Bill Text: FL S1482 | 2023 | Regular Session | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Rural Development
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 2-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-02 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/HB 1209 (Ch. 2023-202) [S1482 Detail]
Download: Florida-2023-S1482-Comm_Sub.html
Florida Senate - 2023 CS for CS for SB 1482
By the Committee on Fiscal Policy; the Appropriations Committee
on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development; and
Senator Simon
594-04265-23 20231482c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to rural development; amending s.
3 215.971, F.S.; requiring certain agency agreements to
4 include a provision authorizing the agency to provide
5 for the payment of specified invoices to certain
6 counties or municipalities for certain verified and
7 eligible performance; providing intent; providing
8 construction; amending s. 288.0655, F.S.; revising the
9 percentages of total infrastructure project cost which
10 the Department of Economic Opportunity may award
11 through grants from the Rural Infrastructure Fund;
12 providing authorized uses of eligible funds; deleting
13 a provision requiring that eligible projects be
14 related to specified opportunities; deleting
15 provisions allowing eligible funds to be used for
16 broadband Internet service and access; authorizing the
17 department to award grants up to a specified amount
18 for specified planning and preparation activities;
19 deleting a restriction on dual grant awards being used
20 which would exceed a specified percentage threshold;
21 revising a provision that requires that awarded funds
22 for specified surveys or other activities be matched
23 with a specified amount of local funds; providing an
24 effective date.
25
26 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
27
28 Section 1. Paragraph (h) is added to subsection (1) of
29 section 215.971, Florida Statutes, to read:
30 215.971 Agreements funded with federal or state
31 assistance.—
32 (1) An agency agreement that provides state financial
33 assistance to a recipient or subrecipient, as those terms are
34 defined in s. 215.97, or that provides federal financial
35 assistance to a subrecipient, as defined by applicable United
36 States Office of Management and Budget circulars, must include
37 all of the following:
38 (h) If the agency agreement provides federal or state
39 financial assistance to a county or municipality that is a rural
40 community or rural area of opportunity as those terms are
41 defined in s. 288.0656(2), a provision that allows the agency to
42 provide for the payment of invoices to the county or
43 municipality for verified and eligible performance that has been
44 completed in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth
45 in the agreement. This provision is included to alleviate the
46 financial hardships that certain rural counties and
47 municipalities encounter when administering agreements, and must
48 be exercised by the agency when a county or municipality
49 demonstrates financial hardship, to the extent that federal or
50 state law, rule, or other regulation allows such payments. This
51 paragraph may not be construed to alter or limit any other
52 provisions of federal or state law, rule, or other regulation.
53 Section 2. Paragraphs (b), (c), and (e) of subsection (2)
54 and subsection (3) of section 288.0655, Florida Statutes, are
55 amended to read:
56 288.0655 Rural Infrastructure Fund.—
57 (2)
58 (b) To facilitate access of rural communities and rural
59 areas of opportunity as defined by the Rural Economic
60 Development Initiative to infrastructure funding programs of the
61 Federal Government, such as those offered by the United States
62 Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of
63 Commerce, and state programs, including those offered by Rural
64 Economic Development Initiative agencies, and to facilitate
65 local government or private infrastructure funding efforts, the
66 department may award grants for up to 75 50 percent of the total
67 infrastructure project cost, or up to 100 percent of the total
68 infrastructure project cost for a project located in a rural
69 community as defined in s. 288.0656(2) which is also located in
70 a fiscally constrained county as defined in s. 218.67(1) or a
71 rural area of opportunity as defined in s. 288.0656(2). Eligible
72 projects must be related to specific job-creation or job
73 retention opportunities. Eligible uses of funds projects may
74 also include improving any inadequate infrastructure that has
75 resulted in regulatory action that prohibits economic or
76 community growth, reducing the costs to community users of
77 proposed infrastructure improvements that exceed such costs in
78 comparable communities, and improving access to and the
79 availability of broadband Internet service. Eligible uses of
80 funds shall include improvements to public infrastructure for
81 industrial or commercial sites and, upgrades to or development
82 of public tourism infrastructure, and improvements to broadband
83 Internet service and access in unserved or underserved rural
84 communities. Improvements to broadband Internet service and
85 access must be conducted through a partnership or partnerships
86 with one or more dealers, as defined in s. 202.11(2), and the
87 partnership or partnerships must be established through a
88 competitive selection process that is publicly noticed.
89 Authorized infrastructure may include the following public or
90 public-private partnership facilities: storm water systems;
91 telecommunications facilities; broadband facilities; roads or
92 other remedies to transportation impediments; nature-based
93 tourism facilities; or other physical requirements necessary to
94 facilitate tourism, trade, and economic development activities
95 in the community. Authorized infrastructure may also include
96 publicly or privately owned self-powered nature-based tourism
97 facilities, publicly owned telecommunications facilities, and
98 broadband facilities, and additions to the distribution
99 facilities of the existing natural gas utility as defined in s.
100 366.04(3)(c), the existing electric utility as defined in s.
101 366.02, or the existing water or wastewater utility as defined
102 in s. 367.021(12), or any other existing water or wastewater
103 facility, which owns a gas or electric distribution system or a
104 water or wastewater system in this state when where:
105 1. A contribution-in-aid of construction is required to
106 serve public or public-private partnership facilities under the
107 tariffs of any natural gas, electric, water, or wastewater
108 utility as defined herein; and
109 2. Such utilities as defined herein are willing and able to
110 provide such service.
111 (c) To facilitate timely response and induce the location
112 or expansion of specific job creating opportunities, The
113 department may award grants of up to $300,000 for infrastructure
114 feasibility studies, design and engineering activities, or other
115 infrastructure planning and preparation activities. Authorized
116 grants shall be up to $50,000 for an employment project with a
117 business committed to create at least 100 jobs; up to $150,000
118 for an employment project with a business committed to create at
119 least 300 jobs; and up to $300,000 for a project in a rural area
120 of opportunity. Grants awarded under this paragraph may be used
121 in conjunction with grants awarded under paragraph (b), provided
122 that the total amount of both grants does not exceed 30 percent
123 of the total project cost. In evaluating applications under this
124 paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to which the
125 application seeks to minimize administrative and consultant
126 expenses.
127 (e) To enable local governments to access the resources
128 available pursuant to s. 403.973(18), the department may award
129 grants for surveys, feasibility studies, and other activities
130 related to the identification and preclearance review of land
131 which is suitable for preclearance review. Authorized grants
132 under this paragraph may not exceed $75,000 each, except in the
133 case of a project in a rural area of opportunity, in which case
134 the grant may not exceed $300,000. Any funds awarded under this
135 paragraph must be matched at a level of 50 percent with local
136 funds, except that any funds awarded for a project in a rural
137 area of opportunity do not require a match of must be matched at
138 a level of 33 percent with local funds. If an application for
139 funding is for a catalyst site, as defined in s. 288.0656, the
140 requirement for local match may be waived pursuant to the
141 process in s. 288.06561. In evaluating applications under this
142 paragraph, the department shall consider the extent to which the
143 application seeks to minimize administrative and consultant
144 expenses.
145 (3) The department, in consultation with Enterprise
146 Florida, Inc., the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing
147 Corporation, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the
148 Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, as
149 appropriate, shall review and certify applications pursuant to
150 s. 288.061. The review must shall include an evaluation of the
151 economic benefit of the projects and their long-term viability.
152 The department shall have final approval for any grant under
153 this section.
154 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.
