Senate Bill sb1492e1

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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to renewable energy; creating

  3         s. 366.91, F.S.; providing legislative

  4         findings; requiring public utilities, municipal

  5         utilities, and rural electric cooperatives to

  6         offer a purchase contract to producers of

  7         renewable energy; providing requirements for

  8         such contracts; providing for cost recovery;

  9         amending s. 403.7061, F.S.; deleting a permit

10         requirement for a waste-to-energy facility;

11         encouraging specified applicants for a landfill

12         permit to consider construction of a

13         waste-to-energy facility; providing an

14         effective date.

15  

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

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18         Section 1.  Section 366.91, Florida Statutes, is

19  created to read:

20         366.91  Renewable electricity.--

21         (1)  The Legislature finds that it is in the public

22  interest to promote the development of renewable electric

23  resources in this state. Renewable electric resources have the

24  potential to help diversify fuel types to meet Florida's

25  growing dependency on natural gas for electric production,

26  minimize the volatility of fuel costs, encourage investment

27  within this state, improve environmental conditions, and make

28  Florida a leader in new and innovative technologies.

29         (2)  As used in this section, the term:

30         (a)  "Biomass" means a power source that is comprised

31  of, but not limited to, combustible residues or gases from


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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



 1  forest-products manufacturing, agricultural and orchard crops,

 2  waste products from livestock and poultry operations and food

 3  processing, urban wood waste, municipal solid waste, municipal

 4  liquid waste treatment operations, and landfill gas.

 5         (b)  "Renewable energy" means electrical energy

 6  produced from any method or process that uses one or more of

 7  the following fuels or energy sources: hydrogen produced from

 8  sources other than fossil fuels, biomass, solar energy,

 9  geothermal energy, wind energy, ocean energy, hydroelectric

10  power, municipal solid waste, municipal liquid waste treatment

11  operations, or landfill gas.

12         (3)  On or before January 1, 2005, each public utility

13  must continuously offer a purchase contract to producers of

14  renewable energy containing payment provisions for energy and

15  capacity, if capacity payments are appropriate, which are

16  based upon the utility's full avoided cost, as defined in s.

17  366.051, provided however, that capacity payments shall not be

18  required if, due to the operational characteristics of the

19  renewable energy generator or the anticipated peak and

20  off-peak availability and capacity factor of the utility's

21  avoided unit, it is unlikely to provide any capacity value to

22  the utility or the electric grid during the contract term.

23  Each contract must provide a contract term of at least 10

24  years. Prudent and reasonable costs associated with a

25  renewable energy contract shall be recovered from the

26  ratepayers of the contracting utility, without differentiation

27  among customer classes, through the appropriate cost-recovery

28  clause mechanism administered by the commission.

29         (4)  On or before January 1, 2005, each municipal

30  electric utility and rural electric cooperative whose annual

31  sales as of July 1, 1993, to retail customers were greater


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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



 1  than 2,000 gigawatt hours must continuously offer a purchase

 2  contract to producers of renewable energy containing payment

 3  provisions for energy and capacity, if capacity payments are

 4  appropriate, which are based upon the utility's or

 5  cooperative's full avoided cost, as determined by the

 6  governing body of the municipal utility or cooperative,

 7  provided however that capacity payments shall not be required

 8  if, due to the operational characteristics of the renewable

 9  energy generator or the anticipated peak and off-peak

10  availability and capacity factor of the utility's avoided

11  unit, it is unlikely to provide any capacity value to the

12  utility or the electric grid during the contract term. Each

13  contract must provide a contract term of at least 10 years.

14         (5)  A contracting producer of renewable energy must

15  pay the actual costs of its interconnection with the

16  transmission grid or distribution system.

17         Section 2.  Section 403.7061, Florida Statutes, is

18  amended to read:

19         403.7061  Requirements for review of new

20  waste-to-energy facility capacity by the Department of

21  Environmental Protection.--

22         (1)  The Legislature recognizes the need to use an

23  integrated approach to municipal solid waste management.

24  Accordingly, the solid waste management legislation adopted in

25  1988 was guided by policies intended to foster integrated

26  solid waste management by using waste reduction, recycling,

27  waste-to-energy facilities, and landfills. Progress is being

28  made in the state using this integrated approach to municipal

29  solid waste management, and this approach should be continued.

30  Waste-to-energy facilities will continue to be an integral

31  part of the state's solid waste management practices. However,


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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



 1  the state is committed to achieving its recycling and waste

 2  reduction goals and must ensure that waste-to-energy

 3  facilities are fully integrated with the state's waste

 4  management goals. Therefore, the Legislature finds that the

 5  department should evaluate applications for waste-to-energy

 6  facilities in accordance with the new criteria in subsection

 7  (3) to confirm that the facilities are part of an integrated

 8  waste management plan.

