" means any recorded instrument

27  or court proceeding which affects title to any estate or

28  interest in land and which describes the land sufficiently to

29  identify its location and boundaries.

30         (4)  The term "homeowners' association" means a

31  homeowners' association as defined in s. 617.301(7), or an

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  1  association of parcel owners which is authorized to enforce

  2  use restrictions that are imposed on the parcels.

  3         (5)  The term "parcel" means real property which is

  4  used for residential purposes that is subject to exclusive

  5  ownership and which is subject to any covenant or restriction

  6  of a homeowners' association.

  7         (6)  The term "covenant or restriction" means any

  8  agreement or limitation contained in a document recorded in

  9  the public records of the county in which a parcel is located

10  which subjects the parcel to any use restriction which may be

11  enforced by a homeowners' association or which authorizes a

12  homeowners' association to impose a charge or assessment

13  against the parcel or the owner of the parcel or which may be

14  enforced by the Department of Environmental Protection

15  pursuant to chapter 376 or chapter 403.

16         Section 36.  Section 712.03, Florida Statutes, is

17  amended to read:

18         712.03  Exceptions to marketability.--Such marketable

19  record title shall not affect or extinguish the following

20  rights:

21         (1)  Estates or interests, easements and use

22  restrictions disclosed by and defects inherent in the

23  muniments of title on which said estate is based beginning

24  with the root of title; provided, however, that a general

25  reference in any of such muniments to easements, use

26  restrictions or other interests created prior to the root of

27  title shall not be sufficient to preserve them unless specific

28  identification by reference to book and page of record or by

29  name of recorded plat be made therein to a recorded title

30  transaction which imposed, transferred or continued such

31

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  1  easement, use restrictions or other interests; subject,

  2  however, to the provisions of subsection (5).

  3         (2)  Estates, interests, claims, or charges, or any

  4  covenant or restriction, preserved by the filing of a proper

  5  notice in accordance with the provisions hereof.

  6         (3)  Rights of any person in possession of the lands,

  7  so long as such person is in such possession.

  8         (4)  Estates, interests, claims, or charges arising out

  9  of a title transaction which has been recorded subsequent to

10  the effective date of the root of title.

11         (5)  Recorded or unrecorded easements or rights,

12  interest or servitude in the nature of easements,

13  rights-of-way and terminal facilities, including those of a

14  public utility or of a governmental agency, so long as the

15  same are used and the use of any part thereof shall except

16  from the operation hereof the right to the entire use thereof.

17  No notice need be filed in order to preserve the lien of any

18  mortgage or deed of trust or any supplement thereto

19  encumbering any such recorded or unrecorded easements, or

20  rights, interest, or servitude in the nature of easements,

21  rights-of-way, and terminal facilities.  However, nothing

22  herein shall be construed as preserving to the mortgagee or

23  grantee of any such mortgage or deed of trust or any

24  supplement thereto any greater rights than the rights of the

25  mortgagor or grantor.

26         (6)  Rights of any person in whose name the land is

27  assessed on the county tax rolls for such period of time as

28  the land is so assessed and which rights are preserved for a

29  period of 3 years after the land is last assessed in such

30  person's name.

31

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  1         (7)  State title to lands beneath navigable waters

  2  acquired by virtue of sovereignty.

  3         (8)  A restriction or covenant recorded pursuant to

  4  chapter 376 or chapter 403.

  5         Section 37.  Subsection (9) of section 211.3103,

  6  Florida Statutes, is repealed.

  7         Section 38.  Section 258.398, Florida Statutes, 1997,

  8  is repealed.

  9         Section 39.  Subsection (5) is added to section

10  373.083, Florida Statutes, to read:

11         373.083  General powers and duties of the governing

12  board.--In addition to other powers and duties allowed it by

13  law, the governing board is authorized to:

14         (5)  Execute any of the powers, duties, and functions

15  vested in the governing board through a member or members

16  thereof, the executive director, or other district staff as

17  designated by the governing board.  The governing board may

18  establish the scope and terms of any delegation.  If the

19  governing board delegates the authority to take final action

20  on permit applications under part II or part IV, or petitions

21  for variances or waivers of permitting requirements under part

22  II or part IV, the governing board shall provide a process for

23  referring any denial of such application or petition to the

24  governing board to take final action.  The authority in this

25  subsection is supplemental to any other provision of this

26  chapter granting authority to the governing board to delegate

27  specific powers, duties, or functions.

