Florida Senate - 2025 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS/HB 1609, 1st Eng.
Ì392848TÎ392848
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
.
.
.
Floor: WD .
04/30/2025 07:14 PM .
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Senator Martin moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment to Amendment (413632) (with title
2 amendment)
3
4 Delete lines 125 - 297
5 and insert:
6 (3) A county with a population of at least 2 million, or a
7 municipality located in such county, may not issue a
8 construction permit pursuant to this section for the expansion
9 of any existing landfill that is located within a 1-mile radius
10 of any property zoned residential unless a feasibility study is
11 conducted before the permit is issued.
12 (a) The feasibility study must do all of the following:
13 1. Identify potential alternatives to expanding the
14 landfill, such as waste-to-energy technology and processes that
15 may be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and dependence on
16 landfills, including, but not limited to, anaerobic digestion,
17 plasma arc technology, and mixed waste processing.
18 2. Evaluate the financial costs of using such technologies
19 and processes and the benefits of local sitting and government
20 ownership.
21 3. Evaluate the technical feasibility of expansion,
22 considering engineering requirements, infrastructure needs,
23 technological advancements, and regulatory compliance.
24 4. Evaluate relevant and appropriate data and analysis,
25 from professionally accepted sources, such as surveys, studies,
26 and community goals and vision, used in preparation of the
27 comprehensive plan.
28 5. Identify and evaluate potential risks and challenges
29 associated with the project.
30 (b) Such county or municipality must hold a public meeting
31 to review and discuss the results of the feasibility study
32 conducted under paragraph (a) and provide a rationale for the
33 necessity of the expansion.
34 (6)(a)(4)(a) In order to promote the production of
35 renewable energy from solid waste, each megawatt-hour produced
36 by a renewable energy facility using solid waste as a fuel shall
37 count as 1 ton of recycled material and shall be applied toward
38 meeting the recycling goals set forth in this section. If a
39 county creating renewable energy from solid waste implements and
40 maintains a program to recycle at least 50 percent of municipal
41 solid waste by a means other than creating renewable energy,
42 that county shall count 1.25 tons of recycled material for each
43 megawatt-hour produced. If waste originates from a county other
44 than the county in which the renewable energy facility resides,
45 the originating county shall receive such recycling credit. Any
46 byproduct resulting from the creation of renewable energy that
47 is recycled shall count towards the county recycling goals in
48 accordance with the methods and criteria developed pursuant to
49 paragraph (4)(h) (2)(h).
50 (b) A county may receive credit for one-half of the
51 recycling goal set forth in subsection (4) (2) from the use of
52 yard trash, or other clean wood waste or paper waste, in
53 innovative programs including, but not limited to, programs that
54 produce alternative clean-burning fuels such as ethanol or that
55 provide for the conversion of yard trash or other clean wood
56 waste or paper waste to clean-burning fuel for the production of
57 energy for use at facilities other than a waste-to-energy
58 facility as defined in s. 403.7061. The provisions of this
59 paragraph apply only if a county can demonstrate that:
60 1. The county has implemented a yard trash mulching or
61 composting program, and
62 2. As part of the program, compost and mulch made from yard
63 trash is available to the general public and in use at county
64 owned or maintained and municipally owned or maintained
65 facilities in the county and state agencies operating in the
66 county as required by this section.
67 (c) A county with a population of 100,000 or less may
68 provide its residents with the opportunity to recycle in lieu of
69 achieving the goal set forth in this section. For the purposes
70 of this section, the “opportunity to recycle” means that the
71 county:
72 1.a. Provides a system for separating and collecting
73 recyclable materials prior to disposal that is located at a
74 solid waste management facility or solid waste disposal area; or
75 b. Provides a system of places within the county for
76 collection of source-separated recyclable materials.
77 2. Provides a public education and promotion program that
78 is conducted to inform its residents of the opportunity to
79 recycle, encourages source separation of recyclable materials,
80 and promotes the benefits of reducing, reusing, recycling, and
81 composting materials.
