House Bill hb1585
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1585
By Representative Flanagan
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to metropolitan planning
3 organizations; amending s. 120.52, F.S.;
4 redefining the term "agency" for the purposes
5 of the Administrative Procedure Act to provide
6 that metropolitan planning organizations are
7 not agencies for the purposes of the act;
8 providing an effective date.
9
10 WHEREAS, in pursuit of the implementation of federal
11 law and pursuant to s. 339.175, F.S., Metropolitan Planning
12 Organizations (MPO) are created by interlocal agreement
13 between the Department of Transportation, acting on behalf of
14 the Office of the Governor, and various local government
15 entities primarily, including counties and municipalities, and
16 WHEREAS, local governments, such as counties and
17 municipalities, are not "agencies" pursuant to, and are
18 consequently exempt from, chapter 120, F.S., the
19 Administrative Procedure Act, and
20 WHEREAS, it is only because the Department of
21 Transportation, a state agency subject to the Administrative
22 Procedure Act, is a party to the interlocal agreement creating
23 MPO's that MPO's are defined as "agencies" pursuant to the
24 Administrative Procedure Act, and therefore made subject to
25 the act, and
26 WHEREAS, most MPO's have jurisdiction within only a
27 single county, and
28 WHEREAS, MPO's are essentially nonregulatory
29 organizations, and
30 WHEREAS, most of the membership of an MPO consists of
31 county commissioners and city commissioners, and
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1585
570-186-02
1 WHEREAS, citizens, attorneys, and others dealing with
2 MPO's are generally unfamiliar with the Administrative
3 Procedure Act, and
4 WHEREAS, the Administrative Procedure Act has caused
5 confusion and created additional bureaucracy for local
6 government officials and the general public, a result that the
7 act was specifically intended to avoid, and
8 WHEREAS, because of the essentially nonregulatory,
9 local governmental nature of MPO's, MPO's and citizens dealing
10 with MPO's will be better served by having MPO's exempted from
11 the Administrative Procedure Act, NOW, THEREFORE,
12
13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 120.52, Florida
16 Statutes, is amended to read:
17 120.52 Definitions.--As used in this act:
18 (1) "Agency" means:
19 (a) The Governor in the exercise of all executive
20 powers other than those derived from the constitution.
21 (b) Each:
22 1. State officer and state department, and each
23 departmental unit described in s. 20.04.
24 2. Authority, including a regional water supply
25 authority.
26 3. Board.
27 4. Commission, including the Commission on Ethics and
28 the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when acting
29 pursuant to statutory authority derived from the Legislature.
30 5. Regional planning agency.
31
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1585
570-186-02
1 6. Multicounty special district with a majority of its
2 governing board comprised of nonelected persons.
3 7. Educational units.
4 8. Entity described in chapters 163, 373, 380, and 582
5 and s. 186.504.
6 (c) Each other unit of government in the state,
7 including counties and municipalities, to the extent they are
8 expressly made subject to this act by general or special law
9 or existing judicial decisions.
10
11 This definition does not include any legal entity or agency
12 created in whole or in part pursuant to chapter 361, part II,
13 a metropolitan planning organization created pursuant to s.
14 339.175, an expressway authority pursuant to chapter 348, any
15 legal or administrative entity created by an interlocal
16 agreement pursuant to s. 163.01(7), unless any party to such
17 agreement is otherwise an agency as defined in this
18 subsection, or any multicounty special district with a
19 majority of its governing board comprised of elected persons;
20 however, this definition shall include a regional water supply
21 authority.
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
23 law.
24
25 *****************************************
26 HOUSE SUMMARY
27
Exempts Metropolitan Planning Organizations from the
28 definition of the term "agency" under the Administrative
Procedure Act.
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