Florida 2024 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1631 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 the Municipal Solid Waste -to-Energy 2
16	16	Program; amending s. 377.814, F.S.; revising the state 3
17	17	agency responsible for administering the Municipal 4
18	18	Solid Waste-to-Energy Program; revising the 5
19	19	requirements necessary for municipal solid waste -to-6
20	20	energy facilities to be eligible to receive financial 7
21	21	assistance grant funding; revising the requirements 8
22	22	necessary for certain municipal solid waste -to-energy 9
23	23	facilities to be eligible to receive such funding; 10
24	24	providing an effective date. 11
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26	26	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
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28	28	Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is amended 15
29	29	to read: 16
30	30	377.814 Municipal Solid Waste -to-Energy Program.— 17
31	31	(1) CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM. —The Municipal 18
32	32	Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department. 19
33	33	The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance 20
34	34	grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste -to-energy 21
35	35	facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from 22
36	36	municipal solid waste -to-energy facilities while also reducing 23
37	37	the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a 24
38	38	landfill. 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	(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term : 26
52	52	(a) "Department" means the Department of Environmental 27
53	53	Protection Agriculture and Consumer Services . 28
54	54	(b) "Municipal solid waste -to-energy facility" means a 29
55	55	publicly owned facility that uses an enclosed device using 30
56	56	controlled combustion to thermally break down solid waste to an 31
57	57	ash residue that contains little or no combustible material and 32
58	58	that produces electricity, steam, or other energy as a result. 33
59	59	The term does not include facilities that primarily burn fuels 34
60	60	other than solid waste even if such f acilities also burn some 35
61	61	solid waste as a fuel supplement. The term also does not include 36
62	62	facilities that primarily burn vegetative, agricultural, or 37
63	63	silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood, methane or other 38
64	64	landfill gas, wood fuel derived from const ruction or demolition 39
65	65	debris, or waste tires, alone or in combination with fossil 40
66	66	fuels. 41
67	67	(3) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. —The department, 42
68	68	subject to appropriation, shall provide annual financial 43
69	69	assistance grants to municipal solid waste -to-energy facilities 44
70	70	that entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric 45
71	71	utility before January 1, 2022, which included capacity and 46
72	72	energy payments, and the owner of the municipal solid waste -to-47
73	73	energy facility has entered into a new or amended power pur chase 48
74	74	agreement that either no longer includes capacity payments or 49
75	75	includes capacity and energy payments in an amount less than the 50
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84	84	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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88	88	total of the capacity and energy payments the municipal solid 51
89	89	waste-to-energy facility received under the power purchase 52
90	90	agreement entered into before January 1, 2022. 53
91	91	(a) To apply for an annual financial assistance grant, the 54
92	92	owner of a municipal solid waste -to-energy facility must submit 55
93	93	an application to the department. The application must include 56
94	94	the name of the applic ant's municipal solid waste -to-energy 57
95	95	facility, the name of the utility purchasing the electric power 58
96	96	from the municipal solid waste -to-energy facility, the total 59
97	97	capacity and energy payment the municipal solid waste -to-energy 60
98	98	facility received during the last year of the power purchase 61
99	99	agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, and the amount of 62
100	100	energy delivered to and the total amount paid for such power by 63
101	101	an electric utility pursuant to a new or amended power purchase 64
102	102	agreement during the preceding state fiscal year. 65
103	103	(b) Beginning July 1, 2024, before a municipal solid 66
104	104	waste-to-energy facility may receive financial assistance grant 67
105	105	funding, the Office of Air Monitoring must measure the air 68
106	106	quality and particulate matter in all environmental justice 69
107	107	zones located within 25 miles of the facility. An applicant is 70
108	108	not eligible for grant funding under this program if the results 71
109	109	of the measurements do not meet the minimum standards for air 72
110	110	quality and particulate matter set by the United States 73
111	111	Environmental Protection Agency. After the department has 74
112	112	determined the applicants whose facilities meet the minimum air 75
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121	121	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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125	125	quality and particulate matter standards, it the department 76
126	126	shall distribute funds, subject to appropriation, to each 77
127	127	qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents per kilowatt -hour of 78
128	128	electric power purchased by an electric utility during the 79
129	129	preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed the difference 80
130	130	between the total capacity and energy payment the municipal 81
131	131	solid waste-to-energy facility received d uring the last year of 82
