BILL SUMMARY DETAILS

SB 1774 (Cruz) requires the Department of Environmental Protection to monitor the consumptive use permits for all bottled water companies to ensure compliance with the limits of allowable water extraction from an approved source. The bill exempts bottled water companies that are permitted to extract less than 55 million gallons per year. (O’Hara)

HB 1177 (Avila) and SB 1482 (Garcia) establish the Biscayne Bay Commission to develop coordinated plans, projects and budgets to improve the bay. The bills authorize the Commission to accept any functions delegated to it by any governmental entity through a memorandum of understanding. The bills provide for membership, powers and duties of the Commission. The bills prohibit sewage disposal facilities from disposing of wastes into Biscayne Bay without providing advanced waste treatment. (O’Hara)

SB 1240 (Hutson) provides a specified annual appropriation (the lesser of $100 million or the total amount requested to fully fund the annual project list) from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund to the Department of Environmental Protection to fund beach and inlet projects. (O’Hara)

HB 1515 (Duggan) and SB 1946 (Polsky) authorize counties to establish anchoring limitation areas in densely populated urban areas. The bills grandfather existing anchoring limitation areas from the new requirements imposed by the bills. The bills provide size and other criteria for the designation of an anchoring limitation area, including a requirement that a person may not anchor a vessel for more than 30 consecutive days in any six-month period in an anchoring limitation area. The bills revise provisions prohibiting and authorizing anchoring of vessels in anchoring limitation areas and provide for vessel owners and operators to present certain proof that a vessel has not exceeded certain anchoring limitations. The bills revise provisions of current law authorizing removal and impoundment of certain vessels from anchoring limitation areas and declare that a vessel that is the subject of more than three violations within 12 months is a public nuisance. The bills authorize the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to develop rules to implement the new provisions. (O’Hara)

HB 57 (Andrade), SB 1194 (Hooper) and SB 1500 (Harrell) – Transportation

SB 178 (Cruz) – Public School Transportation

SB 422 (Rouson) and HB 389 (Mariano) – Tampa Bay Area Regional Transit Authority

SB 684 (Brandes) and HB 707 (Chaney) – Department of Transportation

HB 729 (Gregory) and SB 1364 (Perry) – Transportation Projects

HB 785 (Busatta Cabrera)  and SB 708 (Brandes) – Peer-to-peer Car Sharing

SB 862 (Gruters) and HB 695 (Duran) – Digital License Plate Pilot Program

SB 924 (Hooper) – Multi-use Corridors of Regional Economic Significance Program

SB 978 (Hooper) and HB 677 (Rommel) – Motor Vehicle Dealers

SB 1126 (Harrell) and HB 1385 (LaMarca) – Department of Transportation

HB 1289 (McFarland) and SB 1620 (Brandes) – Autonomous Vehicles

SB 1134 (Harrell) – Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles

HB 1143 (Grall) and SB 1466 (Hutson) – Airports

SB 278 (Baxley) and HB 1643 (McClain) provide criminal penalties for a person who commits a moving violation that causes serious bodily injury to or causes the death of a vulnerable road user. Of interest to cities, current law defines “vulnerable road user” to include a person engaged in work on a highway such as a utility service worker. (Branch)

HB 1283 (Beltran) and SB 1660 (Burgess) rename the Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority as the West Florida Expressway Authority. The West Florida Expressway Authority shall assume the governance and control of the expressway system operated by the former Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority including its assets, personnel, contracts, obligations, liabilities, facilities and tangible and intangible properties. The governing body shall initially consist of a board of seven members but shall be subject to increase to no more than 13 members upon the expansion of the authority’s jurisdiction. (Branch)

SB 1130 (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)

CS/HB 267 (Roach) and CS/SB 426 (Boyd) relate to the preemption of seaport regulations. CS/SB 426 prohibits a local ballot initiative or referendum from restricting maritime commerce in the seaports of this state including, but not limited to, restricting such commerce based on several factors. CS/HB 267 provides that municipal government may not restrict or regulate commerce in the seaports including, but not limited to, regulating or restricting a vessel's type or size; source or type of cargo; or number, origin or nationality of passengers. (Branch)

