Legislators filed 3,518 bills during the 2020 Florida Legislative Session, but only 210 of the bills introduced passed. A number of these bills were related to environmental and land use issues. We expect all bills to be presented to the Governor in the coming months for his consideration. Once a bill is presented, the Governor has 15 days to take action.

Important bills from the 2020 legislative session related to land development and environmental issues include the following:

Limitations on Impact Fee Assessment, and Impact Fee Credits Made More Useful: Senate Bill 1066 prohibits local governments from imposing new or increased impact fees on current or pending applications submitted before the effective date of the ordinance or resolution imposing the new or increased fee. Additionally, impact fee credits can be assigned and transferred from one development or parcel to any other development or parcel within the same impact fee zone or district, or an adjoining impact fee zone or district within the same local government jurisdiction that receives a benefit from the improvement generating the credits.

Local Governments May Approve Affordable Housing within Parcels Zoned Residential, Commercial, or Industrial: House Bill 1339 addresses several issues affecting zoning, bonding activities, impact fees, building inspections, and affordable housing. The bill authorizes local governments to create a linkage fee for the purpose of funding affordable housing, and provides that certain developers are entitled to a full offset of the fee. It allows local governments to approve affordable housing development in any parcel zoned for residential, commercial, or industrial use. The bill clarifies that experience with the Florida Housing Finance Corporation is not required for financing under the State Apartment Incentive Loan program. The bill also requires local governments to report impact fee data and affordable housing expenditures, and prohibits local governments from auditing a private building inspector more than four times per month. House Bill 1339 also expands current bonding abilities under the Florida Interlocal Cooperation Act of 1969 to permit loans to private entities with self-liquidating projects, regardless of the entity's location. 

Blue-Green Algae Task Force Recommendations Adopted: Senate Bill 0712 will be known as the "Clean Waterways Act." Responding to concerns such as red tide and blue-green algae accumulations which compromised our state surface waters in recent years, this bill addresses onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDSs, commonly referred to as septic systems), wastewater, stormwater, agriculture, and biosolids. For many of these topics, the bill directs the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to develop implementation rules. Under the bill, local governments would be required to develop remediation plans for OSTDSs within a Basin Management Action Plan area if these systems are determined to contribute 20 percent of the nutrient pollution contributing to the Total Maximum Daily Load. A similar requirement would be in place for local government domestic wastewater facilities. Going forward, the Secretary of the FDEP would only require the Governor and one other cabinet member to approve his or her appointment rather than three cabinet members. Also, among other things, the bill would prohibit local governments from passing laws that would provide legal rights to any plant, animal, water body, or other part of the natural environment unless otherwise authorized by state law or the State Constitution. If Governor DeSantis signs the bill into law, developers, local governments and those with agricultural interests should stay engaged in upcoming rulemaking that may affect their interests. As to developers, the pre-emption of local laws relating to the rights of nature may be beneficial and remove certain impediments to projects.

Key Provisions of Chapter 163 Amended Regarding Comprehensive Plans, Annexation, Development Orders, Development Agreements, and DRIs: Senate Bill 410 amends Chapter 163, including a prohibition on counties from adopting restrictions that limit a municipality's ability to establish land use and zoning regulations on municipal lands. This prohibition does not apply to counties with more than 750,000 people and a charter governing land use or development for all jurisdictions within the county. This bill also prioritizes small counties and municipalities within such counties for technical assistance funding for evaluating areas near the proposed new toll roads and in amending their comprehensive plans. In addition, newly adopted comprehensive plans must recognize development orders issued prior to the comprehensive plan's adoption and all local governments must adopt a private property rights section in their comprehensive plans. Interestingly, municipalities are only now prohibited from annexing an area within another municipal jurisdiction without that municipality's consent. Senate Bill 410 also allows development agreements to be amended or cancelled without the consent of parcel owners subject to the agreement unless the amendment or cancellation directly modifies the property owner's allowed uses or entitlements. Finally, this bill validates development of regional impact agreements classified as built out, and provides a process for amending those agreements.

