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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 waste incineration; amending ss. 2
403.706 and 403.707, F.S.; prohibiting a local 3
government or the Department of Environmental 4
Protection, respectively, from issuing a construction 5
permit for a certain new solid waste disposal facility 6
or a waste-to-energy facility in specified areas; 7
providing applicability; conforming cross -references; 8
amending ss. 403.703, 403.7049, and 403.705, F.S.; 9
conforming cross-references; providing an effective 10
date. 11
12
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13
14
Section 1. Present subsections (2) through (23) of section 15
403.706, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (3) 16
through (24), respectively, and present subsections (4), (6), 17
(7), and (20) are amended, and a new subsection (2) is added to 18
that section, to read: 19
403.706 Local government solid waste responsibilities. — 20
(2) A local government may not issue a construction permit 21
pursuant to this section for a new solid waste disposal facility 22
that uses an ash-producing incinerator or for a waste -to-energy 23
facility, if the proposed location of such facility is sited 24
within a one-half mile radius of any residential property or 25
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school, as measured from the stack. This subsection does not 26
apply to any existing construction, current operation, or 27
modification to such structure or operation in existence as of 28
July 1, 2025. 29
(5)(4)(a) In order to promote the production of renewable 30
energy from solid waste, each megawatt -hour produced by a 31
renewable energy facility using solid waste as a fuel shall 32
count as 1 ton of recycled material and shall be applied toward 33
meeting the recycling goals set forth in this section. If a 34
county creating renewable energy from solid waste implements and 35
maintains a program to recycle at least 50 percent of municipal 36
solid waste by a means other than creating renewable energy, 37
that county shall count 1.25 tons of recycled material for each 38
megawatt-hour produced. If waste originates from a county other 39
than the county in which the renewable energy facility resides, 40
the originating county shall receive such recycling credit. Any 41
byproduct resulting from the creation of renewable energy that 42
is recycled shall coun t towards the county recycling goals in 43
accordance with the methods and criteria developed pursuant to 44
paragraph (3)(h) (2)(h). 45
(b) A county may receive credit for one -half of the 46
recycling goal set forth in subsection (3) (2) from the use of 47
yard trash, or other clean wood waste or paper waste, in 48
innovative programs including, but not limited to, programs that 49
produce alternative clean -burning fuels such as ethanol or that 50
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provide for the conversion of yard trash or other clean wood 51
waste or paper waste to clean-burning fuel for the production of 52
energy for use at facilities other than a waste -to-energy 53
facility as defined in s. 403.7061. The provisions of this 54
paragraph apply only if a county can demonstrate that: 55
1. The county has implemented a yard trash mulching or 56
composting program, and 57
2. As part of the program, compost and mulch made from 58
yard trash is available to the general public and in use at 59
county-owned or maintained and municipally owned or maintained 60
facilities in the county and stat e agencies operating in the 61
county as required by this section. 62
(c) A county with a population of 100,000 or less may 63
provide its residents with the opportunity to recycle in lieu of 64
achieving the goal set forth in this section. For the purposes 65
of this section, the "opportunity to recycle" means that the 66
county: 67
1.a. Provides a system for separating and collecting 68
recyclable materials prior to disposal that is located at a 69
solid waste management facility or solid waste disposal area; or 70
b. Provides a system of places within the county for 71
collection of source -separated recyclable materials. 72
2. Provides a public education and promotion program that 73
is conducted to inform its residents of the opportunity to 74
recycle, encourages source separation of recyclable materials, 75
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and promotes the benefits of reducing, reusing, recycling, and 76
composting materials. 77
(7)(6) The department may reduce or modify the municipal 78
solid waste recycling goal that a county is required to achieve 79
pursuant to subsection (3) (2) if the county demonstrates to the 80
department that: 81
(a) The achievement of the goal set forth in subsection 82
(3) (2) would have an adverse effect on the financial 83
obligations of a county that are directly related to a waste -to-84
energy facility owned or operated by or on behalf of the county; 85
and 86
(b) The county cannot remove normally combustible 87
materials from solid waste that is to be processed at a waste -88
to-energy facility because of the need to maintain a sufficient 89
amount of solid waste to ensure t he financial viability of the 90
facility. 91
92
The goal shall not be waived entirely and may only be reduced or 93
modified to the extent necessary to alleviate the adverse 94
effects of achieving the goal on the financial viability of a 95
county's waste-to-energy facility. Nothing in this subsection 96
shall exempt a county from developing and implementing a 97
recycling program pursuant to this act. 98
(8)(7) In order to assess the progress in meeting the goal 99
set forth in subsection (3) (2), each county shall, by April 1 100
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each year, provide information to the department regarding its 101
annual solid waste management program and recycling activities. 102
(a) The information submitted to the department by the 103
county must, at a minimum, include: 104
1. The amount of municipal solid wast e disposed of at 105
solid waste disposal facilities, by type of waste such as yard 106
trash, white goods, clean debris, tires, and unseparated solid 107
waste; 108
2. The amount and type of materials from the municipal 109
solid waste stream that were recycled; and 110
