HB 621 2022
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hb0621-00
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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
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to infrastructure project funding; 2
creating s. 216.3492, F.S.; providing definitions; 3
prohibiting an administering agency from disbursing 4
funds from any category of the General Appropriations 5
Act for infrastructure projects under certain 6
conditions; requiring a grantee to use the revenues 7
for infrastructure projects for certain activities; 8
amending s. 373.501, F.S.; prohibiting water 9
management districts from disbursing funds to grantees 10
for water-related projects unless certain conditions 11
are met; prohibiting potential grantees from seeking 12
funds for water-related projects under certain 13
conditions; amending s. 403.885, F.S.; prohibiting 14
certain entities from applying for water project 15
grant funding; prohibiting applicants from seeking 16
water project grant funding under certain conditions; 17
providing an effective date. 18
19
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20
21
Section 1. Section 216.3492, Florida Statutes, is created 22
to read: 23
216.3492 Limitation on disbursements to certain local 24
governments and special districts for infrastructure projects. — 25
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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
(1) As used in this section, the term: 26
(a) "Administering agency" means the gov ernmental agency 27
or entity charged in any category of the General Appropriations 28
Act with administering or disbursing an appropriation. 29
(b) "General governmental functions" means all the 30
services, other than provision of utility services, provided by 31
a grantee. However, for the purposes of this section, the term 32
does not include administrative and support services provided by 33
the grantee to a government -owned utility under an approved cost 34
allocation plan. 35
(c) "Government-owned utility" means any electr ic, water, 36
stormwater, or wastewater utility system owned by a 37
municipality, a county, a rural electric cooperative, or a 38
special district created to own and operate a government -owned 39
utility. 40
(d) "Grantee" means a county, a municipality, a rural 41
electric cooperative, or a special district created to own and 42
operate a government -owned utility, which applies for funds 43
appropriated by the Legislature in the General Appropriations 44
Act. 45
(e) "Infrastructure project" means a project related to 46
coastal resiliency, flood control, stormwater management, 47
wastewater management, water supply, or power generation, 48
including the construction, renovation, maintenance, operations 49
or repair of building or facility, fixtures and equipment. 50
HB 621 2022
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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
(2) An administering agency m ay not disburse funds from 51
any category of the General Appropriations Act related to 52
infrastructure projects to a grantee if the grantee uses any 53
revenues collected in providing utility services to finance the 54
grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to 55
finance the grantee's general governmental functions. To be 56
eligible for a disbursement of an appropriation or a grant by an 57
administering agency, the grantee must use the revenues of the 58
government-owned utility exclusively for construction , 59
operations, maintenance, and administrative costs directly 60
associated with providing utility services to its customers. 61
Section 2. Subsection (3) is added to section 373.501, 62
Florida Statutes, to read: 63
373.501 Appropriation of funds to water manage ment 64
districts; appropriation of funds from water management 65
districts.— 66
(3) A water management district may not appropriate or 67
disburse funds to a grantee from any source for any water -68
related project, including, but not limited to, a coastal 69
resiliency, flood control, stormwater management, wastewater 70
management, or water supply project, if the recipient uses 71
revenues it collects in providing utility services to finance 72
the grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to 73
finance the grantee's general governmental functions, as defined 74
in s. 216.3492(1)(b). A potential grantee may not seek funds if 75
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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
any of the revenues it collects in providing utility services 76
are transferred to another fund to finance the grantee's general 77
governmental functions or if the revenues collected are used to 78
provide loans to finance its general governmental functions. For 79
purposes of this subsection, the term "grantee" means a county 80
or municipality that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater 81
services, or a speci al district created to own and operate a 82
utility that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater services. 83
Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 403.885, Florida 84
Statutes, is amended to read: 85
403.885 Water Projects Grant Program. — 86
(1) The Department of Environmental Protection shall 87
administer a grant program to use funds appropriated by the 88
Legislature for water quality improvement, stormwater 89
management, wastewater management, and water restoration and 90
other water projects as spe cifically appropriated by the 91
Legislature. Eligible recipients of such grants include 92
counties, municipalities, water management districts, and 93
special districts that have legal responsibilities for water 94
quality improvement, water management, stormwater m anagement, 95
wastewater management, lake and river water restoration 96
projects, and drinking water projects pursuant to this section. 97
To be eligible for grant funding, a recipient of grant funds 98
must verify to the department that it will use the revenues 99
received exclusively for construction, operations, maintenance 100
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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
or administrative costs directly associated with providing 101
utility services to its customers. A recipient may not apply for 102
grant funding if any of the revenues it collects from providing 103
utility services are transferred to any other fund to finance 104
the recipient's general governmental functions, as defined in s. 105
216.3492(1)(b), or if the revenues collected are used to lend 106
funds to finance the recipient's general governmental functions. 107
Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 108