House Bill 2029e1

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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to emergency management;

  3         amending s. 240.295, F.S.; prescribing duties

  4         of the Board of Regents with respect to

  5         identifying public hurricane evacuation shelter

  6         space on certain campuses; requiring the

  7         submission of a capital improvements program;

  8         deleting a requirement for the submission of a

  9         report; revising a condition precedent to a

10         requirement for specified building construction

11         standards; revising applicability; removing an

12         exemption; amending s. 252.38, F.S.; revising

13         provisions relating to the appointment, salary,

14         and direction and control of a county emergency

15         management agency director; amending s.

16         252.385, F.S.; revising legislative intent;

17         including certain private facilities within a

18         survey of prospective public hurricane

19         evacuation shelters; including district school

20         boards and community college boards of trustees

21         among those coordinating and implementing such

22         survey; revising completion dates for the

23         retrofitting of specified facilities; exempting

24         the owner or lessee of a shelter scheduled for

25         retrofitting from a requirement to make certain

26         improvements; providing that specified public

27         facilities be made available as public

28         hurricane evacuation shelters; requiring the

29         Department of Management Services to

30         incorporate public hurricane evacuation shelter

31         provisions into lease agreements for state


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1         agencies; providing specifications for suitable

  2         leased public facilities; amending s. 252.51,

  3         F.S.; revising provisions which provide

  4         exemption from liability for persons or

  5         organizations who permit real estate or

  6         premises to be used for sheltering persons

  7         during specified emergencies; exempting the

  8         state, its political subdivisions, agents, and

  9         employees from liability for damages caused by

10         emergency management workers in certain

11         situations; providing exceptions; defining

12         "emergency management worker"; repealing s.

13         252.855, F.S., which requires the development

14         of consolidated reporting forms for specified

15         storage tank registration programs and single

16         annual fee payment and due date for reporting

17         required from specified petroleum distributors

18         and retail outlets; providing an effective

19         date.

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21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:

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23         Section 1.  Subsection (4) of section 240.295, Florida

24  Statutes, is amended to read:

25         240.295  State University System; authorization for

26  fixed capital outlay projects.--

27         (4)  The Board of Regents shall, in consultation with

28  local and state emergency management agencies, assess existing

29  facilities to identify the extent to which each campus has

30  public hurricane evacuation shelter space. The board shall

31  submit to the Governor and the Legislature by September 30 of


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1  each year a 5-year capital improvements program that

  2  identifies new or retrofitted facilities that will incorporate

  3  enhanced hurricane resistance standards and that can be used

  4  as public hurricane evacuation shelters. adequate to house

  5  those students, faculty, and employees expected to seek public

  6  shelter prior to or during a disaster and those other persons

  7  for which the campus has agreed with the local emergency

  8  management agency or other voluntary organization to provide

  9  shelter space.  The board shall submit a report describing the

10  results of its assessment to the Governor and the Legislature

11  by February 1, 1994.  At the discretion of the board, this

12  report may be accompanied by a list of proposed improvements

13  to existing buildings to improve shelter capacity and an

14  estimate of the costs associated with implementing these

15  improvements.  Until a county in which a campus is located has

16  sufficient public hurricane evacuation shelter space, any

17  campus building for which a design contract is entered into

18  subsequent to July 1, 2000 1994, and which has been identified

19  by the board, with the concurrence of the local emergency

20  management agency or the Department of Community Affairs, to

21  be appropriate for use as a public hurricane evacuation

22  shelter, must be constructed in accordance with public shelter

23  standards unless the board, with the concurrence of the local

24  emergency management agency or the Department of Community

25  Affairs, exempts the building or part thereof from shelter

26  standards because of its location, size, or other

27  characteristic.

28         Section 2.  Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section

29  252.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:

30         252.38  Emergency management powers of political

31  subdivisions.--Safeguarding the life and property of its


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1  citizens is an innate responsibility of the governing body of

  2  each political subdivision of the state.

  3         (1)  COUNTIES.--

  4         (b)  Each county emergency management agency created

  5  and established pursuant to ss. 252.31-252.91 shall have a

  6  director who shall be appointed and have an annual salary

  7  fixed by the board of county commissioners of the county.  The

  8  director must meet the minimum training and education

  9  qualifications established in a job description approved by

10  the county.  The director shall be appointed by the board of

11  county commissioners or the chief administrative officer of

12  the county, as described in chapter 125 or the county charter

13  if applicable, to serve at the pleasure of the appointing

14  authority board, subject to their direction and control, in

15  conformance with applicable resolutions, ordinances, and laws.

16  A county constitutional officer or an employee of a county

17  constitutional officer may be appointed as director following

18  prior notification to the division. Each board of county

19  commissioners shall promptly inform the division of the

20  appointment of the director and other personnel. Each director

21  has direct responsibility for the organization,

22  administration, and operation of the county emergency

23  management agency, subject only to the direction and control

24  of the governing body of the county. The director shall

25  coordinate emergency management activities, services, and

26  programs within the county and shall serve as liaison to the

27  division and other local emergency management agencies and

28  organizations.

