CS/HB 649

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to water management districts; amending s.
3	373.0693, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
4	membership of basin boards; specifying the terms of
5	service for basin board members designated by district
6	governing board chairs; providing that basin board members
7	designated by district governing board chairs are voting
8	members and counted for quorum purposes; providing for
9	designated district governing board members to serve as
10	basin board chairs and co-chairs; providing that a quorum
11	of remaining members may conduct business if there is a
12	vacancy on the board; revising provisions relating to the
13	membership of the Manasota Basin Board; providing for the
14	designation of a member of the district governing board to
15	serve on the basin board; amending s. 373.171, F.S.;
16	exempting cooperative funding programs from certain
17	rulemaking requirements; amending s. 373.707, F.S.;
18	authorizing water management districts to use certain
19	moneys in the Water Protection and Sustainability Program
20	Trust Fund for water resource development projects;
21	providing an effective date.
22
23	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25	Section 1.  Subsections (1) through (7) of section
26	373.0693, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
27	373.0693  Basins; basin boards.-
28	(1)(a)  Any areas within a district may be designated by
29	the district governing board as subdistricts or basins. The
30	designations of such basins shall be made by resolution of the
31	district governing board by resolutions thereof. The governing
32	board of the district may change the boundaries of such basins,
33	or create new basins, by resolution.
34	(b)  No subdistrict or basin in the St. Johns River Water
35	Management District other than established by this act is shall
36	become effective until approved by the Legislature.
37	(2)  Each basin shall be under the control of a basin board
38	which shall be composed of at least not less than three members,
39	including one or more representatives but shall include one
40	representative from each of the counties included in the basin.
41	(3)  Except for a member of the district governing board
42	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), each member
43	of a the various basin board boards shall be appointed serve for
44	a period of 3 years or until a successor is appointed, but not
45	more than 180 days after the end of the term., except that The
46	board membership of each new basin board shall be divided into
47	three groups as equally as possible, with members in such groups
48	to be appointed for 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Each basin
49	board shall choose a vice chair and a secretary to serve for a
50	period of 1 year. The term of office of a basin board member
51	shall be construed to commence on March 2 preceding the date of
52	appointment and to terminate March 1 of the year of the end of a
53	term or may continue until a successor is appointed, but not
54	more than 180 days after the end of the expired term. A member
55	of the district governing board serving on a basin board
56	pursuant to subsection (6) shall serve for a period commensurate
57	with his or her term on the governing board.
58	(4)  Except for a member of the district governing board
59	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), members of
60	a basin board boards shall be appointed by the Governor, subject
61	to confirmation by the Senate at the next regular session of the
62	Legislature.; and The refusal or failure of the Senate to
63	confirm an appointment shall create a vacancy in the office to
64	which the appointment was made.
65	(5)  Basin board members shall serve without receive no
66	compensation for services as such; but are entitled to
67	reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as provided in s.
68	112.061, while officially on work for the district, they shall
69	receive their actual travel expenses between their respective
70	places of residence and the place where official district
71	business is conducted, subsistence, lodging, and other expenses
72	in the amount actually incurred. These expenses may not exceed
73	the statutory amount allowed state officers and employees. This
74	subsection applies retroactively to the effective date of the
75	creation of each of the five separate water management
76	districts.
77	(6)(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of the
78	provisions of any other general or special law to the contrary,
79	a member of the district governing board of the district
80	residing in the basin, or, if no member resides in the basin, a
81	member of the district governing board designated by the chair
82	of the district governing board, shall be a voting member of the
83	basin board and counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.
84	(b)  A governing board member shall serve as the chair of
85	the basin board. If more than one governing board member is
86	designated to a basin board, each shall rotate as co-chair of
87	the basin board. The chair or co-chair shall preside at all
88	meetings of the basin board, except that the vice chair may
89	preside in the his or her absence of the chair and co-chair. The
90	chair shall be the liaison officer of the district in all
91	affairs in the basin and shall be kept informed of all such
92	affairs.
93	(c)  If a vacancy occurs on a basin board, a quorum of the
94	total remaining members may continue to transact official
95	business until a successor is appointed.
96	(d)(b)  Basin boards within the Southwest Florida Water
97	Management District shall meet regularly as determined by a
98	majority vote of the basin board members. Subject to the notice
99	requirements of chapter 120, special meetings, both emergency
100	and nonemergency, may be called either by the chair or the
101	elected vice chair of the basin board or upon request of two
102	basin board members. The district staff shall include on the
103	agenda of any basin board meeting any item for discussion or
104	action requested by a member of that basin board. The district
105	staff shall notify any basin board, as well as their respective
106	counties, of any vacancies occurring in the district governing
107	board or their respective basin boards.
108	(7)  At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, the Manasota
109	Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
110	Management District, which is annexed to the Southwest Florida
111	Water Management District by change of its boundaries pursuant
112	to chapter 76-243, Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a
113	subdistrict or basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
114	District, subject to the same provisions as the other basins in
115	such district. Such subdistrict shall be designated initially as
116	the Manasota Basin. The members of the governing board of the
117	Manasota Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
118	Management District shall become members of the governing board
119	of the Manasota Basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
120	District. Notwithstanding other provisions in this section,
121	beginning on July 1, 2011 2001, the membership of the Manasota
122	Basin Board shall be comprised of two members from Manatee
123	County, and two members from Sarasota County, and any members of
124	the district governing board designated by the chair of the
125	district governing board pursuant to subsection (6). Matters
126	relating to tie votes shall be resolved pursuant to subsection
127	(6) by the chair designated by the governing board to vote in
128	case of a tie vote.
129	Section 2.  Subsection (5) is added to section 373.171,
130	Florida Statutes, to read:
131	373.171  Rules.-
132	(5)  Cooperative funding programs are not subject to the
133	rulemaking requirements of chapter 120. However, any portion of
134	an approved program which affects the substantial interests of a
135	party is subject to s. 120.569.
136	Section 3.  Paragraph (c) of subsection (8) of section
137	373.707, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
138	373.707  Alternative water supply development.-
139	(8)
140	(c)  The Financial assistance for alternative water supply
141	projects allocated in each district's budget as required in
142	subsection (6) shall be combined with the state funds and used
143	to assist in funding the project construction costs of
144	alternative water supply projects and the project costs of
145	conservation projects that result in quantifiable water savings
146	selected by the governing board. If the district has not
147	completed any regional water supply plan, or the regional water
148	supply plan does not identify the need for any alternative water
149	supply projects, Funds deposited in the Water Protection and
150	Sustainability Program Trust Fund to the credit of the Suwannee
151	River Water Management District that district's trust fund may
152	also be used for regional water supply planning, water resource
153	development, and water resource projects, including, but not
154	limited to, springs protection.
155	Section 4.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.

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