Bill Text: FL S0446 | 2017 | Regular Session | Introduced

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

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Bill Title: Underground Facilities

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 2-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-28 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see HB 379 (Ch. 2017-102) [S0446 Detail]

Download: Florida-2017-S0446-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2017                                     SB 446
       
       
        
       By Senator Passidomo
       
       28-00474A-17                                           2017446__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to underground facilities; amending s.
    3         556.103, F.S.; revising the information that must be
    4         submitted to the Legislature annually by the board of
    5         directors of Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc.;
    6         amending s. 556.105, F.S.; requiring excavators to
    7         call the 911 emergency telephone number under certain
    8         circumstances; requiring member operators to file a
    9         report with the free-access notification system under
   10         certain circumstances; providing reporting frequencies
   11         and required data to be submitted; amending s.
   12         556.107, F.S.; specifying how certain civil penalties
   13         issued by state law enforcement officers shall be
   14         distributed; deleting a requirement that certain
   15         citations be deposited into the fine and forfeiture
   16         fund; providing an effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 556.103, Florida
   21  Statutes, is amended to read:
   22         556.103 Creation of the corporation; establishment of the
   23  board of directors; authority of the board; annual report.—
   24         (5) The board of directors shall submit to the President of
   25  the Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
   26  Governor, not later than 60 days before the convening of each
   27  regular session of the Legislature, an annual progress report on
   28  the participation by municipalities and counties in the one-call
   29  notification system created by this chapter. The report must
   30  include a summary of the reports to the system from the clerks
   31  of court, a summary of the damage reporting data received by the
   32  system under s. 556.105(12) for the preceding year, and any
   33  analysis of the data by the board of directors.
   34         Section 2. Subsection (12) of section 556.105, Florida
   35  Statutes, is amended to read:
   36         556.105 Procedures.—
   37         (12)(a) If any contact with or damage to any pipe, cable,
   38  or its protective covering, or any other underground facility
   39  occurs, the excavator causing the contact or damage shall
   40  immediately notify the member operator. If contact with or
   41  damage to an underground pipe or any other underground facility
   42  results in the escape of any natural gas or other hazardous
   43  substance regulated by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials
   44  Safety Administration of the United States Department of
   45  Transportation, the excavator must immediately report the
   46  contact or damage by calling the 911 emergency telephone number.
   47  Upon receiving notice, the member operator shall send personnel
   48  to the location as soon as possible to effect temporary or
   49  permanent repair of the contact or damage. Until such time as
   50  the contact or damage has been repaired, the excavator shall
   51  cease excavation or demolition activities that may cause further
   52  damage to such underground facility.
   53         (b) If an event damages any pipe, cable or its protective
   54  covering, or other underground facility, the member operator
   55  receiving the notice shall file a report with the system.
   56  Reports must be submitted annually to the system, no later than
   57  March 31 for the prior calendar year, or more frequently at the
   58  option and sole discretion of the member operator. Each report
   59  must describe, if known, the cause, nature, and location of the
   60  damage. The system shall establish and maintain a process to
   61  facilitate submission of reports by member operators.
   62         Section 3. Paragraph (c) of subsection (1) of section
   63  556.107, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   64         556.107 Violations.—
   65         (1) NONCRIMINAL INFRACTIONS.—
   66         (c) Any excavator or member operator who commits a
   67  noncriminal infraction under paragraph (a) may be required to
   68  pay a civil penalty for each infraction, which is $500 plus
   69  court costs. If a citation is issued by a state law enforcement
   70  officer, a local law enforcement officer, a local government
   71  code inspector, or a code enforcement officer, 80 percent of the
   72  civil penalty collected by the clerk of the court shall be
   73  distributed to the local governmental entity whose employee
   74  issued the citation and 20 percent of the penalty shall be
   75  retained by the clerk to cover administrative costs, in addition
   76  to other court costs. If a citation is issued by a state law
   77  enforcement officer, the civil penalty collected by the clerk
   78  shall be retained by the clerk for deposit into the fine and
   79  forfeiture fund established pursuant to s. 142.01. Any person
   80  who fails to properly respond to a citation issued pursuant to
   81  paragraph (b) shall, in addition to the citation, be charged
   82  with the offense of failing to respond to the citation and, upon
   83  conviction, commits a misdemeanor of the second degree,
   84  punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A written
   85  warning to this effect must be provided at the time any citation
   86  is issued pursuant to paragraph (b).
   87         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.