Bill Text: FL S1310 | 2016 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Agriculture

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-04 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 749 (Ch. 2016-88), CS/CS/HB 7007 (Ch. 2016-61) [S1310 Detail]

Download: Florida-2016-S1310-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2016                      CS for CS for SB 1310
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Appropriations; and Agriculture; and
       Senator Hutson
       
       576-04447-16                                          20161310c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to agriculture; amending s. 193.461,
    3         F.S.; revising the period during which certain
    4         agricultural lands in eradication or quarantine
    5         programs continue to be classified as such; providing
    6         for the classification of such lands that are
    7         replanted in citrus; creating s. 580.0365, F.S.;
    8         preempting regulatory authority over commercial feed
    9         and feedstuff to the Department of Agriculture and
   10         Consumer Services; amending s. 581.211, F.S.;
   11         providing penalties for certain handling of plant
   12         pests without a special permit from the Division of
   13         Plant Industry within the department; specifying that
   14         moneys collected must be deposited into the Plant
   15         Industry Trust Fund; amending s. 704.06, F.S.;
   16         revising the definition of the term “conservation
   17         easement”; providing an effective date.
   18          
   19  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   20  
   21         Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section
   22  193.461, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   23         193.461 Agricultural lands; classification and assessment;
   24  mandated eradication or quarantine program.—
   25         (7)(a) Lands classified for assessment purposes as
   26  agricultural lands which are taken out of production by a state
   27  or federal eradication or quarantine program, including the
   28  Citrus Health Response Program, shall continue to be classified
   29  as agricultural lands for 5 years after the date of execution of
   30  a compliance agreement between the landowner and the Department
   31  of Agriculture and Consumer Services, or a federal agency, as
   32  applicable, pursuant to the duration of such program or
   33  successor programs. Lands under these programs which are
   34  converted to fallow or otherwise nonincome-producing uses shall
   35  continue to be classified as agricultural lands and shall be
   36  assessed at a de minimis value of up to $50 per acre on a
   37  single-year assessment methodology while converted. Lands under
   38  these programs which are replanted in citrus pursuant to the
   39  requirements of the compliance agreement shall continue to be
   40  classified as agricultural lands and shall be assessed at a de
   41  minimis value of up to $50 per acre, on a single-year assessment
   42  methodology, during the 5-year term of the agreement.; However,
   43  lands converted to other income-producing agricultural uses
   44  permissible under such programs shall be assessed pursuant to
   45  this section. Land under a mandated eradication or quarantine
   46  program which is diverted from an agricultural to a
   47  nonagricultural use shall be assessed under s. 193.011.
   48         Section 2. Section 580.0365, Florida Statutes, is created
   49  to read:
   50         580.0365 Preemption of regulatory authority over commercial
   51  feed and feedstuff.—In order to provide for uniform regulation
   52  throughout the state, the state preempts all regulation over
   53  commercial feed and feedstuff to the department. Notwithstanding
   54  any other provision of law, the authority to regulate, inspect,
   55  sample, and analyze any commercial feed or feedstuff distributed
   56  in this state or to exercise the powers and duties under this
   57  chapter, including the assessment of any penalties for
   58  violations of this chapter, is preempted to the department. If
   59  any rule adopted by, or final order of, the department relating
   60  to commercial feed and feedstuff is in conflict with any other
   61  provision or restriction under a local ordinance or
   62  administrative rule adopted by, or final order of, an entity or
   63  agency other than the department, this section shall govern and
   64  such local ordinance, rule, or order is preempted.
   65         Section 3. Subsections (4) and (5) are added to section
   66  581.211, Florida Statutes, to read:
   67         581.211 Penalties for violations.—
   68         (4) A person who knowingly acquires, imports, possesses,
   69  sells or offers to sell, trades or offers to trade, barters or
   70  offers to barter, moves or causes to be moved, introduces, or
