BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

HB 1257 (Casello) and SB 1666 (Polsky) prohibit the use of Class B firefighting foam (contains PFAS) beginning in 2023. The bills provide exceptions for the use of Class B foam in response to fire prevention or in an emergency firefighting operation. (O'Hara)

SB 1210 (Albritton) and CS/HB 909 (Payne) specify that the Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection has exclusive jurisdiction in setting standards or procedures for evaluating environmental conditions and assessing potential liability for the presence of contaminants on land that is classified as agricultural and is being converted to a nonagricultural use. The bills prohibit the Secretary from delegating such authority to a city, county or another unit of local government through a local pollution control program. (O’Hara)

HB 6027 (Sabatini) amends current law relating to the open burning of debris from agricultural, silvicultural, land-clearing or tree-cutting activities, which is regulated and authorized by the Florida Forest Service. Currently, the law specifies the debris must originate onsite. HB 6027 would remove the onsite requirement, which would authorize the open burning of debris originating offsite as well as onsite. (O'Hara)

HB 585 (Botana) prohibits the land application of septage from onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems within the Caloosahatchee River watershed. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Protection to adopt an updated Caloosahatchee estuary basin management action plan (BMAP), which shall include the following: an implementation schedule to achieve nutrient load reductions necessary to meet total maximum daily load requirements for wastewater treatment facilities by 2027; an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system remediation plan and implementation schedule to meet nutrient load reductions for such systems by 2027; and a municipal stormwater remediation plan that requires an implementation schedule to achieve stormwater nutrient load reductions by 2027. Lastly, the bill prohibits new domestic wastewater disposal facilities within the watershed, except for those facilities that meet advanced wastewater treatment standards and new septic systems on lots of less than 1 acre, if the addition of a specific system will conflict with the remediation plan. (O'Hara)

HB 473 (Casello) and SB 798 (Taddeo) impose an excise tax on bottled water operators and specify the tax proceeds must be used to provide grants and loans to local governmental agencies for water projects, with priority given to septic-to-sewer conversion projects. (O'Hara)

SB 904 (Farmer) and HB 807 (Rayner) require, rather than authorize, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to develop and adopt rules for interim measures, best management practices or other measures to achieve certain levels of pollution reduction statewide. (O'Hara)

HB 145 (Hage) and SB 474 (Perry) – Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Weight Limits

HB 157 (Andrade) and SB 398 (Hooper) – Transportation Projects

HB 737 (Borrero) and SB 920 (Perry) – Electric Vehicle Transportation Electrification Plan

SB 914 (Harrell) and HB 871 (Brannan) – Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

SB 696 (Perry) and CS/HB 445 (Botana) limit the pickup fees that an airport or seaport may charge a transportation network company to $2 per pickup. (Branch)

SB 426 (Brandes) dissolves the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority. The bill requires the Authority to discharge its liabilities and settle and close its activities and affairs. The bill also provides for the distribution of the Authority's assets or the proceeds of such assets, such that each local general-purpose government represented on the Authority's board receives a distribution generally in proportion to each entity's contribution to the acquisition of the assets. (Branch)

SB 908 (Brandes) creates additional fees and a licensing tax for electric and hybrid vehicles. The bill provides criteria and timeframes for the collection and disbursements of fees. This bill is linked to SB 918. (Branch)

SB 918 (Brandes) creates the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program to provide financial assistance to municipalities and other entities for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The bill authorizes the Department of Transportation to develop and publish criteria for the grant application. (Branch)

SB 728 (Harrell) and CS/HB 1005 (Fischer) create the Advanced Air Mobility Study Task Force adjunct to the Department of Transportation with the FDOT secretary, or the secretary's designee, serving as chair. The bills direct the task force to hold public hearings in locations throughout the state to assess and describe the current state of development of the advanced air mobility industry as well as collaborate with local governments to evaluate the potential integration of advanced air mobility into transportation plans. The bills list the Florida League of Cities as a member of this task force. (Branch)

CS/SB 974 (Gruters) and CS/HB 985 (Beltran) revise the statutory limits on liability for tort claims against the state and its agencies and subdivisions (which include cities). The bills seek to increase the current statutory limits for claims from $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident to $1 million per person and no per-incident cap. Beginning July 1, 2023, the legislation would tie the revised limit to a consumer price index to automatically increase with inflation every year. CS/HB 985 was amended to shorten the timeframe for a government entity to make final disposition of a claim from six months to three months. CS/SB 974 was amended to change the current statutory limits for claims from $200,000 per person and $300,000 per incident to $300,000 per person and $400,000 per-incident cap. The House bill will retroactively apply these new limits to any pending claims that have not been settled by the effective date of the bill (July 1, 2022); the Senate bill no longer contains this language. (Cruz)

