HB 1425 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on State Administration recommends the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
10	A bill to be entitled
11	An act relating to metropolitan planning organizations;
12	amending s. 120.52, F.S.; revising the definition of
13	"agency" for the purposes of the Administrative Procedure
14	Act; providing that certain metropolitan planning
15	organizations and certain described legal or
16	administrative agencies are not agencies for the purposes
17	of that act; amending s. 339.175, F.S.; clarifying a
18	provision that M.P.O.'s be designated for each urbanized
19	area; revising membership provisions; limiting application
20	of specified provisions prohibiting conflicts of interest;
21	revising provisions for chair's coordinating committees;
22	providing for a chair's coordinating committee consisting
23	of designated M.P.O.'s; providing legislative findings;
24	authorizing an M.P.O. to enter into interlocal agreement
25	with any other M.P.O. or any political subdivision for
26	described purposes; providing for content of such
27	agreement; providing conditions for such agreement to take
28	effect; providing for recording of such agreements in
29	public records; providing an effective date.
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31	WHEREAS, in pursuit of the implementation of federal law
32	and pursuant to section 339.175, Florida Statutes, metropolitan
33	planning organizations (M.P.O.'s) are created by interlocal
34	agreement between the Department of Transportation, acting on
35	behalf of the Office of the Governor, and various local
36	governmental entities primarily, including counties and
37	municipalities, and
38	WHEREAS, local governments, such as counties and
39	municipalities, are not "agencies" pursuant to, and are
40	consequently exempt from, chapter 120, Florida Statutes, the
41	Administrative Procedure Act, and
42	WHEREAS, it is only because the Department of
43	Transportation, a state agency subject to the Administrative
44	Procedure Act, is a party to the interlocal agreement creating
45	M.P.O.'s that M.P.O.'s are defined as "agencies" pursuant to the
46	Administrative Procedure Act, and therefore made subject to the
47	act, and
48	WHEREAS, most M.P.O.'s have jurisdiction within only a
49	single county, and
50	WHEREAS, M.P.O.'s are essentially nonregulatory
51	organizations, and
52	WHEREAS, most of the membership of an M.P.O. consists of
53	county commissioners and city commissioners, and
54	WHEREAS, citizens, attorneys, and others dealing with
55	M.P.O.'s are generally unfamiliar with the Administrative
56	Procedure Act, and
57	WHEREAS, the Administrative Procedure Act has caused
58	confusion and created additional bureaucracy for local
59	government officials and the general public, a result that the
60	act was specifically intended to avoid, and
61	WHEREAS, because of the essentially nonregulatory, local
62	governmental nature of M.P.O.'s, M.P.O.'s and citizens dealing
63	with M.P.O.'s will be better served by having M.P.O.'s exempted
64	from the Administrative Procedure Act, and
65	WHEREAS, towards the implementation of federal law and
66	pursuant to section 339.175, Florida Statutes, providing for the
67	creation of Metropolitan Planning Organizations "to encourage
68	and promote the safe and efficient management, operation, and
69	development of surface transportation systems that will serve
70	the mobility needs of people and freight within and through
71	urbanized areas of this state while minimizing transportation-
72	related fuel consumption and air pollution," and
73	WHEREAS, Florida law provides for various local
74	governmental entities, primarily counties, municipalities, and
75	certain intermodal agencies, to combine together as an M.P.O.
76	for transportation planning and development purposes, and
77	WHEREAS, Florida law provides for all M.P.O.'s to combine
78	as a statewide council to collectively provide for
79	transportation planning and development purposes, and
80	WHEREAS, there is no specific provision of state law which
81	specifically provides for individual M.P.O.'s or local
82	governmental entities to join together for the purpose of
83	coordinating transportation planning and development on a
84	regional basis, and
85	WHEREAS, it is the purpose of this act to provide a
86	nonexclusive means for individual M.P.O.'s and local
87	governmental entities to work together for the purpose of
88	coordinating transportation planning and development on a
89	regional basis, and
90	WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature that this act
91	shall in no way limit other legal methods or procedures
92	currently existing or which may hereinafter be provided for
93	permitting M.P.O.'s and local governmental entities to join
94	together for the purpose of coordinating transportation planning
95	and development on a regional basis, NOW, THEREFORE,
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97	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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99	Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 120.52, Florida
100	Statutes, is amended to read:
101	120.52 Definitions.--As used in this act:
102	(1) "Agency" means:
103	(a) The Governor in the exercise of all executive powers
104	other than those derived from the constitution.
