HB 1367

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to water management districts; amending s.
3	373.0693, F.S.; revising provisions relating to the
4	membership of basin boards; specifying the terms of
5	service for basin board members designated by district
6	governing board chairs; providing that basin board members
7	designated by district governing board chairs are voting
8	members and counted for quorum purposes; providing for
9	designated district governing board members to serve as
10	basin board chairs and co-chairs; authorizing basin boards
11	to transact official business under certain conditions;
12	revising provisions relating to the membership of the
13	Manasota Basin Board; providing for the designation of a
14	member of the district governing board to serve on the
15	basin board; amending s. 373.171, F.S.; exempting
16	cooperative funding programs from certain rulemaking
17	requirements; providing an effective date.
18
19	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21	Section 1.  Subsections (1) through (7) of section
22	373.0693, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
23	373.0693  Basins; basin boards.-
24	(1)(a)  Any areas within a district may be designated by
25	the district governing board as subdistricts or basins. The
26	designations of such basins shall be made by resolution of the
27	district governing board by resolutions thereof. The district
28	governing board of the district may change the boundaries of
29	such basins, or create new basins, by resolution.
30	(2)  Each basin shall be under the control of a basin board
31	which shall be composed of at least not less than three members,
32	including one or more representatives but shall include one
33	representative from each of the counties included in the basin.
34	(3)  Except for a member of the district governing board
35	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), each member
36	of a the various basin board boards shall be appointed serve for
37	a period of 3 years or until a successor is appointed, but not
38	more than 180 days after the end of the term., except that The
39	board membership of each new basin board shall be divided into
40	three groups as equally as possible, with members in such groups
41	to be appointed for 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. Each basin
42	board shall choose a vice chair and a secretary to serve for a
43	period of 1 year. The term of office of a basin board member
44	shall be construed to commence on March 2 preceding the date of
45	appointment and to terminate March 1 of the year of the end of a
46	term or may continue until a successor is appointed, but not
47	more than 180 days after the end of the expired term. A member
48	of the district governing board serving on a basin board
49	pursuant to subsection (6) shall serve for a period commensurate
50	with his or her term on the governing board.
51	(4)  Except for a member of the district governing board
52	serving on a basin board pursuant to subsection (6), members of
53	a basin board boards shall be appointed by the Governor, subject
54	to confirmation by the Senate at the next regular session of the
55	Legislature; and the refusal or failure of the Senate to confirm
56	an appointment shall create a vacancy in the office to which the
57	appointment was made.
58	(5)  Basin board members shall serve without receive no
59	compensation for services as such; but are entitled to
60	reimbursement for per diem and travel expenses as provided in s.
61	112.061, while officially on work for the district, they shall
62	receive their actual travel expenses between their respective
63	places of residence and the place where official district
64	business is conducted, subsistence, lodging, and other expenses
65	in the amount actually incurred. These expenses may not exceed
66	the statutory amount allowed state officers and employees. This
67	subsection applies retroactively to the effective date of the
68	creation of each of the five separate water management
69	districts.
70	(6)(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of the
71	provisions of any other general or special law to the contrary,
72	a member of the district governing board of the district
73	residing in the basin or, if no member resides in the basin, a
74	member of the district governing board designated by the chair
75	of the district governing board shall be a voting member of the
76	basin board and counted for purposes of establishing a quorum.
77	(b)  A governing board member shall serve as the chair of
78	the basin board. If more than one governing board member is
79	designated to a basin board, each shall rotate as co-chair of
80	the basin board. The chair or co-chair shall preside at all
81	meetings of the basin board, except that the vice chair may
82	preside in the his or her absence of the chair and co-chair. The
83	chair shall be the liaison officer of the district in all
84	affairs in the basin and shall be kept informed of all such
85	affairs.
86	(c)  If a vacancy occurs on a basin board, a quorum of the
87	total remaining members of the basin board may continue to
88	transact official business until a successor is appointed.
89	(d)(b)  Basin boards within the Southwest Florida Water
90	Management District shall meet regularly as determined by a
91	majority vote of the basin board members. Subject to notice
92	requirements of chapter 120, special meetings, both emergency
93	and nonemergency, may be called either by the chair or the
94	elected vice chair of the basin board or upon request of two
95	basin board members. The district staff shall include on the
96	agenda of any basin board meeting any item for discussion or
97	action requested by a member of that basin board. The district
98	staff shall notify any basin board, as well as their respective
99	counties, of any vacancies occurring in the district governing
100	board or their respective basin boards.
101	(7)  At 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 1976, the Manasota
102	Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
103	Management District, which is annexed to the Southwest Florida
104	Water Management District by change of its boundaries pursuant
105	to chapter 76-243, Laws of Florida, shall be formed into a
106	subdistrict or basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
107	District, subject to the same provisions as the other basins in
108	such district. Such subdistrict shall be designated initially as
109	the Manasota Basin. The members of the governing board of the
110	Manasota Watershed Basin of the Ridge and Lower Gulf Coast Water
111	Management District shall become members of the governing board
112	of the Manasota Basin of the Southwest Florida Water Management
113	District. Notwithstanding other provisions in this section,
114	beginning on July 1, 2010 2001, the membership of the Manasota
115	Basin Board shall be comprised of two members from Manatee
116	County, and two members from Sarasota County, and a member of
117	the district governing board designated by the chair of the
118	district governing board pursuant to subsection (6). Matters
119	relating to tie votes shall be resolved pursuant to subsection
120	(6) by the chair designated by the governing board to vote in
121	case of a tie vote.
122	Section 2.  Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
123	section 373.171, Florida Statutes, to read:
124	373.171  Rules.-
125	(5)  Cooperative funding programs are not subject to the
126	rulemaking requirements of chapter 120. However, any portion of
127	an approved program which affects the substantial interests of a
128	party shall be subject to s. 120.569.
129	Section 3.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

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