Florida 2022 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0621 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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10	10	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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14	14	A bill to be entitled 1
15	15	An act relating to infrastructure project funding; 2
16	16	creating s. 216.3492, F.S.; providing definitions; 3
17	17	prohibiting an administering agency from disbursing 4
18	18	funds from any category of the General Appropriations 5
19	19	Act for infrastructure projects under certain 6
20	20	conditions; requiring a grantee to use the revenues 7
21	21	for infrastructure projects for certain activities; 8
22	22	amending s. 373.501, F.S.; prohibiting water 9
23	23	management districts from disbursing funds to grantees 10
24	24	for water-related projects unless certain conditions 11
25	25	are met; prohibiting potential grantees from seeking 12
26	26	funds for water-related projects under certain 13
27	27	conditions; amending s. 403.885, F.S.; prohibiting 14
28	28	certain entities from applying for water project 15
29	29	grant funding; prohibiting applicants from seeking 16
30	30	water project grant funding under certain conditions; 17
31	31	providing an effective date. 18
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33	33	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20
34	34	21
35	35	Section 1. Section 216.3492, Florida Statutes, is created 22
36	36	to read: 23
37	37	216.3492 Limitation on disbursements to certain local 24
38	38	governments and special districts for infrastructure projects. — 25
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47	47	F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
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51	51	(1) As used in this section, the term: 26
52	52	(a) "Administering agency" means the gov ernmental agency 27
53	53	or entity charged in any category of the General Appropriations 28
54	54	Act with administering or disbursing an appropriation. 29
55	55	(b) "General governmental functions" means all the 30
56	56	services, other than provision of utility services, provided by 31
57	57	a grantee. However, for the purposes of this section, the term 32
58	58	does not include administrative and support services provided by 33
59	59	the grantee to a government -owned utility under an approved cost 34
60	60	allocation plan. 35
61	61	(c) "Government-owned utility" means any electr ic, water, 36
62	62	stormwater, or wastewater utility system owned by a 37
63	63	municipality, a county, a rural electric cooperative, or a 38
64	64	special district created to own and operate a government -owned 39
65	65	utility. 40
66	66	(d) "Grantee" means a county, a municipality, a rural 41
67	67	electric cooperative, or a special district created to own and 42
68	68	operate a government -owned utility, which applies for funds 43
69	69	appropriated by the Legislature in the General Appropriations 44
70	70	Act. 45
71	71	(e) "Infrastructure project" means a project related to 46
72	72	coastal resiliency, flood control, stormwater management, 47
73	73	wastewater management, water supply, or power generation, 48
74	74	including the construction, renovation, maintenance, operations 49
75	75	or repair of building or facility, fixtures and equipment. 50
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88	88	(2) An administering agency m ay not disburse funds from 51
89	89	any category of the General Appropriations Act related to 52
90	90	infrastructure projects to a grantee if the grantee uses any 53
91	91	revenues collected in providing utility services to finance the 54
92	92	grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to 55
93	93	finance the grantee's general governmental functions. To be 56
94	94	eligible for a disbursement of an appropriation or a grant by an 57
95	95	administering agency, the grantee must use the revenues of the 58
96	96	government-owned utility exclusively for construction , 59
97	97	operations, maintenance, and administrative costs directly 60
98	98	associated with providing utility services to its customers. 61
99	99	Section 2. Subsection (3) is added to section 373.501, 62
100	100	Florida Statutes, to read: 63
101	101	373.501 Appropriation of funds to water manage ment 64
102	102	districts; appropriation of funds from water management 65
103	103	districts.— 66
104	104	(3) A water management district may not appropriate or 67
105	105	disburse funds to a grantee from any source for any water -68
106	106	related project, including, but not limited to, a coastal 69
107	107	resiliency, flood control, stormwater management, wastewater 70
108	108	management, or water supply project, if the recipient uses 71
109	109	revenues it collects in providing utility services to finance 72
110	110	the grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to 73
111	111	finance the grantee's general governmental functions, as defined 74
112	112	in s. 216.3492(1)(b). A potential grantee may not seek funds if 75
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125	125	any of the revenues it collects in providing utility services 76
126	126	are transferred to another fund to finance the grantee's general 77
127	127	governmental functions or if the revenues collected are used to 78
128	128	provide loans to finance its general governmental functions. For 79
129	129	purposes of this subsection, the term "grantee" means a county 80
130	130	or municipality that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater 81
131	131	services, or a speci al district created to own and operate a 82
132	132	utility that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater services. 83
133	133	Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 403.885, Florida 84
134	134	Statutes, is amended to read: 85
135	135	403.885 Water Projects Grant Program. — 86
136	136	(1) The Department of Environmental Protection shall 87
137	137	administer a grant program to use funds appropriated by the 88
138	138	Legislature for water quality improvement, stormwater 89
139	139	management, wastewater management, and water restoration and 90
140	140	other water projects as spe cifically appropriated by the 91
141	141	Legislature. Eligible recipients of such grants include 92
142	142	counties, municipalities, water management districts, and 93
143	143	special districts that have legal responsibilities for water 94
144	144	quality improvement, water management, stormwater m anagement, 95
145	145	wastewater management, lake and river water restoration 96
146	146	projects, and drinking water projects pursuant to this section. 97
147	147	To be eligible for grant funding, a recipient of grant funds 98
148	148	must verify to the department that it will use the revenues 99
149	149	received exclusively for construction, operations, maintenance 100
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162	162	or administrative costs directly associated with providing 101
163	163	utility services to its customers. A recipient may not apply for 102
164	164	grant funding if any of the revenues it collects from providing 103
165	165	utility services are transferred to any other fund to finance 104
166	166	the recipient's general governmental functions, as defined in s. 105
167	167	216.3492(1)(b), or if the revenues collected are used to lend 106
168	168	funds to finance the recipient's general governmental functions. 107
169	169	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 108