FL
Florida House Bill H0843

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0843 Compare Versions

OldNewDifferences
11
22
3-CS/HB 843 2025
3+HB 843 2025
44
55
66
77 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
8-hb843-01-c1
9-Page 1 of 3
8+hb843-00
9+Page 1 of 4
1010 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
1111
1212
1313
1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to Fish and Wildlife Conservation 2
16-Commission Trust Funds; amending s. 379.206, F.S.; 3
17-removing a provision specifying the type of agreement 4
18-activities for which moneys from the Grants and 5
19-Donations Trust Fund may be used; amending s. 379.209, 6
20-F.S.; removing a requirement for the administration of 7
21-the Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund; authorizing the use 8
22-of trust fund proceeds for law enforcement pu rposes; 9
23-authorizing the commission to enter into certain 10
24-agreements with private landowners; providing an 11
25-effective date. 12
26- 13
27-Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14
28- 15
29- Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 379.206, Florida 16
30-Statutes, is amended to read: 17
31- 379.206 Grants and Donations Trust Fund. — 18
32- (2) The fund is established for use as a depository for 19
33-funds to be used for allowable grant and donor agreement 20
34-activities funded by restricted contractual revenue . Moneys to 21
35-be credited to the trust fund shall consist of grants and 22
36-donations from private and public nonfederal sources, 23
37-development-of-regional-impact wildlife mitigation 24
38-contributions, interest earnings, and cash advances from other 25
16+Commission Trust Funds; amending s. 379.201, F.S.; 3
17+authorizing the Fish and Wildlife Conservation 4
18+Commission to invest and reinvest Administrative Trust 5
19+Fund moneys; requiring that certain funds be carried 6
20+forward; amending s. 379.205, F.S.; authorizing the 7
21+commission to spend money from the Florida Panther 8
22+Research and Management Trust Fund for certain 9
23+research, monitoring, and land acquisition; amending 10
24+s. 379.206, F.S.; removing a provision specifying the 11
25+type of agreement activities for which moneys from the 12
26+Grants and Donations Trust Fund may be used; amending 13
27+s. 379.209, F.S.; removing a requirement for the 14
28+administration of the Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund; 15
29+authorizing the use of trust fund proceeds for law 16
30+enforcement purposes; authorizing the commission to 17
31+enter into certain agreements with private landowners; 18
32+providing an effective date. 19
33+ 20
34+Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 21
35+ 22
36+ Section 1. Subsection (2) of section 379.201, Florida 23
37+Statutes, is amended, and subsection (3) is added to that 24
38+section to read: 25
3939
40-CS/HB 843 2025
40+HB 843 2025
4141
4242
4343
4444 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
45-hb843-01-c1
46-Page 2 of 3
45+hb843-00
46+Page 2 of 4
4747 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
4848
4949
5050
51-trust funds. 26
52- Section 2. Subsections (2) an d (3) of section 379.209, 27
53-Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 28
54- 379.209 Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund. — 29
55- (2)(a) There is established within the Fish and Wildlife 30
56-Conservation Commission the Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund. The 31
57-fund shall be credited with mon eys collected pursuant to ss. 32
58-319.32(3) and 320.02(8). Additional funds may be provided from 33
59-legislative appropriations and by donations from interested 34
60-individuals and organizations. The commission may invest and 35
61-reinvest the funds and the interest thereo f of the Nongame 36
62-Wildlife Trust Fund. The commission shall designate an 37
63-identifiable unit to administer the trust fund. 38
64- (b) Proceeds from the trust fund shall be used for the 39
65-following purposes: 40
66- 1. Documentation of population trends of nongame wildlife 41
67-and assessment of wildlife habitat, in coordination with the 42
68-database of Florida natural areas inventory. 43
69- 2. Establishment of effective conservation, management, 44
70-and regulatory programs for nongame wildlife of the state. 45
71- 3. Public education programs. 46
72- 4. Law enforcement. 47
73- (3) The commission may enter into cooperative agreements , 48
74-voluntary agreements, or memoranda of understanding with related 49
75-agencies and private landowners to coordinate nongame programs. 50
51+ 379.201 Administrative Trust Fund. — 26
52+ (2) The fund is established for use as a depository for 27