105	(b) Each:
106	1. State officer and state department, and each
107	departmental unit described in s. 20.04.
108	2. Authority, including a regional water supply authority.
109	3. Board.
110	4. Commission, including the Commission on Ethics and the
111	Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission when acting pursuant
112	to statutory authority derived from the Legislature.
113	5. Regional planning agency.
114	6. Multicounty special district with a majority of its
115	governing board comprised of nonelected persons.
116	7. Educational units.
117	8. Entity described in chapters 163, 373, 380, and 582 and
118	s. 186.504.
119	(c) Each other unit of government in the state, including
120	counties and municipalities, to the extent they are expressly
121	made subject to this act by general or special law or existing
122	judicial decisions.
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124	This definition does not include any legal entity or agency
125	created in whole or in part pursuant to chapter 361, part II, a
126	metropolitan planning organization created pursuant to s.
127	339.175, any separate legal or administrative entity of which a
128	metropolitan planning organization is a member, which separate
129	legal or administrative entity is created pursuant to s.
130	339.175,an expressway authority pursuant to chapter 348, any
131	legal or administrative entity created by an interlocal
132	agreement pursuant to s. 163.01(7), unless any party to such
133	agreement is otherwise an agency as defined in this subsection,
134	or any multicounty special district with a majority of its
135	governing board comprised of elected persons; however, this
136	definition shall include a regional water supply authority.
137	Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1), paragraph (b)
138	of subsection (2), and subsection (5) of section 339.175,
139	Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
140	339.175 Metropolitan planning organization.--It is the
141	intent of the Legislature to encourage and promote the safe and
142	efficient management, operation, and development of surface
143	transportation systems that will serve the mobility needs of
144	people and freight within and through urbanized areas of this
145	state while minimizing transportation-related fuel consumption
146	and air pollution. To accomplish these objectives, metropolitan
147	planning organizations, referred to in this section as M.P.O.'s,
148	shall develop, in cooperation with the state and public transit
149	operators, transportation plans and programs for metropolitan
150	areas. The plans and programs for each metropolitan area must
151	provide for the development and integrated management and
152	operation of transportation systems and facilities, including
153	pedestrian walkways and bicycle transportation facilities that
154	will function as an intermodal transportation system for the
155	metropolitan area, based upon the prevailing principles provided
156	in s. 334.046(1). The process for developing such plans and
157	programs shall provide for consideration of all modes of
158	transportation and shall be continuing, cooperative, and
159	comprehensive, to the degree appropriate, based on the
160	complexity of the transportation problems to be addressed.
161	(1) DESIGNATION.--
162	(a)1. An M.P.O. shall be designated for each urbanized
163	area of the state; however, this provision shall not require
164	that an individual M.P.O. be designated for each individual
165	urbanized area of the state. Such designation shall be
166	accomplished by agreement between the Governor and units of
167	general-purpose local government representing at least 75
168	percent of the population of the urbanized area; however, the
169	unit of general-purpose local government that represents the
170	central city or cities within the M.P.O. jurisdiction, as
171	defined by the United States Bureau of the Census, must be a
172	party to such agreement.
173	2. More than one M.P.O. may be designated within an
174	existing metropolitan planning area only if the Governor and the
175	existing M.P.O. determine that the size and complexity of the
176	existing metropolitan planning area makes the designation of
177	more than one M.P.O. for the area appropriate.
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179	Each M.P.O. required under this section must be fully operative
180	no later than 6 months following its designation.
181	(2) VOTING MEMBERSHIP.--
182	(b) In metropolitan areas in which authorities or other
183	agencies have been or may be created by law to perform
184	transportation functions and are performing transportation
185	functionsthat are not under the jurisdiction of a general
186	purpose local government represented on the M.P.O., they shall
187	be provided voting membership on the M.P.O. In all other
188	M.P.O.'s where transportation authorities or agencies are to be
189	represented by elected officials from general purpose local
190	governments, the M.P.O. shall establish a process by which the
191	collective interests of such authorities or other agencies are
192	expressed and conveyed.
