Senate Bill sb1758c2
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for CS for SB 1758
By the Committees on Agriculture and Consumer Services;
Natural Resources; and Senators Laurent, Posey, Lawson,
Bronson, Smith, Brown-Waite, Pruitt, Mitchell, Constantine and
Sanderson
303-1740-01
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to rural land conservation;
3 creating the "Rural and Family Lands Protection
4 Act"; defining terms; creating s. 570.70, F.S.;
5 providing legislative intent; creating s.
6 570.71, F.S.; providing for the purchase of
7 rural-lands-protection easements by the
8 Department of Agriculture and Consumer
9 Services; providing criteria; providing for
10 resource conservation agreements and
11 agricultural protection agreements; prescribing
12 allowable land uses; providing for an
13 application process; providing for an
14 enforceable option to purchase property;
15 directing the department to seek funds from
16 federal sources; amending s. 201.15, F.S.;
17 providing for the distribution of certain taxes
18 to the department to be used for the program;
19 creating s. 215.619, F.S.; providing for bonds;
20 amending s. 570.207, F.S.; providing uses for
21 funds from the Conservation and Recreation
22 Lands Program Trust Fund; providing an
23 effective date.
24
25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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27 Section 1. Short title.--This act may be cited as the
28 "Rural and Family Lands Protection Act."
29 Section 2. Definitions.--As used in this act, the term
30 "department" means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
31 Services.
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Florida Senate - 2001 CS for CS for SB 1758
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1 Section 3. Section 570.70, Florida Statutes, is
2 created to read:
3 570.70 Legislative findings.--The Legislature finds
4 and declares that:
5 (1) A thriving rural economy with a strong
6 agricultural base, healthy natural environment, and viable
7 rural communities is an essential part of Florida. Rural areas
8 also include the largest remaining intact ecosystems and best
9 examples of remaining wildlife habitats as well as a majority
10 of privately owned land targeted by local, state, and federal
11 agencies for natural-resource protection.
12 (2) The growth of Florida's population can result in
13 agricultural and rural lands being converted into residential
14 or commercial development.
15 (3) The agricultural, rural, natural-resource, and
16 commodity values of rural lands are vital to the state's
17 economy, productivity, rural heritage, and quality of life.
18 (4) The purpose of this act is to bring under public
19 protection lands that serve to limit subdivision and
20 conversion of agricultural and natural areas that provide
21 economic, open space, water, and wildlife benefits by
22 acquiring land or related interests in land such as perpetual,
23 less-than-fee acquisitions, agricultural protection
24 agreements, and resource conservation agreements.
25 Section 4. Section 570.71, Florida Statutes, is
26 created to read:
27 570.71 Conservation easements and agreements.--
28 (1) The department may allocate moneys to acquire
29 perpetual, less-than-fee interest in land, to enter into
30 agricultural protection agreements, and to enter into resource
31 conservation agreements for the following public purposes:
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1 (a) Promotion and improvement of wildlife habitat;
2 (b) Protection and enhancement of water bodies,
3 aquifer recharge areas, wetlands, and watersheds;
4 (c) Perpetuation of open space on lands with
5 significant natural areas; or
6 (d) Protection of agricultural lands threatened by
7 conversion to other uses.
8 (2) To achieve the purposes of this act, beginning no
9 later than July 1, 2002, and every year thereafter, the
10 department shall accept applications for project proposals
11 that:
12 (a) Purchase conservation easements, as defined in s.
13 704.06.
14 (b) Purchase rural-lands-protection easements pursuant
15 to this act.
16 (c) Fund resource conservation agreements pursuant to
17 this act.
18 (d) Fund agricultural protection agreements pursuant
19 to this act.
20 (3) Rural-lands-protection easements shall be a
21 perpetual right or interest in agricultural land which is
22 appropriate to retain such land in predominantly its current
23 state and to prevent the subdivision and conversion of such
24 land into other uses. This right or interest in property shall
25 prohibit only the following:
26 (a) Construction or placing of buildings, roads,
27 billboards or other advertising, utilities, or structures,
28 except those structures and unpaved roads necessary for the
29 agricultural operations on the land or structures necessary
30 for other activities allowed under the easement, and except
31 for linear facilities described in s. 704.06(11);
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1 (b) Subdivision of the property;
2 (c) Dumping or placing of trash, waste, or offensive
3 materials; and
4 (d) Activities that affect the natural hydrology of
5 the land or that detrimentally affect water conservation,
6 erosion control, soil conservation, or fish or wildlife
7 habitat, except those required for environmental restoration;
8 federal, state, or local government regulatory programs; or
9 best management practices.
