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