Florida Senate - 2017 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 928
Ì451946BÎ451946
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Senator Stargel moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Heartland
6 Headwaters Protection and Sustainability Act.”
7 Section 2. Section 373.462, Florida Statutes, is created to
8 read:
9 373.462 Legislative findings and intent.—
10 (1) The Legislature recognizes that by law in 1979,
11 portions of Lake and Polk Counties were designated as the Green
12 Swamp Area of Critical State Concern in acknowledgment of its
13 regional and statewide importance in maintaining the quality and
14 quantity of Florida’s water supply and water resources for the
15 public and the environment.
16 (2) The Legislature also recognizes the Green Swamp, which
17 encompasses approximately 560,000 acres, is located in a
18 regionally significant high recharge area of the Floridan
19 Aquifer system, and it helps protect coastal communities from
20 saltwater intrusion.
21 (3) The Legislature finds that the Green Swamp or Polk
22 County make up the headwaters or portions of the headwaters of
23 six major river systems in the state, which are the Alafia,
24 Hillsborough, Kissimmee, Ocklawaha, Peace, and Withlacoochee
25 Rivers. In addition, due to the area’s unique topography and
26 geology which receives no other water inputs other than
27 rainfall, the area is essential in maintaining the
28 potentiometric head of the Floridan Aquifer system that directly
29 influences the aquifer’s productivity for water supply.
30 (4) The Legislature also finds that the Green Swamp and the
31 surrounding areas are economically, environmentally, and
32 socially defined by some of the most important and vulnerable
33 water resources in the state.
34 (5) The Legislature recognizes that the Central Florida
35 Water Initiative Guiding Document dated January 30, 2015, and
36 the Southern Water Use Caution Area Recovery Strategy dated
37 March 2006 recognized the fact that the surface water and
38 groundwater resources in the heartland counties of Hardee,
39 Highlands, and Polk are integral to the health, public safety,
40 and economic future of those regions.
41 (6) The Legislature declares that there is an important
42 state interest in partnering with regional water supply
43 authorities and local governments, in accordance with s.
44 373.705, to protect the water resources of the headwaters of the
45 Alafia, Hillsborough, Kissimmee, Ocklawaha, Peace, and
46 Withlacoochee Rivers and the surrounding areas. The Legislature
47 further declares that funding consideration be given to regional
48 collaborative solutions, including, but not limited to, the
49 heartland counties, to manage the water resources of the state.
50 Section 3. Section 373.463, Florida Statutes, is created to
51 read:
52 373.463 Heartland headwaters annual report.—
53 (1) The Polk Regional Water Cooperative, in coordination
54 with all of its member county and municipal governments, shall
55 prepare a comprehensive annual report for water resource
56 projects identified for state funding consideration within its
57 members’ jurisdictions. The report must include, at a minimum:
58 (a) A list of projects identified by the cooperative for
59 state funding consideration for each of the following
60 categories. A project may be listed in more than one category:
61 1. Drinking water supply.
62 2. Wastewater.
63 3. Stormwater and flood control.
64 4. Environmental restoration.
65 5. Conservation.
66 (b) A priority ranking for each listed project that will be
67 ready to proceed in the upcoming fiscal year within each
68 category.
69 (c) The estimated cost of each listed project.
70 (d) The estimated completion date of each listed project.
71 (e) The source and amount of financial assistance to be
72 provided by the cooperative, the member county or municipal
73 governments, or other entity for each listed project.
74 (2) By December 1, 2017, and each year thereafter, the
75 cooperative shall submit the comprehensive annual report to the
76 Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House
77 of Representatives, the department, and the appropriate water
78 management districts.
79 (3) The cooperative shall also annually coordinate with the
80 appropriate water management district to submit a status report
81 on projects receiving priority state funding for inclusion in
82 the consolidated water management district annual report
83 required by s. 373.036(7).
84 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.
85
86 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
87 And the title is amended as follows:
88 Delete everything before the enacting clause
89 and insert:
90 A bill to be entitled
91 An act relating to water protection and
92 sustainability; creating the “Heartland Headwaters
93 Protection and Sustainability Act”; creating s.
94 373.462, F.S.; providing legislative findings and
95 intent; creating s. 373.463, F.S.; requiring the Polk
96 Regional Water Cooperative, in coordination with all
97 of its member county and municipal governments, to
98 prepare an annual report concerning water resource
99 projects within a specified area; specifying
100 requirements for such report; requiring the report to
101 be submitted by a certain date each year to the
102 Governor, the Legislature, the Department of
103 Environmental Protection, and the appropriate water
104 management districts; requiring the cooperative to
105 coordinate with appropriate water management districts
106 to prepare status reports on certain projects;
107 requiring the inclusion of such reports in the
108 appropriate consolidated water management district
109 annual reports; providing an effective date.