Bill Text: FL S0426 | 2021 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: State Preemption of Seaport Regulations

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 3-1)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-04-30 - Died on Second Reading Calendar; companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/SB 1194 (Ch. 2021-188) [S0426 Detail]

Download: Florida-2021-S0426-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2021                              CS for SB 426
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator Boyd
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02654-21                                           2021426c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to state preemption of seaport
    3         regulations; creating s. 311.25, F.S.; prohibiting a
    4         local ballot initiative or referendum from restricting
    5         maritime commerce in the seaports of this state;
    6         providing that certain local initiatives or
    7         referendums relating to such restrictions are
    8         prohibited and void; prohibiting certain
    9         municipalities and municipal special districts from
   10         adopting specified restrictions or regulations on
   11         maritime commerce in the seaports of this state with
   12         respect to any federally authorized passenger cruise
   13         vessel; providing that certain local actions relating
   14         to such restrictions or regulations are prohibited and
   15         void; providing a directive to the Division of Law
   16         Revision; providing an effective date.
   17  
   18         WHEREAS, maritime commerce between and among seaports, both
   19  foreign and domestic, is the subject of extensive federal and
   20  state regulation designed to protect the marine environment and
   21  the health, safety, and welfare of the general public and those
   22  involved in conducting that commerce, and
   23         WHEREAS, the economic impact of a seaport extends far
   24  beyond the boundaries of the local jurisdiction in which the
   25  port is located, materially contributing to the economies of
   26  multiple cities and counties within the region and to the
   27  economy of this state as a whole, and
   28         WHEREAS, Florida seaports currently generate nearly 900,000
   29  direct and indirect jobs and contribute $117.6 billion in
   30  economic value to this state through cargo and cruise
   31  activities, accounting for approximately 13 percent of this
   32  state’s gross domestic product and $4.2 billion in state and
   33  local taxes, and
   34         WHEREAS, because this state is a peninsula, much of this
   35  state is highly dependent upon the unimpeded flow of maritime
   36  commerce through its seaports, which is made even more critical
   37  when this state is threatened or impacted by natural disasters,
   38  such as tropical storms and hurricanes, and
   39         WHEREAS, because of its geographic location, this state is
   40  a hub for global maritime commerce and is uniquely positioned to
   41  capture an even larger share of this commerce as global trade
   42  routes shift, and
   43         WHEREAS, the international, national, statewide, and
   44  regional importance of Florida seaports has long been recognized
   45  in federal and state law with respect to the regulation,
   46  planning, and public financing of seaport operations and
   47  facilities, and
   48         WHEREAS, this state is widely known as the cruise capital
   49  of the world, and the cruise industry is vital to this state’s
   50  economy, contributing more than $9 billion in direct spending on
   51  an annual basis and supporting 159,000 jobs with more than $8
   52  billion in total wages and salaries before the current pandemic,
   53  and
   54         WHEREAS, 8.3 million passengers boarded cruises from one of
   55  this state’s five cruise ports in 2019, accounting for 60
   56  percent of embarkations in the United States, generating 11
   57  million passenger and crew onshore visits in both home port and
   58  transit port calls in this state, and
   59         WHEREAS, allowing a voter initiative or referendum in each
   60  local seaport jurisdiction to impose its own requirements on the
   61  maritime commerce conducted in that port could result in abrupt
   62  changes in the supply lines bringing goods into and out of this
   63  state and therefore could reasonably be expected to suppress
   64  such commerce and potentially drive it out of the port and out
   65  of this state in search of a more consistent and predictable
   66  operating environment, thus disrupting this state’s economy and
   67  threatening the public’s health, safety, and welfare, and
   68         WHEREAS, allowing a voter initiative or referendum in each
   69  local seaport jurisdiction to impose its own requirements on the
   70  maritime commerce conducted in that port could result in abrupt
   71  changes in vessel traffic, frustrating the multiyear planning
   72  process for all Florida seaports and the assumptions and
   73  forecasts underlying federal and state financing of port
   74  improvement projects, and
   75         WHEREAS, there are similar concerns regarding the capacity
   76  of a municipality or municipal special district to impose such
   77  requirements on the maritime commerce conducted in a port, as
   78  the more limited geographic and political scope of a
   79  municipality or municipal special district may make such entity
   80  less sensitive to the negative impact of such requirements on
   81  neighboring municipalities and on the county, region, and state,
   82  and
   83         WHEREAS, many local economies in this state depend heavily
   84  on tourism, on which the surrounding politics can be
   85  particularly complex at a municipal level, significantly
   86  heightening the concern of municipalities and municipal special
   87  districts that place local requirements on passenger cruise
   88  vessels or cruise lines, and
   89         WHEREAS, in light of these potential negative impacts, the
   90  permissible scope of local voter initiatives or referendums and
   91  of the powers of a municipality or municipal special district
   92  must be appropriately limited, NOW, THEREFORE,
   93  
   94  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   95  
   96         Section 1. Section 311.25, Florida Statutes, is created to
   97  read:
   98         311.25 Regulation of commerce in Florida seaports.—
   99         (1)(a) A local ballot initiative or referendum may not
  100  restrict maritime commerce in the seaports of this state,
  101  including, but not limited to, restricting such commerce based
  102  on any of the following:
  103         1. Vessel type, size, number, or capacity.
  104         2. Number, origin, nationality, embarkation, or
  105  disembarkation of passengers or crew or their entry into this
  106  state or any local jurisdiction.
  107         3. Source, type, loading, or unloading of cargo.
  108         4. Environmental or health records of a particular vessel
  109  or vessel line.
  110         (b) Any local ballot initiative or referendum, or any local
  111  law, charter amendment, ordinance, resolution, regulation, or
  112  policy adopted in a local ballot initiative or referendum, in
  113  violation of this subsection which was adopted before, on, or
  114  after the effective date of this act is prohibited and void.
  115         (2)(a) Except for a municipality that is also a county as
  116  defined in s. 125.011(1), a municipality or political
  117  subdivision thereof or a special district within the boundaries
  118  of a single municipality may not restrict maritime commerce in
  119  the seaports of this state with respect to any federally
  120  authorized passenger cruise vessel based on any of the
  121  following:
  122         1. Vessel type, size, number, or capacity, except when the
  123  port is physically unable to accommodate a passenger cruise
  124  vessel pursuant to applicable federal or state laws or
  125  regulations.
  126         2. Number, origin, nationality, embarkation, or
  127  disembarkation of passengers or crew or their entry into this
  128  state or any local jurisdiction.
  129         3. Source, type, loading, or unloading of cargo related or
  130  incidental to its use as a passenger cruise vessel.
  131         4. Environmental or health records of a particular
  132  passenger cruise vessel or cruise line.
  133         (b) Any provision of a law, a charter, an ordinance, a
  134  resolution, a regulation, a policy, an initiative, or a
  135  referendum which is in conflict with this subsection and which
  136  existed before, on, or after the effective date of this act is
  137  prohibited and void.
  138         Section 2. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
  139  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
  140  occurs in this act with the date this act becomes a law.
  141         Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.