10 (4) Resource conservation agreements will be contracts
11 for services which provide annual payments to landowners for
12 services that actively improve habitat and water restoration
13 or conservation on their lands over and above that which is
14 already required by law or which provide recreational
15 opportunities. They will be for a term of not less than 5
16 years and not more than 10 years. Property owners will become
17 eligible to enter into a resource conservation agreement only
18 upon entering into a conservation easement or rural lands
19 protection easement.
20 (5) Agricultural protection agreements shall be for
21 terms of 30 years and will provide payments to landowners
22 having significant natural areas on their land. Public access
23 and public recreational opportunities may be negotiated at the
24 request of the landowner.
25 (a) For the length of the agreement, the landowner
26 shall agree to prohibit:
27 1. Construction or placing of buildings, roads,
28 billboards or other advertising, utilities, or structures,
29 except those structures and unpaved roads necessary for the
30 agricultural operations on the land or structures necessary
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1 for other activities allowed under the easement, and except
2 for linear facilities described in s. 704.06(11);
3 2. Subdivision of the property;
4 3. Dumping or placing of trash, waste, or offensive
5 materials; and
6 4. Activities that affect the natural hydrology of the
7 land, or that detrimentally affect water conservation, erosion
8 control, soil conservation, or fish or wildlife habitat.
9 (b) Concurrently with entering into an agricultural
10 protection agreement, the landowner shall grant to the state
11 an option to purchase the property in fee simple at the end of
12 the agreement based on the value of the property at the time
13 the agreement is entered into plus a reasonable escalator. The
14 escalator shall not exceed 2 percent of the value of the
15 property at the time the agreement is entered into multiplied
16 by the number of full calendar years from the date of the
17 commencement of the agreement. At the end of an agreement, the
18 parties may agree to extend the agreement for up to 5 years,
19 but only if the option to purchase remains in effect until the
20 end of the term extension. Upon mutual consent and agreement
21 of the parties, a landowner may enter into a perpetual
22 easement at any time during the term of an agricultural
23 protection agreement. If the landowner sells the fee title,
24 the buyer shall become the successor interest to the
25 agriculture protection agreement and option.
26 (6) Payment for conservation easements and rural land
27 protection easements shall be a lump-sum payment at the time
28 the easement is entered into, payable from proceeds derived
29 from revenues distributed pursuant to ss. 201.15 and 215.619.
30 (7) Landowners entering into an agricultural
31 protection agreement may receive up to 50 percent of the
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1 purchase price at the time the agreement is entered into and
2 remaining payments on the balance shall be equal annual
3 payments over the term of the agreement, payable from proceeds
4 derived from revenues distributed pursuant to ss. 201.15 and
5 215.619, subject to the provisions of s. 11(e) of Art. VII of
6 the State Constitution.
7 (8) Payments for the resource conservation agreements
8 shall be equal annual payments over the term of the agreement,
9 payable from proceeds derived from revenues distributed
10 pursuant to s. 201.15.
11 (9) Easements purchased pursuant to this act may not
12 prevent landowners from transferring the remaining fee value
13 with the easement.
14 (10) The department, in consultation with the
15 Department of Environmental Protection, the water management
16 districts, and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
17 Commission, shall adopt rules that establish an application
18 process, prioritize projects toward ranch and timber lands
19 using sustainable practices to best achieve the purposes of
20 this act, establish an appraisal process for easements, and
21 establish a method to determine payments under an agricultural
22 protection agreement or a resource conservation agreement.
23 (11) The department is directed to seek funds from
24 federal sources to use in combination with state funds to
25 carry out the purposes of this section.
26 Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
27 201.15, Florida Statutes, as amended by chapters 99-247,
28 2000-151, 2000-170, and 2000-197, Laws of Florida, is amended
29 to read:
30 201.15 Distribution of taxes collected.--All taxes
31 collected under this chapter shall be distributed as follows
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1 and shall be subject to the service charge imposed in s.
2 215.20(1), except that such service charge shall not be levied
3 against any portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds
4 to the extent that the amount of the service charge is
5 required to pay any amounts relating to the bonds:
6 (1) Sixty-two and sixty-three hundredths percent of
7 the remaining taxes collected under this chapter shall be used
8 for the following purposes:
9 (c) The remainder of the moneys distributed under this
10 subsection, after the required payments under paragraph (a),
11 shall be paid into the State Treasury to the credit of the
12 General Revenue Fund of the state to be used and expended for
13 the purposes for which the General Revenue Fund was created
14 and exists by law or to the Ecosystem Management and
15 Restoration Trust Fund or to the Marine Resources Conservation
16 Trust Fund as provided in subsection (11) or to the
17 Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund of the
18 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant to s.