82 (8)(6) The department may reduce or modify the municipal
83 solid waste recycling goal that a county is required to achieve
84 pursuant to subsection (4) (2) if the county demonstrates to the
85 department that:
86 (a) The achievement of the goal set forth in subsection (4)
87 (2) would have an adverse effect on the financial obligations of
88 a county that are directly related to a waste-to-energy facility
89 owned or operated by or on behalf of the county; and
90 (b) The county cannot remove normally combustible materials
91 from solid waste that is to be processed at a waste-to-energy
92 facility because of the need to maintain a sufficient amount of
93 solid waste to ensure the financial viability of the facility.
94
95 The goal shall not be waived entirely and may only be reduced or
96 modified to the extent necessary to alleviate the adverse
97 effects of achieving the goal on the financial viability of a
98 county’s waste-to-energy facility. Nothing in this subsection
99 shall exempt a county from developing and implementing a
100 recycling program pursuant to this act.
101 (9)(7) In order to assess the progress in meeting the goal
102 set forth in subsection (4) (2), each county shall, by April 1
103 each year, provide information to the department regarding its
104 annual solid waste management program and recycling activities.
105 (a) The information submitted to the department by the
106 county must, at a minimum, include:
107 1. The amount of municipal solid waste disposed of at solid
108 waste disposal facilities, by type of waste such as yard trash,
109 white goods, clean debris, tires, and unseparated solid waste;
110 2. The amount and type of materials from the municipal
111 solid waste stream that were recycled; and
112 3. The percentage of the population participating in
113 various types of recycling activities instituted.
114 (b) Beginning with the data for the 2012 calendar year, the
115 department shall by July 1 each year post on its website the
116 recycling rates of each county for the prior calendar year.
117 (22)(20) In addition to any other penalties provided by
118 law, a local government that does not comply with the
119 requirements of subsections (4) and (6) is (2) and (4) shall not
120 be eligible for grants from the Solid Waste Management Trust
121 Fund, and the department may notify the Chief Financial Officer
122 to withhold payment of all or a portion of funds payable to the
123 local government by the department from the General Revenue Fund
124 or by the department from any other state fund, to the extent
125 not pledged to retire bonded indebtedness, unless the local
126 government demonstrates that good faith efforts to meet the
127 requirements of subsections (4) and (6) (2) and (4) have been
128 made or that the funds are being or will be used to finance the
129 correction of a pollution control problem that spans
130 jurisdictional boundaries.
131 Section 4. Present subsections (6) through (14) of section
132 403.707, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (7)
133 through (15), respectively, a new subsection (6) is added to
134 that section, and paragraph (j) of present subsection (9) of
135 that section is amended, to read:
136 403.707 Permits.—
137 (6) The department may not issue a construction permit
138 pursuant to this section for a new solid waste disposal facility
139 that uses an ash-producing incinerator or for a waste-to-energy
140 facility, if the proposed location of such facility is sited
141 within a 1-mile radius of any school or any property zoned for
142 residential use within that same county which has a density of
143 one or more dwelling units per acre. The 1-mile radius must be
144 measured from the stack of the facility. This subsection applies
145 only to a county as defined in s. 125.011(1).
146 (10)(9) The department shall establish a separate category
147
148 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
149 And the title is amended as follows:
150 Delete lines 385 - 403
151 and insert:
152 counties; providing applicability; prohibiting certain
153 local governments from issuing a permit for the
154 expansion of certain existing landfills unless a
155 feasibility study is conducted; specifying
156 requirements for the feasibility study; requiring the
157 local government to review and discuss at a certain
158 meeting the results of the feasibility study and
159 provide a rationale for expanding the landfill;
160 amending s. 403.707, F.S.; prohibiting the Department
161 of Environmental Protection from issuing a
162 construction permit for certain solid waste disposal
163 facilities in certain counties; providing
164 applicability; conforming a provision to changes made
165 by