HB 0537 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Health Care 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 environmental health; creating s.
12	381.0069, F.S.; providing for the regulation of portable
13	restroom contracting; providing definitions; requiring a
14	portable restroom contractor to apply for registration with
15	the Department of Health; providing requirements for
16	registration, including an examination; providing for
17	administration; providing rulemaking authority; providing for
18	renewal of registration, including continuing education;
19	providing for certification of partnerships and corporations;
20	providing grounds for suspension or revocation of
21	registration; providing fees; providing penalties and
22	prohibitions; amending s. 381.0066, F.S.; authorizing the
23	continuation of permit fees for system construction permits
24	for onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems; providing
25	an effective date.
26
27	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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29	Section 1. Section 381.0069, Florida Statutes, is created
30	to read:
31	381.0069 Portable restroom contracting.--
32	(1) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
33	(a) "Department" means the Department of Health.
34	(b) "Portable restroom" means holding tanks, portable
35	toilets, or portable restroom facilities intended for use on a
36	permanent or nonpermanent basis, including such facilities
37	placed at construction sites when workers are present.
38	(c) "Portable restroom contractor" means a contractor
39	whose services are unlimited in the portable restroom trade who
40	has had at least 3 years' experience as a Florida-registered
41	portable restroom contractor; who has knowledge of state health
42	code law and rules; and who has the experience, knowledge, and
43	skills to handle, deliver, and pick up sanitary portable
44	restrooms, to install, safely handle, and maintain portable
45	holding tanks, and to handle, transport, and dispose of domestic
46	portable restroom and portable holding tank wastewater.
47	(2) REGISTRATION REQUIRED.--A person may not hold himself
48	or herself out as a portable restroom contractor in this state
49	unless he or she is registered by the department in accordance
50	with this section. However, this section does not prohibit any
51	person licensed pursuant to s. 489.105(3)(m) or part III of
52	chapter 489 from engaging in the profession for which he or she
53	is licensed. This section shall not apply to an entity defined
54	in s. 403.70605(4)(b).
55	(3) ADMINISTRATION OF SECTION; REGISTRATION
56	QUALIFICATIONS; EXAMINATION.--
57	(a) Each person desiring to be registered pursuant to this
58	section shall apply to the department in writing upon forms
59	prepared and furnished by the department.
60	(b) The department shall administer, coordinate, and
61	enforce the provisions of this section, administer the
62	examination for applicants, and be responsible for the granting
63	of certificates of registration to qualified persons.
64	(c) The department shall adopt rules pursuant to ss.
65	120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section that establish
66	ethical standards of practice, requirements for registering as a
67	contractor, requirements for obtaining an initial or renewal
68	certificate of registration, disciplinary guidelines, and
69	requirements for the certification of partnerships and
70	corporations. The department may amend or repeal the rules in
71	accordance with chapter 120.
72	(d) To be eligible for registration by the department as a
73	portable restroom contractor, the applicant shall:
74	1. Be of good moral character. In considering good moral
75	character, the department may consider any matter that has a
76	substantial connection between the good moral character of the
77	applicant and the professional responsibilities of a registered
78	contractor, including, but not limited to, the applicant's being
79	convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of nolo
80	contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any
81	jurisdiction that directly relates to the practice of
82	contracting or the ability to practice contracting and previous
83	disciplinary action involving portable restroom contracting for
84	which all judicial reviews have been completed.
85	2. Pass an examination approved by the department which
86	demonstrates that the applicant has a fundamental knowledge of
87	the state laws relating to the installation, maintenance, and
88	wastewater disposal of portable restrooms, portable sinks, and
89	portable holding tanks.
90	3. Be at least 18 years of age.
91	4. Have a total of at least 3 years of active experience
92	serving an apprenticeship as a skilled worker under the
93	supervision and control of a registered portable restroom
94	contractor. Related work experience or educational experience
95	may be substituted for no more than 2 years of active
96	contracting experience. Each 30 hours of coursework approved by
97	the department shall be substituted for 6 months of work
98	experience. Out-of-state work experience shall be accepted on a
99	year-for-year basis for any applicant who demonstrates that he
100	or she holds a current license issued by another state for
101	portable restroom contracting which was issued upon satisfactory
102	completion of an examination and continuing education courses
103	that are equivalent to the requirements in this state.
104	Individuals from a state with no state certification who have
105	successfully completed a written examination provided by the
106	Portable Sanitation Association International shall only be
107	required to take the written portion of the examination that
108	includes state health code law and rules. For purposes of this
109	section, an equivalent examination must include the topics of
110	state health code law and rules applicable to portable restrooms
111	and the knowledge required to handle, deliver, and pick up
112	sanitary portable restrooms; to install, handle, and maintain
113	portable holding tanks; and to handle, transport, and dispose of
114	domestic portable restroom and portable holding tank wastewater.
115	A person employed by and under the supervision of a licensed
116	contractor shall be granted up to 2 years of related work
117	experience.
118	5. Have not had a registration revoked the effective date
119	of which was less than 5 years before the application.
120	(e) The department shall provide each applicant for
121	registration pursuant to this section with a copy of this
122	section and any rules adopted under this section. The department
123	may also prepare and disseminate such other material and
124	questionnaires as it deems necessary to effectuate the
125	registration provisions of this section.
126	(f) Any person who was employed 1 or more years in this
127	state by a portable restroom service holding a permit issued by
128	the department on or before October 1, 2003, has until October
129	1, 2004, to be registered by the department in accordance with
130	this section and may continue to perform portable restroom
131	contracting services until that time. Such persons are exempt
132	until October 1, 2004, from the 3 years' active work experience
133	requirement of subparagraph (d)4.
