Florida Senate - 2025                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1792
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì106622}Î106622                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  03/25/2025           .                                
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       The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (Gruters)
       recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 76 - 267
    4  and insert:
    5         (f) Preserves natural shoreline habitat; or
    6         (g) Provides retention of natural open space in otherwise
    7  densely built-up areas.
    8  
    9  Any land approved by the Acquisition and Restoration Council
   10  under this subsection must have a management plan and a
   11  designated manager who will be responsible for implementing the
   12  management plan.
   13         (9) The Acquisition and Restoration Council, created in s.
   14  259.035, shall maintain a list of nonprofit entities that are
   15  qualified to enforce the provisions of a conservation easement.
   16         Section 2. Paragraph (l) is added to subsection (2) of
   17  section 259.032, Florida Statutes, and subsection (1) of that
   18  section is reenacted, to read:
   19         259.032 Conservation and recreation lands.—
   20         (1) It is the policy of the state that the citizens of this
   21  state shall be assured public ownership of natural areas for
   22  purposes of maintaining this state’s unique natural resources;
   23  protecting air, land, and water quality; promoting water
   24  resource development to meet the needs of natural systems and
   25  citizens of this state; promoting restoration activities on
   26  public lands; and providing lands for natural resource-based
   27  recreation. In recognition of this policy, it is the intent of
   28  the Legislature to provide such public lands for the people
   29  residing in urban and metropolitan areas of the state, as well
   30  as those residing in less populated, rural areas. It is the
   31  further intent of the Legislature, with regard to the lands
   32  described in paragraph (2)(c), that a high priority be given to
   33  the acquisition, restoration, and management of such lands in or
   34  near counties exhibiting the greatest concentration of
   35  population and, with regard to the lands described in subsection
   36  (2), that a high priority be given to acquiring lands or rights
   37  or interests in lands that advance the goals and objectives of
   38  the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s approved species
   39  or habitat recovery plans, or lands within any area designated
   40  as an area of critical state concern under s. 380.05 which, in
   41  the judgment of the advisory council established pursuant to s.
   42  259.035, or its successor, cannot be adequately protected by
   43  application of land development regulations adopted pursuant to
   44  s. 380.05. Finally, it is the Legislature’s intent that lands
   45  acquired for conservation and recreation purposes be managed in
   46  such a way as to protect or restore their natural resource
   47  values, and provide the greatest benefit, including public
   48  access, to the citizens of this state.
   49         (2) The Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board of
   50  Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, may expend
   51  moneys appropriated by the Legislature to acquire the fee or any
   52  lesser interest in lands for any of the following public
   53  purposes:
   54         (a) To conserve and protect environmentally unique and
   55  irreplaceable lands that contain native, relatively unaltered
   56  flora and fauna representing a natural area unique to, or scarce
   57  within, a region of this state or a larger geographic area;
   58         (b) To conserve and protect lands within designated areas
   59  of critical state concern, if the proposed acquisition relates
   60  to the natural resource protection purposes of the designation;
   61         (c) To conserve and protect native species habitat or
   62  endangered or threatened species, emphasizing long-term
   63  protection for endangered or threatened species designated G-1
   64  or G-2 by the Florida Natural Areas Inventory, and especially
   65  those areas that are special locations for breeding and
   66  reproduction;
   67         (d) To conserve, protect, manage, or restore important
   68  ecosystems, landscapes, and forests, if the protection and
   69  conservation of such lands is necessary to enhance or protect
   70  significant surface water, groundwater, coastal, recreational,
   71  timber, or fish or wildlife resources which cannot otherwise be
   72  accomplished through local and state regulatory programs;
   73         (e) To promote water resource development that benefits
   74  natural systems and citizens of the state;
   75         (f) To facilitate the restoration and subsequent health and
   76  vitality of the Florida Everglades;
   77         (g) To provide areas, including recreational trails, for
   78  natural resource-based recreation and other outdoor recreation
   79  on any part of any site compatible with conservation purposes;
   80         (h) To preserve significant archaeological or historic
   81  sites;
   82         (i) To conserve urban open spaces suitable for greenways or
   83  outdoor recreation which are compatible with conservation
   84  purposes;
   85         (j) To preserve agricultural lands under threat of
   86  conversion to development through less-than-fee acquisitions; or
   87         (k) To complete critical linkages through fee or less-than
   88  fee acquisitions that will help preserve and protect the green
   89  and blue infrastructure and vital habitat for wide-ranging
   90  wildlife, such as the Florida panther, within the Florida
   91  wildlife corridor as defined in s. 259.1055(4); or
   92         (l) To protect dry sandy beaches and provide areas,
   93  including public parking and ancillary facilities, related to
   94  public dry sandy beach access.
   95         Section 3. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of
   96  section 259.035, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   97         259.035 Acquisition and Restoration Council.—
   98         (1) There is created the Acquisition and Restoration
   99  Council.
  100         (a) The council shall consist be composed of 12 10 voting
  101  members, 5 4 of whom shall be appointed by the Governor. Of
  102  these five four appointees, three must shall be from scientific
  103  disciplines related to land, water, or environmental sciences,
  104  and the fourth must shall have at least 5 years of experience in
  105  managing lands for both active and passive types of recreation,
  106  and the fifth must be a specialist in beach and shore
  107  preservation or the management of public dry sandy beaches. They
  108  shall serve 4-year terms, except that, initially, to provide for
  109  staggered terms, two of the appointees shall serve 2-year terms.