28         Section 40.  Subsection (5) of section 373.323, Florida

29  Statutes, is amended, and subsection (10) is added to said

30  section, to read:

31

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  1         373.323  Licensure of water well contractors;

  2  application, qualifications, and examinations; equipment

  3  identification.--

  4         (5)  The water management district shall issue a water

  5  well contracting license to any applicant who receives a

  6  passing grade on the examination, has paid the initial

  7  application fee, takes and completes to the satisfaction of

  8  the department a minimum of 12 hours of approved course work,

  9  and has complied with the requirements of this section.  A

10  passing grade on the examination shall be as established by

11  the department by rule.  A license issued by any water

12  management district shall be valid in every water management

13  district in the state.

14         (10)  Water well contractors licensed under the

15  provisions of this section shall be able to install, repair,

16  and modify pumps and tanks in accordance with the Standard

17  Plumbing Code, Section 613--Well Pumps and Tanks Used for

18  Potable Water.

19         Section 41.  Subsection (2) of section 373.324, Florida

20  Statutes, is amended, subsections (3), (4), and (5) are

21  renumbered as subsections (4), (5), and (6), respectively, and

22  a new subsection (3) is added to said section, to read:

23         373.324  License renewal.--

24         (2)  The water management district shall renew a

25  license upon receipt of the renewal application, proof of

26  completion of 12 classroom hours of continuing education

27  annually, and renewal fee.

28         (3)  The department shall prescribe by rule the method

29  for renewal of licenses, which shall include continuing

30  education requirements of not less than 12 classroom hours

31  annually.

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  1         Section 42.  Subsection (6) of section 373.406, Florida

  2  Statutes, is amended, and subsection (9) is added to said

  3  section, to read:

  4         373.406  Exemptions.--The following exemptions shall

  5  apply:

  6         (6)  Any district or the department may exempt from

  7  regulation under this part, either by rule or order, those

  8  activities that the district or department determines will

  9  have only minimal or insignificant individual or cumulative

10  adverse impacts on the water resources of the district.  The

11  district and the department are also authorized to determine,

12  on a case-by-case basis, whether a specific activity should be

13  exempt comes within this exemption.  Requests to qualify for

14  this exemption shall be submitted in writing to the district

15  or department, and such activities shall not be commenced

16  without a written determination from the district or

17  department confirming that the activity qualifies for the

18  exemption.

19         (9)  Any rule adopted by any district or the department

20  prior to October 3, 1995, creating an exemption from all or a

21  part of the requirements of this part or the rules adopted to

22  implement this part, including, but not limited to, rules

23  relating to the implementation of chapter 84-79, Laws of

24  Florida, is hereby ratified and affirmed.  However, this

25  subsection shall not be construed to limit the authority of

26  the water management districts or the department to adopt

27  rules creating exemptions to implement other provisions of

28  this part.

29         Section 43.  Subsection (5) is added to section

30  403.088, Florida Statutes, to read:

31

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  1         403.088  Water pollution operation permits;

  2  conditions.--

  3         (5)  A person permitted under this section shall report

  4  to the department, upon discovery, any noncompliance that may

  5  endanger public health or the environment. Notification shall

  6  be provided orally to the department immediately after

  7  notification of appropriate local health and emergency

  8  management authorities.  A written report detailing the

  9  noncompliance circumstances and actions taken to resolve the

10  noncompliance also shall be provided to the department within

11  5 days after discovery unless the department waives the

12  report.  The department may adopt rules to:

13         (a)  Specify the circumstances of noncompliance that

14  warrant notification, including, but not limited to, bypasses,

15  upsets, violations of permitted discharge limits, and

16  unauthorized discharges to surface or ground waters.