 9         (2)  Notwithstanding any other provisions of state law,

10  the department shall not issue a construction permit or

11  certification to build a waste-to-energy facility or expand an

12  existing waste-to-energy facility unless the facility meets

13  the requirements set forth in subsection (3). Any construction

14  permit issued by the department between January 1, 1993, and

15  May 12, 1993, which does not address these new requirements

16  shall be invalid. These new requirements do not apply to the

17  issuance of permits or permit modifications to retrofit

18  existing facilities with new or improved pollution control

19  equipment to comply with state or federal law. The department

20  shall initiate rulemaking to incorporate the criteria in

21  subsection (3) into its permit review process.

22         (3)  An applicant must provide reasonable assurance

23  that the construction of a new waste-to-energy facility or the

24  expansion of an existing waste-to-energy facility will comply

25  with the following subsections:

26         (a)  The facility is a necessary part of the local

27  government's integrated solid waste management program in the

28  jurisdiction where the facility is located and cannot be

29  avoided through feasible and practical efforts to use

30  recycling or waste reduction.

31  


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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



 1         (b)  The use of capacity at existing waste-to-energy

 2  facilities within reasonable transportation distance of the

 3  proposed facility must have been evaluated and found not to be

 4  economically feasible when compared to the use of the proposed

 5  facility for the expected life of the proposed facility. This

 6  paragraph does not apply to:

 7         1.  Applications to build or expand waste-to-energy

 8  facilities received by the department before March 1, 1993, or

 9  amendments to such applications that do not increase

10  combustion capacity beyond that requested as of March 1, 1993;

11  or

12         2.  Any modification to waste-to-energy facility

13  construction or operating permits or certifications or

14  conditions thereto, including certifications under ss.

15  403.501-403.518, that do not increase combustion capacity

16  above that amount applied for before March 1, 1993.

17         (c)  The applicant must demonstrate that the county in

18  which the facility is located has implemented a solid waste

19  management and recycling program that is designed to achieve

20  the waste reduction goal set forth in s. 403.706(4). The

21  county in which the facility is located will achieve the

22  30-percent waste reduction goal set forth in s. 403.706(4) by

23  the time the facility begins operation. For the purposes of

24  this section, the provisions of s. 403.706(4)(c) for counties

25  with populations of 75,000 or less do not apply.

26         (d)  The local government in which the facility is

27  located has implemented a mulching, composting, or other waste

28  reduction program for yard trash.

29         (e)  The local governments served by the facility will

30  have implemented or participated in a separation program

31  designed to remove small-quantity generator and household


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 1  hazardous waste, mercury containing devices, and

 2  mercuric-oxide batteries from the waste stream prior to

 3  incineration, by the time the facility begins operation.

 4         (f)  The local government in which the facility is

 5  located has implemented a program to procure products or

 6  materials with recycled content, pursuant to s. 403.7065.

 7         (g)  A program will exist in the local government in

 8  which the facility is located for collecting and recycling

 9  recovered material from the institutional, commercial, and

10  industrial sectors by the time the facility begins operation.

11         (h)  The facility will be in compliance with applicable

12  local ordinances and with the approved state and local

13  comprehensive plans required by chapter 163.

14         (i)  The facility is in substantial compliance with its

15  permit, conditions of certification, and any agreements or

16  orders resulting from environmental enforcement actions by

17  state agencies.

18         (4)  For the purposes of this section, the term

19  "waste-to-energy facility" means a facility that uses an

20  enclosed device using controlled combustion to thermally break

21  down solid, liquid, or gaseous combustible solid waste to an

22  ash residue that contains little or no combustible material

23  and that produces electricity, steam, or other energy as a

24  result. The term does not include facilities that primarily

25  burn fuels other than solid waste even if such facilities also

26  burn some solid waste as a fuel supplement. The term also does

27  not include facilities that burn vegetative, agricultural, or

28  silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood, methane or

29  other landfill gas, wood fuel derived from construction or

30  demolition debris, or waste tires, alone or in combination

31  with fossil fuels.


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    CS for CS for SB 1492                    First Engrossed (ntc)



 1         Section 3.  Requirements relating to solid waste

 2  disposal facility permitting.--Local government applicants for

 3  a permit to construct or expand a Class I landfill are

 4  encouraged to consider construction of a waste-to-energy

 5  facility as an alternative to additional landfill space.

 6         Section 4.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2004.

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