HB 0711 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Local Government & Veterans' Affairs recommends
7	the following:
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9	Committee Substitute
10	Remove the entire bill and insert:
11	A bill to be entitled
12	An act relating to soil and water conservation; amending
13	s. 582.06, F.S.; increasing membership of the Soil and
14	Water Conservation Council; specifying qualifications for
15	members; amending ss. 582.10 and 582.30, F.S.; revising
16	provisions relating to the creation and discontinuance of
17	soil and water conservation districts; authorizing the
18	Commissioner of Agriculture to dissolve or discontinue a
19	district; providing an effective date.
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21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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23	Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 582.06, Florida
24	Statutes, is amended to read:
25	582.06 Soil and Water Conservation Council; powers and
26	duties.--
27	(1) COMPOSITION.--The Soil and Water Conservation Council
28	is created in the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
29	Services and shall be composed of 23nine members as followswho
30	shall:
31	(a) Eleven members shall be persons who have been involved
32	in the practice ofpracticing soil or water conservation, or in
33	the development or implementation of interim measures or best
34	management practices related thereto, and who have been engaged
35	in agriculture or an occupation related to the agricultural
36	industryfarming for at least 5 continuousyears at the time of
37	their appointment.
38	(b) Twelve nonvoting ex officio members shall include one
39	representative each from the Department of Environmental
40	Protection, the five water management districts, the Institute
41	of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida,
42	the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources
43	Conservation Service, the Florida Association of Counties, the
44	Florida League of Cities, and two representatives of
45	environmental interests.
46	(c)(b)All members shall be appointed by the commissioner.
47	Ex officio members shall be appointed by the commissioner from
48	recommendations provided by the organization or interest
49	represented.No two members shall be appointed from the same
50	congressional district.
51	(d)(c)Members shallserve 4-year terms or until their
52	successors are duly qualified and appointed. If a vacancy
53	occurs, it shall be filled for the remainder of the term in the
54	manner of an initial appointment.
55	Section 2. Subsection (1) of section 582.10, Florida
56	Statutes, is amended to read:
57	582.10 Creation of soil and water conservation
58	districts.--
59	(1) Any 10 percent of25owners of land lying within the
60	limits of the territory proposed to be organized into a district
61	may file a petition with the Department of Agriculture and
62	Consumer Services, asking that a soil and water conservation
63	district be organized to function in the territory described in
64	the petition. Such petition shall set forth:
65	(a) The proposed name of said district.
66	(b) That there is need, in the interest of the public
67	health, safety, and welfare, for a soil and water conservation
68	district to function in the territory described in the petition.
69	(c) A description of the territory proposed to be
70	organized as a district, which description shall not be required
71	to be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but
72	shall be deemed sufficient if generally accurate.
73	(d) A request that the department duly define the
74	boundaries for such district; that a referendum be held within
75	the territory so defined on the question of the creation of a
76	soil and water conservation district in such territory; and that
77	the department determine that such a district be created.
78	Section 3. Section 582.30, Florida Statutes, is amended to
79	read:
80	582.30 Discontinuance of districts; referendum;
81	commissioner’s authority.--
82	(1) Any time after 5 years from the organization of a
83	district under the provisions of this chapter, any 10 percent of
84	25owners of land lying within the boundaries of such district
85	may file a petition with the Department of Agriculture and
86	Consumer Services praying that the operations of the district be
87	terminated and the existence of the district discontinued. The
88	department may conduct such public meetings and public hearings
89	upon petition as may be necessary to assist it in the
90	consideration thereof. Within 60 days after such a petition has
91	been received by the department it shall give due notice of the
92	holding of a referendum, and shall supervise such referendum,
93	and issue appropriate regulations governing the conduct thereof,
94	the question to be submitted by ballots upon which the words
95	"For terminating the existence of the _____ (Name of the soil
96	and water conservation district to be here inserted)" and
97	"Against terminating the existence of the _____ (Name of the
98	soil and water conservation district to be here inserted)" shall
99	appear with a square before each proposition and a direction to
100	insert an X mark in the square before one or the other of said
101	propositions as the voter may favor or oppose discontinuance of
102	such district. All owners of lands lying within the boundaries
103	of the district shall be eligible to vote in such referendum.
104	Only such landowners shall be eligible to vote. No informalities
105	in the conduct of such referendum or in any matters relating
106	thereto shall invalidate said referendum or the result thereof
107	if notice thereof shall have been given substantially as herein
108	provided and said referendum shall have been fairly conducted.
109	(2) If two-thirds or more of the qualified voters in such
110	referendum shall have voted for the discontinuance of the
111	district, the department shall certify to the supervisors of the
112	district the result of such referendum and that the continued
113	operation of the district is not administratively practicable
114	and feasible.
115	(3) In the alternative, upon review and recommendation of
116	the Soil and Water Conservation Council regarding the continued
117	viability of a district, the Commissioner of Agriculture may
118	dissolve or discontinue such district if the commissioner
119	certifies that the continued operation of the district is not
120	administratively practicable and feasible. Notice of such
121	proposed certification shall be published once a week for 2
122	weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the county or
123	counties wherein the district is located, stating the name of
124	the district, a general description of the territory included in
125	the district, and that any objections to the proposed
126	dissolution or any claims against the assets of the district
127	shall be filed with the department clerk not later than 60 days
128	following the date of last publication.
129	Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
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