HB 1061 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	Representative Bowen and the Committee on Agriculture recommend
7	the following:
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9	Committee Substitute
10	Remove the entire bill and insert:
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12	A bill to be entitled
13	An act relating to public records; amending s. 500.148,
14	F.S.; providing an exemption from public records
15	requirements for certain federal information that is
16	otherwise confidential under federal law and that is
17	provided to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
18	Services for purposes of food safety investigations,
19	federal-state contracts and partnership activities, and
20	regulatory reviews; prohibiting the disclosure of such
21	information unless a federal agency has found that the
22	information is no longer entitled to protection or unless
23	ordered by a court; providing for future legislative
24	review and repeal; providing a finding of public
25	necessity; providing a contingent effective date.
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27	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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29	Section 1. Section 500.148, Florida Statutes, is amended
30	to read:
31	500.148 Reports and dissemination of information;
32	confidentiality.--
33	(1) The department may publish from time to time reports
34	summarizing all judgments and court orders that have been
35	rendered under this chapter, including the nature of the charges
36	and the disposition thereof.
37	(2) The department may also disseminate any information
38	regarding food that it considers necessary in the interest of
39	public health and the protection of the consumer against fraud.
40	Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the
41	department from collecting, reporting, and illustrating the
42	results of these investigations.
43	(3) Information deemed confidential under 21 C.F.R. part
44	20.61, part 20.62, or part 20.88, or U.S.C. s. 552(b), and which
45	is provided to the department during a joint food safety or food
46	illness investigation, as a requirement for conducting a
47	federal-state contract or partnership activity, or for
48	regulatory review, is confidential and exempt from s. 119.07(1)
49	and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution. Such
50	information may not be disclosed except under a final
51	determination by the appropriate federal agencies that such
52	records are no longer entitled to protection, or pursuant to an
53	order of the court. This section is subject to the Open
54	Government Sunset Review Act of 1995 in accordance with s.
55	119.15, and shall stand repealed on October 2, 2008, unless
56	reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
57	Legislature.
58	(4)(3)Upon request of a food establishment, the
59	department may issue a report certifying that the requesting
60	food establishment currently complies with the sanitation and
61	permitting requirements of this chapter and the rules
62	promulgated thereunder. Such certification may be requested for
63	the purpose of exporting food to a foreign country. The
64	department is authorized to recover the cost associated with
65	carrying out the provisions of this subsection, the amount of
66	which shall be set by rule.
67	Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public
68	necessity that information concerning investigations of food
69	safety or food illness which is otherwise confidential under
70	federal law remain confidential and exempt when shared with the
71	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. It is
72	essential that the department have access to such information
73	provided by federal and other state agencies in order to conduct
74	investigations and carry out contracts and partnership
75	agreements. The Legislature further finds that federal agencies
76	are reluctant to seek the department’s review on important
77	regulatory matters if information that is confidential under
78	federal law would be subject to disclosure. Therefore, the
79	Legislature finds that the harm caused by the release of such
80	information substantially outweighs any minimal public benefit
81	derived from disclosure of federal information that is otherwise
82	confidential.
83	Section 3. This act shall take effect on the same date
84	that HB 339 or similar legislation takes effect, if such
85	legislation is adopted in the same legislative session or an
86	extension thereof and becomes law.