Florida Senate - 2019                                    SB 1564
       
       
        
       By Senator Albritton
       
       
       
       
       
       26-01501-19                                           20191564__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to petroleum cleanup; amending s.
    3         376.3071, F.S.; revising requirements for a limited
    4         contamination assessment report in which a property
    5         owner, operator, or person otherwise responsible for
    6         site rehabilitation must provide to the Department of
    7         Environmental Protection for the Petroleum Cleanup
    8         Participation Program; amending s. 376.30713, F.S.;
    9         revising the contents of an advanced cleanup
   10         application to include a specified property owner or
   11         responsible party agreement; requiring an applicant to
   12         submit a scope of work after the department has
   13         accepted the applicant’s advanced cleanup application;
   14         requiring the department to issue a purchase order for
   15         a certain contamination assessment; providing an
   16         effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (13) of section
   21  376.3071, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   22         376.3071 Inland Protection Trust Fund; creation; purposes;
   23  funding.—
   24         (13) PETROLEUM CLEANUP PARTICIPATION PROGRAM.—To encourage
   25  detection, reporting, and cleanup of contamination caused by
   26  discharges of petroleum or petroleum products, the department
   27  shall, within the guidelines established in this subsection,
   28  implement a cost-sharing cleanup program to provide
   29  rehabilitation funding assistance for all property contaminated
   30  by discharges of petroleum or petroleum products from a
   31  petroleum storage system occurring before January 1, 1995,
   32  subject to a copayment provided for in a Petroleum Cleanup
   33  Participation Program site rehabilitation agreement. Eligibility
   34  is subject to an annual appropriation from the fund.
   35  Additionally, funding for eligible sites is contingent upon
   36  annual appropriation in subsequent years. Such continued state
   37  funding is not an entitlement or a vested right under this
   38  subsection. Eligibility shall be determined in the program,
   39  notwithstanding any other provision of law, consent order,
   40  order, judgment, or ordinance to the contrary.
   41         (d) Upon notification by the department that rehabilitation
   42  funding assistance is available for the site pursuant to
   43  subsections (5) and (6), the property owner, operator, or person
   44  otherwise responsible for site rehabilitation shall provide the
   45  department with a limited contamination assessment report and
   46  shall enter into a Petroleum Cleanup Participation Program site
   47  rehabilitation agreement with the department. The limited
   48  contamination assessment report must be sufficient to support
   49  the proposed course of action and to estimate the cost of the
   50  proposed course of action. The agreement must provide for a 25
   51  percent cost savings and may use a copayment by the owner,
   52  operator, or person otherwise responsible for conducting site
   53  rehabilitation or may use a demonstrated cost savings to the
   54  department, in the form of reduced rates by the proposed agency
   55  term contractor or the difference in cost associated with a RMO
   56  I closure versus an RMO-II closure, or both the copayment and
   57  demonstrated cost savings. The owner, operator, or person
   58  otherwise responsible for conducting site rehabilitation shall
   59  adequately demonstrate the ability to meet the copayment
   60  obligation. The limited contamination assessment report and the
   61  copayment costs may be reduced or eliminated if the owner and
   62  all operators responsible for restoration under s. 376.308
   63  demonstrate that they cannot financially comply with the
   64  copayment and limited contamination assessment report
   65  requirements. The department shall take into consideration the
   66  owner’s and operator’s net worth in making the determination of
   67  financial ability. In the event the department and the owner,
   68  operator, or person otherwise responsible for site
   69  rehabilitation cannot complete negotiation of the cost-sharing
   70  agreement within 120 days after beginning negotiations, the
   71  department shall terminate negotiations and the site shall be
   72  ineligible for state funding under this subsection and all
   73  liability protections provided for in this subsection shall be
   74  revoked.
   75         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section
   76  376.30713, Florida Statues, is amended, and paragraph (d) is
   77  added to that subsection, to read:
   78         376.30713 Advanced cleanup.—
   79         (2) The department may approve an application for advanced
   80  cleanup at eligible sites, including applications submitted
   81  pursuant to paragraph (c), notwithstanding the site’s priority
   82  ranking established pursuant to s. 376.3071(5)(a), pursuant to
