Florida Senate - 2012                             CS for SB 1858
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation;
       and Senator Altman
       
       
       
       592-02642-12                                          20121858c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to water storage and water quality
    3         improvements; creating s. 373.4591, F.S.; requiring a
    4         specified determination as a condition of an agreement
    5         for water storage and water quality improvements on
    6         private agricultural lands; providing a methodology
    7         for such determination; providing for regulation of
    8         such lands for the duration of the agreement and after
    9         its expiration; providing an effective date.
   10  
   11  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   12  
   13         Section 1. Section 373.4591, Florida Statutes, is created
   14  to read:
   15         373.4591 Improvements on private agricultural lands.—The
   16  Legislature encourages public-private partnerships to accomplish
   17  water storage and water quality improvements on private
   18  agricultural lands. When an agreement is entered into between a
   19  water management district or the department and a private
   20  landowner to establish such a partnership, a baseline condition
   21  determining the extent of wetlands and other surface waters on
   22  the property shall be established and documented in the
   23  agreement before improvements are constructed. The determination
   24  for the baseline condition shall be conducted using the methods
   25  set forth in the rules adopted pursuant to s. 373.421. The
   26  baseline condition documented in the agreement shall be
   27  considered the extent of wetlands and other surface waters on
   28  the property for the purpose of regulation under this chapter
   29  for the duration of the agreement and after its expiration.
   30         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.