Bill Text: FL S1564 | 2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Petroleum Cleanup
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2019-05-03 - Died in Environment and Natural Resources [S1564 Detail]
Download: Florida-2019-S1564-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2019 SB 1564
By Senator Albritton
26-01501-19 20191564__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to petroleum cleanup; amending s.
3 376.3071, F.S.; revising requirements for a limited
4 contamination assessment report in which a property
5 owner, operator, or person otherwise responsible for
6 site rehabilitation must provide to the Department of
7 Environmental Protection for the Petroleum Cleanup
8 Participation Program; amending s. 376.30713, F.S.;
9 revising the contents of an advanced cleanup
10 application to include a specified property owner or
11 responsible party agreement; requiring an applicant to
12 submit a scope of work after the department has
13 accepted the applicant’s advanced cleanup application;
14 requiring the department to issue a purchase order for
15 a certain contamination assessment; providing an
16 effective date.
17
18 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
19
20 Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (13) of section
21 376.3071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
22 376.3071 Inland Protection Trust Fund; creation; purposes;
23 funding.—
24 (13) PETROLEUM CLEANUP PARTICIPATION PROGRAM.—To encourage
25 detection, reporting, and cleanup of contamination caused by
26 discharges of petroleum or petroleum products, the department
27 shall, within the guidelines established in this subsection,
28 implement a cost-sharing cleanup program to provide
29 rehabilitation funding assistance for all property contaminated
30 by discharges of petroleum or petroleum products from a
31 petroleum storage system occurring before January 1, 1995,
32 subject to a copayment provided for in a Petroleum Cleanup
33 Participation Program site rehabilitation agreement. Eligibility
34 is subject to an annual appropriation from the fund.
35 Additionally, funding for eligible sites is contingent upon
36 annual appropriation in subsequent years. Such continued state
37 funding is not an entitlement or a vested right under this
38 subsection. Eligibility shall be determined in the program,
39 notwithstanding any other provision of law, consent order,
40 order, judgment, or ordinance to the contrary.
41 (d) Upon notification by the department that rehabilitation
42 funding assistance is available for the site pursuant to
43 subsections (5) and (6), the property owner, operator, or person
44 otherwise responsible for site rehabilitation shall provide the
45 department with a limited contamination assessment report and
46 shall enter into a Petroleum Cleanup Participation Program site
47 rehabilitation agreement with the department. The limited
48 contamination assessment report must be sufficient to support
49 the proposed course of action and to estimate the cost of the
50 proposed course of action. The agreement must provide for a 25
51 percent cost savings and may use a copayment by the owner,
52 operator, or person otherwise responsible for conducting site
53 rehabilitation or may use a demonstrated cost savings to the
54 department, in the form of reduced rates by the proposed agency
55 term contractor or the difference in cost associated with a RMO
56 I closure versus an RMO-II closure, or both the copayment and
57 demonstrated cost savings. The owner, operator, or person
58 otherwise responsible for conducting site rehabilitation shall
59 adequately demonstrate the ability to meet the copayment
60 obligation. The limited contamination assessment report and the
61 copayment costs may be reduced or eliminated if the owner and
62 all operators responsible for restoration under s. 376.308
63 demonstrate that they cannot financially comply with the
64 copayment and limited contamination assessment report
65 requirements. The department shall take into consideration the
66 owner’s and operator’s net worth in making the determination of
67 financial ability. In the event the department and the owner,
68 operator, or person otherwise responsible for site
69 rehabilitation cannot complete negotiation of the cost-sharing
70 agreement within 120 days after beginning negotiations, the
71 department shall terminate negotiations and the site shall be
72 ineligible for state funding under this subsection and all
73 liability protections provided for in this subsection shall be
74 revoked.
