Florida Senate - 2022 SB 1238
By Senator Polsky
29-00292C-22 20221238__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to saltwater intrusion vulnerability
3 assessments; amending s. 380.093, F.S.; requiring
4 coastal counties to conduct vulnerability assessments
5 analyzing the effects of saltwater intrusion on their
6 water supplies and their preparedness to respond to
7 threats, by a specified date; specifying requirements
8 for the assessments; requiring each coastal county to
9 provide copies of its assessment to the Department of
10 Environmental Protection and the respective water
11 management districts; requiring the water management
12 districts, in collaboration with the coastal counties,
13 to submit certain projects to the department based on
14 the assessments by a specified date; requiring the
15 department to update the comprehensive statewide flood
16 vulnerability and sea level rise data set and make
17 certain information received from the saltwater
18 intrusion vulnerability assessments available on its
19 website; requiring the department to provide cost
20 share funding up to a specified amount for certain
21 coastal counties; providing an effective date.
22
23 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
24
25 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (5) of section
26 380.093, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
27 380.093 Resilient Florida Grant Program; comprehensive
28 statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set and
29 assessment; Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience
30 Plan; regional resilience entities.—
31 (5) STATEWIDE FLOODING AND SEA LEVEL RISE RESILIENCE PLAN.—
32 (d)1. By September 1, 2021, and each September 1
33 thereafter, counties and municipalities may submit to the
34 department a list of proposed projects that address risks of
35 flooding or sea level rise identified in vulnerability
36 assessments that meet the requirements of subsection (3). A
37 regional resilience entity may also submit such proposed
38 projects to the department on behalf of one or more member
39 counties or municipalities.
40 2. By September 1, 2021, and each September 1 thereafter,
41 each water management district and flood control district may
42 submit to the department a list of any proposed projects that
43 mitigate the risks of flooding or sea level rise on water
44 supplies or water resources of this the state and a
45 corresponding evaluation of each project.
46 3. By September 1, 2022, each coastal county in this state
47 shall conduct a vulnerability assessment analyzing the effects
48 of saltwater intrusion on the county’s water supply and the
49 preparedness of the county to respond to such a threat,
50 including water utility infrastructure, wellfield protection,
51 and freshwater supply management.
52 a. Each saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessment must
53 include all of the following information:
54 (I) The county’s primary water utilities.
55 (II) Current maps of the county’s freshwater wellfields and
56 latest saltwater intrusion impact lines.
57 (III) Projections of saltwater intrusion over the next
58 decade, including specific wells that may be impacted during
59 that timeframe.
60 (IV) An analysis of the costs necessary to relocate
61 freshwater wellfields that are anticipated to be impacted,
62 including current projects that are underway to relocate the
63 freshwater wellfields.
64 b. Each coastal county shall provide the department and the
65 respective water management districts with a copy of the
66 county’s saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessment. The
67 department shall use the information to update its comprehensive
68 statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set under
69 subsection (4). The water management districts shall, in
70 collaboration with their coastal counties, use the information
71 detailed in the assessments to submit projects to the department
72 pursuant to subparagraph 2.
73 c. The department shall make the vulnerability assessment
74 information it receives from coastal counties pursuant to this
75 subparagraph accessible to the public on the department’s
76 website.
77 d. For coastal counties with populations of 200,000 or
78 less, the department shall provide 50 percent cost-share
79 funding, up to $150,000, for each county’s saltwater intrusion
80 vulnerability assessment.
81 4. Each project submitted to the department by a county,
82 municipality, regional resilience entity, water management
83 district, or flood control district for consideration by the
84 department for inclusion in the plan must include:
85 a. A description of the project.
86 b. The location of the project.
87 c. An estimate of how long the project will take to
88 complete.
89 d. An estimate of the cost of the project.
90 e. The cost-share percentage available for the project.
91 f. The project sponsor.
92 Section 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.