17         (b)  Specify the information to be included in oral and

18  written notifications of noncompliance.

19         (c)  Specify the persons to be notified of

20  noncompliance and the manner of notification, with

21  consideration given to use of the statewide emergency response

22  system.

23         (d)  Specify any followup actions necessary to ensure

24  resolution of the noncompliance and prevention of future

25  noncompliance.

26         (e)  Otherwise carry out the purposes of this

27  subsection.

28

29  Until such rules are implemented, the department shall notify

30  all affected permittees about the existing statewide toll-free

31  emergency management communications system and other

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  1  appropriate means of reporting the instances of noncompliance

  2  identified in this subsection.

  3         Section 44.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (2) of section

  4  403.813, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

  5         403.813  Permits issued at district centers;

  6  exceptions.--

  7         (2)  No permit under this chapter, chapter 373, chapter

  8  61-691, Laws of Florida, or chapter 25214 or chapter 25270,

  9  1949, Laws of Florida, shall be required for activities

10  associated with the following types of projects; however,

11  nothing in this subsection relieves an applicant from any

12  requirement to obtain permission to use or occupy lands owned

13  by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust

14  Fund or any water management district in its governmental or

15  proprietary capacity or from complying with applicable local

16  pollution control programs authorized under this chapter or

17  other requirements of county and municipal governments:

18         (b)  The installation and repair of mooring pilings and

19  dolphins associated with private docking facilities or piers

20  and the installation of private docks, piers and recreational

21  docking facilities, or piers and recreational docking

22  facilities of local governmental entities when the local

23  governmental entity's activities will not take place in any

24  manatee habitat, any of which docks:

25         1.  Has 500 square feet or less of over-water surface

26  area for a dock which is located in an area designated as

27  Outstanding Florida Waters or 1,000 square feet or less of

28  over-water surface area for a dock which is located in an area

29  which is not designated as Outstanding Florida Waters;

30         2.  Is constructed on or held in place by pilings or is

31  a floating dock which is constructed so as not to involve

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  1  filling or dredging other than that necessary to install the

  2  pilings;

  3         3.  Shall not substantially impede the flow of water or

  4  create a navigational hazard;

  5         4.  Is used for recreational, noncommercial activities

  6  associated with the mooring or storage of boats and boat

  7  paraphernalia; and

  8         5.  Is the sole dock constructed pursuant to this

  9  exemption as measured along the shoreline for a distance of 65

10  feet, unless the parcel of land or individual lot as platted

11  is less than 65 feet in length along the shoreline, in which

12  case there may be one exempt dock allowed per parcel or lot.

13

14  Nothing in this paragraph shall prohibit the department from

15  taking appropriate enforcement action pursuant to this chapter

16  to abate or prohibit any activity otherwise exempt from

17  permitting pursuant to this paragraph if the department can

18  demonstrate that the exempted activity has caused water

19  pollution in violation of this chapter. With the exception of

20  regulations governing dock structures in aquatic preserves or

21  associated with undeveloped barrier islands or condominiums,

22  neither the department nor the Board of Trustees of the

23  Internal Improvement Trust Fund shall restrict the number of

24  vessels moored at private, single-family residential docks

25  exempted under the provisions of this paragraph.

26         Section 45.  Subsections (2), (4), and (17) of section

27  403.852, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (18) is

28  added to said section, to read:

29         403.852  Definitions; ss. 403.850-403.864.--As used in

30  ss. 403.850-403.864:

31

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  1         (2)  "Public water system" means a community,

  2  nontransient noncommunity, or noncommunity system for the

  3  provision to the public of piped water for human consumption

  4  through pipes or other constructed conveyances if, provided

  5  that such system has at least 15 service connections or

  6  regularly serves at least 25 individuals daily at least 60

  7  days out of the year. A public water system is either a

  8  community water system or a noncommunity water system. The

  9  term "public water system" includes:

10         (a)  Any collection, treatment, storage, and

11  distribution facility or facilities under control of the

12  operator of such system and used primarily in connection with

13  such system.

