CS/HB 759

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the placement of vessels in state or
3	federal waters seaward of the state to form artificial
4	reefs; amending s. 370.25, F.S., relating to the state's
5	artificial reef program; providing legislative findings;
6	authorizing the planning and development of a statewide
7	matching grant program to secure and place United States
8	Maritime Administration and United States Navy
9	decommissioned vessels in specified waters as artificial
10	reefs; authorizing the planning and development of a pilot
11	program for the preparation and deployment of a specified
12	decommissioned vessel in Key West to serve as a model for
13	the development of procedures for the placement of such
14	vessels in specified waters; providing for administration
15	of the programs by the Florida Fish and Wildlife
16	Conservation Commission; providing for implementation of
17	the programs subject to appropriations; providing
18	objectives of the programs; creating s. 370.255, F.S.;
19	providing for the establishment of the Florida Ships-2-
20	Reefs Program and matching grant program by the Florida
21	Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; providing the
22	purposes of the program; specifying the percentage of the
23	state matching grant; providing procedures and
24	requirements with respect to the programs; authorizing the
25	Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to adopt
26	rules; providing for the establishment of a pilot program
27	to fund the preparation and deployment of a specified
28	vessel in state waters; providing for reports; authorizing
29	provision of funds under the program contingent upon an
30	appropriation; providing requirements of the commission
31	with respect to the development of procedures for
32	conducting the pilot program and the examination and use
33	of other funding options; providing for a report;
34	providing an effective date.
35
36	WHEREAS, in the past, the United States Navy has used
37	unneeded ships as targets for military exercises known as
38	sinking exercises, and
39	WHEREAS, now the Navy has devised an alternative means of
40	disposing of obsolete Navy vessels that allows the vessels to
41	serve in a productive capacity for hundreds of years past their
42	intended use, and
43	WHEREAS, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal
44	Year 2004 allows appropriate decommissioned ships to be donated
45	for use as artificial reefing, and
46	WHEREAS, the process of using obsolete vessels as man-made
47	artificial reefs not only promotes marine life and fishing but
48	relieves pressures on natural coral reefs, and
49	WHEREAS, the measure allows the Navy to accomplish the
50	overall process for the cost-effective donation and transfer of
51	available naval vessels, and
52	WHEREAS, the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD)
53	will coordinate the federal agency solicitation and application
54	for obtaining the vessels for use as artificial reefs, and
55	WHEREAS, the donation and transfer application for all
56	United States Navy and MARAD ships available for use as
57	artificial reefs may be submitted only by states, commonwealths,
58	and territories and possessions of the United States, or
59	municipal corporations or political subdivisions thereof, and
60	WHEREAS, the placement in Florida waters of the U.S.S.
61	Spiegel Grove in 2002 and the U.S.S. Oriskany in 2006 has
62	already provided a substantial economic benefit to the state and
63	to communities and businesses in the proximity of the
64	placements, and
65	WHEREAS, the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a 520-
66	foot military vessel, is being sought as the next decommissioned
67	vessel to be deployed as an artificial reef at a currently
68	permitted site off the coast of Key West, contingent upon funds
69	being made available for the preparation and sinking of the
70	vessel, and
71	WHEREAS, Florida already has the Florida Maritime Heritage
72	Trail, a collection of locations that are open to the public in
73	Florida and which currently include six themes, those themes
74	being Coastal Communities, Coastal Environments, Coastal Forts,
75	Lighthouses, Historic Ports, and Historic Shipwrecks, and
76	WHEREAS, this act would add a new, seventh theme to the
77	Maritime Heritage Trail, a United States military vessel theme,
78	and
79	WHEREAS, the program provides a practical option for
80	disposing of inactive decommissioned naval vessels in a cost-
81	effective and environmentally sound manner that can continue to
82	promote ecotourism associated with recreational diving and
83	fishing in Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
84
85	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
86
87	Section 1.  Subsection (8) is added to section 370.25,
88	Florida Statutes, to read:
89	370.25  Artificial reef program; grants and financial and
90	technical assistance to local governments.--
91	(8)  The Legislature finds that a statewide matching grant
92	program to secure and place United States Maritime
93	Administration (MARAD) and United States Navy decommissioned
94	vessels in state or federal waters seaward of the state as
95	artificial reefs would be of great benefit to Floridians in
96	promoting ecotourism associated with recreational diving and
97	fishing in Florida. The Legislature further finds that a pilot
98	program for the preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S.
99	General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in Key West would assist in the
100	appropriate development of procedures for the placement of
101	decommissioned vessels in state or federal waters seaward of the
102	state. Therefore, the Legislature authorizes the planning and
103	development of a statewide matching grant program and a pilot
104	program as described in this subsection to be administered by
105	the commission. The programs will be implemented subject to
106	appropriations. The objectives in establishing the programs are
107	to:
108	(a)  Assist in reducing the pressures on natural coral
109	reefs in state or federal waters seaward of the state and
110	increase the opportunities for recreational diving and fishing.
111	(b)  Provide a mechanism through which local counties and
112	municipalities that are permitted to place vessels in state or
113	federal waters seaward of the state as artificial reefs can
114	apply for and receive state matching grants for the placement of
115	decommissioned MARAD and United States Navy vessels. Funds may
116	be used for cleaning, preparing, towing, and sinking of such
117	decommissioned vessels.
118	(c)  Provide state funds that would be matched with local
119	funds, federal funds, and funds from local businesses.
