Florida Senate - 2011                          SENATOR AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS/CS/CS/HB 1363, 1st Eng.
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 732180                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
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       Senator Latvala moved the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment to Amendment (302038) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Between lines 2038 and 2039
    5  insert:
    6         Section 36. Subsections (2), (3), (4), and (6) of section
    7  373.41492, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    8         373.41492 Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Mitigation Plan;
    9  mitigation for mining activities within the Miami-Dade County
   10  Lake Belt.—
   11         (2) To provide for the mitigation of wetland resources lost
   12  to mining activities within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt
   13  Plan, effective October 1, 1999, a mitigation fee is imposed on
   14  each ton of limerock and sand extracted by any person who
   15  engages in the business of extracting limerock or sand from
   16  within the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area and the east one
   17  half of sections 24 and 25 and all of sections 35 and 36,
   18  Township 53 South, Range 39 East. The mitigation fee is imposed
   19  for each ton of limerock and sand sold from within the
   20  properties where the fee applies in raw, processed, or
   21  manufactured form, including, but not limited to, sized
   22  aggregate, asphalt, cement, concrete, and other limerock and
   23  concrete products. The mitigation fee imposed by this subsection
   24  for each ton of limerock and sand sold shall be 12 cents per ton
   25  beginning January 1, 2007; 18 cents per ton beginning January 1,
   26  2008; 24 cents per ton beginning January 1, 2009; and 45 cents
   27  per ton beginning close of business December 31, 2011. To pay
   28  for seepage mitigation projects, including hydrological
   29  structures, as authorized in an environmental resource permit
   30  issued by the department for mining activities within the Miami
   31  Dade County Lake Belt area, and to upgrade a water treatment
   32  plant that treats water coming from the Northwest Wellfield in
   33  Miami-Dade County, a water treatment plant upgrade fee is
   34  imposed within the same Lake Belt Area subject to the mitigation
   35  fee and upon the same kind of mined limerock and sand subject to
   36  the mitigation fee. The water treatment plant upgrade fee
   37  imposed by this subsection for each ton of limerock and sand
   38  sold shall be 15 cents per ton beginning on January 1, 2007, and
   39  the collection of this fee shall cease once the total amount of
   40  proceeds collected for this fee reaches the amount of the actual
   41  moneys necessary to design and construct the water treatment
   42  plant upgrade, as determined in an open, public solicitation
   43  process. Any limerock or sand that is used within the mine from
   44  which the limerock or sand is extracted is exempt from the fees.
   45  The amount of the mitigation fee and the water treatment plant
   46  upgrade fee imposed under this section must be stated separately
   47  on the invoice provided to the purchaser of the limerock or sand
   48  product from the limerock or sand miner, or its subsidiary or
   49  affiliate, for which the fee or fees apply. The limerock or sand
   50  miner, or its subsidiary or affiliate, who sells the limerock or
   51  sand product shall collect the mitigation fee and the water
   52  treatment plant upgrade fee and forward the proceeds of the fees
   53  to the Department of Revenue on or before the 20th day of the
   54  month following the calendar month in which the sale occurs. As
   55  used in this section, the term "proceeds of the fee" means all
   56  funds collected and received by the Department of Revenue under
   57  this section, including interest and penalties on delinquent
   58  fees. The amount deducted for administrative costs may not
   59  exceed 3 percent of the total revenues collected under this
   60  section and may equal only those administrative costs reasonably
   61  attributable to the fees.
   62         (3) The mitigation fee and the water treatment plant
   63  upgrade fee imposed by this section must be reported to the
   64  Department of Revenue. Payment of the mitigation and the water
   65  treatment plant upgrade fees must be accompanied by a form
   66  prescribed by the Department of Revenue.
   67         (a) The proceeds of the mitigation fee, less administrative
   68  costs, must be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the
   69  South Florida Water Management District and deposited into the
   70  Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund.