132	132	the power purchase agreement entered into before January 1, 83
133	133	2022, and the total of the capacity and energy payment the 84
134	134	municipal solid waste -to-energy facility received under a new or 85
135	135	amended power purchase agreement during the prece ding state 86
136	136	fiscal year. To the extent that funds are not available to 87
137	137	provide financial assistance to each qualifying applicant for 88
138	138	every qualifying kilowatt -hour purchased, the department shall 89
139	139	prorate the funds on an equitable basis. 90
140	140	(c) The department shall establish a process to verify the 91
141	141	amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste -92
142	142	to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding 93
143	143	state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide 94
144	144	assistance to the depart ment to help verify the information 95
145	145	provided pursuant to paragraph (a). 96
146	146	(4) INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM. —The department, subject to 97
147	147	appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid 98
148	148	waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and 99
149	149	designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal 100
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158	158	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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162	162	solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or 101
163	163	administrative expenses. Beginning July 1, 2024, the department 102
164	164	may not provide grant funding for a solid waste -to-energy 103
165	165	facility until an environmental justice evaluation of impacted 104
166	166	low-income and historically marginalized residential areas has 105
167	167	determined that the new facility will have a negligible impact 106
168	168	on these communities and will not decrease the air quality or 107
169	169	increase the particulate matter to a point that exceeds the 108
170	170	minimum standards set by the United States Environmental 109
171	171	Protection Agency. 110
172	172	(a) To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a 111
173	173	municipal solid waste -to-energy facility must apply to the 112
174	174	department for fundin g; provide matching funds on a dollar -for-113
175	175	dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost -114
176	176	effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s. 115
177	177	403.7061. 116
178	178	(b) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 117
179	179	Department of Environmental Protection shall provide assistance 118
180	180	to the department in determining the eligibility of grant 119
181	181	applications and establishing requirements to ensure the long -120
182	182	term and efficient operation and maintenance of facilities 121
183	183	constructed or expanded under an incentiv e grant. 122
184	184	(c) The department shall perform adequate overview of each 123
185	185	grant application and grant award, including technical review, 124
186	186	regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to 125
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195	195	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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199	199	implement this section. 126
200	200	(d) Funds awarded under the incentive grant program may 127
201	201	not be used to promote, establish, or convert a residential 128
202	202	collection system that does not provide for the separate 129
203	203	collection of residential solid waste from recovered materials 130
204	204	as defined in s. 403.703. 131
205	205	(e) The department shall require the termination or 132
206	206	repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines 133
207	207	that program requirements are not being met. 134
208	208	(5) FUNDING.— 135
209	209	(a) Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid Waste -to-136
210	210	Energy Program must first be used for financial assistance 137
211	211	grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year after 138
212	212	disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to fund 139
213	213	the incentive grant program. 140
214	214	(b) Funds awarded under the grant programs set forth in 141
215	215	this section may not be used to support, subsidize, or enable 142
216	216	the sale of electric power generated by a municipal solid waste -143
217	217	to-energy facility to any small electric utility eligible to 144
218	218	petition the commission under s. 366.06(4). 145
219	219	(c) Notwithstanding s. 216 .301 and pursuant to s. 216.351, 146
220	220	funds allocated for the purpose of this section which are not 147
221	221	disbursed by June 30 of the fiscal year in which the funds are 148
222	222	allocated may be carried forward for up to 5 years after the 149
223	223	effective date of the original approp riation. 150
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232	232	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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236	236	(6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement 151
237	237	and administer this section, including establishing grant 152
238	238	application processes for financial assistance grants and 153
239	239	incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines 154
240	240	and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be 155
241	241	provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the 156
242	242	financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult 157
243	243	the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the 158
244	244	incentive grant progr am, the department shall consult the 159
245	245	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Department of 160
246	246	Environmental Protection . 161
247	247	Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 162