   71  releases a plant pest in this state without a special permit
   72  from the division:
   73         (a) Commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
   74  as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083;
   75         (b) Is subject to an administrative fine pursuant to s.
   76  570.971 in the Class II category for each violation of this
   77  chapter;
   78         (c) May have a certificate of registration or certificate
   79  of inspection suspended or revoked; and
   80         (d) Is liable for the payment of all reasonable costs and
   81  expenses incurred by the department in a plant pest control or
   82  eradication program. Moneys collected pursuant to this section
   83  shall be deposited into the Plant Industry Trust Fund.
   84         (5) A person who knowingly acquires, imports, possesses,
   85  sells or offers to sell, trades or offers to trade, barters or
   86  offers to barter, moves or causes to be moved, introduces, or
   87  releases a plant pest in this state without a special permit
   88  from the division that results in the issuance of a declaration
   89  of an agricultural emergency by the Commissioner of Agriculture
   90  or the implementation of a control or eradication program by the
   91  department or the United States Department of Agriculture:
   92         (a) Commits a felony of the second degree, punishable as
   93  provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083;
   94         (b) Is subject to an administrative fine pursuant to s.
   95  570.971 in the Class IV category for each violation of this
   96  chapter;
   97         (c) May have a certificate of registration or certificate
   98  of inspection suspended or revoked; and
   99         (d) Is liable for the payment of all reasonable costs and
  100  expenses incurred by the department in a plant pest control or
  101  eradication program. Moneys collected pursuant to this section
  102  shall be deposited into the Plant Industry Trust Fund.
  103         Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 704.06, Florida
  104  Statutes, is amended to read:
  105         704.06 Conservation easements; creation; acquisition;
  106  enforcement.—
  107         (1) As used in this section, “conservation easement” means
  108  a right or interest in real property which is appropriate to
  109  retaining land or water areas predominantly in their natural,
  110  scenic, open, agricultural, or wooded condition; retaining such
  111  areas as suitable habitat for fish, plants, or wildlife;
  112  retaining the structural integrity or physical appearance of
  113  sites or properties of historical, architectural,
  114  archaeological, or cultural significance; or maintaining
  115  existing land uses and which prohibits or limits any or all of
  116  the following:
  117         (a) Construction or placing of buildings, roads, signs,
  118  billboards or other advertising, utilities, or other structures
  119  on or above the ground.
  120         (b) Dumping or placing of soil or other substance or
  121  material as landfill or dumping or placing of trash, waste, or
  122  unsightly or offensive materials.
  123         (c) Removal or destruction of trees, shrubs, or other
  124  vegetation, except when needed for maintenance purposes or as
  125  part of forest management conducted in accordance with
  126  applicable best management practices adopted by the Department
  127  of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  128         (d) Excavation, dredging, or removal of loam, peat, gravel,
  129  soil, rock, or other material substance in such manner as to
  130  affect the surface.
  131         (e) Surface use except for purposes that permit the land or
  132  water area to remain predominantly in its natural or
  133  agricultural condition. An allowable surface use may include,
  134  but is not limited to, livestock grazing, if such activity is a
  135  current or historic use and if such future use within the
  136  conservation easement area is conducted in accordance with
  137  applicable best management practices adopted by the Department
  138  of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
  139         (f) Activities detrimental to drainage, flood control,
  140  water conservation, erosion control, soil conservation, or fish
  141  and wildlife habitat preservation.
  142         (g) Acts or uses detrimental to such retention of land or
  143  water areas.
  144         (h) Acts or uses detrimental to the preservation of the
  145  structural integrity or physical appearance of sites or
  146  properties of historical, architectural, archaeological, or
  147  cultural significance.
  148  
  149  Paragraphs (c) and (e) do not restrict or diminish the authority
  150  of any unit of government to allow forest management and
  151  livestock grazing as a compatible use on lands subject to a
  152  conservation easement.
  153         Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.