Senate Bill 1876c1

    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1876

    By the Committee on Judiciary and Senator Diaz de la Portilla





    308-2136-00

  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the placement of rip current

  3         warning signs; providing a short title;

  4         creating s. 380.275, F.S.; providing for a

  5         cooperative effort among state agencies and

  6         local governments to plan for and assist in the

  7         placement of rip current warning signs;

  8         providing that the Department of Community

  9         Affairs shall direct and coordinate the

10         program; requiring the development of a uniform

11         rip current warning sign; authorizing the

12         department to coordinate the distribution and

13         erection of rip current warning signs;

14         providing for rules; limiting the liability of

15         participating governmental entities; providing

16         an effective date.

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

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20         Section 1.  This act may be cited as the

21  "McGriff-Mannix Act" in honor of James McGriff and Brian

22  Mannix, who lost their lives as a result of rip currents.

23         Section 2.  Section 380.275, Florida Statutes, is

24  created to read:

25         380.275  Beaches and coastal areas; posting of rip

26  current warning signs.--

27         (1)  It is the intent of the Legislature that a

28  cooperative effort among state agencies and local governments

29  be developed to plan for and assist in the placement of rip

30  current warning signs along the public beaches and coastal

31  areas of the state.  A rip current is a strong surface current

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1876
    308-2136-00




  1  of water flowing out past the surf zone, which can pull even

  2  the strongest swimmer into deeper water.  Rip currents pose a

  3  significant danger of drowning to tourists and the general

  4  public, and it is therefore important to inform the public to

  5  be cautious in coastal areas where rip currents can occur.

  6         (2)  The Department of Community Affairs, through the

  7  Florida Coastal Management Program, shall direct and

  8  coordinate the rip current warning sign program, which shall

  9  be a program to encourage the placement of rip current warning

10  signs in areas that may pose a significant risk to the public

11  as a result of rip currents.  Signs may be located where the

12  public has established an access way to a beach or coastal

13  area.

14         (3)  The department shall develop a uniform rip current

15  warning sign for use at any public beach or along any coastal

16  area where there may be a significant threat to the public as

17  a result of rip currents, to be placed, insofar as is

18  practicable, wherever the public has established access ways

19  to the beach.

20         (4)  The department is authorized, within the limits of

21  appropriations available to it for such purposes, to establish

22  and operate a program to encourage the placement of rip

23  current warning signs in areas where the public has

24  established an access way to a beach or coastal area that may

25  be subject to a significant threat of dangerous rip currents

26  and therefore may pose a hazard to the public. The department

27  shall also coordinate with the local governing body the

28  distribution and erection of rip current warning signs

29  whenever there is a request for such assistance.

30         (5)  The department is authorized to adopt rules to

31  implement this section.

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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.






    Florida Senate - 2000                           CS for SB 1876
    308-2136-00




  1         (6)  The state, state agencies, local governments, and

  2  local government agencies shall not be held liable for any

  3  injury caused by a rip current regardless of the placement or

  4  maintenance of rip current warning signs or the failure to

  5  install or maintain rip current signs as provided by this

  6  section.

  7         Section 3.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2000.

  8

  9          STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
                       COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
10                             SB 1876

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12  Subsection (6), pertaining to sovereign immunity, is clarified
    to provide that a governmental entity's liability will be
13  limited for injuries caused by a rip current regardless of the
    entity's placement, maintenance, or failure to place or
14  maintain a rip current warning sign.

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