CS for SB 1764                                   First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       20221764e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy
    3         Program; creating s. 377.814, F.S.; creating the
    4         Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program within the
    5         Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for a
    6         specified purpose; defining terms; requiring the
    7         department, subject to appropriation, to provide
    8         annual financial assistance grants to municipal solid
    9         waste-to-energy facilities that meet certain
   10         requirements; requiring the department to distribute
   11         funds to qualifying applicants based on certain
   12         criteria; requiring the department to establish a
   13         process to verify the amount of certain electric power
   14         purchases; directing the Public Service Commission to
   15         provide assistance in verifying grant eligibility;
   16         requiring the department, subject to appropriation, to
   17         provide incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to
   18         energy facilities to assist with certain costs;
   19         specifying requirements for applying for the funding;
   20         requiring the Department of Environmental Protection
   21         to provide assistance in determining grant eligibility
   22         and establishing requirements; requiring the
   23         department to perform grant overview; prohibiting
   24         funds from being used for specified purposes;
   25         establishing priority for funding for the grants;
   26         authorizing the balance of certain unexpended funds to
   27         be carried forward for a specified number of years;
   28         requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
   29         Services to adopt rules; providing an effective date.
   30  
   31         WHEREAS, as provided in s. 366.91(1), Florida Statutes, the
   32  Legislature has determined that it is in the public interest to
   33  promote the development of renewable energy resources in this
   34  state, and
   35         WHEREAS, under s. 366.91, Florida Statutes, municipal solid
   36  waste-to-energy facilities that use biomass as a fuel or energy
   37  source are deemed to be producing renewable energy, and
   38         WHEREAS, municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities provide
   39  a practical and sustainable solution to reducing landfill waste,
   40  reducing volume by about 87 percent, and
   41         WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes the benefits that
   42  municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities contribute to the
   43  state and its local communities, and
   44         WHEREAS, the Legislature intends to incentivize the
   45  production and sale of energy from municipal solid waste-to
   46  energy facilities through grant programs, NOW, THEREFORE,
   47  
   48  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   49  
   50         Section 1. Section 377.814, Florida Statutes, is created to
   51  read:
   52         377.814Municipal Solid Waste-to-Energy Program.—
   53         (1)CREATION AND PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAM.—The Municipal
   54  Solid Waste-to-Energy Program is created within the department.
   55  The purpose of the program is to provide financial assistance
   56  grants and incentive grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy
   57  facilities to incentivize the production and sale of energy from
   58  municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities while also reducing
   59  the amount of waste that would otherwise be disposed of in a
   60  landfill.
   61         (2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term:
   62         (a) “Department” means the Department of Agriculture and
   63  Consumer Services.
   64         (b) “Municipal solid waste-to-energy facility” means a
   65  publicly owned facility that uses an enclosed device using
   66  controlled combustion to thermally break down solid waste to an
   67  ash residue that contains little or no combustible material and
   68  that produces electricity, steam, or other energy as a result.
   69  The term does not include facilities that primarily burn fuels
   70  other than solid waste even if such facilities also burn some
   71  solid waste as a fuel supplement. The term does not include
   72  facilities that primarily burn vegetative, agricultural, or
   73  silvicultural wastes, bagasse, clean dry wood, methane or other
   74  landfill gas, wood fuel derived from construction or demolition
   75  debris, or waste tires, alone or in combination with fossil
   76  fuels.
   77         (3)FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department,
   78  subject to appropriation, shall provide annual financial
   79  assistance grants to municipal solid waste-to-energy facilities
   80  that entered into a power purchase agreement with an electric
   81  utility before January 1, 2022, which included capacity and
   82  energy payments, and the owner of the municipal solid waste-to
   83  energy facility has entered into a new or amended power purchase
   84  agreement that either no longer includes capacity payments or
   85  includes capacity and energy payments in an amount less than the
   86  total of the capacity and energy payments the municipal solid
   87  waste-to-energy facility received under the power purchase
   88  agreement entered into before January 1, 2022.
