Florida Senate - 2022                                    SB 1764
       
       
        
       By Senator Albritton
       
       
       
       
       
       26-01462A-22                                          20221764__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy
    3         Program; creating s. 377.814, F.S.; creating the
    4         Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program within the
    5         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a
    6         specified purpose; defining terms; requiring the
    7         department, subject to appropriation, to provide
    8         financial assistance grants to municipal solid waste
    9         to-energy facilities that meet certain requirements;
   10         requiring the department to distribute funds to
   11         qualifying applicants based on certain criteria;
   12         requiring the department to establish a process to
   13         verify the amount of certain electric power purchases;
   14         directing the Public Service Commission to provide
   15         assistance in verifying grant eligibility; requiring
   16         the department, subject to appropriation, to provide
   17         incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy
   18         facilities to assist with certain costs; specifying
   19         requirements for applying for the funding; requiring
   20         the Department of Environmental Protection to provide
   21         assistance in determining grant eligibility and
   22         establishing requirements; requiring the department to
   23         perform grant overview; establishing priority for
   24         funding for the grants; requiring the Department of
   25         Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt rules;
   26         providing an appropriation; providing an effective
   27         date.
   28  
   29         WHEREAS, as provided in s. 366.91(1), Florida Statutes, the
   30  Legislature has determined that it is in the public interest to
   31  promote the development of renewable energy resources in this
   32  state, and
   33         WHEREAS, under s. 366.91, Florida Statutes, municipal solid
   34  waste-to-energy facilities that use biomass as a fuel or energy
   35  source are deemed to be producing renewable energy, and
   36         WHEREAS, municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities provide
   37  a practical and sustainable solution to reducing landfill waste,
   38  reducing volume by about 87 percent, and
   39         WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the benefits that
   40  municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities contribute to the
   41  state and its local communities, and
   42         WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to incentivize the
   43  production and sale of energy from municipal solid waste-to
   44  energy facilities through grant programs, NOW, THEREFORE,
   45  
   46  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   47  
   48         Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is created to
   49  read:
   50         377.814Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program.—
   51         (1)CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM.—The Municipal
   52  Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department.
   53  The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance
   54  grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy
   55  facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from
   56  municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities while also reducing
   57  the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a
   58  landfill.
   59         (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term:
   60         (a) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and
   61  Consumer Services.
   62         (b) Municipal solid waste-to-energy facility” means a
   63  publicly owned or government affiliate-owned facility that uses
   64  an enclosed device using controlled combustion to thermally
   65  break down solid waste to an ash residue that contains little or
   66  no combustible material and that produces electricity, steam, or
   67  other energy as a result. The term does not include facilities
   68  that primarily burn fuels other than solid waste even if such
   69  facilities also burn some solid waste as a fuel supplement. The
   70  term does not include facilities that primarily burn vegetative,
   71  agricultural, or silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood,
   72  methane or other landfill gas, wood fuel derived from
   73  construction or demolition debris, or waste tires, alone or in
   74  combination with fossil fuels.
   75         (3)FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department,
   76  subject to appropriation, shall provide financial assistance
   77  grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities that have
   78  entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric utility
   79  which includes capacity payments and the municipal solid waste
   80  to-energy facility will no longer receive capacity payments
   81  under the agreement.
   82         (a) To receive a financial assistance grant, the owner of a
   83  municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must submit an
   84  application to the department. The application must include the
   85  name of the applicant’s municipal solid waste-to-energy facility
   86  and how much energy has been purchased from the facility by an
   87  electric utility during the preceding state fiscal year.
   88         (b) The department shall distribute funds, subject to
   89  appropriation, to each qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents
   90  per kilowatt-hour of electric power purchased by an electric
   91  utility during the preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed
   92  the difference between the electric utility’s avoided cost and
   93  the commercial retail rate. To the extent that funds are not
   94  available to provide financial assistance to each qualifying
   95  applicant for every qualifying kilowatt-hour purchased, the
   96  department shall prorate the funds on an equitable basis, taking
   97  into consideration the commercial retail rate within the
   98  applicable service territory.
   99         (c) The department shall establish a process to verify the
  100  amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste
  101  to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding
  102  state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide
  103  assistance to the department to help verify grant eligibility
  104  and award amounts and to ensure that the sum, per kilowatt-hour,
  105  of the award plus the electric utility’s purchase at the avoided
  106  cost, do not exceed the applicable commercial retail rate within
  107  the service territory.
  108         (4)INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department, subject to
  109  appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid
  110  waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and
  111  designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal
  112  solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or
  113  administrative expenses.
  114         (a)To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a
  115  municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must apply to the
  116  department for funding; provide matching funds on a dollar-for
  117  dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost
  118  effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s.
  119  403.7061.
  120         (b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
  121  provide assistance to the department in determining the
  122  eligibility of grant applications and establishing requirements
  123  to ensure the long-term and efficient operation and maintenance
  124  of facilities constructed or expanded under an incentive grant.
  125         (c)The department shall perform adequate overview of each
  126  grant application and grant award, including technical review,
  127  regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to
  128  implement this section.
  129         (d) The department shall require the termination or
  130  repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines
  131  that program requirements are not being met.
  132         (5)FUNDING.—Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid
  133  Waste-to-Energy Program must first be used for financial
  134  assistance grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year
  135  after disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to
  136  fund the incentive grant program.
  137         (6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement
  138  and administer this section, including establishing grant
  139  application processes for financial assistance grants and
  140  incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines
  141  and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be
  142  provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the
  143  financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult
  144  the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the
  145  incentive grant program, the department shall consult the
  146  Department of Environmental Protection.
  147         Section 2. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of $100
  148  million in recurring funds is appropriated from the General
  149  Revenue Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
  150  Services for the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program, as
  151  provided in s. 377.814, Florida Statutes.
  152         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.