120	(d)  Establish criteria to determine eligibility for such
121	state matching funds.
122	(e)  Assist counties and municipalities with the donation
123	and transfer application for United States Navy and MARAD
124	decommissioned vessels available for use as artificial reefs in
125	accordance with MARAD application evaluation criteria.
126	(f)  Develop a master plan for the purposes of maximizing
127	the number and type of vessels to be placed in state or federal
128	waters seaward of the state that provides for the location of
129	vessels in the most geographically effective and beneficial
130	manner.
131	(g)  Establish and promote standards for the placement of
132	MARAD and United States Navy decommissioned vessels in state or
133	federal waters seaward of the state, consistent with current
134	environmental standards and the mandate of Section 3516 of the
135	National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 and the
136	2006 publication, "National Guidance: Best Management Practices
137	for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial Reefs,"
138	published jointly by the United States Environmental Protection
139	Agency and the United States Maritime Administration, which
140	emphasized minimization of the release of harmful substances
141	into the environment while decommissioned vessels are at
142	anchorage and are undergoing disposal processes.
143	(h)  Provide for and receive interagency comments from the
144	agencies responsible for the permitting of artificial reefs and
145	the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, allowing for
146	a review period consistent with MARAD and United States Navy
147	application deadlines.
148	(i)  Establish a United States military vessel component as
149	a seventh theme for Florida's Maritime Heritage Trail to promote
150	Florida's nature-based tourism and heritage tourism.
151	(j)  Provide for title of decommissioned vessels to be
152	transferred to the state.
153	Section 2.  Section 370.255, Florida Statutes, is created
154	to read:
155	370.255  Ships-2-Reefs Program; matching grant program.--
156	(1)  The commission is authorized to establish the Florida
157	Ships-2-Reefs Program, a matching grant program for the securing
158	and placement of United States Maritime Administration (MARAD)
159	and United States Navy decommissioned vessels in state or
160	federal waters seaward of the state to serve as artificial reefs
161	and, pursuant thereto, to make expenditures and enter into
162	contracts with local governments and nonprofit corporations for
163	the purpose of securing and placing MARAD and United States Navy
164	decommissioned vessels as artificial reefs in state or federal
165	waters seaward of the state pursuant to s. 370.25(8) and
166	performing the environmental preparation and cleaning requisite
167	to the placement of a vessel as an artificial reef, which
168	preparation and cleaning must meet the standards established in
169	the 2006 publication, "National Guidance: Best Management
170	Practices for Preparing Vessels Intended to Create Artificial
171	Reefs," published jointly by the United States Environmental
172	Protection Agency and the United States Maritime Administration.
173	The commission shall have final approval of grants awarded
174	through this program.
175	(2)  Each grant awarded under the program shall be matched
176	by nonstate funds. The limit for a state matching grant shall be
177	33 percent of the total cost for securing and placing the
178	decommissioned vessel and performing the requisite environmental
179	preparation and cleaning which meets the standards cited in
180	subsection (1) prior to placement of the vessel.
181	(3)  The commission may:
182	(a)  Receive submissions of requests for matching funds and
183	documentation relating to those requests;
184	(b)  Approve requests for matching funds; and
185	(c)  Allocate matching funds to local governments or
186	nonprofit corporations.
187	(4)  To demonstrate that a local government or nonprofit
188	corporation meets the required criteria, the local government or
189	nonprofit corporation must submit formal agreements, written
190	pledges, memorandums of understanding, financing arrangements,
191	or other documents demonstrating that nonstate matching funds
192	are available for securing and placing the vessel prior to
193	submission of an application. Matching grant funds shall be
194	released only upon documentation that meets all the criteria
195	established in rules adopted by the commission pursuant to
196	subsection (5).
197	(5)  The commission is authorized to adopt rules pursuant
198	to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to address procedures necessary to
199	administer the matching grants provided in this section.
200	(6)  In accordance with the findings stated in s.
201	370.25(8), the commission shall establish a pilot program to
202	fund the preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General
203	Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the waters off Key West and shall, by
204	January 1, 2008, and each year thereafter, provide to the
205	Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
206	House of Representatives an annual report on the success and
207	outcomes achieved by the pilot program, with a recommendation as
208	to whether the pilot program should be continued, terminated, or
209	expanded. The commission shall also report on the procedures
210	developed and used for the proper preparation and deployment of
211	the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg consistent with the
212	objectives stated in s. 370.25(8).
213	(7)  Contingent upon a specific appropriation to the
214	commission for the pilot program, the commission may provide
215	funds to pay for a portion of the cost of the preparation and
216	deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S. Vandenberg in the
217	waters off Key West. The commission shall develop procedures for
218	conducting the pilot program, including, but not limited to,
219	procedures for determining eligibility, providing payment,
220	ensuring that payment is limited solely to the costs of
221	preparing and deploying the vessel, and ensuring that payments
222	are made to eligible persons or local governments in the order
223	in which each is determined eligible until the funds are
224	exhausted. The commission shall examine and use, to the extent
225	possible, other available options for funding the cost of the
226	preparation and deployment of the U.S.A.F.S. General Hoyt S.
227	Vandenberg, including the use of funds raised by private
228	agencies or persons.
229	(8)  No later than January 1, 2008, and each January 1
230	thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the
231	Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
232	House of Representatives detailing the expenditure of the funds
233	appropriated to it for the purposes of carrying out the
234	provisions of this section.
235	Section 3.  This act shall take upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.