Funding Increased for the Petroleum Cleanup Participation Program: Senate Bill 0702 authorizes the FDEP to use up to $10 million from the Inland Protection Trust Fund each fiscal year to pay for the labor and equipment costs expended to repair or replace petroleum storage systems that may have been damaged due to the storage of fuels blended with ethanol or biodiesels. The bill provides the procedures a petroleum storage system owner or operator must follow to apply for a payment to repair or replace certain petroleum equipment such as tanks and piping. The bill will be retroactive including repairs and replacements dating back to July of 2015. Additionally, the bill adjusts the requirements for the Petroleum Cleanup Participation Program and eliminates the requirement for a Limited Contamination Assessment Report as part of an advanced cleanup application. If this bill is signed into law by Governor DeSantis, then trust funds will be available to petroleum storage system owners and operators to repair or replace damaged petroleum equipment and petroleum program participants will have more options to proceed with site rehabilitation using state funded cleanups.

New Negotiation Opportunities Created for Property Owners with Agricultural Land Subject to a Conservation Easement: Senate Bill 7018 clarifies that property owners with land traditionally used for agriculture that is subject to a conservation easement can voluntarily negotiate their rights in exchange for the construction of any public or private linear facility and right of access. In addition, the bill authorizes the Florida Department of Transportation ("FDOT") to plan, design, and construct staging areas at key geographic locations on the turnpike system during a declared state of emergency. The bill also requires FDOT to develop and recommend a master plan for the development of electric vehicle charging station infrastructures along the State Highway System. Additionally, Senate Bill 7018 prevents a utility from being installed, located, or relocated unless authorized by FDOT and the appropriate local government entity issued a written permit.

State-Financed Construction Projects within the Coastal Building Zone Required to Evaluate Sea-Level Impact: Senate Bill 0178 imposes several new requirements for public financing on construction projects within coastal building zones. Constructors must conduct and submit a sea level impact project ("SLIP") study to the FDEP before commencing construction of a coastal structure. FDEP must initiate rulemaking procedures to develop minimum standards for SLIP studies, and the bill sets forth several required assessments to be included in the SLIP study, including an assessment of the flooding and wave action risks to the coastal structure over its expected life or 50 years, whichever is less.

Limitations on What Local Governments can Require of Private Property Owners and Private Contractors: House Bill 0073 requires contracts and requests for proposals between local governments and residential recycling collectors and recovered materials processing facilities to include provisions addressing the collection, transportation, and processing of contaminated recyclable material. The bill allows local governments to define "contaminated recyclable material." Additionally, the bill prohibits local governments from requiring a person to provide additional verification from the FDEP for certain construction projects if that project is exempt from having to receive an environmental resource permit from the state. Lastly, the bill allows replacement docks or piers to be constructed within 5 feet of the same location of an existing dock or pier so long as the replacement is not larger in size and does not adversely and permanently impact aquatic resources.

Civil Penalties Increased for Environmental Infractions: House Bill 1091 encourages local governments to establish a sanitary sewer lateral inspection program by July 1, 2022. Additionally, the bill requires a seller of real property to disclose any known defects in the property's sanitary sewer lateral to a prospective purchaser before executing a contract for sale. Lastly, the bill increases the civil penalties of several provisions relating to pollution and the environment. For a full list of all the statutory fine changes please click here.

Location of Endangered Species in Florida Exempt from Public Records Requirements: House Bill 0549 creates an exemption in Florida public record laws for site-specific location information of endangered species. The exemption does not apply to site-specific location information for animals held in captivity.

 
From the beginning, the members of our Land Development, Zoning & Environmental Practice Group and our Director of Government Affairs have been involved in tracking legislation and impacting (including drafting) for clients many of the above bills. We will continue to provide legislative updates as the Governor takes action on the over 200 bills that passed. For more information on any of the issues discussed here, please contact us.