House Bill 0431
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 431
By the Committee on Community Affairs and Representative
Gay
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to emergency management;
3 amending s. 240.295, F.S.; requiring the
4 submission of a capital improvements program;
5 prescribing duties of the Board of Regents with
6 respect to identifying public hurricane
7 evacuation shelter space on certain campuses;
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; amending s. 252.38, F.S.; revising
12 provisions relating to the appointment, salary,
13 and direction and control of a county emergency
14 management agency director; amending s.
15 252.385, F.S.; revising legislative intent;
16 including certain private facilities within a
17 survey of prospective public hurricane
18 evacuation shelters; including district school
19 boards and community college boards of trustees
20 among those coordinating and implementing such
21 survey; revising completion dates for the
22 retrofitting of specified facilities; exempting
23 the owner or lessee of a shelter scheduled for
24 retrofitting from a requirement to make certain
25 improvements; providing that specified public
26 facilities be made available as public
27 hurricane evacuation shelters; requiring the
28 Department of Management Services to
29 incorporate public hurricane evacuation shelter
30 provisions into lease agreements for state
31 agencies; providing specifications for suitable
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 431
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1 leased public facilities; amending s. 252.51,
2 F.S.; revising provisions which provide
3 exemption from liability for persons or
4 organizations who permit real estate or
5 premises to be used for sheltering persons
6 during specified emergencies; exempting the
7 state, its political subdivisions, agents, and
8 employees from liability for damages caused by
9 emergency management workers in certain
10 situations; providing exceptions; defining
11 "emergency management worker"; repealing s.
12 252.855, F.S., which requires the development
13 of consolidated reporting forms for specified
14 storage tank registration programs and single
15 annual fee payment and due date for reporting
16 required from specified petroleum distributors
17 and retail outlets; providing an effective
18 date.
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 240.295, Florida
23 Statutes, is amended to read:
24 240.295 State University System; authorization for
25 fixed capital outlay projects.--
26 (4) The Board of Regents shall, in consultation with
27 local and state emergency management agencies, assess existing
28 facilities to identify the extent to which each campus has
29 public hurricane evacuation shelter space. The board shall
30 submit to the Governor and the Legislature by September 30 of
31 each year a 5-year capital improvements program that
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 431
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1 identifies new or retrofitted facilities that will incorporate
2 enhanced hurricane resistance standards and that can be used
3 as public hurricane evacuation shelters. adequate to house
4 those students, faculty, and employees expected to seek public
5 shelter prior to or during a disaster and those other persons
6 for which the campus has agreed with the local emergency
7 management agency or other voluntary organization to provide
8 shelter space. The board shall submit a report describing the
9 results of its assessment to the Governor and the Legislature
10 by February 1, 1994. At the discretion of the board, this
11 report may be accompanied by a list of proposed improvements
12 to existing buildings to improve shelter capacity and an
13 estimate of the costs associated with implementing these
14 improvements. Until a county in which a campus is located has
15 sufficient public hurricane evacuation shelter space, any
16 campus building for which a design contract is entered into
17 subsequent to July 1, 2001 1994, and which has been identified
18 by the board, with the concurrence of the local emergency
19 management agency or the Department of Community Affairs, to
20 be appropriate for use as a public hurricane evacuation
21 shelter, must be constructed in accordance with public shelter
22 standards unless the board, with the concurrence of the local
23 emergency management agency or the Department of Community
24 Affairs, exempts the building or part thereof from shelter
25 standards because of its location, size, or other
26 characteristic.
27 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section
28 252.38, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
29 252.38 Emergency management powers of political
30 subdivisions.--Safeguarding the life and property of its
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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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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 2004 1998. All recommended appropriate facilities should
28 be retrofitted by 2009 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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1 (4)(a) Public facilities, including schools,
2 postsecondary education facilities, and other facilities owned
3 or leased by the state or local governments, but excluding
4 hospitals or nursing homes, which are suitable for use as
5 public hurricane evacuation shelters shall be made available
6 at the request of the local emergency management agencies.
7 Such agencies shall coordinate with the appropriate school
8 board, university, community college, or local governing board
9 when requesting the use of such facilities as public hurricane
10 evacuation shelters.
11 (b) The Department of Management Services shall
12 incorporate provisions for the use of suitable leased public
13 facilities as public hurricane evacuation shelters into lease
14 agreements for state agencies. Suitable leased public
15 facilities include leased public facilities that are solely
16 occupied by state agencies and have at least 2,000 square feet
17 of net floor area in a single room or in a combination of
18 rooms having a minimum of 400 square feet in each room. The
19 net square footage of floor area must be determined by
20 subtracting from the gross square footage the square footage
21 of spaces such as mechanical and electrical rooms, storage
22 rooms, open corridors, restrooms, kitchens, science or
23 computer laboratories, shop or mechanical areas,
24 administrative offices, records vaults, and crawl spaces.
