Senate Bill sb1856c1
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and
Conservation; and Senator Bennett
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the placement of vessels in
3 state waters to form artificial reefs; amending
4 s. 370.25, F.S., relating to the state's
5 artificial reef program; providing legislative
6 findings; authorizing the planning and
7 development of a statewide matching grant
8 program to secure and place United States
9 Maritime Administration and United States Navy
10 decommissioned vessels in waters seaward of
11 this state as artificial reefs; authorizing the
12 planning and development of a pilot program for
13 the preparation and deployment of a specified
14 decommissioned vessel in Key West to serve as a
15 model for the development of procedures for the
16 placement of such vessels in waters seaward of
17 this state; providing for administration of the
18 programs by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
19 Commission; providing for implementation of the
20 programs subject to appropriations; providing
21 objectives of the programs; creating s.
22 370.255, F.S.; providing for the establishment
23 of the Florida Ships-2-Reefs Program and
24 matching grant program by the Fish and Wildlife
25 Conservation Commission; providing purposes of
26 the program; specifying the percentage of the
27 state matching grant; providing procedures and
28 requirements with respect to the programs;
29 authorizing the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
30 Commission to adopt rules; providing for the
31 establishment of a pilot program to fund the
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 preparation and deployment of a specified
2 vessel in waters off Key West; providing for
3 reports; authorizing provision of funds under
4 the program contingent upon an appropriation;
5 providing requirements with respect to funds
6 provided under the pilot program; providing
7 procedures and requirements with respect to the
8 pilot program; providing for a report;
9 providing an effective date.
10
11 WHEREAS, in the past, the United States Navy has used
12 unneeded ships as targets for military exercises known as
13 sinking exercises, and
14 WHEREAS, now the Navy has devised an alternative means
15 of disposing of obsolete Navy vessels that allows the vessels
16 to serve in a productive capacity for hundreds of years past
17 their intended use, and
18 WHEREAS, the National Defense Authorization Act for
19 Fiscal Year 2004 allows appropriate decommissioned ships to be
20 donated for use as artificial reefing, and
21 WHEREAS, the process of using obsolete vessels as
22 man-made artificial reefs not only promotes marine life and
23 fishing but relieves pressures on natural coral reefs, and
24 WHEREAS, the measure allows the Navy to accomplish the
25 overall process for the cost-effective donation and transfer
26 of available naval vessels, and
27 WHEREAS, the United States Maritime Administration
28 (MARAD) will coordinate the federal agency solicitation and
29 application for obtaining the vessels for use as artificial
30 reefs, and
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 WHEREAS, the donation and transfer application for all
2 United States Navy and MARAD ships available for use as
3 artificial reefs may be submitted only by states,
4 commonwealths, and territories and possessions of the United
5 States, or municipal corporations or political subdivisions
6 thereof, and
7 WHEREAS, the placement in Florida waters of the U.S.S.
8 Spiegel Grove in 2002 and the U.S.S. Oriskany in 2006 has
9 already provided a substantial economic benefit to the state
10 and to communities and businesses in the proximity of the
11 placements, and
12 WHEREAS, the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a
13 520-foot military vessel, is being sought as the next
14 decommissioned vessel to be deployed as an artificial reef at
15 a currently permitted site off the coast of Key West,
16 contingent upon funds being made fully available for the
17 preparation and sinking of the vessel, and
18 WHEREAS, Florida already has the Florida Maritime
19 Heritage Trail, a collection of locations that are open to the
20 public in Florida and which currently includes six themes,
21 those themes being Coastal Communities, Coastal Environments,
22 Coastal Forts, Lighthouses, Historic Ports, and Historic
23 Shipwrecks, and
24 WHEREAS, this act would add a new, seventh theme to the
25 Maritime Heritage Trail, a United States military vessel
26 theme, and
27 WHEREAS, the program provides a practical option for
28 disposing of inactive decommissioned vessels in a
29 cost-effective and environmentally sound manner that can
30 continue to promote ecotourism associated with recreational
31 diving and fishing in Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
2
3 Section 1. Subsection (8) is added to section 370.25,
4 Florida Statutes, to read:
5 370.25 Artificial reef program; grants and financial
6 and technical assistance to local governments.--
7 (8) The Legislature finds that a statewide matching
8 grant program to secure and place United States Maritime
9 Administration (MARAD) and United States Navy decommissioned
10 vessels in state or federal waters seaward of this state as
11 artificial reefs would be of great benefit to Floridians in
12 promoting ecotourism associated with recreational diving and
13 fishing in Florida. The Legislature further finds that a pilot
14 program for the preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S.
