Florida Senate - 2012 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for SB 1178 Barcode 938864 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 02/06/2012 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Community Affairs (Bennett) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Between lines 68 and 69 4 insert: 5 Section 2. Study Committee on Investor-Owned Water and 6 Wastewater Utility Systems.— 7 (1) There is created a Study Committee on Investor-Owned 8 Water and Wastewater Utility Systems, which shall be composed of 9 17 members designated and appointed as follows: 10 (a) Two Senators appointed by the President of the Senate, 11 one of whom shall be appointed as chair by the President of the 12 Senate. 13 (b) Two Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the 14 House of Representatives. 15 (c) The Secretary of Environmental Protection or his or her 16 designee, who shall be a nonvoting member of the committee. 17 (d) The chair of the Public Service Commission or his or 18 her designee, who shall be a nonvoting member of the committee. 19 (e) A representative of a water management district 20 appointed by the Governor. 21 (f) A representative of a water or wastewater system owned 22 or operated by a municipal government appointed by the Governor. 23 (g) A representative of a water or wastewater system owned 24 or operated by a county government appointed by the Governor. 25 (h) The chair of a county commission that regulates 26 inventor-owned water or wastewater utility systems, who shall be 27 a nonvoting member of the committee. 28 (i) A representative of a county health department 29 appointed by the Governor, who shall be a nonvoting member of 30 the committee. 31 (j) A representative of the Florida Rural Water Association 32 appointed by the Governor. 33 (k) A representative of a small investor-owned water or 34 wastewater utility appointed by the Governor. 35 (l) A representative of a large investor-owned water or 36 wastewater utility appointed by the Governor. 37 (m) The Public Counsel or his or her designee. 38 (n) A customer of a Class C water or wastewater utility 39 appointed by the Governor. 40 (o) A representative of a government authority that was 41 created pursuant to chapter 367, Florida Statutes, appointed by 42 the Governor. 43 (2) The members shall serve until the work of the committee 44 is complete and the committee is terminated, except that if a 45 member no longer serves in the position required for 46 appointment, the member shall be replaced by the individual who 47 serves in such position. 48 (3) Members of the committee shall serve without 49 compensation, but are entitled to reimbursement for all 50 reasonable and necessary expenses, including travel expenses, in 51 the performance of their duties as provided in s. 112.061, 52 Florida Statutes. 53 (4) The appointing authority may remove or suspend a member 54 appointed by it for cause, including, but not limited to, 55 failure to attend two or more meetings of the committee. 56 (5) The Public Service Commission shall provide the staff, 57 information, assistance, and facilities as are deemed necessary 58 for the committee to carry out its duties under this section. 59 Funding for the committee shall be paid from the Florida Public 60 Service Regulatory Trust Fund. 61 (6) The committee shall identify issues of concern of 62 investor-owned water and wastewater utility systems, 63 particularly small systems, and their customers and research 64 possible solutions. In addition, the committee shall consider: 65 (a) The ability of a small investor-owned water and 66 wastewater utility to achieve economies of scale when purchasing 67 equipment, commodities, or services. 68 (b) The availability of low interest loans to a small, 69 privately owned water or wastewater utility. 70 (c) Any tax incentives or exemptions, temporary or 71 permanent, which are available to a small water or wastewater 72 utility. 73 (d) The impact on customer rates if a utility purchases an 74 existing water or wastewater utility system. 75 (e) The impact on customer rates of a utility providing 76 service through the use of a reseller. 77 (f) Other issues that the committee identifies during its 78 investigation. 79 (7) The committee shall meet at the time and location as 80 the chair determines, except that the committee shall meet a 81 minimum of four times. At least two meetings must be held in an 82 area that is centrally located to utility customers who have 83 recently been affected by a significant increase in water or 84 wastewater utility rates. The public shall be given the 85 opportunity to speak at the meeting. 86 (8) By December 31, 2012, the committee shall prepare and 87 submit to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the 88 Speaker of the House of Representatives a report detailing its 89 findings pursuant to subsection (6) and making specific 90 legislative recommendations. 91 (9) This section expires and the committee terminates June 92 30, 2013. 93 94 95 96 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 97 And the title is amended as follows: 98 Delete lines 2 - 3 99 and insert: 100 An act relating to water supply; amending s. 373.236; 101 specifying 102 Delete line 17 103 and insert: 104 utility; creating the Study Committee on Investor 105 Owned Water and Wastewater Utility Systems; providing 106 for membership and terms of service; prohibiting 107 compensation of the members; providing for 108 reimbursement of the members for certain expenses; 109 providing for removal or suspension of members by the 110 appointing authority; requiring the Public Service 111 Commission to provide staff, information, assistance, 112 and facilities that are deemed necessary for the 113 committee to perform its duties; providing for funding 114 from the Florida Public Service Regulatory Trust Fund; 115 providing duties for the committee; providing for 116 public meetings; requiring the committee to report to 117 the Governor and Legislature its findings and make 118 recommendation for legislative changes; providing for 119 future termination of the committee; providing an 120 effective date.