Florida 2025 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H1345 Comm Sub / Bill

Filed 04/01/2025

                       
 
CS/HB 1345  	2025 
 
 
 
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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 infrastructure and resiliency; 2 
amending s. 255.065, F.S.; revising the definition of 3 
the term "qualifying project"; creating s. 380.0934, 4 
F.S.; defining terms; providing that the Department of 5 
Environmental Protection has the exclusive authority 6 
to execute coastal resiliency projects through public -7 
private partnerships; authorizing the department to 8 
take certain actions to encourage investme nt from the 9 
private sector in coastal resiliency projects; 10 
requiring the department to publish certain 11 
information on its website; providing an effective 12 
date. 13 
 14 
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 15 
 16 
 Section 1.  Paragraph (i) of subsection (1) of section 17 
255.065, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 18 
 255.065  Public-private partnerships. — 19 
 (1)  DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 20 
 (i)  "Qualifying project" means: 21 
 1.  A facility or project that serves a public purpose , 22 
including, but not limited to, any ferry or mass transit 23 
facility, vehicle parking facility, airport or seaport facility, 24 
rail facility or project, fuel supply facility, oil or gas 25     
 
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pipeline, medical or nursing care facility, recreational 26 
facility, sporting or cultural facility, or educational facility 27 
or other building or facility that is used or will be used by a 28 
public educational institution, or any other public facility or 29 
infrastructure that is used or will be used by the public at 30 
large or in support of an accepted public purpose or activity; 31 
 2.  An improvement, including equipment, of a building that 32 
will be principally used by a public entity or the public at 33 
large or that supports a service delivery system in the public 34 
sector; 35 
 3.  A water, wastewater, or surface water management 36 
facility or other related infrastructure; 37 
 4.  A coastal resiliency project as defined in s. 380.0934; 38 
or 39 
 5.4. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, for 40 
projects that involve a facility owned or operated by th e 41 
governing board of a county, district, or municipal hospital or 42 
health care system, or projects that involve a facility owned or 43 
operated by a municipal electric utility, only those projects 44 
that the governing board designates as qualifying projects 45 
pursuant to this section. 46 
 Section 2.  Section 380.0934, Florida Statutes, is created 47 
to read: 48 
 380.0934  Public-private partnerships for coastal 49 
resiliency projects. — 50     
 
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 (1)  DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 51 
 (a)  "Coastal resiliency project" means: 52 
 1.  The planning, contracting, and execution of a project 53 
to address flooding and sea level rise in a coastal or inland 54 
community in this state pursuant to s. 380.093(5); 55 
 2.  Public infrastructure repair and upgrades to seawalls 56 
and stormwater drainage; and 57 
 3.  Resiliency measures designed to withstand extreme 58 
weather, mitigate flooding, and prevent coastal erosion, 59 
including: 60 
 a.  Acquisition of at -risk coastal and flood -prone 61 
properties; 62 
 b.  Acquisition of properties in areas at high risk of 63 
flooding; 64 
 c.  Infrastructure hardening and development of natural 65 
barriers; 66 
 d.  Construction of large -scale seawalls, levees, and 67 
elevated flood barriers; or 68 
 e.  Expansion and restoration of natural protective 69 
systems. 70 
 (b)  "Department" means the Departm ent of Environmental 71 
Protection. 72 
 (c)  "Public-private partnership" means a coastal 73 
resiliency project entered into by the department under s. 74 
255.065. 75     
 
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 (2)  The department shall have the exclusive authority to 76 
execute coastal resiliency projects through p ublic-private 77 
partnerships under s. 255.065. 78 
 (3)  To encourage investment from the private sector in 79 
coastal resiliency projects, the department may: 80 
 (a)  Enter into long -term revenue-sharing agreements. 81 
 (b)  Provide expedited permitting for constructio n. 82 
 (c)  Seek comments from local governments and the public 83 
during project planning and execution and incorporate actions 84 
responsive to such comments into the project. 85 
 (d)  Engage in-state vocational schools and apprenticeship 86 
programs to train workers i n specialized resiliency 87 
construction. 88 
 (4)  The department shall publish biennial progress reports 89 
for each coastal resiliency project funded through a public -90 
private partnership, including project milestones, expenditures, 91 
and public benefits, on the dep artment's website. The department 92 
shall also create and maintain on its website an online 93 
dashboard for real-time updates on project execution. 94 
 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law. 95