Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 1170
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; and Senators Calatayud and
Garcia
594-04102-23 20231170c1
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to flooding and sea level rise
3 vulnerability studies; amending s. 380.093, F.S.;
4 revising the purposes for which the Department of
5 Environmental Protection may provide grants under the
6 Resilient Florida Grant Program to counties or
7 municipalities; authorizing the department to provide
8 such grants to water management districts for a
9 specified purpose; requiring that such grants be
10 prioritized; creating s. 380.0937, F.S.; defining
11 terms; requiring state-financed constructors to take
12 specified actions before commencing construction of
13 potentially at-risk structures or infrastructure
14 beginning on a specified date; requiring the
15 department to develop by rule a specified sea level
16 impact projection study standard; specifying
17 requirements for the standard; authorizing the
18 department to bring civil actions, seek injunctive
19 relief, recover certain funds, and enforce specified
20 requirements; providing construction; requiring the
21 department to publish sea level impact projection
22 studies on its website, subject to certain conditions,
23 and adopt rules; amending s. 161.551, F.S.; providing
24 for future repeal of requirements for the construction
25 of certain structures in the coastal building zone;
26 providing an effective date.
27
28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
29
30 Section 1. Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section
31 380.093, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
32 380.093 Resilient Florida Grant Program; comprehensive
33 statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set and
34 assessment; Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience
35 Plan; regional resilience entities.—
36 (3) RESILIENT FLORIDA GRANT PROGRAM.—
37 (b) Subject to appropriation, the department may provide
38 grants to each of the following entities:
39 1. A county or municipality to fund:
40 a.1. The costs of community resilience planning and
41 necessary data collection for such planning, including
42 comprehensive plan amendments and necessary corresponding
43 analyses that address the requirements of s. 163.3178(2)(f).
44 b.2. Vulnerability assessments that identify or address
45 risks of inland or coastal flooding and sea level rise.
46 c.3. The development of projects, plans, and policies that
47 allow communities to prepare for threats from flooding and sea
48 level rise.
49 d.4. Preconstruction activities for projects to be
50 submitted for inclusion in the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level
51 Rise Resilience Plan that are located in a municipality that has
52 a population of 10,000 or fewer or a county that has a
53 population of 50,000 or fewer, according to the most recent
54 April 1 population estimates posted on the Office of Economic
55 and Demographic Research’s website.
56 e. Feasibility studies and the cost of permitting for
57 nature-based solutions that reduce the impact of flooding and
58 sea level rise.
59 2. A water management district identified in s. 373.069 to
60 support local government adaptation planning, which may be
61 conducted by the water management district or by a third party
62 on behalf of the water management district. Such grants must be
63 used for the express purpose of supporting the Florida Flood Hub
64 for Applied Research and Innovation and the department in
65 implementing this section through data creation and collection,
66 modeling, and the implementation of statewide standards.
67 Priority must be given to filling critical data gaps identified
68 by the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation
69 under s. 380.0933(2)(a).
70 Section 2. Section 380.0937, Florida Statutes, is created
71 to read:
72 380.0937 Public financing of construction projects within
73 areas at risk due to sea level rise.—
74 (1) As used in this section, the term:
75 (a) “Area at risk due to sea level rise” means any location
76 that is projected to be below the threshold for tidal flooding
77 within the next 50 years by adding sea level rise using the
78 highest of the sea level rise projections required by s.
79 380.093(3)(d)3.b. For purposes of this paragraph, the threshold
80 for tidal flooding is 2 feet above mean higher high water.
81 (b) “Department” means the Department of Environmental
82 Protection.
83 (c) “Potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure” means
84 any of the following when within an area at risk due to sea
85 level rise:
86 1. A critical asset as defined in s. 380.093(2)(a)1., 2.,
87 and 3.
88 2. A historical or cultural asset.
89 (d) “Public entity” means the state or any of its political
90 subdivisions, or any municipality, county, agency, special
91 district, authority, or other public body corporate of the state
92 which is demonstrated to perform a public function or to serve a
93 governmental purpose that could properly be performed or served
94 by an appropriate governmental unit.
95 (e) “Significant flood damage” means flood, erosion,
96 inundation, or wave action damage resulting from a discrete or
97 compound natural hazard event, such as a flood or tropical
98 weather system, where such damage exceeds:
99 1. Twenty-five percent of the replacement cost of the
100 potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure at the time of
101 the event; or
102 2. A defined threshold established by the department by
103 rule, in coordination with the Department of Transportation and
104 water management districts, for a potentially at-risk structure
105 or infrastructure for which replacement cost is not an
106 appropriate metric, such as roadways. The threshold must be
107 established by July 1, 2024.
