BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 1550 (Rodriguez) modifies provisions of current law adopted in 2020 regarding public financing of construction projects in coastal building zones to include certain inland areas. The bill provides that coastal building zones are at risk due to sea level rise and coastal structures within these areas are potentially at-risk structures. The bill requires state-financed constructors to include certain flood mitigation strategies in sea level impact projection studies. (O’Hara)

CS/HB 387 (Fine) and CS/SB 1208 (Rodriguez, A.) substantially amend current law provisions relating to Property Assessed Clean Energy programs. The bills define terms relevant to PACE programs including commercial and residential property. Under the bills, commercial property with qualifying improvements would be eligible for PACE programs. The bills impose various requirements on a PACE administrator to reasonably determine a property owner has an ability to pay the estimated annual PACE assessment. The bills impose obligations on a PACE administrator before it may enter a PACE contract for a residential property, such as providing a financing estimate and specified disclosures to the owner and conducting a recorded telephone call with the property owner to confirm the owner’s understanding of costs, payments, lien status and other implications associated with entering the contract. The bills authorize a residential property owner to cancel a PACE contract within three days of signing without penalty and provide the term of a contract shall not exceed the useful life of the qualifying improvement. The bills prohibit PACE financing for certain residential properties. In addition, they prohibit a PACE administrator from enrolling a PACE contractor that fails to meet specified requirements and require the administrator to make reasonable background checks prior to enrolling a new PACE contractor. They require the PACE administrator to confirm the contractor has performed the applicable work or service before disbursing funds to the contractor, and they impose specified marketing and communications guidelines on PACE administrators and contractors. (O’Hara)

SB 994 (Brodeur) modifies current law provisions relating to the permitting of private docks by the Department of Environmental Protection and permit exemptions. It clarifies that a private residential multifamily dock or pier is included within existing provisions relating to permit exemptions and the issuance of general permits. (O’Hara)

CS/CS/SB 1128 (Hutson) and CS/CS/HB 919 (Tomkow) prohibit a local government from taking any action that would restrict or prohibit the types or the fuel sources of energy production which may be used, delivered, converted or supplied by an electric or natural gas utility, petroleum dealer or transmission company. The preemption applies retroactively to existing ordinances. (O’Hara)

HB 6023 (Eskamani) and SB 596 (Stewart) repeal current law provisions preempting specified local government regulations relating to tree pruning, trimming and removal on residential property. (O’Hara)

HB 6027 (Grieco) and SB 594 (Stewart) remove the current law prohibition of local laws relating to regulation of auxiliary containers, wrappings and disposable plastic bags. The bills also repeal the current law preemption of local laws relating to the use or sale of polystyrene products. (O’Hara)

HB 6041 (Eskamani) and SB 1174 (Stewart) repeal current law provisions preempting the regulation of over-the-counter proprietary drugs and cosmetics to the state. (O’Hara)

CS/CS/SB 430 (Rodriguez) and CS/HB 991 (Busatta Cabrera) preempt the regulation of petroleum fuel measuring devices to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Current law provides for the regulation of these devices at wholesale and retail establishments by the Department, which includes measures to restrict unauthorized access of customer payment card information. The bills prohibit a state attorney from using Section 525.16, Florida Statutes, to enforce Department rules adopted pursuant to current law. (O’Hara)

CS/CS/HB 639 (Sirois) and CS/CS/CS/SB 1086 (Hutson) amend various laws relating to vessels and anchoring and mooring restrictions. The bills define “human-powered vessel” and impose requirements for the operation of human-powered vessels within the boundaries of a marked channel of the Florida Intracoastal Waterway. The bills make multiple revisions to laws governing derelict vessel identification and removal. They provide that a vessel owner may receive notice that a vessel is at risk of becoming derelict where in-person notice is recorded on an agency-approved body camera. The bills also authorize specified officers and agencies to relocate an at-risk vessel to a location further from a mangrove or upland vegetation. The bills authorize the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to establish a derelict vessel prevention program, which may include provisions for removal of nuisance, derelict or at-risk vessels; a vessel “turn-in” program for owners; and removal of abandoned vessels. The bills specify conditions under which vessels with repeated violations may be declared a public nuisance and provide requirements for notice to vessel owners and remedies. They amend the definition of “derelict vessel” to include criteria for determining whether a vessel is considered wrecked, junked or substantially dismantled. The bills amend provisions relating to anchoring or mooring limitations to clarify that distance restrictions apply to both public and private marinas and apply only to public vessel launching or loading facilities. They authorize municipalities to establish boating-restricted areas within the boundaries of a permitted public mooring field and a buffer around the mooring field of up to 100 feet. They also authorize local governments to establish vessel-exclusion zones within the portion of the Intracoastal Waterway within their jurisdictions, except local governments may not establish such a zone for public bathing beaches or swim areas within the waterway. The bills create provisions addressing vessel speeds within specified distances of activated emergency vessels and construction barges. They require owners or operators of live-aboard vessels to maintain documentation relating to marine sanitation devices. (O’Hara)