53+funds to be used for management activities that are 28
54+commissionwide in nature and funded by indirect cost earnings or 29
55+assessments against trust funds. The commission may invest and 30
56+reinvest the funds and the interest thereof. Moneys to be 31
57+credited to the trust fund include indirect cost reimbursements 32
58+from grantors, administrative assessments against trust funds, 33
59+interest earnings, and other appropriate administrative fees. 34
60+ (3) Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 216.301 and 35
61+pursuant to s. 216.351, any balance in the trust fund at the end 36
62+of any fiscal year shall remain in the trust fund at the end of 37
63+the year and shall be available for carrying out the purposes of 38
64+the trust fund. 39
65+ Section 2. Paragraphs (a) and (c) of subsection (2) of 40
66+section 379.205, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 41
67+ 379.205 Florida Panther R esearch and Management Trust 42
68+Fund.— 43
69+ (2) The commission shall spend money from the fund and all 44
70+interest derived from its investments and reinvestments only for 45
71+the following purposes: 46
72+ (a) To manage and protect existing Florida panther 47
73+populations by increasing panther food sources where food is a 48
74+limiting factor, determining conflicts between public use and 49
75+panther survival, maintaining sufficient genetic variability in 50
7676
77-CS/HB 843 2025
77+HB 843 2025
7878
7979
8080
8181 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
82-hb843-01-c1
83-Page 3 of 3
82+hb843-00
83+Page 3 of 4
8484 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
8585
8686
8787
88- Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 51
88+existing populations, researching and monitoring feline 51
89+diseases, and undertaking management and enforcement activities 52
90+that protect panther habitat. 53
91+ (c) To reestablish Florida panthers into areas of suitable 54
92+habitat, where feasible, by assessing the necessity of a captive 55
93+breeding program for purposes of reintroduction of the panthers 56
94+into the suitable habitat; selecting potential sites for 57
95+reintroduction and investigating associated human sociological 58
96+aspects; and assessing the potential for panther habitat 59
97+acquisition; and acquiring lands for panther habitat . 60
98+ Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 379.206, Florida 61
99+Statutes, is amended to read: 62
100+ 379.206 Grants and Donations Trust Fund. — 63
101+ (2) The fund is established for use as a depository for 64
102+funds to be used for allowable grant and donor agreement 65
103+activities funded by restricted co ntractual revenue. Moneys to 66
104+be credited to the trust fund shall consist of grants and 67
105+donations from private and public nonfederal sources, 68
106+development-of-regional-impact wildlife mitigation 69
107+contributions, interest earnings, and cash advances from other 70
108+trust funds. 71
109+ Section 4. Subsections (2) and (3) of section 379.209, 72
110+Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 73
111+ 379.209 Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund. — 74
112+ (2)(a) There is established within the Fish and Wildlife 75
113+
114+HB 843 2025
115+
116+
117+
118+CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
119+hb843-00
120+Page 4 of 4
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
122+
123+
124+
125+Conservation Commission the Nongame Wildlife Trust Fund. The 76
126+fund shall be credited with moneys collected pursuant to ss. 77
127+319.32(3) and 320.02(8). Additional funds may be provided from 78
128+legislative appropriations and by donations from interested 79
129+individuals and organizations. The commission may invest and 80
130+reinvest the funds and the interest thereof of the Nongame 81
131+Wildlife Trust Fund. The commission shall designate an 82
132+identifiable unit to administer the trust fund. 83
133+ (b) Proceeds from the trust fund shall be used for the 84
134+following purposes: 85
135+ 1. Documentation of population trends of nongame wildlife 86
136+and assessment of wildlife habitat, in coordination with the 87
137+database of Florida natural areas inventory. 88
138+ 2. Establishment of effective conservation, management, 89
139+and regulatory programs for nongame wildlife of the state. 90
140+ 3. Public education programs. 91
141+ 4. Law enforcement. 92
142+ (3) The commission may enter into cooperative agreements , 93
143+voluntary agreements, or memoranda of understanding with related 94
144+agencies and private landowners to coordinate nongame programs. 95
145+ Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 96