Florida Senate - 2022 CS for SB 1764
By the Committee on Appropriations; and Senator Albritton
576-03238-22 20221764c1
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 annual financial assistance grants to municipal solid
9 waste-to-energy facilities that meet certain
10 requirements; requiring the department to distribute
11 funds to qualifying applicants based on certain
12 criteria; requiring the department to establish a
13 process to verify the amount of certain electric power
14 purchases; directing the Public Service Commission to
15 provide assistance in verifying grant eligibility;
16 requiring the department, subject to appropriation, to
17 provide incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to
18 energy facilities to assist with certain costs;
19 specifying requirements for applying for the funding;
20 requiring the Department of Environmental Protection
21 to provide assistance in determining grant eligibility
22 and establishing requirements; requiring the
23 department to perform grant overview; prohibiting
24 funds from being used for specified purposes;
25 establishing priority for funding for the grants;
26 requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
27 Services to adopt rules; providing appropriations;
28 authorizing the balance of certain unexpended funds to
29 be carried forward for a specified number of years;
30 authorizing positions; providing an effective date.
31
32 WHEREAS, as provided in s. 366.91(1), Florida Statutes, the
33 Legislature has determined that it is in the public interest to
34 promote the development of renewable energy resources in this
35 state, and
36 WHEREAS, under s. 366.91, Florida Statutes, municipal solid
37 waste-to-energy facilities that use biomass as a fuel or energy
38 source are deemed to be producing renewable energy, and
39 WHEREAS, municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities provide
40 a practical and sustainable solution to reducing landfill waste,
41 reducing volume by about 87 percent, and
42 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the benefits that
43 municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities contribute to the
44 state and its local communities, and
45 WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to incentivize the
46 production and sale of energy from municipal solid waste-to
47 energy facilities through grant programs, NOW, THEREFORE,
48
49 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
50
51 Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is created to
52 read:
53 377.814 Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program.—
54 (1) CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM.—The Municipal
55 Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department.
56 The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance
57 grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy
58 facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from
59 municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities while also reducing
60 the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a
61 landfill.
62 (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term:
63 (a) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and
64 Consumer Services.
65 (b) “Municipal solid waste-to-energy facility” means a
66 publicly owned or government affiliate-owned facility that uses
67 an enclosed device using controlled combustion to thermally
68 break down solid waste to an ash residue that contains little or
69 no combustible material and that produces electricity, steam, or
70 other energy as a result. The term does not include facilities
71 that primarily burn fuels other than solid waste even if such
72 facilities also burn some solid waste as a fuel supplement. The
73 term does not include facilities that primarily burn vegetative,
74 agricultural, or silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood,
75 methane or other landfill gas, wood fuel derived from
76 construction or demolition debris, or waste tires, alone or in
77 combination with fossil fuels.
78 (3) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department,
79 subject to appropriation, shall provide annual financial
80 assistance grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities
81 that entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric
82 utility before January 1, 2022, which included capacity and
83 energy payments, and the owner of the municipal solid waste-to
84 energy facility has entered into a new or amended power purchase
85 agreement that either no longer includes capacity payments or
86 includes capacity and energy payments in an amount less than the
87 total of the capacity and energy payments the municipal solid
88 waste-to-energy facility received under the power purchase
89 agreement entered into before January 1, 2022.
90 (a) To apply for an annual financial assistance grant, the
91 owner of a municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must submit
92 an application to the department. The application must include
93 the name of the applicant’s municipal solid waste-to-energy
94 facility, the name of the utility purchasing the electric power
95 from the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility, the total
96 capacity and energy payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy
97 facility received during the last year of the power purchase
98 agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, and the amount of
99 energy delivered to and the total amount paid for such power by
100 an electric utility pursuant to a new or amended power purchase
101 agreement during the preceding state fiscal year.
102 (b) The department shall distribute funds, subject to
103 appropriation, to each qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents
104 per kilowatt-hour of electric power purchased by an electric
105 utility during the preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed
106 the difference between the total capacity and energy payment the
107 municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received during the
108 last year of the power purchase agreement entered into before
109 January 1, 2022, and the total of the capacity and energy
110 payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received
111 under a new or amended power purchase agreement during the
112 preceding state fiscal year. To the extent that funds are not
113 available to provide financial assistance to each qualifying
114 applicant for every qualifying kilowatt-hour purchased, the
115 department shall prorate the funds on an equitable basis.
116 (c) The department shall establish a process to verify the
117 amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste
118 to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding
119 state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide
120 assistance to the department to help verify the information
121 provided pursuant to paragraph (a).
122 (4) INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department, subject to
123 appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid
124 waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and
125 designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal
126 solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or
127 administrative expenses.
128 (a) To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a
129 municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must apply to the
130 department for funding; provide matching funds on a dollar-for
131 dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost
132 effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s.
133 403.7061.
134 (b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
135 provide assistance to the department in determining the
136 eligibility of grant applications and establishing requirements
137 to ensure the long-term and efficient operation and maintenance
138 of facilities constructed or expanded under an incentive grant.
139 (c) The department shall perform adequate overview of each
140 grant application and grant award, including technical review,
141 regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to
142 implement this section.
143 (d) Funds awarded under the incentive grant program may not
144 be used to promote, establish, or convert a residential
145 collection system that does not provide for the separate
146 collection of residential solid waste from recovered materials
147 as defined in s. 403.703.
148 (e) The department shall require the termination or
149 repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines
150 that program requirements are not being met.
151 (5) FUNDING.—Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid
152 Waste-to-Energy Program must first be used for financial
153 assistance grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year
154 after disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to
155 fund the incentive grant program.
156 (6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement
157 and administer this section, including establishing grant
158 application processes for financial assistance grants and
159 incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines
160 and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be
161 provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the
162 financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult
163 the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the
164 incentive grant program, the department shall consult the
165 Department of Environmental Protection.
166 Section 2. (1) For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sum of
167 $100 million in recurring funds is appropriated from the General
168 Revenue Fund to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
169 Services for the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program, as
170 provided in s. 377.814, Florida Statutes.
171 (2) Notwithstanding s. 216.301, Florida Statutes, and
172 pursuant to s. 216.351, Florida Statutes, funds allocated for
173 the purpose of this section which are not disbursed by June 30
174 of the fiscal year in which the funds are allocated may be
175 carried forward for up to 5 years after the effective date of
176 the original appropriation.
177 Section 3. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, the sums of
178 $149,832 in recurring funds and $9,984 in nonrecurring funds are
179 appropriated from the General Revenue Fund to the Department of
180 Agriculture and Consumer Services, and two full-time equivalent
181 positions with associated salary rate of 80,540 are authorized,
182 for the purpose of implementing this act.
183 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.