Florida law fixes issues with local zoning, processing biomass

Agriculture interests are harvesting two victories this weekend as the Legislative Session comes to an end.

HB 211, signed Friday by Gov. Ron DeSantis, holds that “farm product” “means plants and plant products any plant, as defined in s. 581.011, regardless of whether such plants and plant products are edible or nonedible, or any animal useful to humans and includes, but is not limited to, any product derived therefrom.”

Various byproducts are possible under this language. The law refers to “a farm product, as defined in s. 163.3162,  or any biomass material that could be used, directly or indirectly, for the production of fuel, renewable energy, bioenergy, or alternative fuel as defined by law.”

The law also protects on-site facilities for processing biomass and other “existing activities essential to the operation of such facility or facilities are located or conducted, but those must be “located within, or within 10 miles of, a rural area of opportunity.”

Additionally, the bill preempts local regulations that may harm farmers’ interest, barring them from trying to adopt or enforce any “ordinance, resolution, regulation, rule, or policy to prohibit, restrict, regulate, or otherwise limit an activity of a bona fide farm operation, including, but not limited to, the collection, storage, processing, and distribution of a farm product” in areas of the state proximate to an opportunity zone.

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