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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 the Municipal Solid Waste -to-Energy 2
Program; amending s. 377.814, F.S.; revising the state 3
agency responsible for administering the Municipal 4
Solid Waste-to-Energy Program; revising the 5
requirements necessary for municipal solid waste -to-6
energy facilities to be eligible to receive financial 7
assistance grant funding; revising the requirements 8
necessary for certain municipal solid waste -to-energy 9
facilities to be eligible to receive such funding; 10
providing an effective date. 11
12
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
14
Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is amended 15
to read: 16
377.814 Municipal Solid Waste -to-Energy Program.— 17
(1) CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM. —The Municipal 18
Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department. 19
The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance 20
grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste -to-energy 21
facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from 22
municipal solid waste -to-energy facilities while also reducing 23
the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a 24
landfill. 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
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term : 26
(a) "Department" means the Department of Environmental 27
Protection Agriculture and Consumer Services . 28
(b) "Municipal solid waste -to-energy facility" means a 29
publicly owned facility that uses an enclosed device using 30
controlled combustion to thermally break down solid waste to an 31
ash residue that contains little or no combustible material and 32
that produces electricity, steam, or other energy as a result. 33
The term does not include facilities that primarily burn fuels 34
other than solid waste even if such f acilities also burn some 35
solid waste as a fuel supplement. The term also does not include 36
facilities that primarily burn vegetative, agricultural, or 37
silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood, methane or other 38
landfill gas, wood fuel derived from const ruction or demolition 39
debris, or waste tires, alone or in combination with fossil 40
fuels. 41
(3) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM. —The department, 42
subject to appropriation, shall provide annual financial 43
assistance grants to municipal solid waste -to-energy facilities 44
that entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric 45
utility before January 1, 2022, which included capacity and 46
energy payments, and the owner of the municipal solid waste -to-47
energy facility has entered into a new or amended power pur chase 48
agreement that either no longer includes capacity payments or 49
includes capacity and energy payments in an amount less than the 50
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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
total of the capacity and energy payments the municipal solid 51
waste-to-energy facility received under the power purchase 52
agreement entered into before January 1, 2022. 53
(a) To apply for an annual financial assistance grant, the 54
owner of a municipal solid waste -to-energy facility must submit 55
an application to the department. The application must include 56
the name of the applic ant's municipal solid waste -to-energy 57
facility, the name of the utility purchasing the electric power 58
from the municipal solid waste -to-energy facility, the total 59
capacity and energy payment the municipal solid waste -to-energy 60
facility received during the last year of the power purchase 61
agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, and the amount of 62
energy delivered to and the total amount paid for such power by 63
an electric utility pursuant to a new or amended power purchase 64
agreement during the preceding state fiscal year. 65
(b) Beginning July 1, 2024, before a municipal solid 66
waste-to-energy facility may receive financial assistance grant 67
funding, the Office of Air Monitoring must measure the air 68
quality and particulate matter in all environmental justice 69
zones located within 25 miles of the facility. An applicant is 70
not eligible for grant funding under this program if the results 71
of the measurements do not meet the minimum standards for air 72
quality and particulate matter set by the United States 73
Environmental Protection Agency. After the department has 74
determined the applicants whose facilities meet the minimum air 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
quality and particulate matter standards, it the department 76
shall distribute funds, subject to appropriation, to each 77
qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents per kilowatt -hour of 78
electric power purchased by an electric utility during the 79
preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed the difference 80
between the total capacity and energy payment the municipal 81
solid waste-to-energy facility received d uring the last year of 82
the power purchase agreement entered into before January 1, 83
2022, and the total of the capacity and energy payment the 84
municipal solid waste -to-energy facility received under a new or 85
amended power purchase agreement during the prece ding state 86
fiscal year. To the extent that funds are not available to 87
provide financial assistance to each qualifying applicant for 88
every qualifying kilowatt -hour purchased, the department shall 89
prorate the funds on an equitable basis. 90
(c) The department shall establish a process to verify the 91
amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste -92
to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding 93
state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide 94
assistance to the depart ment to help verify the information 95
provided pursuant to paragraph (a). 96
(4) INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM. —The department, subject to 97
appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid 98
waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and 99
designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal 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
solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or 101
administrative expenses. Beginning July 1, 2024, the department 102
may not provide grant funding for a solid waste -to-energy 103
facility until an environmental justice evaluation of impacted 104
low-income and historically marginalized residential areas has 105
determined that the new facility will have a negligible impact 106
on these communities and will not decrease the air quality or 107
increase the particulate matter to a point that exceeds the 108
minimum standards set by the United States Environmental 109
Protection Agency. 110
(a) To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a 111
municipal solid waste -to-energy facility must apply to the 112
department for fundin g; provide matching funds on a dollar -for-113
dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost -114
effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s. 115
403.7061. 116
(b) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services 117
Department of Environmental Protection shall provide assistance 118
to the department in determining the eligibility of grant 119
applications and establishing requirements to ensure the long -120
term and efficient operation and maintenance of facilities 121
constructed or expanded under an incentiv e grant. 122
(c) The department shall perform adequate overview of each 123
grant application and grant award, including technical review, 124
regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to 125
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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
implement this section. 126
(d) Funds awarded under the incentive grant program may 127
not be used to promote, establish, or convert a residential 128
collection system that does not provide for the separate 129
collection of residential solid waste from recovered materials 130
as defined in s. 403.703. 131
(e) The department shall require the termination or 132
repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines 133
that program requirements are not being met. 134
(5) FUNDING.— 135
(a) Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid Waste -to-136
Energy Program must first be used for financial assistance 137
grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year after 138
disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to fund 139
the incentive grant program. 140
(b) Funds awarded under the grant programs set forth in 141
this section may not be used to support, subsidize, or enable 142
the sale of electric power generated by a municipal solid waste -143
to-energy facility to any small electric utility eligible to 144
petition the commission under s. 366.06(4). 145
(c) Notwithstanding s. 216 .301 and pursuant to s. 216.351, 146
funds allocated for the purpose of this section which are not 147
disbursed by June 30 of the fiscal year in which the funds are 148
allocated may be carried forward for up to 5 years after the 149
effective date of the original approp riation. 150
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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
(6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement 151
and administer this section, including establishing grant 152
application processes for financial assistance grants and 153
incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines 154
and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be 155
provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the 156
financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult 157
the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the 158
incentive grant progr am, the department shall consult the 159
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Department of 160
Environmental Protection . 161
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 162