29         Section 3.  Section 252.385, Florida Statutes, is

30  amended to read:

31         252.385  Public shelter space.--


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1         (1)  It is the intent of the Legislature that this

  2  state not have a deficit of safe public hurricane evacuation

  3  shelter space in any region of the state by 1998 and

  4  thereafter.

  5         (2)  The division shall administer a program to survey

  6  existing schools, universities, community colleges, and other

  7  state-owned, municipally owned, and county-owned public

  8  buildings and any private facility that the owner, in writing,

  9  agrees to provide for use as a public hurricane evacuation

10  shelter to identify those that are appropriately designed and

11  located to serve as such shelters.  The owners of the

12  facilities must shall be given the opportunity to participate

13  in the surveys.  The Board of Regents, district school boards,

14  community college boards of trustees, and the Department of

15  Education are responsible for coordinating and implementing

16  the survey of public schools, universities, and community

17  colleges with the division or the local emergency management

18  agency.

19         (3)  Beginning no later than September 1, 1994, The

20  division shall annually provide to the President of the

21  Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the

22  Governor a list of facilities recommended to be retrofitted

23  using state funds. State funds should be targeted to counties

24  with hurricane evacuation shelter deficits. Retrofitting

25  facilities in regions with public hurricane evacuation shelter

26  deficits shall be given first priority and should be completed

27  by 2003 1998.  All recommended appropriate facilities should

28  be retrofitted by 2008 2003. The owner or lessee of a public

29  hurricane evacuation shelter that is included on the list of

30  facilities recommended for retrofitting is not required to

31  perform any recommended improvements.


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1         (4)(a)  Public facilities, including schools,

  2  postsecondary education facilities, and other facilities owned

  3  or leased by the state or local governments which are suitable

  4  for use as public hurricane evacuation shelters shall be made

  5  available at the request of the local emergency management

  6  agencies. Such agencies shall coordinate with the appropriate

  7  school board, university, community college, or local

  8  governing board when requesting the use of such facilities as

  9  public hurricane evacuation shelters.

10         (b)  The Department of Management Services shall

11  incorporate provisions for the use of suitable leased public

12  facilities as public hurricane evacuation shelters into lease

13  agreements for state agencies. Suitable leased public

14  facilities include leased public facilities that are solely

15  occupied by state agencies and have at least 2,000 square feet

16  of net floor area in a single room or in a combination of

17  rooms having a minimum of 400 square feet in each room. The

18  net square footage of floor area must be determined by

19  subtracting from the gross square footage the square footage

20  of spaces such as mechanical and electrical rooms, storage

21  rooms, open corridors, restrooms, kitchens, science or

22  computer laboratories, shop or mechanical areas,

23  administrative offices, records vaults, and crawl spaces.

24         Section 4.  Section 252.51, Florida Statutes, is

25  amended to read:

26         252.51  Liability.--

27         (1)  Any person or organization, public or private,

28  owning or controlling real estate or other premises who

29  voluntarily and without compensation grants a license or

30  privilege or otherwise permits the designation by the local

31  emergency management agency or use of the whole or any part of


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1  such real estate or premises for the purpose of sheltering

  2  persons during an actual, impending, mock, or practice

  3  emergency, together with her or his successor in interest, if

  4  any, shall not be liable for the death of, or injury to, any

  5  person on or about such real estate or premises during the

  6  actual, impending, mock, or practice emergency, or for loss

  7  of, or damage to, the property of such person, solely by

  8  reason or as a result of such license, privilege, designation,

  9  or use, unless the gross negligence or the willful and wanton

10  misconduct of such person owning or controlling such real

11  estate or premises or her or his successor in interest is the

12  proximate cause of such death, injury, loss, or damage

13  occurring during such sheltering period.

14         (2)  Neither the state nor any political subdivision of

15  the state, nor their agents or employees, except for bad

16  faith, gross negligence, malicious purpose, or wanton and

17  willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property, shall

18  be liable for personal injury, death, or property damage

19  sustained by any person as a result of the acts or omissions

20  of any emergency management worker complying with this chapter

21  or any order, rule, ordinance, or resolution adopted pursuant

22  to this chapter. As used in this subsection, the term

23  "emergency management worker" includes any full-time or

24  part-time paid or volunteer employee or agent of this state,

25  its political subdivisions, other states, territories, or

26  possessions, the District of Columbia, or the Federal

27  Government who is performing emergency management activities

28  in this state, subject to the order or control of or pursuant

29  to the request of the state, its agencies, or its political

30  subdivisions. The rights of any person to receive benefits to

31  which they would otherwise be entitled under any workers'


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                                          HB 2029, First Engrossed



  1  compensation law, any pension law, or any other federal or

  2  state statute are not affected by this subsection.

  3         Section 5.  Section 252.855, Florida Statutes, is

  4  repealed.

  5         Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.

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