CS for SB 298 First Engrossed 2024298e1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to saltwater intrusion vulnerability 3 assessments; amending s. 380.093, F.S.; authorizing 4 the Department of Environmental Protection to provide 5 coastal counties, beginning on a specified date, with 6 Resilient Florida Grant Program grants to fund 7 saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessments; 8 specifying the purpose of and requirements for the 9 assessments; requiring the department to update the 10 comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability and sea 11 level rise data set and make certain information 12 received from the saltwater intrusion vulnerability 13 assessments publicly available on its website; 14 requiring the department to provide cost-share funding 15 up to a specified amount for awarded grants; 16 specifying that certain coastal counties are not 17 required to contribute to the cost-share funding; 18 providing an effective date. 19 20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21 22 Section 1.Paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 23 380.093, Florida Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (e) is 24 added to that subsection, to read: 25 380.093Resilient Florida Grant Program; comprehensive 26 statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise data set and 27 assessment; Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience 28 Plan; regional resilience entities. 29 (3)RESILIENT FLORIDA GRANT PROGRAM. 30 (b)Subject to appropriation, the department may provide 31 grants to any each of the following entities: 32 1.A county or municipality to fund: 33 a.The costs of community resilience planning and necessary 34 data collection for such planning, including comprehensive plan 35 amendments and necessary corresponding analyses that address the 36 requirements of s. 163.3178(2)(f). 37 b.Vulnerability assessments that identify or address risks 38 of inland or coastal flooding and sea level rise. 39 c.For coastal counties beginning July 1, 2025, saltwater 40 intrusion vulnerability assessments that analyze the effects of 41 saltwater intrusion on the coastal countys water supply and the 42 preparedness of the coastal county to respond to such a threat. 43 d.The development of projects, plans, and policies that 44 allow communities to prepare for threats from flooding and sea 45 level rise. 46 e.d.Preconstruction activities for projects to be 47 submitted for inclusion in the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level 48 Rise Resilience Plan and that are located in a municipality that 49 has a population of 10,000 or less fewer or a county that has a 50 population of 50,000 or less fewer, according to the most recent 51 April 1 population estimates posted on the Office of Economic 52 and Demographic Researchs website. 53 f.e.Feasibility studies and the cost of permitting for 54 nature-based solutions that reduce the impact of flooding and 55 sea level rise. 56 2.A water management district identified in s. 373.069 to 57 support local government adaptation planning, which may be 58 conducted by the water management district or by a third party 59 on behalf of the water management district. Such grants must be 60 used for the express purpose of supporting the Florida Flood Hub 61 for Applied Research and Innovation and the department in 62 implementing this section through data creation and collection, 63 modeling, and the implementation of statewide standards. 64 Priority must be given to filling critical data gaps identified 65 by the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Research and Innovation 66 under s. 380.0933(2)(a). 67 (e)1.A saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessment 68 conducted pursuant to sub-subparagraph (b)1.c. must include an 69 analysis of all of the following information: 70 a.The coastal countys primary water utilities. 71 b.Current maps of the coastal countys freshwater 72 wellfields and latest saltwater intrusion impact lines. 73 c.Projections of saltwater intrusion over the next decade, 74 including specific wells that may be impacted during that 75 timeframe. 76 d.The costs necessary to relocate freshwater wellfields 77 anticipated to be impacted, including current projects that are 78 underway to relocate the freshwater wellfields. 79 2.The department shall do all of the following: 80 a.Use the information contained in a coastal countys 81 saltwater intrusion vulnerability assessment to update its 82 comprehensive statewide flood vulnerability and sea level rise 83 data set under subsection (4). 84 b.Make publicly available on the departments website any 85 appropriate information from a saltwater intrusion vulnerability 86 assessment it receives from coastal counties pursuant to this 87 paragraph. 88 c.Provide 50 percent cost-share funding up to $250,000 for 89 each grant awarded under this paragraph. A coastal county with a 90 population of 50,000 or less is not required to contribute to 91 the cost share. 92 Section 2.This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.