   71         (b) Beginning January 1, 2012, the proceeds of the water
   72  treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs, must be
   73  transferred by the Department of Revenue to the South Florida
   74  Water Management District and deposited into the Lake Belt
   75  Mitigation Trust Fund until either:
   76         1. A total of $20 million from the water treatment plant
   77  upgrade fee proceeds, less administrative costs, is deposited
   78  into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund; or
   79         2. The quarterly pathogen sampling conducted as a condition
   80  of the permits issued by the department for rock mining
   81  activities in the Miami-Dade Lake Belt Area demonstrates that
   82  the water in any quarry lake in the vicinity of the Northwest
   83  Wellfield would be classified as being in Bin Two or higher as
   84  defined in the Environmental Protection Agency's Enhanced
   85  Surface Water Treatment Rule.
   86         (c) Upon the earliest occurrence of the criteria under
   87  either subparagraph (b)1. or subparagraph (b)2., the proceeds of
   88  the treatment plant upgrade fee, less administrative costs, must
   89  be transferred by the Department of Revenue to a trust fund
   90  established by Miami-Dade County, for the sole purpose
   91  authorized by paragraph (6)(a). As used in this section, the
   92  term “proceeds of the fee” means all funds collected and
   93  received by the Department of Revenue under this section,
   94  including interest and penalties on delinquent fees. The amount
   95  deducted for administrative costs may not exceed 3 percent of
   96  the total revenues collected under this section and may equal
   97  only those administrative costs reasonably attributable to the
   98  fees.
   99         (4)(a) The Department of Revenue shall administer, collect,
  100  and enforce the mitigation and treatment plant upgrade fees
  101  authorized under this section in accordance with the procedures
  102  used to administer, collect, and enforce the general sales tax
  103  imposed under chapter 212. The provisions of chapter 212 with
  104  respect to the authority of the Department of Revenue to audit
  105  and make assessments, the keeping of books and records, and the
  106  interest and penalties imposed on delinquent fees apply to this
  107  section. The fees may not be included in computing estimated
  108  taxes under s. 212.11, and the dealer’s credit for collecting
  109  taxes or fees provided for in s. 212.12 does not apply to the
  110  fees imposed by this section.
  111         (b) In administering this section, the Department of
  112  Revenue may employ persons and incur expenses for which funds
  113  are appropriated by the Legislature. The Department of Revenue
  114  shall adopt rules and prescribe and publish forms necessary to
  115  administer this section. The Department of Revenue shall
  116  establish audit procedures and may assess delinquent fees.
  117         (6)(a) The proceeds of the mitigation fee must be used to
  118  conduct mitigation activities that are appropriate to offset the
  119  loss of the value and functions of wetlands as a result of
  120  mining activities and must be used in a manner consistent with
  121  the recommendations contained in the reports submitted to the
  122  Legislature by the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Plan
  123  Implementation Committee and adopted under s. 373.4149. Such
  124  mitigation may include the purchase, enhancement, restoration,
  125  and management of wetlands and uplands, the purchase of
  126  mitigation credit from a permitted mitigation bank, and any
  127  structural modifications to the existing drainage system to
  128  enhance the hydrology of the Miami-Dade County Lake Belt Area.
  129  Funds may also be used to reimburse other funding sources,
  130  including the Save Our Rivers Land Acquisition Program, the
  131  Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the South Florida Water
  132  Management District, and Miami-Dade County, for the purchase of
  133  lands that were acquired in areas appropriate for mitigation due
  134  to rock mining and to reimburse governmental agencies that
  135  exchanged land under s. 373.4149 for mitigation due to rock
  136  mining. The proceeds of the water treatment plant upgrade fee
  137  shall be used solely to upgrade a water treatment plant that
  138  treats water coming from the Northwest Wellfield in Miami-Dade
  139  County. As used in this section, the terms “upgrade a water
  140  treatment plant” or “treatment plant upgrade” means those works
  141  necessary to treat or filter a surface water source or supply or
  142  both.
  143         (b) Expenditures of the mitigation fee must be approved by
  144  an interagency committee consisting of representatives from each
  145  of the following: the Miami-Dade County Department of
  146  Environmental Resource Management, the Department of
  147  Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water Management
  148  District, and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. In
  149  addition, the limerock mining industry shall select a
  150  representative to serve as a nonvoting member of the interagency
  151  committee. At the discretion of the committee, additional
  152  members may be added to represent federal regulatory,
  153  environmental, and fish and wildlife agencies.
  154  
  155  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  156         And the title is amended as follows:
  157         Between lines 3804 and 3805
  158  insert:
  159         amending s. 373.41492, F.S.; authorizing the use of
  160         proceeds from the water treatment plant upgrade fee to
  161         pay for specified mitigation projects; requiring
  162         proceeds from the water treatment plant upgrade fee to
  163         be transferred by the Department of Revenue to the
  164         South Florida Water Management District and deposited
  165         into the Lake Belt Mitigation Trust Fund until
  166         specified criteria is met; providing, after such
  167         criteria is met, for the proceeds of the water
  168         treatment plant upgrade fee to return to being
  169         transferred by the Department of Revenue to a trust
  170         fund established by Miami-Dade County for specified
  171         purposes;