HB 287 (Shoaf) and CS/CS/SB 920 (Bradley) amends current law which provides that a property owner who enters an agreement with a state agency for outdoor recreation purposes, where the agreement recognizes the agency is responsible for personal injury, loss or damage resulting from the agency’s use of the property under the terms of the agreement subject to the limitations of Section 768.28, Florida Statutes, owes no duty of care to keep the area safe for entry or use by others or to give warning of any hazardous conditions. The bill expands the definition of “state agency” to include any public entity created by law and revises the “outdoor recreation” purposes included within its scope to include traversing property for the purpose of ingress and egress to or from public lands that are used for outdoor recreation purposes. CS/CS/SB 920 passed the Senate (40-0) and is awaiting action by the House. (O’Hara)

HB 6049 (Eskamani) repeals provisions of current law prohibiting local governments from recognizing or granting certain legal rights to the natural environment or granting such rights relating to the natural environment to a person or political subdivision. (O’Hara)

HB 1561 (Roth) requires $100 million to be appropriated annually from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Florida Forever Trust Fund. (O’Hara)

SB 1510 (Stewart) and HB 1211 (Altman) extend the date of retirement of bonds issued for the Florida Forever Program from December 2040 to December 2054. The bills provide for $100 million to be appropriated annually from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Florida Forever Trust Fund. In addition, SB 1510 specifies that moneys distributed from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund may not be used for agency executive direction and support services or technology and information services. (O’Hara)

SB 1872 (Rouson) and HB 1623 (Diamond) direct the Commissioner of Insurance Regulation to convene a Climate and Resiliency Task Force to consider the impact of climate change on Florida’s insurance market. The bills direct the Task Force to identify protection gaps in Florida’s insurance market and recommend approaches for reducing, managing and mitigating climate-related risk. The bills direct the Task Force to issue a report to the governor and Legislature every three years, beginning January 2023. (O’Hara)

HB 901 (Bartleman) and SB 1252 (Berman) require the Office of Economic and Demographic Research to include within its annual assessment of Florida’s water resources an analysis of future expenditures by local, regional and state governments necessary to improve resilience to flooding. The analysis must identify gaps between projected and estimated revenues, expenditures and needs. (O’Hara)

SB 1190 (Farmer) is a Senate Joint Resolution expressing the Legislature’s support for investment in resilient infrastructure solutions, projects and policy proposals to support long-term climate resilience. (O’Hara)

CS/SB 1522 (Stewart) and HB 1225 (Goff-Marcil) require the Department of Environmental Protection to implement a stormwater inspection and monitoring program by January 2022 to identify improperly functioning or failing systems. The bills require owners of on-site sewage treatment and disposal systems to have the system inspected once every five years beginning July 2024 and direct the Department to adopt rules to administer and enforce the inspection program. HB 1225 requires basin management action plans to describe potential increases in pollutant loading due to population growth and agricultural growth and provide a comprehensive analysis of options to mitigate increases in pollutant loading. (O’Hara)

SB 1236 (Rodriguez, A.) and HB 617 (Melo) prohibit state agencies from adopting or enforcing state and regional programs to regulate greenhouse gas emissions without specific legislative authorization. (O’Hara)

HB 1173 (Roth) and SB 1480 (Brodeur) extend the retirement date of bonds issued to fund the Florida Forever Act from December 2040 to December 2054. (O’Hara)

CS/CS/CS/SB 88 (Brodeur) and CS/CS/HB 1601 (Williamson) revise the Right to Farm Act to incorporate agritourism activities within the scope of the Act. The Right to Farm Act specifies that no farm operation that has been in operation for one year or more and that was not a nuisance at the time of its establishment shall be a public or private nuisance if the farm operation conforms to generally accepted agricultural and management practices. In addition, the bills provide limitations on liability from nuisance, trespass or tort actions that may be filed relating to farming or agritourism activities. They specify that a farm may not be held liable for operations alleged to cause harm outside of the farm unless the plaintiff proves by clear and convincing evidence that the claim arises out of conduct that does not comply with state and federal environmental laws, regulations or best management practices. The bills further provide that a nuisance action may not be filed unless the property affected by the activity is located within one-half mile of the activity. The bills limit compensatory damages in a private nuisance action to the reduction in fair market value of the affected property. They prohibit the recovery of punitive damages for nuisance actions under specified conditions. The bills require payment of attorney fees and costs by plaintiffs who fail to prevail in a nuisance action. CS/CS/CS/SB 88 passed (37-1) and is awaiting action by the House. (O’Hara)