   89         (a) To apply for an annual financial assistance grant, the
   90  owner of a municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must submit
   91  an application to the department. The application must include
   92  the name of the applicant’s municipal solid waste-to-energy
   93  facility, the name of the utility purchasing the electric power
   94  from the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility, the total
   95  capacity and energy payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy
   96  facility received during the last year of the power purchase
   97  agreement entered into before January 1, 2022, and the amount of
   98  energy delivered to and the total amount paid for such power by
   99  an electric utility pursuant to a new or amended power purchase
  100  agreement during the preceding state fiscal year.
  101         (b) The department shall distribute funds, subject to
  102  appropriation, to each qualifying applicant at a rate of 2 cents
  103  per kilowatt-hour of electric power purchased by an electric
  104  utility during the preceding state fiscal year, not to exceed
  105  the difference between the total capacity and energy payment the
  106  municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received during the
  107  last year of the power purchase agreement entered into before
  108  January 1, 2022, and the total of the capacity and energy
  109  payment the municipal solid waste-to-energy facility received
  110  under a new or amended power purchase agreement during the
  111  preceding state fiscal year. To the extent that funds are not
  112  available to provide financial assistance to each qualifying
  113  applicant for every qualifying kilowatt-hour purchased, the
  114  department shall prorate the funds on an equitable basis.
  115         (c) The department shall establish a process to verify the
  116  amount of electric power purchased from a municipal solid waste
  117  to-energy facility by an electric utility during each preceding
  118  state fiscal year. The Public Service Commission shall provide
  119  assistance to the department to help verify the information
  120  provided pursuant to paragraph (a).
  121         (4)INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM.—The department, subject to
  122  appropriation, shall provide incentive grants to municipal solid
  123  waste-to-energy facilities to assist with the planning and
  124  designing for constructing, upgrading, or expanding a municipal
  125  solid waste-to-energy facility, including necessary legal or
  126  administrative expenses.
  127         (a)To qualify for an incentive grant, the owner of a
  128  municipal solid waste-to-energy facility must apply to the
  129  department for funding; provide matching funds on a dollar-for
  130  dollar basis; and demonstrate that the project is cost
  131  effective, permittable, and implementable and complies with s.
  132  403.7061.
  133         (b) The Department of Environmental Protection shall
  134  provide assistance to the department in determining the
  135  eligibility of grant applications and establishing requirements
  136  to ensure the long-term and efficient operation and maintenance
  137  of facilities constructed or expanded under an incentive grant.
  138         (c)The department shall perform adequate overview of each
  139  grant application and grant award, including technical review,
  140  regular inspections, disbursement approvals, and auditing, to
  141  implement this section.
  142         (d) Funds awarded under the incentive grant program may not
  143  be used to promote, establish, or convert a residential
  144  collection system that does not provide for the separate
  145  collection of residential solid waste from recovered materials
  146  as defined in s. 403.703.
  147         (e) The department shall require the termination or
  148  repayment of incentive grant funds if the department determines
  149  that program requirements are not being met.
  150         (5)FUNDING.—
  151         (a)Funds appropriated for the Municipal Solid Waste-to
  152  Energy Program must first be used for financial assistance
  153  grants. Any funds remaining in a state fiscal year after
  154  disbursement to all qualifying applicants may be used to fund
  155  the incentive grant program.
  156         (b)Funds awarded under the grant programs set forth in
  157  this section may not be used to support, subsidize, or enable
  158  the sale of electric power generated by a municipal solid waste
  159  to-energy facility to any small electric utility eligible to
  160  petition the commission under s. 366.06(4).
  161         (c)Notwithstanding s. 216.301 and pursuant to s. 216.351,
  162  funds allocated for the purpose of this section which are not
  163  disbursed by June 30 of the fiscal year in which the funds are
  164  allocated may be carried forward for up to 5 years after the
  165  effective date of the original appropriation.
  166         (6) RULES.—The department shall adopt rules to implement
  167  and administer this section, including establishing grant
  168  application processes for financial assistance grants and
  169  incentive grants. The rules shall include application deadlines
  170  and establish the supporting documentation necessary to be
  171  provided to the department. In adopting rules relating to the
  172  financial assistance grant program, the department shall consult
  173  the Public Service Commission. In adopting rules for the
  174  incentive grant program, the department shall consult the
  175  Department of Environmental Protection.
  176         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.