Florida Senate - 2021 SB 514
By Senator Rodrigues
27-00366-21 2021514__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to resiliency; creating s. 14.2031,
3 F.S.; establishing the Statewide Office of Resiliency
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 adjunct to the office; specifying the purpose of
8 the task force; providing for the membership of the
9 task force; providing timeframes for initial
10 appointments and the task force’s initial meeting;
11 specifying duties of the task force; authorizing the
12 Department of Environmental Protection to contract for
13 specified services, upon request of the task force;
14 requiring the Department of Environmental Protection
15 to serve as the task force’s contract administrator
16 and to provide administrative support; authorizing the
17 designation of technical advisory groups for specified
18 purposes; prescribing reporting requirements;
19 requiring the Environmental Regulation Commission to
20 take certain action on the task force’s
21 recommendations; specifying the function of the
22 consensus baseline projections; providing for future
23 repeal of the task force; providing an appropriation;
24 providing an effective 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 14.2031 Statewide 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, 2021. 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, 2021. 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, 2022, 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, 2024.
98 Section 2. For the 2021-2022 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, 2021.