134	(4) REGISTRATION RENEWAL.--
135	(a) The department shall prescribe by rule the method for
136	approval of continuing education courses and for renewal of
137	annual registration, for inactive status for late filing of
138	renewal applications, for allowing contractors to hold their
139	registration in inactive status for a specified period, and for
140	reactivating registrations. At a minimum, annual renewal shall
141	include continuing education requirements of not less than 6
142	classroom hours annually for portable restroom contractors.
143	(b) Certificates of registration shall become inactive
144	when a renewal application is not filed in a timely manner. A
145	certificate that has become inactive may be reactivated under
146	this section by application to the department. A registered
147	contractor may apply to the department for voluntary inactive
148	status at any time during the period of registration.
149	(5) CERTIFICATION OF PARTNERSHIPS AND CORPORATIONS.--
150	(a) The practice of or the offer to practice portable
151	restroom contracting services by registrants through a parent
152	corporation, corporation, subsidiary of a corporation, or
153	partnership offering portable restroom contracting services to
154	the public through registrants under this section as agents,
155	employers, officers, or partners is permitted if one or more of
156	the principal officers of the corporation or one or more
157	partners of the partnership and all personnel of the corporation
158	or partnership who act on its behalf as portable restroom
159	contractors in this state are registered as provided by this
160	section and if the corporation or partnership has been issued a
161	certificate of authorization by the department as provided in
162	this subsection. A registered contractor may not be the sole
163	qualifying contractor for more than one business that requests a
164	certificate of authorization. A business organization that loses
165	its qualifying contractor has 60 days following the date the
166	qualifier terminates his or her affiliation within which to
167	obtain another qualifying contractor. During this period, the
168	business organization may complete any existing contract or
169	continuing contract, but may not undertake any new contract.
170	This period may be extended once by the department for an
171	additional 60 days upon a showing of good cause. This subsection
172	may not be construed to mean that a certificate of registration
173	to practice portable restroom contracting must be held by a
174	corporation. A corporation or partnership is not relieved of
175	responsibility for the conduct or acts of its agents, employees,
176	or officers by reason of its compliance with this subsection,
177	and an individual practicing portable restroom contracting is
178	not relieved of responsibility for professional services
179	performed by reason of his or her employment or relationship
180	with a corporation or partnership.
181	(b) For the purposes of this subsection, a certificate of
182	authorization shall be required for a corporation, a
183	partnership, an association, or a person practicing under a
184	fictitious name when offering portable restroom contracting
185	services to the public, except that when an individual is
186	practicing portable restroom contracting in his or her own given
187	name, he or she is not required to register under this
188	subsection.
189	(c) Each certification of authorization shall be renewed
190	every 2 years. Each partnership and corporation certified under
191	this subsection shall notify the department within 1 month after
192	any change in the information contained in the application upon
193	which the certification is based.
194	(d) Disciplinary action against a corporation or
195	partnership shall be administered in the same manner and on the
196	same grounds as disciplinary action against a registered
197	portable restroom contractor.
198	(e) When a certificate of authorization has been revoked,
199	any person authorized by law to provide portable restroom
200	contracting services may not use the name or fictitious name of
201	the entity whose certificate was revoked, or any other
202	identifiers for the entity, including telephone numbers,
203	advertisements, or logos.
204	(6) SUSPENSION OR REVOCATION OF REGISTRATION.--A
205	certificate of registration may be suspended or revoked upon a
206	showing that the registrant has:
207	(a) Violated any provision of this section.
208	(b) Violated any lawful order or rule rendered or adopted
209	by the department.
210	(c) Obtained his or her registration or any other order,
211	ruling, or authorization by means of fraud, misrepresentation,
212	or concealment of material facts.
213	(d) Been found guilty of gross misconduct in the pursuit
214	of his or her profession.
215	(7) FEES; ESTABLISHMENT.--
216	(a) The department shall, by rule, establish fees as
217	follows:
218	1. For registration as a portable restroom contractor:
219	a. Application and examination fee: not less than $25 nor
220	more than $75.
221	b. Initial registration fee: not less than $50 nor more
222	than $100.
223	c. Renewal of registration fee: not less than $50 nor more
224	than $100.
225	2. For certification of a partnership or corporation: not
226	less than $100 nor more than $250.
227	(b) Fees established pursuant to paragraph (a) shall be
228	based on the actual costs incurred by the department in carrying
229	out its registration and other related responsibilities under
230	this section.
231	(8) PENALTIES AND PROHIBITIONS.--
232	(a) A person who violates any provision of this section
233	commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as
234	provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083.
235	(b) The department may deny a registration, authorization,
236	or registration renewal if it determines that an applicant does
237	not meet all requirements of this section or has violated any
238	provision of this section or if there is any outstanding
239	administrative penalty with the department in which the penalty
240	is final agency action and all judicial reviews are exhausted.
241	Any applicant aggrieved by such denial is entitled to a hearing,
242	after reasonable notice thereof, upon filing a written request
243	for such hearing in accordance with chapter 120.
244	Section 2. Paragraph (k) of subsection (2) of section
245	381.0066, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
246	381.0066 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems;
247	fees.--
248	(2) The minimum fees in the following fee schedule apply
249	until changed by rule by the department within the following
250	limits:
251	(k) Research: An additional $5 fee shall be added to each
252	new system construction permit issued during fiscal years 1996-
253	2003to be used for onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
254	research, demonstration, and training projects. Five dollars
255	from any repair permit fee collected under this section shall be
256	used for funding the hands-on training centers described in s.
257	381.0065(3)(j).
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259	The funds collected pursuant to this subsection must be
260	deposited in a trust fund administered by the department, to be
261	used for the purposes stated in this section and ss. 381.0065
262	and 381.00655.
263	Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.