   83  this section. Only the facility owner or operator or the person
   84  otherwise responsible for site rehabilitation qualifies as an
   85  applicant under this section.
   86         (a) Advanced cleanup applications may be submitted between
   87  May 1 and June 30 and between November 1 and December 31 of each
   88  fiscal year. Applications submitted between May 1 and June 30
   89  shall be for the fiscal year beginning July 1. An application
   90  must consist of:
   91         1. A commitment to pay 25 percent or more of the total
   92  cleanup cost deemed recoverable under this section along with
   93  proof of the ability to pay the cost share. The department shall
   94  determine whether the cost savings demonstration is acceptable.
   95  Such determination is not subject to chapter 120.
   96         a. Applications for the aggregate cleanup of five or more
   97  sites may be submitted in one of two formats to meet the cost
   98  share requirement:
   99         (I) For an aggregate application proposing that the
  100  department enter into a performance-based contract, the
  101  applicant may use a commitment to pay, a demonstrated cost
  102  savings to the department, or both to meet the requirement.
  103         (II) For an aggregate application relying on a demonstrated
  104  cost savings to the department, the applicant shall, in
  105  conjunction with the proposed agency term contractor, establish
  106  and provide in the application the percentage of cost savings in
  107  the aggregate that is being provided to the department for
  108  cleanup of the sites under the application compared to the cost
  109  of cleanup of those same sites using the current rates provided
  110  to the department by the proposed agency term contractor.
  111         b. Applications for the cleanup of individual sites may be
  112  submitted in one of two formats to meet the cost-share
  113  requirement:
  114         (I) For an individual application proposing that the
  115  department enter into a performance-based contract, the
  116  applicant may use a commitment to pay, a demonstrated cost
  117  savings to the department, or both to meet the requirement.
  118         (II) For an individual application relying on a
  119  demonstrated cost savings to the department, the applicant
  120  shall, in conjunction with the proposed agency term contractor,
  121  establish and provide in the application a 25-percent cost
  122  savings to the department for cleanup of the site under the
  123  application compared to the cost of cleanup of the same site
  124  using the current rates provided to the department by the
  125  proposed agency term contractor.
  126         2. A nonrefundable review fee of $250 to cover the
  127  administrative costs associated with the department’s review of
  128  the application.
  129         3. A property owner or responsible party agreement in which
  130  the property owner or responsible party commits to continue to
  131  participate in the advanced cleanup program upon completion of
  132  the limited contamination assessment and finalization of the
  133  proposed course of action limited contamination assessment
  134  report.
  135         4. A conceptual proposed course of action.
  136         5. A department site access agreement, or similar
  137  agreements approved by the department that do not violate state
  138  law, entered into with the property owner or owners, as
  139  applicable, and evidence of authorization from such owner or
  140  owners for petroleum site rehabilitation program tasks
  141  consistent with the proposed course of action where the
  142  applicant is not the property owner for any of the sites
  143  contained in the application.
  144  
  145  The limited contamination assessment report must be sufficient
  146  to support the proposed course of action and to estimate the
  147  cost of the proposed course of action. Costs incurred related to
  148  conducting the limited contamination assessment report are not
  149  refundable from the Inland Protection Trust Fund. Site
  150  eligibility under this subsection or any other provision of this
  151  section is not an entitlement to advanced cleanup or continued
  152  restoration funding. The applicant shall certify to the
  153  department that the applicant has the prerequisite authority to
  154  enter into an advanced cleanup contract with the department. The
  155  certification must be submitted with the application.
  156         (d) Upon acceptance of an advanced cleanup application, the
  157  applicant’s selected agency term contractor shall submit to the
  158  department a scope of work for a limited contamination
  159  assessment. Once the scope of work is negotiated and agreed
  160  upon, the department shall issue a purchase order or purchase
  161  orders for the limited contamination assessment of up to $35,000
  162  per purchase order. The limited contamination assessment report
  163  must be sufficient to support the proposed course of action and
  164  to estimate the cost of the proposed course of action.
  165         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.