Florida Senate - 2022 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 1764 Ì244354(Î244354 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: RCS . 02/16/2022 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government (Albritton) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete everything after the enacting clause 4 and insert: 5 Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is created to 6 read: 7 377.814 Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program.— 8 (1) CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM.—The Municipal 9 Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department. 10 The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance 11 grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy 12 facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from 13 municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities while also reducing 14 the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a 15 landfill. 16 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term: 17 (a) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and 18 Consumer Services. 19 (b) “Municipal solid waste-to-energy facility” means a 20 publicly owned or government affiliate-owned facility that uses 21 an enclosed device using controlled combustion to thermally 22 break down solid waste to an ash residue that contains little or 23 no combustible material and that produces electricity, steam, or 24 other energy as a result. The term does not include facilities 25 that primarily burn fuels other than solid waste even if such 26 facilities also burn some solid waste as a fuel supplement. The 27 term does not include facilities that primarily burn vegetative, 28 agricultural, or silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood, 29 methane or other landfill gas, wood fuel derived from 30 construction or demolition debris, or waste tires, alone or in 31 combination with fossil fuels. 32 (3) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department, 33 subject to appropriation, shall provide annual financial 34 assistance grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities 35 that entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric 36 utility before January 1, 2022, which included capacity and 37 energy payments, and the owner of the municipal solid waste-to 38 energy facility has entered into a new or amended power purchase 39 agreement that either no longer includes capacity payments or 40 includes capacity and energy payments in an amount less than the 41 total of the capacity and energy payments the municipal solid 42 waste-to-energy facility received under the power purchase 43 agreement entered into before January 1, 2022. 44 (a) To apply for an annual financial assistance grant, the 45 owner of a municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must submit 46 an application to the department. The application must include 47 the name of the applicant’s municipal solid waste-to-energy 48 facility, the name of the utility purchasing the electric power 49 from the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility, the total 50 capacity and energy payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy 51 facility received during the last year of the power purchase 52 agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, and the amount of 53 energy delivered to and the total amount paid for such power by 54 an electric utility pursuant to a new or amended power purchase 55 agreement during the preceding state fiscal year. 56 (b) The department shall distribute funds, subject to 57 appropriation, to each qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents 58 per kilowatt-hour of electric power purchased by an electric 59 utility during the preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed 60 the difference between the total capacity and energy payment the 61 municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received during the 62 last year of the power purchase agreement entered into before 63 January 1, 2022, and the total of the capacity and energy 64 payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received 65 under a new or amended power purchase agreement during the 66 preceding state fiscal year. To the extent that funds are not 67 available to provide financial assistance to each qualifying 68 applicant for every qualifying kilowatt-hour purchased, the 69 department shall prorate the funds on an equitable basis. 70 (c) The department shall establish a process to verify the 71 amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste 72 to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding 73 state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide 74 assistance to the department to help verify the information 75 provided pursuant to paragraph (a). 76 (4) INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department, subject to 77 appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid 78 waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and 79 designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal 80 solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or 81 administrative expenses. 82 (a) To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a 83 municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must apply to the 84 department for funding; provide matching funds on a dollar-for 85 dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost 86 effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s. 87 403.7061. 88 (b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall 89 provide assistance to the department in determining the 90 eligibility of grant applications and establishing requirements 91 to ensure the long-term and efficient operation and maintenance 92 of facilities constructed or expanded under an incentive grant. 93 (c) The department shall perform adequate overview of each 94 grant application and grant award, including technical review, 95 regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to 96 implement this section. 97 (d) The department shall require the termination or 98 repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines 99 that program requirements are not being met. 100 (5) FUNDING.—Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid 101 Waste-to-Energy Program must first be used for financial 102 assistance grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year 103 after disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to 104 fund the incentive grant program. 105 (6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement 106 and administer this section, including establishing grant 107 application processes for financial assistance grants and 108 incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines 109 and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be 110 provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the 111 financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult 112 the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the 113 incentive grant program, the department shall consult the 114 Department of Environmental Protection. 115 Section 2. (1) For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of 116 $100 million in recurring funds is appropriated from the General 117 Revenue Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer 118 Services for the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program, as 119 provided in s. 377.814, Florida Statutes. 120 (2) Notwithstanding s. 216.301, Florida Statutes, and 121 pursuant to s. 216.351, Florida Statutes, funds allocated for 122 the purpose of this section which are not disbursed by June 30 123 of the fiscal year in which the funds are allocated may be 124 carried forward for up to 5 years after the effective date of 125 the original appropriation. 126 Section 3. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sums of 127 $149,832 in recurring funds and $9,984 in nonrecurring funds are 128 appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of 129 Agriculture and Consumer Services, and two full-time equivalent 130 positions with associated salary rate of 80,540 are authorized, 131 for the purpose of implementing this act. 132 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 133 134 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 135 And the title is amended as follows: 136 Delete everything before the enacting clause 137 and insert: 138 A bill to be entitled 139 An act relating to the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy 140 Program; creating s. 377.814, F.S.; creating the 141 Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program within the 142 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a 143 specified purpose; defining terms; requiring the 144 department, subject to appropriation, to provide 145 annual financial assistance grants to municipal solid 146 waste-to-energy facilities that meet certain 147 requirements; requiring the department to distribute 148 funds to qualifying applicants based on certain 149 criteria; requiring the department to establish a 150 process to verify the amount of certain electric power 151 purchases; directing the Public Service Commission to 152 provide assistance in verifying grant eligibility; 153 requiring the department, subject to appropriation, to 154 provide incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to 155 energy facilities to assist with certain costs; 156 specifying requirements for applying for the funding; 157 requiring the Department of Environmental Protection 158 to provide assistance in determining grant eligibility 159 and establishing requirements; requiring the 160 department to perform grant overview; establishing 161 priority for funding for the grants; requiring the 162 Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to 163 adopt rules; providing appropriations; authorizing the 164 balance of certain unexpended funds to be carried 165 forward for a specified number of years; authorizing 166 positions; providing an effective date. 167 168 WHEREAS, as provided in s. 366.91(1), Florida Statutes, the 169 Legislature has determined that it is in the public interest to 170 promote the development of renewable energy resources in this 171 state, and 172 WHEREAS, under s. 366.91, Florida Statutes, municipal solid 173 waste-to-energy facilities that use biomass as a fuel or energy 174 source are deemed to be producing renewable energy, and 175 WHEREAS, municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities provide 176 a practical and sustainable solution to reducing landfill waste, 177 reducing volume by about 87 percent, and 178 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the benefits that 179 municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities contribute to the 180 state and its local communities, and 181 WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to incentivize the 182 production and sale of energy from municipal solid waste-to 183 energy facilities through grant programs, NOW, THEREFORE,