Senate Bill sb0488

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    Florida Senate - 2002                                   SB 488

    By Senators Brown-Waite and Smith





    10-636-02

  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.

19

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

21

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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    Florida Senate - 2002                                   SB 488
    10-636-02




  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. Portions of a comprehensive emergency

  6  management plan which address the response of a public or

  7  private hospital to an act of terrorism include those portions

  8  addressing security systems or plans; vulnerability analyses;

  9  emergency evacuation transportation; sheltering arrangements;

10  post-disaster activities, including provisions for emergency

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

12  transportation; supplies, including drug caches; staffing;

13  emergency equipment; and individual identification of

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

15  family inquiries. This subsection is subject to the Open

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

17  119.15 and shall stand repealed October 2, 2006, unless

18  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the

19  Legislature.

20         (2)  Those portions of a comprehensive

21  emergency-management plan which address the response of a

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

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

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

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

26  emergency-management plan which address the response of a

27  public hospital to an act of terrorism include those portions

28  addressing security systems or plans; vulnerability analyses;

29  emergency-evacuation transportation; sheltering arrangements;

30  post-disaster activities, including provisions for emergency

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

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    Florida Senate - 2002                                   SB 488
    10-636-02




  1  transportation; supplies, including drug caches; staffing;

  2  emergency equipment; and individual identification of

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

  4  family inquiries. This subsection is subject to the Open

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

  6  119.15 and shall stand repealed October 2, 2006, unless

  7  reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the

  8  Legislature.

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

10  information contained in a comprehensive emergency-management

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

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

13  24(b), Art. I of the State Constitution. This subsection is

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

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

16  2006, unless reviewed and saved from repeal through

17  reenactment by the Legislature.

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

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

20  comprehensive emergency-management plan that addresses the

21  response of a hospital to an act of terrorism is a public

22  record.

23         Section 2.  The Legislature finds that the exemption

24  from public-records and public-meetings requirements provided

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

26  because those portions of a comprehensive emergency-management

27  plan which address the response of a public or private

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

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

30  systems or plans, vulnerability analyses, emergency evacuation

31  transportation, sheltering arrangements, post-disaster

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    Florida Senate - 2002                                   SB 488
    10-636-02




  1  activities (including provisions for emergency power),

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

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

  4  individual identification of residents, transfer of records,

  5  and methods of responding to family inquiries were made

  6  publicly available for inspection or copying, they could be

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

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

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

10  of Floridians subjected to fatal injury would occur. While

11  some skill would be required to use knowledge of plan

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

13  terrorism, there is ample existing evidence of the

14  capabilities of terrorists to plot, plan, and coordinate

15  complicated acts of terror. The hijacking and crashing of

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

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

18  continued and purposeful spread of anthrax in Washington,

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

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

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

22  showed the importance of viable plans by which hospitals can

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

24  that those portions of a comprehensive emergency management

25  plan which address the response of a public or private

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

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

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

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

30  the Department of Community Affairs must be confidential and

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

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    Florida Senate - 2002                                   SB 488
    10-636-02




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

  2  must be exempt.

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

  4  that SB____ or similar legislation defining "terrorism" for

  5  purposes of the Florida Criminal Code takes effect, if such

  6  legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an

  7  extension thereof and becomes law.

  8

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10                          SENATE SUMMARY

11    Provides exemptions from public-records and
      public-meetings requirements with respect to plans
12    addressing a hospital's response to terrorism.

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