193	(5) POWERS, DUTIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES.--The powers,
194	privileges, and authority of an M.P.O. are those specified in
195	this section or incorporated in an interlocal agreement
196	authorized under s. 163.01. Each M.P.O. shall perform all acts
197	required by federal or state laws or rules, now and subsequently
198	applicable, which are necessary to qualify for federal aid. It
199	is the intent of this section that each M.P.O. shall be involved
200	in the planning and programming of transportation facilities,
201	including, but not limited to, airports, intercity and high-
202	speed rail lines, seaports, and intermodal facilities, to the
203	extent permitted by state or federal law. No member of any
204	M.P.O. established pursuant to this section shall cast a vote on
205	any matter that would provide direct financial benefit to the
206	member, his or her immediate family, or his or her employer,
207	pursuant to s. 112.3143, or otherwise create a conflict of
208	interest under state law.
209	(a) Each M.P.O. shall, in cooperation with the department,
210	develop:
211	1. A long-range transportation plan pursuant to the
212	requirements of subsection (6);
213	2. An annually updated transportation improvement program
214	pursuant to the requirements of subsection (7); and
215	3. An annual unified planning work program pursuant to the
216	requirements of subsection (8).
217	(b) In developing the long-range transportation plan and
218	the transportation improvement program required under paragraph
219	(a), each M.P.O. shall provide for consideration of projects and
220	strategies that will:
221	1. Support the economic vitality of the metropolitan area,
222	especially by enabling global competitiveness, productivity, and
223	efficiency;
224	2. Increase the safety and security of the transportation
225	system for motorized and nonmotorized users;
226	3. Increase the accessibility and mobility options
227	available to people and for freight;
228	4. Protect and enhance the environment, promote energy
229	conservation, and improve quality of life;
230	5. Enhance the integration and connectivity of the
231	transportation system, across and between modes, for people and
232	freight;
233	6. Promote efficient system management and operation; and
234	7. Emphasize the preservation of the existing
235	transportation system.
236	(c) In order to provide recommendations to the department
237	and local governmental entities regarding transportation plans
238	and programs, each M.P.O. shall:
239	1. Prepare a congestion management system for the
240	metropolitan area and cooperate with the department in the
241	development of all other transportation management systems
242	required by state or federal law;
243	2. Assist the department in mapping transportation
244	planning boundaries required by state or federal law;
245	3. Assist the department in performing its duties relating
246	to access management, functional classification of roads, and
247	data collection;
248	4. Execute all agreements or certifications necessary to
249	comply with applicable state or federal law;
250	5. Represent all the jurisdictional areas within the
251	metropolitan area in the formulation of transportation plans and
252	programs required by this section; and
253	6. Perform all other duties required by state or federal
254	law.
255	(d) Each M.P.O. shall appoint a technical advisory
256	committee that includes planners; engineers; representatives of
257	local aviation authorities, port authorities, and public transit
258	authorities or representatives of aviation departments, seaport
259	departments, and public transit departments of municipal or
260	county governments, as applicable; the school superintendent of
261	each county within the jurisdiction of the M.P.O. or the
262	superintendent's designee; and other appropriate representatives
263	of affected local governments. In addition to any other duties
264	assigned to it by the M.P.O. or by state or federal law, the
265	technical advisory committee is responsible for considering safe
266	access to schools in its review of transportation project
267	priorities, long-range transportation plans, and transportation
268	improvement programs, and shall advise the M.P.O. on such
269	matters. In addition, the technical advisory committee shall
270	coordinate its actions with local school boards and other local
271	programs and organizations within the metropolitan area which
272	participate in school safety activities, such as locally
273	established community traffic safety teams. Local school boards
274	must provide the appropriate M.P.O. with information concerning
275	future school sites and in the coordination of transportation
276	service.
277	(e)1. Each M.P.O. shall appoint a citizens' advisory
278	committee, the members of which serve at the pleasure of the
279	M.P.O. The membership on the citizens' advisory committee must
280	reflect a broad cross section of local residents with an
281	interest in the development of an efficient, safe, and cost-
282	effective transportation system. Minorities, the elderly, and
283	the handicapped must be adequately represented.
284	2. Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraph 1., an
285	M.P.O. may, with the approval of the department and the
286	applicable federal governmental agency, adopt an alternative
287	program or mechanism to ensure citizen involvement in the
288	transportation planning process.
