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: 32 380.093Resilient 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 Researchs 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: 72 380.0937Public 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 departments 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: 207 161.551Public 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.