3. The percentage of the population participating in 111
various types of recycling activities instituted. 112
(b) Beginning with the data for the 2012 calendar year, 113
the department shall by July 1 each year post on its website the 114
recycling rates of each county for the prior calendar year. 115
(21)(20) In addition to any other penalties provided by 116
law, a local government that does not comply with the 117
requirements of subsections (3) (2) and (5) (4) shall not be 118
eligible for grants from the Solid Waste Management Trust Fund, 119
and the department may notify the Chief Financial Officer to 120
withhold payment of all or a portion of funds payable to the 121
local government by the department from the General Revenue Fund 122
or by the department from any other state fund, to the extent 123
not pledged to retire bonded indebtedness, unless the local 124
government demonstrates that good faith efforts to meet the 125
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requirements of subsections (3) (2) and (5) (4) have been made 126
or that the funds are being or will be used to finance the 127
correction of a pollution control problem that spans 128
jurisdictional boundaries. 129
Section 2. Present subsections (6) through (14) of section 130
403.707, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7) 131
through (15), respectively, and a new subsection (6) is added to 132
that section, to read: 133
403.707 Permits.— 134
(6) The department may not issue a construction permit 135
pursuant to this section for a new solid waste disposal facility 136
that uses an ash-producing incinerator or for a waste -to-energy 137
facility, if the proposed location of such facility is sited 138
within a one-half mile radius of any residential property or 139
school, as measured from the stack. This subsection does not 140
apply to any existing construction, current operation, or 141
modification to such structure or operati on in existence as of 142
July 1, 2025. 143
Section 3. Subsections (6), (7), and (21) of section 144
403.703, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 145
403.703 Definitions. —As used in this part, the term: 146
(6) "Construction and demolition debris" means discarded 147
materials generally considered to be not water -soluble and 148
nonhazardous in nature, including, but not limited to, steel, 149
glass, brick, concrete, asphalt roofing material, pipe, gypsum 150
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wallboard, and lumber, from the construction or destruction of a 151
structure as part of a construction or demolition project or 152
from the renovation of a structure, and includes rocks, soils, 153
tree remains, trees, and other vegetative matter that normally 154
results from land clearing or land development operations for a 155
construction project, including such debris from construction of 156
structures at a site remote from the construction or demolition 157
project site. Mixing of construction and demolition debris with 158
other types of solid waste will cause the resulting mixture to 159
be classified as other than construction and demolition debris. 160
The term also includes: 161
(a) Clean cardboard, paper, plastic, wood, and metal 162
scraps from a construction project; 163
(b) Except as provided in s. 403.707(10)(j) s. 164
403.707(9)(j), yard trash and unpainted, nontreated wood scraps 165
and wood pallets from sources other than construction or 166
demolition projects; 167
(c) Scrap from manufacturing facilities which is the type 168
of material generally used in construction projects and which 169
would meet the definition of cons truction and demolition debris 170
if it were generated as part of a construction or demolition 171
project. This includes debris from the construction of 172
manufactured homes and scrap shingles, wallboard, siding 173
concrete, and similar materials from industrial or c ommercial 174
facilities; and 175
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(d) De minimis amounts of other nonhazardous wastes that 176
are generated at construction or destruction projects, provided 177
such amounts are consistent with best management practices of 178
the industry. 179
(7) "County," or any like ter m, means a political 180
subdivision of the state established pursuant to s. 1, Art. VIII 181
of the State Constitution and, when s. 403.706(20) s. 182
403.706(19) applies, means a special district or other entity. 183
(21) "Municipality," or any like term, means a 184
municipality created pursuant to general or special law 185
authorized or recognized pursuant to s. 2 or s. 6, Art. VIII of 186
the State Constitution and, when s. 403.706(20) s. 403.706(19) 187
applies, means a special district or other entity. 188
Section 4. Subsection (5) of section 403.7049, Florida 189
Statutes, is amended to read: 190
403.7049 Determination of full cost for solid waste 191
management; local solid waste management fees. — 192
(5) In order to assist in achieving the municipal solid 193
waste reduction goal and the recycling provisions of s. 194
403.706(3) s. 403.706(2), a county or a municipality which owns 195
or operates a solid waste management facility is hereby 196
authorized to charge solid waste disposal fees which may vary 197
based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the 198
amount, characteristics, and form of recyclable materials 199
present in the solid waste that is brought to the county's or 200
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the municipality's facility fo r processing or disposal. 201
Section 5. Paragraph (c) of subsection (2) and subsection 202
(3) of section 403.705, Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 203
403.705 State solid waste management program. — 204
(2) The state solid waste management program shall 205
include, at a minimum: 206
(c) Planning guidelines and technical assistance to 207
counties and municipalities to aid in meeting the municipal 208
solid waste recycling goals established in s. 403.706(3) s. 209
403.706(2). 210
(3) The department shall evaluate and report bie nnially to 211
the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of 212
Representatives on the state's success in meeting the solid 213
waste recycling goal as described in s. 403.706(3) s. 214
403.706(2). 215
Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 216