289	(f) The department shall allocate to each M.P.O., for the
290	purpose of accomplishing its transportation planning and
291	programming duties, an appropriate amount of federal
292	transportation planning funds.
293	(g) Each M.P.O. may employ personnel or may enter into
294	contracts with local or state agencies, private planning firms,
295	or private engineering firms to accomplish its transportation
296	planning and programming duties required by state or federal
297	law.
298	(h) There shall exist a chair's coordinating committee
299	consisting of the M.P.O.'s serving Hernando, Hillsborough,
300	Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota CountiesAny group
301	of M.P.O.'s which has created a chair's coordinating committee
302	as of the effective date of this act and is located within the
303	same Department of Transportation District which is comprised of
304	four adjacent M.P.O.'s must continue such committee as provided
305	for in this section. Such committee must also include one
306	representative from each M.P.O. contiguous to the geographic
307	boundaries of the original committee. The committee must, at a
308	minimum:
309	1. Coordinate transportation projects deemed to be
310	regionally significant by the committee.
311	2. Review the impact of regionally significant land use
312	decisions on the region.
313	3. Review all proposed regionally significant
314	transportation projects in the respective transportation
315	improvement programs which affect more than one of the M.P.O.'s
316	represented on the committee.
317	4. Institute a conflict resolution process to address any
318	conflict that may arise in the planning and programming of such
319	regionally significant projects.
320	(i)1. Findings and intent.--The Legislature finds that
321	Florida's rapid growth in recent decades has caused many
322	urbanized areas subject to M.P.O. jurisdiction to become
323	contiguous to one another. As a result, various needed
324	transportation projects will likely cross from the jurisdiction
325	of one M.P.O. into the jurisdiction of another M.P.O. To more
326	fully accomplish the purposes for which M.P.O.'s have been
327	mandated pursuant to federal law, the Legislature finds that
328	various M.P.O.'s will need to develop coordination mechanisms
329	with one another in an effort to expand and improve
330	transportation within the state. The Legislature recognizes that
331	the appropriate method of coordination between M.P.O.'s will
332	vary depending upon the project involved and given local and
333	regional needs. Consequently, the Legislature finds it
334	appropriate to set forth a flexible methodology that can be
335	utilized by M.P.O.'s to coordinate with other M.P.O.'s and
336	appropriate political subdivisions as circumstances demand.
337	2. Interlocal coordination.--Any M.P.O. is authorized to
338	join with any other M.P.O. or any individual political
339	subdivision for the purpose of coordination of activities or
340	toward the achievement of an activity or activities of any
341	federal or state transportation planning or development goal or
342	purpose consistent with federal or state law. When an M.P.O.
343	determines that it is appropriate to join with any other M.P.O.
344	or any political subdivision for the purpose of coordination of
345	activities, the M.P.O. or political subdivision shall effectuate
346	coordination by entering into an interlocal agreement pursuant
347	to s. 163.01, which agreement shall, at a minimum:
348	a. Create a separate legal or administrative entity for
349	coordination of the transportation planning or development
350	activities intended to achieve the goal or purpose.
351	b. Provide the purpose for which the entity is created.
352	c. Provide the duration of the agreement and the entity,
353	and how the agreement may be terminated, modified, or rescinded.
354	d. Describe the precise organization of the entity, who
355	shall have voting rights on the governing board, whether
356	alternate voting members shall be provided for, how voting
357	members shall be appointed, and what the relative voting
358	strength of each constituent M.P.O. or political subdivision
359	shall be.
360	e. Specify the manner in which the parties to an
361	interlocal agreement will provide from their treasuries for the
362	financial support of the entity and payment of costs and
363	expenses of the entity.
364	f. Specify the manner in which funds may be paid to and
365	disbursed from the entity.
366	g. Specify how members of the entity shall resolve any
367	disagreement between themselves with regard to interpretation of
368	the interlocal agreement or dispute relating to the operation of
369	the entity.
370
371	Any interlocal agreement entered into pursuant to this
372	subparagraph shall become effective only upon its recordation in
373	the official public records of each county in which a member of
374	the entity created by the interlocal agreement shall have a
375	voting member. Nothing in this paragraph shall be interpreted or
376	construed to require any two or more M.P.O.'s to merge, combine,
377	or otherwise join together as a single M.P.O.
378	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.