14         (b)  Any collection or pretreatment storage facility or

15  facilities not under control of the operator of such system

16  but used primarily in connection with such system.

17         (4)  "Noncommunity water system" means a public water

18  system that for provision to the public of piped water for

19  human consumption, which serves at least 25 individuals daily

20  at least 60 days out of the year, but which is not a community

21  water system; except that a water system for a wilderness

22  educational camp is a noncommunity water system. A

23  noncommunity water system is either a nontransient

24  noncommunity water system or a transient noncommunity water

25  system.

26         (17)  "Nontransient noncommunity water system" means a

27  noncommunity public water system that is not a community water

28  system and that regularly serves at least 25 of the same

29  persons over 6 months per year.

30         (18)  "Transient noncommunity water system" means a

31  noncommunity water system that has at least 15 service

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  1  connections or regularly serves at least 25 persons daily at

  2  least 60 days out of the year but that does not regularly

  3  serve 25 or more of the same persons over 6 months per year.

  4         Section 46.  Subsections (1) and (6) of section

  5  403.853, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

  6         403.853  Drinking water standards.--

  7         (1)  The department shall adopt and enforce:

  8         (a)1.  State primary drinking water regulations that

  9  shall be no less stringent at any given time than the complete

10  interim or revised national primary drinking water regulations

11  in effect at such time; and

12         2.  State secondary drinking water regulations

13  patterned after the national secondary drinking water

14  regulations.

15         (b)  Primary and secondary drinking water regulations

16  for nontransient noncommunity water systems and transient

17  noncommunity water systems, which shall be no more stringent

18  than the corresponding national primary or secondary drinking

19  water regulations in effect at such time, except that

20  nontransient, noncommunity systems shall monitor and comply

21  with additional primary drinking water regulations as

22  determined by the department.

23         (6)  Upon the request of the owner or operator of a

24  transient noncommunity water system serving businesses, other

25  than restaurants or other public food service establishments,

26  and using groundwater as a source of supply, the department,

27  or a local county health department designated by the

28  department, shall perform a sanitary survey of the facility.

29  Upon receipt of satisfactory survey results according to

30  department criteria, the department shall reduce the

31  requirements of such owner or operator from monitoring and

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  1  reporting on a quarterly basis to performing these functions

  2  on an annual basis.  Any revised monitoring and reporting

  3  schedule approved by the department under this subsection

  4  shall apply until such time as a violation of applicable state

  5  or federal primary drinking water standards is determined by

  6  the system owner or operator, by the department, or by an

  7  agency designated by the department, after a random or routine

  8  sanitary survey. Certified operators are not required for

  9  transient noncommunity water systems of the type and size

10  covered by this subsection.  Any reports required of such

11  system shall be limited to the minimum as required by federal

12  law.  When not contrary to the provisions of federal law, the

13  department may, upon request and by rule, waive additional

14  provisions of state drinking water regulations for such

15  systems.

16         Section 47.  Subsection (3) of section 403.8532,

17  Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

18         403.8532  Drinking water state revolving loan fund;

19  use; rules.--

20         (3)  The department is authorized to make loans to

21  community water systems, nonprofit noncommunity water systems,

22  and nonprofit transient and nontransient noncommunity water

23  systems to assist them in planning, designing, and

24  constructing public water systems, unless such public water

25  systems are for-profit privately owned or investor-owned

26  systems that regularly serve 1,500 service connections or more

27  within a single certified or franchised area.  However, a

28  for-profit privately owned or investor-owned public water

29  system that regularly serves 1,500 service connections or more

30  within a single certified or franchised area may qualify for a

31  loan only if the proposed project will result in the

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  1  consolidation of two or more public water systems. The

  2  department is authorized to provide loan guarantees, to

  3  purchase loan insurance, and to refinance local debt through

  4  the issue of new loans for projects approved by the

  5  department. Public water systems are authorized to borrow

  6  funds made available pursuant to this section and may pledge

  7  any revenues or other adequate security available to them to

  8  repay any funds borrowed. The department shall administer

  9  loans so that amounts credited to the Drinking Water Revolving

10  Loan Trust Fund in any fiscal year are reserved for the

11  following purposes:

12         (a)  At least 15 percent to qualifying small public

13  water systems.

