375.045 Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund. - Florida Statutes

375.045 Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund.

   (1) There is created the Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund to carry out the purposes of ss. 259.032, 259.101, and 375.031. The Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund shall be held and administered by the Department of Environmental Protection. Proceeds from the sale of revenue bonds issued pursuant to s. 375.051 and payable from moneys transferred to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(1)(a), not to exceed $3 billion, shall be deposited into this trust fund to be distributed as provided in s. 259.101(3). The bond resolution adopted by the governing board of the Division of Bond Finance may provide for additional provisions that govern the disbursement of the bond proceeds.

   (2) The Department of Environmental Protection shall distribute revenues from the Florida Preservation 2000 Trust Fund only to programs of state agencies or local governments as set out in s. 259.101(3). Excluding distributions to the Save Our Everglades Trust Fund, such distributions shall be spent by the recipient within 90 days after the date on which the Department of Environmental Protection initiates the transfer.

   (3) Any agency or district which acquires lands using Preservation 2000 funds, as distributed pursuant to this section and s. 259.101(3), shall manage the lands to make them available for public recreational use, provided that the recreational use does not interfere with the protection of natural resource values. Any such agency or district may enter into agreements with the Department of Environmental Protection or other appropriate state agencies to transfer management authority to or to lease to such agencies lands purchased with Preservation 2000 funds, for the purpose of managing the lands to make them available for public recreational use. The water management districts and the Department of Environmental Protection shall take action to control the growth of nonnative invasive plant species on lands they manage which are purchased with Preservation 2000 funds.

   (4) The Department of Environmental Protection shall ensure that the proceeds from the sale of revenue bonds issued pursuant to s. 375.051 and payable from moneys transferred to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund pursuant to s. 201.15(1)(a) shall be administered and expended in a manner that ensures compliance of each issue of revenue bonds that are issued on the basis that interest thereon will be excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes, with the applicable provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code and the regulations promulgated thereunder, to the extent necessary to preserve the exclusion of interest on such revenue bonds from gross income for federal income tax purposes. The Department of Environmental Protection shall have the authority to administer the use and disbursement of the proceeds of such revenue bonds or require that the use and disbursement thereof be administered in such a manner as shall be necessary to implement strategies to maximize any available benefits under the applicable provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code or regulations promulgated thereunder, to the extent not inconsistent with the purposes identified in s. 259.101(3).

Upon a determination by the Department of Environmental Protection that proceeds being held in the trust fund to support distributions outside the Department of Environmental Protection are not likely to be disbursed in accordance with the foregoing considerations, the Department of Environmental Protection shall petition the Governor and Cabinet to allow for the immediate disbursement of such funds for the acquisition of projects approved for purchase pursuant to the provisions of chapter 259.

History. s. 4, ch. 90-217; s. 19, ch. 94-240; s. 285, ch. 94-356; s. 6, ch. 2000-129; s. 11, ch. 2001-62; s. 37, ch. 2004-269; s. 8, ch. 2006-2.