Florida Senate - 2017 CS for SB 198 By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation; and Senators Stewart and Rodriguez 592-02751-17 2017198c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to the Environmental Regulation 3 Commission; amending s. 20.255, F.S.; requiring the 4 Governor to appoint a new member to the commission 5 within a certain timeframe after the occurrence of a 6 vacancy; amending s. 403.805, F.S.; requiring certain 7 proposed rules submitted to the commission to receive 8 specified vote totals for approval or modification; 9 providing an effective date. 10 11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 12 13 Section 1. Subsection (6) of section 20.255, Florida 14 Statutes, is amended to read: 15 20.255 Department of Environmental Protection.—There is 16 created a Department of Environmental Protection. 17 (6) There is created as a part of the Department of 18 Environmental Protection an Environmental Regulation Commission. 19 (a) The commission shall be composed of seven residents of 20 this state appointed by the Governor, subject to confirmation by 21 the Senate. In making appointments, the Governor shall provide 22 reasonable representation from all sections of the state. 23 Membership shall be representative of agriculture, the 24 development industry, local government, the environmental 25 community, lay citizens, and members of the scientific and 26 technical community who have substantial expertise in the areas 27 of the fate and transport of water pollutants, toxicology, 28 epidemiology, geology, biology, environmental sciences, or 29 engineering. 30 (b) The Governor shall, within 90 days after the occurrence 31 of a vacancy on the commission, appoint a new member, subject to 32 confirmation by the Senate. 33 (c) The Governor shall appoint the chair, and the vice 34 chair shall be elected from among the membership. All 35 appointments shall be for 4-year terms. 36 (d)The Governor may at any time fill a vacancy for the37unexpired term.The members of the commission shall serve 38 without compensation, but shall be paid travel and per diem as 39 provided in s. 112.061 while in the performance of their 40 official duties. Administrative, personnel, and other support 41 services necessary for the commission shall be furnished by the 42 department. The commission may employ independent counsel and 43 contract for the services of outside technical consultants. 44 Section 2. Subsection (4) is added to section 403.805, 45 Florida Statutes, to read: 46 403.805 Secretary; powers and duties; review of specified 47 rules.— 48 (4) Any proposed rule containing standards to be submitted 49 to the commission for approval, modification, or disapproval 50 pursuant to subsection (1) requires a simple majority for 51 approval or modification, unless the rule pertains to any of the 52 following, in which case approval or modification must be by a 53 super majority of five votes: 54 (a) Air quality standards. 55 (b) Water quality and quantity standards. 56 57 Proposed rules that fail to receive the votes required for 58 approval or modification pursuant to this subsection are deemed 59 disapproved. 60 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.