  110  All subsequent appointments shall be for 4-year terms. An
  111  appointee may not serve more than 6 years. The Governor may at
  112  any time fill a vacancy for the unexpired term of a member
  113  appointed under this paragraph.
  114         (b) The five four remaining appointees shall consist be
  115  composed of the Secretary of Environmental Protection, the
  116  director of the Florida Forest Service of the Department of
  117  Agriculture and Consumer Services, the executive director of the
  118  Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the director of
  119  the Division of Historical Resources of the Department of State,
  120  and the director of the Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed
  121  Areas, or their respective designees.
  122         Section 4. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
  123  259.036, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  124         259.036 Management review teams.—
  125         (1) To determine whether conservation, preservation, and
  126  recreation lands titled in the name of the board are being
  127  managed for purposes that are compatible with conservation,
  128  preservation, or recreation in accordance with a land management
  129  plan adopted pursuant to s. 259.032, the board, acting through
  130  the department, shall cause periodic management reviews to be
  131  conducted as follows:
  132         (a) The department shall establish a regional land
  133  management review team composed of the following members:
  134         1. One individual who is from the county or local community
  135  in which the parcel or project is located and who is selected by
  136  the county commission in the county which is most impacted by
  137  the acquisition.
  138         2. One individual from the Division of Recreation and Parks
  139  of the department.
  140         3. One individual from the Florida Forest Service of the
  141  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  142         4. One individual from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
  143  Commission.
  144         5. One individual from the department’s district office in
  145  which the parcel is located.
  146         6. A private land manager, preferably from the local
  147  community, mutually agreeable to the state agency
  148  representatives.
  149         7. A member or staff from the jurisdictional water
  150  management district or local soil and water conservation
  151  district board of supervisors.
  152         8. A member of a conservation organization.
  153         9.One individual from the Office of Coastal and Aquatic
  154  Managed Areas.
  155         Section 5. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of section
  156  259.04, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
  157         259.04 Board; powers and duties.—
  158         (1) For projects and acquisitions selected for purchase
  159  pursuant to ss. 259.035 and 259.105:
  160         (a) The board is given the responsibility, authority, and
  161  power to develop and execute a comprehensive, statewide 5-year
  162  plan to conserve, restore, and protect environmentally
  163  endangered lands, ecosystems, lands necessary for outdoor
  164  recreational needs, dry sandy beaches, and other lands as
  165  identified in ss. 259.032 and 259.105. This plan shall be kept
  166  current through continual reevaluation and revision. The
  167  advisory council or its successor shall assist the board in the
  168  development, reevaluation, and revision of the plan.
  169         Section 6. Subsection (21) is added to section 259.105,
  170  Florida Statutes, to read:
  171         259.105 The Florida Forever Act.—
  172         (21)(a)The Legislature finds that Florida beaches are an
  173  extremely valuable economic and recreational resource. If this
  174  state fails to adequately prioritize the acquisition and
  175  management of public beaches, adequate provisions for such
  176  beaches will not be made to ensure public access. Therefore, the
  177  Division of State Lands and the Office of Coastal and Aquatic
  178  Managed Areas shall establish a pilot program to conduct an
  179  inventory of existing dry sandy beaches in preparation for an
  180  application to the Acquisition and Restoration Council pursuant
  181  to subsection (7). The inventory must do all of the following:
  182         1.Determine the number of dry sandy beaches in this state.
  183         2.Investigate the adequacy of existing public dry sandy
  184  beaches.
  185         3.Identify deficiencies in existing public dry sandy
  186  beaches relating to public access and ancillary facilities.
  187         4.Determine criteria for selecting and prioritizing the
  188  acquisition of privately owned beach parcels. Such selection
  189  criteria must prioritize acquiring suitable contiguous dry sandy
  190  beach parcels and expanding the acreage of existing dry sandy
  191  beaches in heavily populated counties.
  192         5.Determine specific criteria and numeric performance
  193  standards pursuant to subsection (7).
  194         (b)The Division of State Lands and the Office of Coastal
  195  and Aquatic Managed Areas shall use the inventory to
  196  
  197  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  198  And the title is amended as follows:
  199         Delete lines 6 - 23
  200  and insert:
  201         property; reenacting and amending s. 259.032, F.S.;
  202         revising purposes for which the Governor and Cabinet
  203         may expend moneys appropriated by the Legislature to
  204         acquire the fee or any lesser interest in lands;
  205         amending s. 259.035, F.S.; revising the composition of
  206         the Acquisition and Restoration Council; amending s.
  207         259.036, F.S.; revising the composition of the
  208         regional land management review team; amending s.
  209         259.04, F.S.; revising the goal of a comprehensive,
  210         statewide 5-year plan to conserve, restore, and
  211         protect certain lands; amending s. 259.105, F.S.;
  212         providing legislative findings; requiring the Division
  213         of State Lands and the Office of Coastal and Aquatic
  214         Managed Areas to establish a pilot program to