75 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
76 376.30713, Florida Statues, is amended, and paragraph (d) is
77 added to that subsection, to read:
78 376.30713 Advanced cleanup.—
79 (2) The department may approve an application for advanced
80 cleanup at eligible sites, including applications submitted
81 pursuant to paragraph (c), notwithstanding the site’s priority
82 ranking established pursuant to s. 376.3071(5)(a), pursuant to
83 this section. Only the facility owner or operator or the person
84 otherwise responsible for site rehabilitation qualifies as an
85 applicant under this section.
86 (a) Advanced cleanup applications may be submitted between
87 May 1 and June 30 and between November 1 and December 31 of each
88 fiscal year. Applications submitted between May 1 and June 30
89 shall be for the fiscal year beginning July 1. An application
90 must consist of:
91 1. A commitment to pay 25 percent or more of the total
92 cleanup cost deemed recoverable under this section along with
93 proof of the ability to pay the cost share. The department shall
94 determine whether the cost savings demonstration is acceptable.
95 Such determination is not subject to chapter 120.
96 a. Applications for the aggregate cleanup of five or more
97 sites may be submitted in one of two formats to meet the cost
98 share requirement:
99 (I) For an aggregate application proposing that the
100 department enter into a performance-based contract, the
101 applicant may use a commitment to pay, a demonstrated cost
102 savings to the department, or both to meet the requirement.
103 (II) For an aggregate application relying on a demonstrated
104 cost savings to the department, the applicant shall, in
105 conjunction with the proposed agency term contractor, establish
106 and provide in the application the percentage of cost savings in
107 the aggregate that is being provided to the department for
108 cleanup of the sites under the application compared to the cost
109 of cleanup of those same sites using the current rates provided
110 to the department by the proposed agency term contractor.
111 b. Applications for the cleanup of individual sites may be
112 submitted in one of two formats to meet the cost-share
113 requirement:
114 (I) For an individual application proposing that the
115 department enter into a performance-based contract, the
116 applicant may use a commitment to pay, a demonstrated cost
117 savings to the department, or both to meet the requirement.
118 (II) For an individual application relying on a
119 demonstrated cost savings to the department, the applicant
120 shall, in conjunction with the proposed agency term contractor,
121 establish and provide in the application a 25-percent cost
122 savings to the department for cleanup of the site under the
123 application compared to the cost of cleanup of the same site
124 using the current rates provided to the department by the
125 proposed agency term contractor.
126 2. A nonrefundable review fee of $250 to cover the
127 administrative costs associated with the department’s review of
128 the application.
129 3. A property owner or responsible party agreement in which
130 the property owner or responsible party commits to continue to
131 participate in the advanced cleanup program upon completion of
132 the limited contamination assessment and finalization of the
133 proposed course of action limited contamination assessment
134 report.
135 4. A conceptual proposed course of action.
136 5. A department site access agreement, or similar
137 agreements approved by the department that do not violate state
138 law, entered into with the property owner or owners, as
139 applicable, and evidence of authorization from such owner or
140 owners for petroleum site rehabilitation program tasks
141 consistent with the proposed course of action where the
142 applicant is not the property owner for any of the sites
143 contained in the application.
144
145 The limited contamination assessment report must be sufficient
146 to support the proposed course of action and to estimate the
147 cost of the proposed course of action. Costs incurred related to
148 conducting the limited contamination assessment report are not
149 refundable from the Inland Protection Trust Fund. Site
150 eligibility under this subsection or any other provision of this
151 section is not an entitlement to advanced cleanup or continued
152 restoration funding. The applicant shall certify to the
153 department that the applicant has the prerequisite authority to
154 enter into an advanced cleanup contract with the department. The
155 certification must be submitted with the application.
156 (d) Upon acceptance of an advanced cleanup application, the
157 applicant’s selected agency term contractor shall submit to the
158 department a scope of work for a limited contamination
159 assessment. Once the scope of work is negotiated and agreed
160 upon, the department shall issue a purchase order or purchase
161 orders for the limited contamination assessment of up to $35,000
162 per purchase order. The limited contamination assessment report
163 must be sufficient to support the proposed course of action and
164 to estimate the cost of the proposed course of action.
165 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.
