The Florida Brownfield Assn. (FBA) has developed the following Legislative 2017 End-Of-Regular Session Summary. For more information about FBA and the benefits of membership, please refer to their web site at http://www.floridabrownfields.org"
FBA LEGISLATIVE
2017 END-OF-REGULAR SESSION SUMMARY
Dear FBA Members:
The 2017 regular session of the Florida Legislature has concluded. This provides a highlight and an end-of-session summary of legislative items that the FBA was involved in and/or followed.
1. Increased VCTC Funding. HB 7109, the Florida Legislature's comprehensive tax cut bill, passed the full Florida House and the Florida Senate on the last day of the session, on May 8. HB 7109 includes a permanent statutory increase in the Voluntary Cleanup Tax Credit (VCTC) from $5M per year to $10M per year. This bill has not yet been sent to Governor Rick Scott for review and action. A permanent increase in VCTC funding has been a long-standing goal of the FBA's.
2. Brownfield Job Bonus Refund. Legislation proposing the statutory repeal of various state financial and economic incentives and programs, including the Brownfield Job Bonus Refund, did not pass this session. The budget bills that passed the Florida Legislature included continued funding for the Brownfield Job Bonus Refund. At the same time, the budget bills have not yet been sent to Governor Scott for review and action.
3. Contamination Notification Legislation. SB 1018, revising state contamination notification laws, passed the Florida Senate and then the Florida House. This bill has not yet been sent to Governor Rick Scott for review and action. SB 1018 defines the term "reportable pollution release," requires an owner or operator to report within 24 hours after the discovery, and requires FDEP publish the information and establish an electronic mailing list to disseminate the information.
Other provisions in SB 1018 that may be of interest to Brownfield users address how petroleum Advanced Cleanup funding under the state petroleum cleanup program will be allocated. There is specific language recognizing an eligible site's priority ranking may inhibit redevelopment. From a $30 million advanced cleanup allocation from the Inland Land Protection Trust Fund, up to $5 million of these funds may be designated by FDEP for advanced cleanup of individual sites planned for redevelopment, with a maximum $1 million for individual sites per fiscal year. This funding allocation is to be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis is exempt from the requirement to pay 25 percent of cleanup or cost share commitments.
SB 1018 also provides a new provision for Advanced Site Assessment as part of FDEP's drycleaner cleanup program. A property owner who is eligible for site rehabilitation under FDEP's drycleaner solvent cleanup program may request an advanced site assessment in advance of the site priority list ranking. Allocated funding may not exceed 10 percent of the annual Water Quality Assurance Trust Fund appropriation for the drycleaning solvent cleanup program, and the total funds committed to any one site may not exceed $70,000.
4. CRA Legislation. Legislation proposing significant reduction and revision in CRA authorities did not pass this session.
If you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to let us know. Thank you,
Michael Sznapstajler
FBA President
Jason Lichtstein and Jay Nordqvist
FBA Legislative & Policy Committee Co-Chairs