Title: Infrastructure Project Funding

Summary: Prohibits administering agency from disbursing funds from any category of General Appropriations Act for infrastructure projects under certain conditions; requires grantee to use revenues for infrastructure projects for certain activities only; prohibits water management districts from disbursing funds to grantees for water-related projects unless certain conditions are met; prohibits potential grantees from seeking funds for water-related projects under certain conditions; provides criteria under which applicants may apply for water project grant funding; prohibits applicants from seeking water project grant funding under certain conditions.

Full Text:
An act relating to infrastructure project funding; creating s. 216.3492, F.S.; providing definitions; prohibiting an administering agency from disbursing funds from any category of the General Appropriations Act for infrastructure projects under certain conditions; requiring a grantee to use the revenues for infrastructure projects for certain activities; amending s. 373.501, F.S.; prohibiting water management di stricts from disbursing funds to grantees for water-related projects unless certain conditions are met; prohibiting potential grantees from seeking funds for water-related projects under certain conditions; amending s. 403.885, F.S.; prohibiting certain en tities from applying for water project grant funding; prohibiting applicants from seeking water project grant funding under certain conditions; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. Sec tion 216.3492, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 216.3492 Limitation on disbursements to certain local governments and special districts for infrastructure projects.- HB 2022 (1) As used in this section, the term: (a) "Administering agency" means the gov ernmental agency or entity charged in any category of the General Appropriations Act with administering or disbursing an appropriation. (b) "General governmental functions" means all the services, other than provision of utility services, provided by a grantee. However, for the purposes of this section, the term does not include administrative and support services provided by the grantee to a government-owned utility under an approved cost allocation plan. (c) "Government-owned utility" means any electr ic, water, stormwater, or wastewater utility system owned by a municipality, a county, a rural electric cooperative, or a special district created to own and operate a government-owned utility. (d) "Grantee" means a county, a municipality, a rural electric cooperative, or a special district created to own and operate a government-owned utility, which applies for funds appropriated by the Legislature in the General Appropriations Act. (e) "Infrastructure project" means a project related to coastal resili ency, flood control, stormwater management, wastewater management, water supply, or power generation, including the construction, renovation, maintenance, operations or repair of building or facility, fixtures and equipment. HB 2022 (2) An administering agency may not disburse funds from any category of the General Appropriations Act related to infrastructure projects to a grantee if the grantee uses any revenues collected in providing utility services to finance the grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to finance the grantee's general governmental functions. To be eligible for a disbursement of an appropriation or a grant by an administering agency, the grantee must use the revenues of the government-owned utility exclusively for construction,operations, maintenance, and administrative costs directly associated with providing utility services to its customers. Section 2. Subsection (3) is added to section 373.501, Florida Statutes, to read: 373.501 Appropriation of funds to water manage ment districts;appropriation of funds from water management districts.-(3) A water management district may not appropriate or disburse funds to a grantee from any source for any water related project, including, but not limited to, a coastal resiliency,flood control, stormwater management, wastewater management, or water supply project, if the recipient uses revenues it collects in providing utility services to finance the grantee's general governmental functions or to lend money to finance the grantee 's general governmental functions, as defined in s. 216.3492(1)(b). A potential grantee may not seek funds if HB 2022 any of the revenues it collects in providing utility services are transferred to another fund to finance the grantee's general governmental functi ons or if the revenues collected are used to provide loans to finance its general governmental functions. For purposes of this subsection, the term "grantee" means a county or municipality that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater services, or a speci al district created to own and operate a utility that provides water, stormwater, or wastewater services. Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 403.885, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 403.885 Water Projects Grant Program.-(1) The Department of Environmental Protection shall administer a grant program to use funds appropriated by the Legislature for water quality improvement, stormwater management, wastewater management, and water restoration and other water projects as spe cifically appropriated by the Legislature. Eligible recipients of such grants include counties, municipalities, water management districts, and special districts that have legal responsibilities for water quality improvement, water management, stormwater management, wastewater management, lake and river water restoration projects, and drinking water projects pursuant to this section. To be eligible for grant funding, a recipient of grant funds must verify to the department that it will use the revenues received exclusively for construction, operations, maintenance HB 2022 or administrative costs directly associated with providing utility services to its customers. A recipient may not apply for grant funding if any of the revenues it collects from providing utility services are transferred to any other fund to finance the recipient's general governmental functions, as defined in s. 216.3492(1)(b), or if the revenues collected are used to lend funds to finance the recipient's general governmental functions. Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.