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 HB 909 (Payne) provide that the application of pesticides as part of agricultural operations is presumed to be lawful. The bills authorize the subdivision of pesticide mixing areas on agricultural lands for environmental evaluation and remediation. The bills exempt agricultural land that meets site assessment and remedial activity requirements from further regulation by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). The bills authorize property owners to voluntarily apply for brownfield site rehabilitation activities. The bills require certain assurances and notices to be provided to DEP before such properties are redeveloped and prohibit DEP from requiring specified management activities. The bills provide the DEP Secretary has exclusive jurisdiction for certain evaluations and assessments and further specify that such authority may not be delegated to a county, a municipality or other 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 HB 445 (Botana) limit certain fees charged by airports or seaports. The bill does not prohibit fees associated with pickup, as long as the pickup fees do not exceed $2 per ride. If an airport or seaport is charging a pickup fee, they may not intentionally remove, degrade or otherwise impede access to any service, benefit or infrastructure, including, but not limited to, staging lots, curb access and driver rest facilities made available to a transportation network company before January 1, 2021. (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 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)

SB 974 (Gruters) and 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. The bills 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). (Cruz)

SB 1800 (Boyd) – Broadband Infrastructure

SB 1802 (Boyd) – 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)

SB 512 (Burgess) and 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. 

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 properties 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. (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)

HB 75 (Sabatini), SB 592 (Perry) and SB 594 (Perry) – Limiting COVID-19 Restrictions

HB 179 (Altman) and SB 702 (Burgess) – Photographic Enforcement of School Bus Safety

HB 6009 (Sabatini), HB 6069 (Shoaf) and SB 734 (Gruters) – Vaccinations During Public Health Emergencies

HB 297 (Aloupis) and SB 476 (Book) – Aggressive Careless Driving

HB 19 (Gottlieb) and SB 402 (Polsky) – Firearm Restrictions Pursuant to Court Findings or Risk Protection Orders

HB 73 (Rayner) and SB 888 (Jones) – Use or Threatened Use of Force

HB 83 (Eskamani) and SB 372 (Berman) – Domestic Violence

HB 103 (Sabatini) – Carrying of Firearms Without a License

HB 109 (McCurdy) – Prohibiting Deception in Interrogations of Minors

HB 133 (Sabatini) – Prohibiting Cooperation with a United States Capitol Police Officer Located in this State

HB 181 (Daley) and SB 334 (Polsky) – Sales of Ammunition

HB 199 (Smith, C.) and SB 214 (Farmer) – Assault Weapons and Large-capacity Magazines

SB 204 (Farmer) – Sale and Delivery of Firearms

SB 210 (Farmer) – Prohibited Recordkeeping Relating to Firearms  or Firearm Owners

HB 347 (Rayner), SB 1166 (Polsky), and SB 220 (Farmer) and – Sale, Transfer, or Storage of Firearms

HB 363 (Hart) and SB 630 (Jones) – Pregnant Women in Custody

SB 458 (Torres) and HB 665 (Goff-Marcil) – Secure Storage of Firearms

SB 502 (Rodriguez) – Certificates of Public Convenience and Necessity

SB 660 (Cruz) – Sexual Offense Victims' Rights

SB 668 (Cruz) – Custodial Interrogations of Minors 

SB 672 (Cruz) – School Safety Funding

SB 860 (Stewart) and SB 862 (Stewart) – Firearms Without a Unique Serial Number or Identifying Mark

SB 872 (Polsky) and HB 527 (Hunschofsky) – Unfinished Firearms

SB 874 (Pizzo) – Arrests

HB 883 (Slosberg-King) and SB 1208 (Polsky) – Reclassification of Crimes Evidencing Prejudice

HB 889 (Overdorf) and SB 1406 (Perry) – Delayed Arraignment

SB 916 (Brandes) – Searches of Cellular Phones and Other Electronic Devices 

HB 817 (Massullo) and SB 1114 (Bradley) – Emergency Medical Care Treatment to Minors Without Parental Consent 

HB 1021 (Fernandez-Barquin) and SB 1392 (Garcia) – Patient Identification and Health Care Decisions

HB 1083 (Benjamin) and SB 1856 (Pizz) – Citizen Arrests

SB 1196, SB 1198 (Jones) and HB 1093 (Hunschofsky)– Community Violence Task Force

SB 1236 (Jones) and HB 1561 (Bush) – County and Municipal Detention Facilities

SB 1262 (Burgess) and HB 1277 (Massullo) – Mental Health and Substance Abuse

HB 1255 (Valdes) and SB 1760 (Powell) – Duties of the Inspector General of the Department of Corrections

SB 1528 (Gruters) and HB 6095 (Gregory) – Restrictions on Firearms and Ammunition During Emergencies

SB 1632 (Farmer) – Searches by Law Enforcement Officers

HB 6007 (Sabatini) – License to Carry Concealed Weapons or Firearms

HB 6013 (Sabatini) – Removing Firearm Regulations