14         (b)  Up to 15 percent to qualifying financially

15  disadvantaged communities.

16         (c)  However, if an insufficient number of the projects

17  for which funds are reserved under this paragraph have been

18  submitted to the department at the time the funding priority

19  list authorized under this section is adopted, the reservation

20  of these funds shall no longer apply.  The department may

21  award the unreserved funds as otherwise provided in this

22  section.

23         Section 48.  Subsections (4), (5), and (8) of section

24  403.854, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

25         403.854  Variances, exemptions, and waivers.--

26         (4)(a)  The department shall, except upon a showing of

27  good cause, waive on a case-by-case basis any disinfection

28  chlorination requirement applicable to transient noncommunity

29  water systems using groundwater as a source of supply upon an

30  affirmative showing by the supplier of water that no hazard to

31

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  1  health will result.  This showing shall be based upon the

  2  following:

  3         1.  The completion of a satisfactory sanitary survey;

  4         2.  The history of the quality of water provided by the

  5  system and monthly or quarterly monitoring tests for

  6  bacteriological contamination;

  7         3.  Evaluation of the well and the site on which it is

  8  located, including geology, depth of well, casing, grouting,

  9  and other relevant factors which have an impact on the quality

10  of water supplied; and

11         4.  The number of connections and size of the

12  distribution system.

13         (b)  The department may as a condition of waiver

14  require a monitoring program of sufficient frequency to assure

15  that safe drinking water standards are being met.

16         (5)  The department shall, except upon a showing of

17  good cause, waive on a case-by-case basis any requirement for

18  a certified operator for a transient nontransient noncommunity

19  or noncommunity water system using groundwater as a source of

20  supply having a design flow of less than 10,000 gallons per

21  day upon an affirmative showing by the supplier of water that

22  the system can be properly maintained without a certified

23  operator. The department shall consider:

24         (a)  The results of a sanitary survey if deemed

25  necessary;

26         (b)  The operation and maintenance records for the year

27  preceding an application for waiver;

28         (c)  The adequacy of monitoring procedures for maximum

29  contaminant levels included in primary drinking water

30  regulations;

31

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  1         (d)  The feasibility of the supplier of water becoming

  2  a certified operator; and

  3         (e)  Any threat to public health that could result from

  4  nonattendance of the system by a certified operator.

  5         (8)  Neither the department nor any of its employees

  6  shall be held liable for money damages for any injury,

  7  sickness, or death sustained by any person as a result of

  8  drinking water from any transient noncommunity water system

  9  granted a waiver under subsection (4) or subsection (5).

10         Section 49.  Section 403.865, Florida Statutes, is

11  amended to read:

12         403.865  Water and wastewater facility personnel;

13  legislative purpose.--The Legislature finds that the threat to

14  the public health and the environment from the operation of

15  water and wastewater treatment plants and water distribution

16  systems mandates that qualified personnel operate these

17  facilities. It is the legislative intent that any person who

18  performs the duties of an operator and who falls below minimum

19  competency or who otherwise presents a danger to the public be

20  prohibited from operating a plant or system in this state.

21         Section 50.  Subsections (3) and (5) of section

22  403.866, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

23         403.866  Definitions; ss. 403.865-403.876.--As used in

24  ss. 403.865-403.876, the term:

25         (3)  "Operator" means any person, including the owner,

26  who is in onsite charge of the actual operation, supervision,

27  and maintenance of a water treatment plant, water distribution

28  system, or domestic wastewater treatment plant and includes

29  the person in onsite charge of a shift or period of operation

30  during any part of the day.

