Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 336
       
       
        
       By Senator Rodriguez
       
       
       
       
       
       40-00387A-23                                           2023336__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the regulation of single-use
    3         plastic products; amending s. 403.7033, F.S.;
    4         requiring the Department of Environmental Protection
    5         to submit updated retail bag reports with conclusions
    6         and recommendations to the Legislature by specified
    7         dates; creating s. 403.7034, F.S.; defining the term
    8         “coastal community”; authorizing coastal communities
    9         to establish pilot programs to regulate single-use
   10         plastic products; providing requirements for
   11         establishing such pilot programs; providing an
   12         effective date.
   13          
   14  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   15  
   16         Section 1. Section 403.7033, Florida Statutes, is amended
   17  to read:
   18         403.7033 Departmental analysis of particular recyclable
   19  materials.—The Legislature finds that prudent regulation of
   20  recyclable materials is crucial to the ongoing welfare of
   21  Florida’s ecology and economy. As such, the Department of
   22  Environmental Protection shall review and periodically update
   23  its 2010 report on retail bags analyzing the need for new or
   24  different regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings, or
   25  disposable plastic bags used by consumers to carry products from
   26  retail establishments. The updated reports report must include
   27  input from state and local government agencies, stakeholders,
   28  private businesses, and citizens and must evaluate the efficacy
   29  and necessity of both statewide and local regulation of these
   30  materials. To ensure consistent and effective implementation,
   31  beginning in 2027, and every 5 years thereafter, the department
   32  shall submit an the updated report with conclusions and
   33  recommendations to the Legislature no later than December 31,
   34  2021. Until such time that the Legislature adopts the
   35  recommendations of the department, a local government, local
   36  governmental agency, or state governmental agency may not enact
   37  any rule, regulation, or ordinance regarding use, disposition,
   38  sale, prohibition, restriction, or tax of such auxiliary
   39  containers, wrappings, or disposable plastic bags.
   40         Section 2. Section 403.7034, Florida Statutes, is created
   41  to read:
   42         403.7034 Coastal community pilot program to regulate
   43  single-use plastic products.—
   44         (1) As used in this section, the term “coastal community”
   45  means a municipality with a population of less than 500,000
   46  which abuts or borders the Gulf of Mexico; the Atlantic Ocean;
   47  or a saltwater bay, sound, strait, inlet, lagoon, salt marsh,
   48  coastal wetland, or other saltwater body immediately adjacent to
   49  the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean.
   50         (2) Notwithstanding s. 403.7033, a coastal community may
   51  establish a pilot program to regulate single-use plastic
   52  products.
   53         (3) To establish a pilot program to regulate single-use
   54  plastic products, a coastal community must:
   55         (a) Adopt an ordinance to regulate single-use plastic
   56  products within the community’s jurisdiction. The ordinance must
   57  take effect on or after July 1, 2024, and must expire by June
   58  30, 2026. The ordinance may not authorize or impose any new
   59  taxes or fees for the use or distribution of single-use plastic
   60  products or disposable plastic bags.
   61         (b) Collect pertinent data relating to the effectiveness
   62  and impacts of regulating single-use plastic products.
   63         (c) By May 1, 2026, submit to its governing body a report
   64  with data showing the effectiveness and impacts of regulating
   65  single-use plastic products.
   66         (d) Present the report under paragraph (c) at a publicly
   67  noticed meeting of its governing body and receive public
   68  comments on the report.
   69         (e) Provide a copy of the report under paragraph (c) to the
   70  department no later than June 30, 2026.
   71         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.