SB 1896 (Wright) allows a local governmental entity the authority to enact ordinances relating to multipassenger all-terrain vehicle operation and equipment that are more restrictive than those enumerated in current law. The bill requires the local governmental entity to consult with the Department of Transportation before adopting the ordinance. (Branch)

HB 365 (Caruso) and SB 566 (Perry) require peer-to-peer (P2P) car-sharing service sites to impose a $2 per day surcharge upon lease or rental motor vehicle through the P2P car-sharing program, which is similar to the requirements of a traditional car rental company. (Branch)

SB 140 (Brandes) and HB 819 (Learned) create additional fees and a licensing tax for electric and hybrid vehicles. The proceeds from these additional fees and taxes are deposited equally into the State Transportation Trust Fund and the newly created Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program. (Branch)

SB 1276 (Hooper) requires the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to publish notice when electric and hybrid vehicles make up 5% or more of the total number of vehicles registered in this state. The fees for electric and hybrid vehicles begin after the Department publishes such notice. These fees will be adjusted at certain rates based on the Consumer Price Index. The bill also requires that proceeds of certain fees be deposited into the State Transportation Trust Fund. (Branch)

CS/SB 138 (Brandes) and HB 817 (Toledo) create the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Grant Program to provide financial assistance to municipalities and other entities for the installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The bills authorize the Department of Transportation to develop and publish criteria for the grant application. The bills also authorize the Department of Transportation to establish by rule the maximum weight and speed of a personal delivery device. (Branch)

HB 1039 (Plakon) and SB 1230 (Rodriguez) require the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to establish an automatic license reader system under the newly created Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Program. Additionally, a county or municipality in coordination with the Department may authorize by contract or interlocal agreement the installation of automatic license plate reader systems on streets and highways under its jurisdiction. (Branch)

CS/HB 7 (McClure) and SB 72 (Brandes) provide heightened legal protections against liability as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic to certain business entities, educational institutions, governmental entities and religious institutions. The legislation defines governmental entity to include municipalities. The legislation requires the plaintiff to make a detailed account to their claim and submit an affidavit signed by a physician collaborating the belief that the plaintiff’s COVID-19-related damages, injury or death occurred as a result as stated. If the plaintiff fails to do either, the court must dismiss the action without prejudice. The court must also determine whether the business or government entity made a good faith effort to substantially comply with the authoritative or controlling government health standards or guidance at the time the cause of action occurred. The burden of proof lies with the plaintiff to prove that the business or government entity did not make a good faith effort. If the business or government entity is found to have made a good faith effort, they are immune from civil liability. If the court finds that a good faith effort was not made, the plaintiff may proceed with the action. The plaintiff must prove gross negligence (a higher standard than negligence). The bills increase the standard of evidence needed on a COVID-19-related claim. If the plaintiff fails to prove these heightened requirements, the business or government entity is not liable for any act or omission relating to a COVID-19-related claim. The civil action for a COVID-19-related action must be commenced within one year of the alleged incident. The bills will apply retroactively but will not apply to civil suits commenced before the effective date of the act. (Cruz)

HB 6091 (Eskamani) and SB 1790 (Torres) – Local government Communications Services

HB 1567 (DiCeglie) and SB 1944 (Albritton) give very broad authority to the Public Service Commission to regulate and enforce rates, charges, terms and conditions in situations in which a pole owner is unable to reach an agreement with a party seeking pole attachments. The definitions of “pole” and “pole attachment” are very broad and could have unintended consequences. (Hughes)

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

SB 1560 (Ausley) and HB 1339 (Goff-Marcil) revise the duties of the Florida Office of Broadband within the Department of Economic Opportunity. The bills define “unserved” to mean a geographic area of this state in which there is no provider of broadband internet service that offers a connection to the internet with a capacity for transmission at a consistent speed of at least 25 megabits per second downstream and at least 3 megabits per second upstream. The bills require the Office to develop geographic information system maps of broadband internet service availability throughout this state and a broadband infrastructure asset map by June 30, 2022. The bills create the Broadband Deployment Task Force to support and provide recommendations to the Office for the deployment of broadband internet service through this state. The Task Force is comprised of 16 members including one representative from the Florida League of Cities. The bills also require the office to establish a process to identify eligible households to receive federal Emergency Broadband Benefit Program funds. (Hughes)