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  1         (5)  "Water distribution system" means those components

  2  of a public water system used in conveying water for human

  3  consumption from the water treatment plant to the consumer's

  4  property, including pipes, tanks, pumps pipelines, conduits,

  5  pumping stations, and all other constructed conveyances

  6  structures, devices, appurtenances, and facilities used

  7  specifically for such purpose.

  8         Section 51.  Section 403.867, Florida Statutes, is

  9  amended to read:

10         403.867  License required.--A person may not perform

11  the duties of an operator of a water treatment plant, water

12  distribution system, or a domestic wastewater treatment plant

13  unless he or she holds a current operator's license issued by

14  the department.

15         Section 52.  Subsection (1) of section 403.872, Florida

16  Statutes, is amended to read:

17         403.872  Requirements for licensure.--

18         (1)  Any person desiring to be licensed as a water

19  treatment plant operator, a water distributions system

20  operator, or a domestic wastewater treatment plant operator

21  must apply to the department to take the licensure

22  examination.

23         Section 53.  Paragraphs (a), (b), and (f) of subsection

24  (1) of section 403.875, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:

25         403.875  Prohibitions; penalties.--

26         (1)  A person may not:

27         (a)  Perform the duties of an operator of a water

28  treatment plant, water distribution system, or domestic

29  wastewater treatment plant unless he or she is licensed under

30  ss. 403.865-403.876.

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  1         (b)  Use the name or title "water treatment plant

  2  operator," "water distribution system operator," or "domestic

  3  wastewater treatment plant operator" or any other words,

  4  letters, abbreviations, or insignia indicating or implying

  5  that he or she is an operator, or otherwise holds himself or

  6  herself out as an operator, unless the person is the holder of

  7  a valid license issued under ss. 403.865-403.876.

  8         (f)  Employ unlicensed persons to perform the duties of

  9  an operator of a water treatment or domestic wastewater

10  treatment plant or a water distribution system.

11         Section 54.  Subsection (1) of section 403.88, Florida

12  Statutes, is amended to read:

13         403.88  Classification of water and wastewater

14  treatment facilities and facility operators.--

15         (1)  The department shall classify water treatment

16  plants, and wastewater treatment plants, and water

17  distribution systems by size, complexity, and level of

18  treatment necessary to render the wastewater or source water

19  suitable for its intended purpose in compliance with this

20  chapter and department rules.

21         Section 55.  The Department of Environmental Protection

22  in cooperation with the Santa Rosa Shores Homeowners

23  Association shall develop a proposal for dredging of a single

24  access channel connected to the existing channels and canals

25  within Santa Rosa Shores, Santa Rosa County, and extending to

26  navigable depths in Santa Rosa Sound.  The proposal shall

27  include a plan of mitigation for offsetting adverse impacts of

28  the dredging, a plan for disposing of dredged materials, a

29  plan for protecting water quality and sea grass habitat during

30  dredging, a plan for long-term maintenance of the channel, and

31  a plan for inspection and study of the project, with annual

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  1  progress reports to be prepared by the Santa Rosa Shores

  2  Homeowners Association for submittal to the Department of

  3  Environmental Protection.  The Santa Rosa Shores Homeowners

  4  Association shall be responsible for the payment of costs

  5  involved with the project and for submitting all required

  6  applications required to authorize the project.  Santa Rosa

  7  Shores Homeowners Association and the Department of

  8  Environmental Protection may contract with the University of

  9  West Florida to provide the necessary monitoring services and

10  reports.  The Department of Environmental Protection shall

11  assist in expediting the processing of the required state

12  dredge and fill permit, and any associated authorizations

13  required from the Board of Trustees of the Internal

14  Improvement Trust Fund and the United States Army Corps of

15  Engineers.  The Department of Environmental Protection shall

16  assist the Santa Rosa Shores Homeowners Association in

17  developing project criteria, including, but not limited to:

18  the length, width, and depth of the access channel; where and

19  how material is to be excavated and disposed; the method for

20  protecting water quality and sea grass habitat; long-term

21  maintenance of the channel as needed; mitigation design; and

22  design of the monitoring and reporting program.

23         Section 56.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a

24  law.

25

26

27

28

29

30

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