Senate Bill sb0018Ce1

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    CS for SB 18-C                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1                      A bill to be entitled

  2         An act relating to public records; creating s.

  3         395.1056, F.S.; providing an exemption from

  4         public-records requirements for those portions

  5         of a comprehensive emergency-management plan

  6         which addresses the response of a public or

  7         private hospital to an act of terrorism;

  8         creating an exemption for those portions of a

  9         comprehensive emergency-management plan which

10         address the response of a public hospital to an

11         act of terrorism; providing an exemption from

12         public-meeting requirements for any portion of

13         a public meeting which would reveal information

14         contained in a comprehensive

15         emergency-management plan; providing for future

16         review and repeal; providing a statement of

17         public necessity; providing a contingent

18         effective date.

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

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22         Section 1.  Section 395.1056, Florida Statutes, is

23  created to read:

24         395.1056  Plan components addressing a hospital's

25  response to terrorism; public-records exemption;

26  public-meetings exemption.--

27         (1)  Those portions of a comprehensive

28  emergency-management plan which address the response of a

29  public or private hospital to an act of terrorism as defined

30  by s. 775.30 and which are filed with or are in the possession

31  of the agency, a state or local law-enforcement agency, a


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    CS for SB 18-C                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1  county or municipal emergency-management agency, the executive

  2  office of the Governor, the Department of Health, or the

  3  Department of Community Affairs are confidential and exempt

  4  from the provisions of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of

  5  the State Constitution. This exemption is remedial in nature,

  6  and it is the intent of the Legislature that this exemption be

  7  applied to plans filed with the agency before, on, or after

  8  the effective date of this section. Information made

  9  confidential and exempt by this subsection may be disclosed by

10  a custodial agency to another state or federal agency to

11  prevent, detect, guard against, respond to, investigate, or

12  manage the consequences of any attempted or actual act of

13  terrorism, or to prosecute those persons who are responsible

14  for such attempts or acts, and the confidential and exempt

15  status of such information shall be retained while in the

16  possession of the receiving agency. Portions of a

17  comprehensive emergency management plan which address the

18  response of a public or private hospital to an act of

19  terrorism include those portions addressing security systems

20  or plans; vulnerability analyses; emergency evacuation

21  transportation; sheltering arrangements; post-disaster

22  activities, including provisions for emergency power,

23  communications, food, and water; post-disaster transportation;

24  supplies, including drug caches; staffing; emergency

25  equipment; and individual identification of residents,

26  transfer of records, and methods of responding to family

27  inquiries. This subsection is subject to the Open Government

28  Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s. 119.15 and

29  shall stand repealed October 2, 2006, unless reviewed and

30  saved from repeal through reenactment by the Legislature.

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    CS for SB 18-C                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1         (2)  Those portions of a comprehensive

  2  emergency-management plan which address the response of a

  3  public hospital to an act of terrorism as defined by s. 775.30

  4  and which are in the custody of that public hospital are

  5  exempt from the requirements of s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a),

  6  Art. I of the State Constitution. Portions of a comprehensive

  7  emergency-management plan which address the response of a

  8  public hospital to an act of terrorism include those portions

  9  addressing security systems or plans; vulnerability analyses;

10  emergency-evacuation transportation; sheltering arrangements;

11  post-disaster activities, including provisions for emergency

12  power, communications, food, and water; post-disaster

13  transportation; supplies, including drug caches; staffing;

14  emergency equipment; and individual identification of

15  residents, transfer of records, and methods of responding to

16  family inquiries. This subsection is subject to the Open

17  Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s.

18  119.15 and shall stand repealed October 2, 2006, unless

19  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the

20  Legislature.

21         (3)  Any portion of a public meeting which would reveal

22  information contained in a comprehensive emergency-management

23  plan which addresses the response of a hospital to an act of

24  terrorism is exempt from the provisions of s. 286.011 and s.

25  24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. This subsection is

26  subject to the Open Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in

27  accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed October 2,

28  2006, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through

29  reenactment by the Legislature.

30         (4)  The certification by the Governor, in coordination

31  with the Department of Health, of the sufficiency of a


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    CS for SB 18-C                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1  comprehensive emergency-management plan that addresses the

  2  response of a hospital to an act of terrorism is not exempt.

  3         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that the exemption

  4  from public-records and public-meetings requirements provided

  5  in section 395.1056, Florida Statutes, is a public necessity

  6  because those portions of a comprehensive emergency-management

  7  plan which address the response of a public or private

  8  hospital to an act of terrorism are vital plan components that

  9  affect the health and safety of the public. If security

10  systems or plans, vulnerability analyses, emergency evacuation

11  transportation, sheltering arrangements, post-disaster

12  activities (including provisions for emergency power),

13  communications, food, and water, post-disaster transportation,

14  supplies (including caches), staffing, emergency equipment,

15  individual identification of residents, transfer of records,

16  and methods of responding to family inquiries were made

17  publicly available for inspection or copying, they could be

18  used to hamper or disable the response of a hospital to a

19  terrorist attack. If a hospital's response to an act of

20  terrorism were hampered or disabled, an increase in the number

21  of Floridians subjected to fatal injury would occur. While

22  some skill would be required to use knowledge of plan

23  components to disable a hospital's response to an act of

24  terrorism, there is ample existing evidence of the

25  capabilities of terrorists to plot, plan, and coordinate

26  complicated acts of terror. The hijacking and crashing of

27  planes, the destruction of the World Trade Center, the attack

28  on the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, as well as the

29  continued and purposeful spread of anthrax in Washington,

30  D.C., other states, and communities within this state, which

31  has resulted in the death of at least one Floridian, provide


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    CS for SB 18-C                           First Engrossed (ntc)



  1  evidence of such skill. The aftermath of these events has also

  2  showed the importance of viable plans by which hospitals can

  3  respond to acts of terror. As a result, the Legislature finds

  4  that those portions of a comprehensive emergency management

  5  plan which address the response of a public or private

  6  hospital to an act of terrorism and which are filed with the

  7  Agency for Health Care Administration, a state or local law

  8  enforcement agency, a local emergency-management agency, the

  9  Executive Office of the Governor, the Department of Health, or

10  the Department of Community Affairs must be confidential and

11  exempt and that the emergency-management plans of a public

12  hospital which are in the custody of a public hospital also

13  must be exempt.

14         Section 3.  This act shall take effect on the same date

15  that Senate Bill 6-C or similar legislation defining

16  "terrorism" for purposes of the Florida Criminal Code takes

17  effect, if such legislation is adopted in the same legislative

18  session or an extension thereof and becomes law.

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