HB 1657

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Committee on Natural Resources recommends the following:
2
3	Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	A bill to be entitled
6	An act relating to rural land protection; amending s.
7	570.70, F.S.; providing conclusions of a study by the
8	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; amending
9	s. 201.15, F.S.; providing for the distribution of certain
10	excise taxes on documents to the Rural Lands Program Trust
11	Fund of the department; specifying required uses; creating
12	s. 215.6195, F.S.; authorizing the issuance of bonds for
13	rural land protection; providing certain conditions;
14	providing for the deposit of proceeds; providing that
15	issuance of such bonds is in the best interests of the
16	state; amending s. 570.207, F.S.; providing uses for funds
17	in the Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust
18	Fund; amending s. 570.71, F.S.; authorizing the use of
19	rural land protection bonds to implement provisions
20	relating to conservation and rural land protection
21	easements and agreements; authorizing the Department of
22	Agriculture and Consumer Services to grant municipalities
23	and local governments moneys to acquire land, enter into
24	resource conservation agreements, and other related
25	activities; providing for conservation easements to be
26	held in the name of local governments; providing a
27	contingent effective date.
28
29	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
30
31	Section 1.  Section 570.70, Florida Statutes, is amended to
32	read:
33	570.70  Legislative findings; study.--
34	(1)  The Legislature finds and declares that:
35	(a)(1)  A thriving rural economy with a strong agricultural
36	base, healthy natural environment, and viable rural communities
37	is an essential part of Florida. Rural areas also include the
38	largest remaining intact ecosystems and best examples of
39	remaining wildlife habitats as well as a majority of privately
40	owned land targeted by local, state, and federal agencies for
41	natural resource protection.
42	(b)(2)  The growth of Florida's population can result in
43	agricultural and rural lands being converted into residential or
44	commercial development.
45	(c)(3)  The agricultural, rural, natural resource, and
46	commodity values of rural lands are vital to the state's
47	economy, productivity, rural heritage, and quality of life.
48	(d)(4)  There is The Legislature further recognizes the
49	need for enhancing the ability of rural landowners to obtain
50	economic value from their property, protecting rural character,
51	controlling urban sprawl, and providing necessary open space for
52	agriculture and the natural environment, and the importance of
53	maintaining and protecting Florida's rural economy through
54	innovative planning and development strategies in rural areas
55	and the use of incentives that reward landowners for good
56	stewardship of land and natural resources.
57	(e)(5)  The purpose of this act is to bring under public
58	protection lands that serve to limit subdivision and conversion
59	of agricultural and natural areas that provide economic, open
60	space, water, and wildlife benefits by acquiring land or related
61	interests in land such as perpetual, less-than-fee acquisitions,
62	agricultural protection agreements, and resource conservation
63	agreements and innovative planning and development strategies in
64	rural areas.
65	(2)  A study conducted by the department to determine and
66	prioritize needs for implementing the provisions of this section
67	and s. 570.71 concluded the following:
68	(a)  Between 1964 and 1997, this state lost nearly 5
69	million acres of valuable agricultural land, with most of the
70	loss involving ranch and forest lands.
71	(b)  This state currently has 9,114,000 acres of
72	agricultural land with natural resource attributes, including
73	groundwater recharge, natural floodplain, and significant
74	species habitat, and more than 900,000 acres of this land will
75	be converted to other uses within a decade.
76	(c)  The objective of a program to protect agricultural
77	land with natural resource value through conservation easements
78	and other tools should be protection of 1 acre for every acre
79	lost.
80	Section 2.  Paragraph (d) of subsection (1) of section
81	201.15, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
82	201.15  Distribution of taxes collected.--All taxes
83	collected under this chapter shall be distributed as follows and
84	shall be subject to the service charge imposed in s. 215.20(1),
85	except that such service charge shall not be levied against any
86	portion of taxes pledged to debt service on bonds to the extent
87	that the amount of the service charge is required to pay any
88	amounts relating to the bonds:
89	(1)  Sixty-two and sixty-three hundredths percent of the
90	remaining taxes collected under this chapter shall be used for
91	the following purposes:
92	(d)  The remainder of the moneys distributed under this
93	subsection, after the required payments under paragraphs (a),
94	(b), and (c), shall be paid into the State Treasury to the
95	credit of the General Revenue Fund of the state to be used and
96	expended for the purposes for which the General Revenue Fund was
97	created and exists by law, or to the Ecosystem Management and
98	Restoration Trust Fund or to the Marine Resources Conservation
99	Trust Fund as provided in subsection (11), or to the Rural Lands
100	Program Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
101	Services pursuant to s. 215.6195. Moneys available under this
102	paragraph shall first be used to pay debt service due on any
103	rural land protection bond or to make any other payments
104	required pursuant to the bond documents authorizing the issuance
105	before such moneys are used for other purposes authorized by
106	this paragraph.