15 General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in Key West would assist in the
16 appropriate development of procedures for the placement of
17 decommissioned vessels in state or federal waters seaward of
18 this state. Therefore, the Legislature authorizes the planning
19 and development of a statewide matching grant program and a
20 pilot program as described in this subsection to be
21 administered by the commission. The programs will be
22 implemented subject to appropriations. The objectives in
23 establishing the programs are to:
24 (a) Assist in reducing the pressures on natural coral
25 reefs in state or federal waters seaward of this state and
26 increase the opportunities for recreational diving and
27 fishing.
28 (b) Provide a mechanism through which counties and
29 municipalities that are permitted to place vessels in state or
30 federal waters seaward of this state as artificial reefs can
31 apply for and receive state matching grants for the placement
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 of decommissioned MARAD and United States Navy vessels. Funds
2 may be used for cleaning, preparing, towing, and sinking of
3 such decommissioned vessels.
4 (c) Provide state funds that would be matched with
5 local funds, federal funds, and funds from local businesses.
6 (d) Establish criteria to determine eligibility for
7 such state matching funds.
8 (e) Assist counties and municipalities with the
9 donation and transfer application for United States Navy and
10 MARAD decommissioned vessels available for use as artificial
11 reefs in accordance with MARAD application evaluation
12 criteria.
13 (f) Develop a master plan for the purposes of
14 maximizing the number and type of vessels to be placed in
15 state of federal waters seaward of this state which provides
16 for the location of vessels in the most geographically
17 effective and beneficial manner.
18 (g) Establish and promote standards for the placement
19 of MARAD and United States Navy decommissioned vessels in
20 state or federal waters seaward of this state, consistent with
21 current environmental standards and the mandate of Section
22 3516 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
23 2004 and the 2006 publication "National Guidance: Best
24 Management Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create
25 Artificial Reefs," published jointly by the United States
26 Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Maritime
27 Administration, which emphasize minimization of the release of
28 harmful substances into the environment while decommissioned
29 vessels are at anchorage and are undergoing disposal
30 processes.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 (h) Provide for and receive interagency comments from
2 the agencies responsible for the permitting of artificial
3 reefs and the Department of Environmental Protection, allowing
4 for a review period consistent with MARAD and United States
5 Navy application deadlines.
6 (i) Establish a United States military vessel
7 component as a seventh theme for Florida's Maritime Heritage
8 Trail, to promote Florida's nature-based tourism and heritage
9 tourism.
10 (j) Provide for title of decommissioned vessels to be
11 transferred to the state.
12 Section 2. Section 370.255, Florida Statutes, is
13 created to read:
14 370.255 Florida Ships-2-Reefs Program; matching grant
15 program.--
16 (1) The commission is authorized to establish the
17 Florida Ships-2-Reefs Program, a matching grant program for
18 the securing and placement of United States Maritime
19 Administration (MARAD) and United States Navy decommissioned
20 vessels in state or federal waters seaward of this state to
21 serve as artificial reefs and, pursuant thereto, to make
22 expenditures and enter into contracts with local governments
23 and nonprofit corporations for the purpose of securing,
24 environmental preparation, and cleaning to meet standards in
25 the 2006 publication "National Guidance: Best Management
26 Practices for Preparing Vessels to Create Artificial Reefs,"
27 published jointly by the United States Environmental
28 Protection Agency and the United States Maritime
29 Administration, and placing MARAD and United States Navy
30 decommissioned vessels as artificial reefs in state or federal
31 waters seaward of this state pursuant to s. 370.25(8). The
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 commission shall have final approval of grants awarded through
2 this program.
