Florida Senate - 2009                              CS for SB 494
       
       
       
       By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation
       and Senator Bennett
       
       
       
       592-02104-09                                           2009494c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to water conservation; amending s.
    3         373.62, F.S.; revising the requirements for automatic
    4         lawn sprinkler systems; requiring irrigation
    5         contractors to test for the correct operation of
    6         system devices or switches and ensure their proper
    7         operation before completing other work on the system;
    8         requiring the adoption of model ordinances; providing
    9         penalties; providing for the disposition of funds
   10         raised through penalties imposed; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12         
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14         
   15         Section 1. Section 373.62, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   16  read:
   17         373.62 Water conservation; automatic sprinkler systems.—
   18         (1) Any person who operates purchases and installs an
   19  automatic irrigation lawn sprinkler system after May 1, 1991,
   20  shall properly install, and must maintain, and operate
   21  technology, a rain sensor device or switch that inhibits or
   22  interrupts operation of will override the landscape irrigation
   23  cycle of the sprinkler system during periods of sufficient
   24  moisture when adequate rainfall has occurred.
   25         (2) A licensed contractor who performs work on an automatic
   26  irrigation system shall test for correct operation of each
   27  device or switch on that system. If such devices or switches are
   28  not installed in the system or are not in proper operating
   29  condition, the contractor shall install new ones or repair the
   30  existing ones and confirm that each device or switch is in
   31  proper operating condition before completing any other work on
   32  the system.
   33         (3) The department shall create a model ordinance by
   34  January 15, 2010, to be adopted and enforced by governments in
   35  order to administer this section. Such ordinance shall, at a
   36  minimum, provide:
   37         (a) Penalties for the operators of automatic sprinkler
   38  systems who do not properly install and maintain the required
   39  devices or switches and penalties for licensed contractors who
   40  do not comply with this section. The minimum penalties shall be
   41  $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense, and $250 for
   42  a third or subsequent offense.
   43         (b) Requirements for licensed contractors to report to the
   44  appropriate authority systems that are not in compliance with
   45  this section.
   46         (c) Penalties for licensed contractors who do not comply
   47  with the provisions of this section, which shall be $50 for a
   48  first offense, $100 for a second offense, and $250 for a third
   49  or subsequent offense.
   50  For the purpose of this section, regular maintenance and
   51  replacement of worn or broken technology that interrupts or
   52  inhibits the operation of a device or switch is not considered a
   53  violation of this section if such repairs are conducted within a
   54  reasonable time.
   55         (4) Local governments shall adopt the model ordinance no
   56  later than October 1, 2010.
   57         (5) Funds generated by such penalties shall be retained by
   58  the local government to further water-conservation activities.
   59         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.