25 Section 4. Section 252.51, Florida Statutes, is
26 amended to read:
27 252.51 Liability.--
28 (1) Any person or organization, public or private,
29 owning or controlling real estate or other premises who
30 voluntarily and without compensation grants a license or
31 privilege or otherwise permits the designation by the local
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1 emergency management agency or use of the whole or any part of
2 such real estate or premises for the purpose of sheltering
3 persons during an actual, impending, mock, or practice
4 emergency, together with her or his successor in interest, if
5 any, shall not be liable for the death of, or injury to, any
6 person on or about such real estate or premises during the
7 actual, impending, mock, or practice emergency, or for loss
8 of, or damage to, the property of such person, solely by
9 reason or as a result of such license, privilege, designation,
10 or use, unless the gross negligence or the willful and wanton
11 misconduct of such person owning or controlling such real
12 estate or premises or her or his successor in interest is the
13 proximate cause of such death, injury, loss, or damage
14 occurring during such sheltering period.
15 (2) Neither the state nor any political subdivision of
16 the state, nor their agents or employees, except for bad
17 faith, gross negligence, malicious purpose, or wanton and
18 willful disregard of human rights, safety, or property, shall
19 be liable for personal injury, death, or property damage
20 sustained by any person as a result of the acts or omissions
21 of any emergency management worker complying with this chapter
22 or any order, rule, ordinance, or resolution adopted pursuant
23 to this chapter. As used in this subsection, the term
24 "emergency management worker" includes any full-time or
25 part-time paid or volunteer employee or agent of this state,
26 its political subdivisions, other states, territories, or
27 possessions, the District of Columbia, or the Federal
28 Government who is performing emergency management activities
29 in this state, subject to the order or control of or pursuant
30 to the request of the state, its agencies, or its political
31 subdivisions. The rights of any person to receive benefits to
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 431
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1 which they would otherwise be entitled under any workers'
2 compensation law, any pension law, or any other federal or
3 state statute are not affected by this subsection.
4 Section 5. Section 252.855, Florida Statutes, is
5 repealed.
6 Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2000.
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2 HOUSE SUMMARY
3
With respect to emergency management, prescribes duties
4 of the Board of Regents with respect to identifying
public hurricane evacuation shelter space on certain
5 campuses. Provides that until a county in which a campus
is located has sufficient public hurricane evacuation
6 shelter space, specified building construction standards
must be adhered to. Requires submission of a capital
7 improvement program.
8
Revises provisions relating to the appointment, salary,
9 and direction and control of a county emergency
management agency director. Provides that directors shall
10 be appointed by the board of county commissioners or the
chief administrative officer of the county. Provides that
11 a county constitutional officer or an employee thereof
may be appointed as a county emergency management
12 director following notification to the Division of
Emergency Management of the Department of Community
13 Affairs.
14
Provides legislative intent with respect to the provision
15 of safe public hurricane evacuation shelter space.
Includes certain private facilities within a survey of
16 prospective public hurricane evacuation shelters.
Provides that district school boards and community
17 college boards of trustees, along with the Board of
Regents and the Department of Education, are responsible
18 for coordinating and implementing such survey. Provides
that the retrofitting of facilities in regions with
19 public hurricane evacuation shelter deficits should be
completed by 2004, and that all recommended facilities
20 should be retrofitted by 2009. Exempts the owner or
lessee of a shelter scheduled for retrofitting from a
21 requirement to make certain improvements. Provides that
public facilities, including schools, postsecondary
22 education facilities, and other facilities owned or
leased by the state or local governments which are
23 suitable for use as public hurricane evacuation shelters,
be made available as public hurricane evacuation shelters
24 at the request of local emergency management agencies.
Requires the Department of Management Services to
25 incorporate public hurricane evacuation shelter
provisions into lease agreements for state agencies.
26 Provides specifications for suitable leased public
facilities.
27
28 Revises provisions which provide exemption from liability
for persons or organizations who permit real estate or
29 premises to be used for sheltering persons during
specified emergencies. Exempts the state, its political
30 subdivisions, agents, and employees from liability for
damages caused by emergency management workers in certain
31 situations. Provides exceptions. Defines "emergency
management worker" for purposes of the act.
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Florida House of Representatives - 2000 HB 431
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1
2 Repeals provisions which require the Department of
Environmental Protection and the Department of Community
3 Affairs to develop consolidated reporting forms for
specified storage tank registration programs and provide
4 for a single annual fee payment and due date for
reporting required from specified petroleum distributors
5 and retail outlets.
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