3 (2) Each grant awarded under the program shall be
4 matched by nonstate dollars. The limit for a state matching
5 grant shall be 33 percent of total cost of securing,
6 environmental preparation, and cleaning to meet the standards
7 in the 2006 publication cited in subsection (1), and placing
8 the decommissioned vessel.
9 (3) The commission may:
10 (a) Receive submissions of requests for matching funds
11 and documentation relating to those requests;
12 (b) Approve requests for matching funds; and
13 (c) Allocate matching funds to local governments or
14 nonprofit corporations.
15 (4) To demonstrate that a local government or
16 nonprofit corporation meets the required criteria, the local
17 government or nonprofit corporation must submit formal
18 agreements, written pledges, memorandums of understanding,
19 financing arrangements, or other documents demonstrating that
20 nonstate matching funds are available for securing and placing
21 the vessel prior to submission of an application. Matching
22 grant funds shall be released only upon documentation that the
23 applicant meets all the criteria established by the commission
24 pursuant to subsection (5).
25 (5) The commission is authorized to adopt rules
26 pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to address procedures
27 necessary to administer the matching grants provided in this
28 section.
29 (6) In accordance with the findings in s. 370.25(8),
30 the commission shall establish a pilot program to fund the
31 preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S.
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Florida Senate - 2007 CS for SB 1856
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1 Vandenberg in the waters off Key West and shall, by January 1,
2 2008, and each year thereafter, provide to the Governor, the
3 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
4 Representatives an annual report on the success and outcomes
5 achieved by the pilot program, with a recommendation as to
6 whether the pilot program should be continued, terminated, or
7 expanded. The commission shall also report on the procedures
8 developed and used for the proper preparation and deployment
9 of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg consistent with
10 the objectives stated in s. 370.25(8).
11 (7) Contingent upon a specific appropriation to the
12 commission for the pilot program, the commission may provide
13 funds to pay for a portion of the cost of the preparation and
14 deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the
15 waters off Key West. The commission shall develop procedures
16 for conducting the pilot program, including, but not limited
17 to, procedures for determining eligibility, providing payment,
18 ensuring that payment is limited solely to the costs of
19 preparing and deploying the vessel, and ensuring that payments
20 are made to eligible persons or local governments in the order
21 in which each is determined eligible until the funds are
22 exhausted. The commission shall examine and use, to the extent
23 possible, other available options for funding the cost of the
24 preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S.
25 Vandenberg, including the use of funds raised by private
26 agencies or persons.
27 (8) No later than January 1, 2008, and each January 1
28 thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the
29 Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
30 House of Representatives detailing the expenditure of the
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1 funds appropriated to it for the purposes of carrying out the
2 provisions of this section.
3 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
4 law.
5
6 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
7 Senate Bill 1856
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9 The committee substitute makes a number of technical
corrections. The committee substitute deletes a reference to
10 the Florida Commission on Tourism and the Office of Tourism,
Trade, and Economic Development. The Florida Ships-2-Reefs
11 Program and the matching grant program will be administered by
the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
12
Each grant awarded under the grant program must be matched by
13 nonstate dollars and the limit of the grant is 33 percent of
the total cost of securing and environmental preparation and
14 cleaning and the reefing of the vessel.
15 The appropriations have been deleted. Instead, the committee
substitute provides that contingent upon a specific
16 appropriation to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
Commission, the commission may provide funds to pay for a
17 portion of the cost of the preparation and deployment of the
U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the waters off Key
18 West.
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