107	Section 3.  Section 215.6195, Florida Statutes, is created
108	to read:
109	215.6195  Bonds for rural land protection.--
110	(1)  The issuance of rural land protection bonds is
111	authorized. The rural land protection bonds may be issued over
112	the next 10 fiscal years commencing on July 1, 2004, in an
113	amount not exceeding $50 million in any fiscal year, subject to
114	the provisions of s. 570.71 and pursuant to s. 11(e), Art. VII
115	of the State Constitution. The duration of each series of bonds
116	issued may not exceed 20 annual maturities. Except for refunding
117	bonds, a series of bonds may not be issued unless an amount
118	equal to the debt service coming due in the year of issuance has
119	been specifically appropriated in the General Appropriations
120	Act.
121	(2)  The state covenants with the holders of rural land
122	protection bonds that it will not take any action that will
123	materially and adversely affect the rights of such holders so
124	long as the bonds are outstanding, including, but not limited
125	to, a reduction in the portion of documentary stamp taxes
126	distributable to the Rural Lands Program Trust Fund of the
127	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for payment of
128	debt service.
129	(3)  Bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be payable
130	from taxes distributable to the Rural Lands Program Trust Fund
131	of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services pursuant
132	to s. 201.15(1)(d). Bonds issued pursuant to this section do not
133	constitute a general obligation of, or a pledge of the full
134	faith and credit of, the state.
135	(4)  The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
136	shall request the Division of Bond Finance of the State Board of
137	Administration to issue the rural land protection bonds
138	authorized by this section. The Division of Bond Finance shall
139	issue such bonds pursuant to the State Bond Act.
140	(5)  The proceeds from the sale of bonds issued pursuant to
141	this section, less the costs of issuance, the costs of funding
142	reserve accounts, and other costs with respect to the bonds,
143	shall be deposited into the Conservation and Recreation Lands
144	Program Trust Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
145	Services as provided in s. 570.71.
146	(6)  There shall be no sale, disposition, lease, easement,
147	license, or other use of any land, water areas, or related
148	property interests acquired or improved with proceeds of rural
149	land protection bonds which would cause all or any portion of
150	the interest of such bonds to lose the exclusion from gross
151	income for federal income tax purposes.
152	(7)  The initial series of rural land protection bonds
153	shall be validated in addition to any other bonds required to be
154	validated pursuant to s. 215.82. Any complaint for validation of
155	bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be filed only in the
156	circuit court of the county where the seat of state government
157	is situated, the notice required to be published by s. 75.06
158	shall be published only in the county where the complaint is
159	filed, and the complaint and order of the circuit court shall be
160	served only on the state attorney of the circuit in which the
161	action is pending.
162	Section 4.  In accordance with section 215.98(1), Florida
163	Statutes, the Legislature determines that the issuance of rural
164	land protection bonds under section 3 of this act is in the best
165	interest of the state and should be implemented.
166	Section 5.  Subsection (1) of section 570.207, Florida
167	Statutes, is amended to read:
168	570.207  Conservation and Recreation Lands Program Trust
169	Fund of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.--
170	(1)  There is created a Conservation and Recreation Lands
171	Program Trust Fund within the Department of Agriculture and
172	Consumer Services. The purpose of the trust fund is to provide
173	for the management of conservation and recreation lands by the
174	department and to fund the Rural and Family Lands Protection Act
175	created in ss. 570.70 and 570.71. The department is authorized
176	to use not more than one-half of 1 percent of the bond proceeds
177	deposited into the trust fund for administrative purposes. Funds
178	may be appropriated to the trust fund from the Conservation and
179	Recreation Lands Trust Fund in the Department of Environmental
180	Protection, as created by s. 259.032(2), or from such other
181	sources as the Legislature may determine for the management of
182	conservation and recreation lands by the department.
183	Additionally, subject to the provisions of s. 11(e), Art. VII of
184	the State Constitution, the department may use bond proceeds
185	deposited pursuant to s. 215.6195 and funds from such other
186	sources as the Legislature determines for the acquisition of
187	conservation easements and rural land protection easements and
188	for funding agricultural protection agreements and resource
189	conservation agreements pursuant to s. 570.71.
190	Section 6.  Subsection (12) of section 570.71, Florida
191	Statutes, is amended, and subsection (15) is added to said
192	section, to read:
193	570.71  Conservation easements and agreements.--
194	(12)  The department is authorized to use funds from the
195	following sources to implement this act:
196	(a)  State funds;
197	(b)  Rural land protection bonds as authorized by s.
198	215.6195;
199	(c)(b)  Federal funds;
200	(d)(c)  Other governmental entities;
201	(e)(d)  Nongovernmental organizations; or
202	(f)(e)  Private individuals.
203
204	Any such funds provided shall be deposited into the Conservation
205	and Recreation Lands Program Trust Fund within the Department of
206	Agriculture and Consumer Services and used for the purposes of
207	this act.
208	(15)  The department is authorized to grant municipalities
209	and counties a portion of moneys available for the purposes of
210	this section to acquire perpetual, less-than-fee interest in
211	land, to enter into agricultural protection agreements, and to
212	enter into resource conservation agreements, as defined by and
213	for the public purposes set forth in this section. The
214	department shall adopt rules that provide for a grants program
215	to fund local government acquisition projects that are
216	consistent with the appropriate local government comprehensive
217	plan and that encourage the use of matching federal and local
218	government funding to acquire conservation easements,
219	agricultural protection agreements, and resource protection
220	agreements. The department is authorized to enter management
221	agreements with municipalities and counties for the purpose of
222	administering resource conservation agreements and agricultural
223	protection agreements. Conservation easements purchased by local
224	governments under this subsection may be held in the name of the
225	local government.
226	Section 7.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2004, if
227	House Bill 1659, or similar legislation creating the Rural Lands
228	Program Trust Fund, is adopted in the same legislative session
229	or an extension thereof and becomes law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.