19 570.71. Moneys available under this paragraph shall first be
20 used to pay debt service due on any Rural Land Preservation
21 Bond or to make any other payments required pursuant to the
22 bond documents authorizing the issuance before such moneys are
23 used for other purposes authorized by this paragraph.
24 Section 6. Section 215.619, Florida Statutes, is
25 created to read:
26 215.619 Bonds for rural land protection.--
27 (1) The issuance of Rural Land Protection bonds not
28 exceeding $1 billion is hereby authorized. Such Rural Land
29 Protection bonds may be issued over the next 10 fiscal years
30 commencing on July 1, 2002, in an amount not exceeding $100
31 million in any fiscal year, subject to the provisions of s.
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1 570.71 and pursuant to s. 11(e) of Art. VII of the State
2 Constitution. The duration of each series of bonds issued may
3 not exceed 20 annual maturities.
4 (2) The state covenants with the holders of Rural
5 Land Protection bonds that it will not take any action that
6 will materially and adversely affect the rights of such
7 holders so long as such bonds are outstanding, including, but
8 not limited to, a reduction in the portion of documentary
9 stamp taxes distributable to the Conservation and Recreation
10 Lands Program Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and
11 Consumer Services for payment of debt service.
12 (3) Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be
13 payable from taxes distributable to the Conservation and
14 Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund of the Department of
15 Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant to s. 201.15(1)(c).
16 Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall not constitute a
17 general obligation of, or a pledge of the full faith and
18 credit of, the state.
19 (4) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer
20 Services shall request the Division of Bond Finance of the
21 State Board of Administration to issue the Rural Land
22 Protection bonds authorized by this section. The Division of
23 Bond Finance shall issue such bonds pursuant to the State Bond
24 Act.
25 (5) The proceeds from the sale of bonds issued
26 pursuant to this section, less the costs of issuance, the
27 costs of funding reserve accounts, and other costs with
28 respect to the bonds, shall be deposited into the Conservation
29 and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund of the Department of
30 Agriculture and Consumer Services as provided in s. 570.71.
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1 (6) Pursuant to authority granted by s. 11(e) of Art.
2 VII of the State Constitution, there is authorized the
3 Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund of the
4 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
5 (7) There shall be no sale, disposition, lease,
6 easement, license, or other use of any land, water areas, or
7 related property interests acquired or improved with proceeds
8 of Rural Land Protection bonds which would cause all or any
9 portion of the interest of such bonds to lose the exclusion
10 from gross income for federal income tax purposes.
11 (8) The initial series of Rural Land Protection bonds
12 shall be validated in addition to any other bonds required to
13 be validated pursuant to s. 215.82. Any complaint for
14 validation of bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be
15 filed only in the circuit court of the county where the seat
16 of state government is situated; the notice required to be
17 published by s. 75.06 shall be published only in the county
18 where the complaint is filed; and the complaint and order of
19 the circuit court shall be served only on the state attorney
20 of the circuit in which the action is pending.
21 Section 7. Subsection (1) of section 570.207, Florida
22 Statutes, is amended to read:
23 570.207 Conservation and Recreation Lands Program
24 Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
25 Services.--
26 (1) There is created a Conservation and Recreation
27 Lands Program Trust Fund within the Department of Agriculture
28 and Consumer Services. The purpose of the trust fund is to
29 provide for the management of conservation and recreation
30 lands by the department. Funds may be appropriated to the
31 trust fund from the Conservation and Recreation Lands Trust
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1 Fund in the Department of Environmental Protection, as created
2 by s. 259.032(2), or from such other sources as the
3 Legislature may determine for the management of conservation
4 and recreation lands by the department. Additionally, subject
5 to the provisions of s. 11(e) of Art. VII of the State
6 Constitution, the department may use moneys deposited pursuant
7 to s. 201.15, bonded proceeds deposited pursuant to s.
8 215.619, and funds from such other sources as the Legislature
9 determines for the acquisition of conservation easements and
10 rural-lands-protection easements and for funding agricultural
11 protection agreements and resource conservation agreements
12 pursuant to s. 570.71. The department is also authorized to
13 pay debt service on Rural Land Protection bonds or other
14 payments required pursuant to the bond documents authorizing
15 their issuance from moneys in the Conservation and Recreation
16 Lands Program Trust Fund.
17 Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2001.
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19 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
20 CS for Senate Bill 1758
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22 Committee Substitute for Committee Substitute for Senate Bill
1758 is different from Committee Substitute for Senate Bill
23 1758 in that it:
24 1. Provides for agricultural protection agreements to be
for terms of 30 years, rather than terms of not more
25 than 30 years.
26 2. Provides that certain available moneys shall first be
used to pay debt service due on any Rural Land
27 Preservation Bond or to make certain other required
payments.
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3. Changes "Rural Land Preservation" to "Rural Land
29 Protection."
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