House Bill hb1065c1

    Florida House of Representatives - 2001             CS/HB 1065

        By the Committee on Natural Resources & Environmental
    Protection and Representative Needelman





  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to the placement of rip current

  3         warning signs; creating s. 380.275, F.S.;

  4         providing for a cooperative effort among state

  5         agencies and local governments to plan for and

  6         assist in the placement of rip current warning

  7         signs; providing that the Department of

  8         Community Affairs shall direct and coordinate

  9         the program; requiring the development of a

10         uniform rip current warning sign; authorizing

11         the department to coordinate the location,

12         distribution, and erection of rip current

13         warning signs; providing for rules; limiting

14         the liability of participating governmental

15         entities; providing an effective date.

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

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19         Section 1.  Section 380.275, Florida Statutes, is

20  created to read:

21         380.275  Beaches and coastal areas; posting of rip

22  current warning signs.--

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

24  cooperative effort among state agencies and local governments

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

26  current warning signs along the public beaches and coastal

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

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

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

30  significant danger of drowning to tourists and the public, and

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






    Florida House of Representatives - 2001             CS/HB 1065

    194-153-01






  1  it is therefore important to warn the public to be cautious in

  2  coastal areas where rip currents can occur.

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

  4  Florida Coastal Management Program, shall direct and

  5  coordinate the rip current warning sign program, which shall

  6  be a program to require the placement of rip current warning

  7  signs in areas that pose a significant risk to the public as a

  8  result of rip currents.  Signs shall be located where the

  9  local government entity has established an access way to a

10  beach or coastal area.

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

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

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

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

15  practicable, wherever the local government entity has

16  established access ways to the beach.

17         (4)  The department shall, within the limits of

18  appropriations available to it for such purposes, establish

19  and operate a program to fund the placement of rip current

20  warning signs in areas where the local government entity has

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

22  be subject to a significant threat of dangerous rip currents

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

24  shall coordinate efforts to determine the locations that local

25  governments consider appropriate for placement of rip current

26  warning signs.  For these locations, the department shall make

27  rip current warning signs available to the governing body of

28  any county or municipality in such quantity as is determined

29  by the department.  The department shall also coordinate with

30  the local governing body the distribution and erection of rip

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    Florida House of Representatives - 2001             CS/HB 1065

    194-153-01






  1  current warning signs, wherever there is a request for such

  2  assistance.

  3         (5)  The department may adopt such rules and forms as

  4  are necessary to carry out the purposes of this section and to

  5  ensure that all projects to which assistance is rendered under

  6  this section are for the purpose of providing and erecting rip

  7  current warning signs.

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

  9  local government agencies shall not be held liable for any

10  injury caused by the failure to install the uniform rip

11  current warning signs provided for in this section; however,

12  this subsection is not intended to limit in any way the

13  responsibility imposed on such entities by other provisions of

14  law with regard to the posting of rip current warning signs on

15  public beaches.

16         Section 2.  This act shall take effect October 1, 2001.

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