Florida Senate - 2020                   (PROPOSED BILL) SPB 7016
       
       
        
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Infrastructure and
       Security
       
       
       
       
       596-01913A-20                                         20207016pb
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Statewide Office of Resiliency;
    3         creating s. 14.2031, F.S.; establishing the office
    4         within the Executive Office of the Governor; providing
    5         for appointment of the Chief Resilience Officer by the
    6         Governor; creating the Statewide Sea-Level Rise Task
    7         Force within the office; specifying the purpose of the
    8         task force; providing for the membership of the task
    9         force; providing timeframes for initial appointments
   10         and the task force’s initial meeting; specifying
   11         duties of the task force; authorizing the Department
   12         of Environmental Protection to contract for specified
   13         services, upon request of the task force; requiring
   14         the Department of Environmental Protection to serve as
   15         the task force’s contract administrator and to provide
   16         administrative support; authorizing the designation of
   17         technical advisory groups for specified purposes;
   18         prescribing reporting requirements; requiring the
   19         Environmental Regulation Commission to take certain
   20         action on the task force’s recommendations; specifying
   21         the function of the consensus baseline projections;
   22         providing for future repeal of the task force;
   23         providing an appropriation; providing an effective
   24         date.
   25          
   26  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   27  
   28         Section 1. Section 14.2031, Florida Statutes, is created to
   29  read:
   30         14.2031Statewide Office of Resiliency.—The Statewide
   31  Office of Resiliency is established within the Executive Office
   32  of the Governor. The office shall be headed by a Chief
   33  Resilience Officer, who is appointed by and serves at the
   34  pleasure of the Governor. The Chief Resilience Officer shall
   35  perform duties and responsibilities assigned by the Governor.
   36         (1) The Statewide Sea-Level Rise Task Force, a task force
   37  as defined in s. 20.03(8), is created adjunct to the Statewide
   38  Office of Resiliency. Except as otherwise provided in this
   39  section, the task force shall operate in a manner consistent
   40  with s. 20.052. The purpose of the task force is to recommend
   41  consensus projections of the anticipated sea-level rise and
   42  flooding impacts along this state’s coastline.
   43         (2) The task force is composed of the following members:
   44         (a) The Chief Resilience Officer, who shall serve as chair.
   45         (b) The Chief Science Officer of the Department of
   46  Environmental Protection, who shall serve as vice chair.
   47         (c) One member appointed by the President of the Senate.
   48         (d) One member appointed by the Speaker of the House of
   49  Representatives.
   50         (e) One representative each from the Department of
   51  Transportation, the Division of Emergency Management, the
   52  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Fish and
   53  Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the Department of Economic
   54  Opportunity, each appointed by his or her respective agency
   55  head, division director, executive director, or commission
   56  chair.
   57  
   58  All appointments to the task force must be made no later than
   59  August 1, 2020. Any vacancy on the task force shall be filled in
   60  the same manner as the original appointment.
   61         (3) The Chief Resilience Officer shall convene the task
   62  force by no later than October 1, 2020. The task force shall
   63  meet thereafter upon the call of the chair.
   64         (4)(a) The task force shall develop official scientific
   65  information, from appropriate sources as determined by the task
   66  force, necessary to make recommendations on consensus baseline
   67  projections, or a range of projections, of the expected rise in
   68  sea level along the state’s coastline for planning horizons
   69  designated by the task force. The projections may address
   70  various geographic areas of the state, as determined by the task
   71  force.
   72         (b) The task force may request the Department of
   73  Environmental Protection to contract for services to assist the
   74  task force in developing the recommended official baseline
   75  projections. The Department of Environmental Protection shall
   76  serve as the contract administrator for any such contracts.
   77         (c) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
   78  provide administrative support to the task force.
   79         (d) The task force may designate technical advisory groups,
   80  as it deems necessary, to assist in the gathering of scientific
   81  data to inform the task force’s decisionmaking.
   82         (5) By January 1, 2021, the task force shall submit its
   83  recommended consensus baseline projections to the Environmental
   84  Regulation Commission, created pursuant to s. 20.255(6). The
   85  commission shall adopt or reject the task force’s recommended
   86  projections. Following adoption by the commission, these
   87  projections serve as the state’s official estimate of sea-level
   88  rise and flooding impacts along the state’s coastline and must
   89  be used for the purpose of developing future state projects,
   90  plans, and programs. In its report, the task force must include
   91  supporting data and assumptions used by the task force in
   92  developing the recommended projections. The task force shall
   93  review the adopted consensus baseline projections as it deems
   94  appropriate, and shall submit any recommended revisions to the
   95  projections to the commission.
   96         (6) Subsections (1) through (5) and this subsection are
   97  repealed July 1, 2023.
   98         Section 2. For the 2020-2021 fiscal year, the sum of
   99  $500,000 in nonrecurring funds is appropriated from the General
  100  Revenue Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection for
  101  the purpose of funding any contracts for services entered into
  102  by the department to assist the Statewide Sea-Level Rise Task
  103  Force in developing its recommended official baseline
  104  projections and for the administrative expenses of the task
  105  force.
  106         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.