SB 1800 (Boyd) and HB 1543 (Tomkow) – Broadband Infrastructure

SB 1802 (Boyd) and HB 1545 (Tomkow) – Broadband Pole Replacement Trust Fund

HB 6043 (Eskamani) and SB 1754 (Torres) – Local Government Communications Services

HB 6045 (Eskamani) and SB 1752 (Torres) repeal the Advanced Wireless Infrastructure Deployment Act that relates primarily to the installation of small wireless facilities in public rights of way. (Hughes)

SB 1726 (Ausley) establishes the Broadband Deployment Task Force to support and provide recommendations to the Florida Office of Broadband for the deployment of internet throughout the state. The task force includes a member from the Florida League of Cities as a representative of underserved or unserved rural communities. (Hughes)

CS/SB 512 (Burgess) and CS/HB 325 (Fischer) 

Impact on Local Governments

The bills maintain the current preemption on local governments from adopting zoning ordinances specific to short-term rentals, as well as regulating the duration of stays and the frequency in which the properties are rented. The bills expand this preemption to include local regulations on advertising platforms. For cities that adopted ordinances prior to June 1, 2011, the bills maintain the "grandfather" currently in place but clarify that those cities may amend their ordinances to be less restrictive or to comply with a local registration program. For cities that do not have "grandfathered" protections, the bills preempt cities from licensing short-term rentals; however, they authorize local governments to have a local registration program. 

Local governments who choose to adopt a local registration program may impose a fine for failure to register. The local government has 15 days after receiving an application for registration to either accept the application or issue a written notice specifying all deficiencies. Both parties may agree to extend the timeline. If a municipality does not accept or deny an application within that 15-day window, that application is deemed approved. As a condition of registration, the local registration programs may only require the owner or operator of a vacation rental to:

•Pay a fee of no more than $50 for processing the registration application.

•Renew their registration no more than once per year unless the property has a change in ownership. 

•Submit identifying information about the owner or the property manager and the short-term rental being registered.

•Obtain a license as a transient public lodging establishment by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) within 60 days of local registration.

•Obtain all required tax registration, receipts or certificates issued by the Department of Revenue, a county or a municipal government. 

•Maintain all registration information on a continuing basis so it is current.

•Comply with parking and solid waste handling requirements. These requirements cannot be imposed solely on short-term rentals.

•Designate and maintain a property designee who can respond to complaints and other immediate problems related to the property, including being available by phone.

•Pay in full all municipal or county code liens against the property being registered. 

CS/HB 325 was amended in committee to change the fee structure for ordinances adopted after 2014. CS/HB 325 now prohibits local governments from charging a fee for a local vacation rental registration. However, the amendment "grandfathers" in the fee structure for local governments with ordinances in place up until the bill takes effect. Going forward, local governments who receive "grandfathered" protections of their fee would not be permitted to increase them, only reduce or eliminate the amount. Additionally, the amendment includes a cure period for vacation rental owners who fail to register with the local government. The bill now mandates local governments waive the fine for failure to register if the owner becomes complaint within 30 days of receiving the notice. These provisions are not contained in CS/SB 512. 

CS/SB 512 was amended to account for collective licenses at the local level and caps the registration fee at $100. 

Impact on Advertising Platforms and DBPR

Advertising platforms must include in all listings the property's state license number, and if applicable, the local registration number. After July 1, 2023, the advertising platform will be required to check and verify the license number of all listings with DBPR. Additionally, by that date, DBPR will be required to maintain all short-term rental license information in an electronic format to ensure prompt compliance. Advertising platforms will be required to remove unlicensed listings within 15 days after notification by DBPR, as well as collect and remit all required taxes. 

Termination/Denial of License

DBPR may revoke, refuse to issue or renew a short-term rental license or suspend the license for up to 30 days under several circumstances:

•The property owner violates the terms of any lease or applicable condominium, coop or homeowner's association restrictions. 

•The owner fails to provide proof of local registration if one is required.

•The local registration is terminated by a local government for violating any of the registration requirements described above.

•The property and property owner are subject to a final order or judgment directing termination of the property's short-term rental status.

•DBPR may also suspend the license for up to 30 days when the short-term rental has been cited for two or more code enforcement violations during a 90-day period. CS/SB 512 was amended to specify that these violations must be brought by a code enforcement board. (Taggart)

HB 6033 (Grieco) repeals all preemption provisions in current law relating to the local regulation of vacation rentals. (Taggart)

HB 1265 (Caruso) authorizes local governments to regulate the anchoring of vessels used for short-term rental purposes in violation of a local ordinance or regulation. (Taggart)

SB 1852 (Bradley) and CS/CS/HB 1439 (Toledo) prohibit vacation rental operators from offering an hourly rate for an accommodation. CS/CS/HB 1439 was amended to remove the requirement that guests must provide positive proof of identification. (Taggart)