108 (f) “SLIP study” means a sea level impact projection study
109 as established by the department pursuant to subsection (3).
110 (g) “State-financed constructor” means a public entity that
111 commissions or manages a construction project using funds
112 appropriated from the state.
113 (2) Beginning July 1, 2024, a state-financed constructor
114 may not commence construction of a potentially at-risk structure
115 or infrastructure without:
116 (a) Conducting a SLIP study that meets the requirements
117 established by the department;
118 (b) Submitting the study to the department; and
119 (c) Receiving notification from the department that the
120 study was received and that it has been published on the
121 department’s website pursuant to paragraph (6)(a) for at least
122 30 days. The state-financed constructor is solely responsible
123 for ensuring that the study submitted to the department for
124 publication meets the requirements of subsection (3).
125 (3) The department shall develop by rule a standard by
126 which a state-financed constructor must conduct a SLIP study and
127 may require that a professional engineer sign off on the study.
128 The rule applies only to projects not yet commenced as of the
129 date the rule is finalized. The rule may not apply retroactively
130 to projects that commenced before the date the rule is
131 finalized. At a minimum, the standard must require that a state
132 financed constructor do all of the following:
133 (a) Use a systematic, interdisciplinary, and scientifically
134 accepted approach in the natural sciences and construction
135 design in conducting the study.
136 (b) Assess the flooding, inundation, and wave action damage
137 risks relating to the potentially at-risk structure or
138 infrastructure over its expected life or 50 years, whichever is
139 less.
140 1. The assessment must take into account potential relative
141 local sea level rise and increased storm risk during the
142 expected life of the potentially at-risk structure or
143 infrastructure or 50 years, whichever is less, and, to the
144 extent possible, account for the construction of sea level rise
145 versus land subsidence to the relative local sea level rise.
146 2. The assessment must provide scientific and engineering
147 evidence of the risk to the potentially at-risk structure or
148 infrastructure and methods used to mitigate, adapt to, or reduce
149 this risk.
150 3. The assessment must use and consider available
151 scientific research and generally accepted industry practices.
152 4. The assessment must provide an estimated probability of
153 significant flood damage to the potentially at-risk structure or
154 infrastructure over the expected life of the structure or
155 infrastructure or 50 years, whichever is less.
156 5. The assessment must analyze potential public safety and
157 environmental impacts resulting from damage to the potentially
158 at-risk structure or infrastructure, including, but not limited
159 to, leakage of pollutants, electrocution and explosion hazards,
160 and hazards resulting from floating or flying structural debris.
161 (c) Provide alternatives for the design and siting of the
162 potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure and analyze how
163 such alternatives would impact the risks specified in
164 subparagraph (b)5., as well as the risk and cost associated with
165 maintaining, repairing, and constructing the potentially at-risk
166 structure or infrastructure.
167 (d) Provide a list of flood mitigation strategies evaluated
168 as part of the design of the potentially at-risk structure or
169 infrastructure and identify appropriate flood mitigation
170 strategies for consideration as part of the potentially at-risk
171 structure or infrastructure design.
172
173 If multiple potentially at-risk structures or infrastructure are
174 to be built concurrently within one project, a state-financed
175 constructor may conduct and submit one SLIP study for the entire
176 project for publication by the department.
177 (4) If a state-financed constructor commences construction
178 of a potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure but has not
179 complied with the SLIP study requirement under subsection (2),
180 the department may bring a civil action in a court of competent
181 jurisdiction to:
182 (a) Seek injunctive relief to cease further construction of
183 the potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure or to
184 enforce compliance with this section or with rules adopted by
185 the department pursuant to this section.
186 (b) If the potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure
187 has been completed or has been substantially completed, seek
188 recovery of all or a portion of state funds expended on the
189 potentially at-risk structure or infrastructure.
190 (5) This section does not create a cause of action for
191 damages or otherwise authorize the imposition of penalties by a
192 public entity for failure to implement what is contained in the
193 SLIP study.
194 (6) The department:
195 (a) Shall publish and maintain a copy of each SLIP study
196 submitted pursuant to this section on its website for at least
197 10 years after the date the department receives the study.
198 However, any portion of a study containing information that is
199 exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State
200 Constitution must be redacted by the department before
201 publication.
202 (b) Shall adopt rules as necessary to administer this
203 section.
204 (c) May enforce the requirements of this section.
205 Section 3. Subsection (8) is added to section 161.551,
206 Florida Statutes, to read:
207 161.551 Public financing of construction projects within
208 the coastal building zone.—
209 (8) This section is repealed July 1, 2024.
210 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.