Senate Bill sb0956c1
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Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 956
By the Committee on Natural Resources; and Senator Jones
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1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to liability under the
3 drycleaning solvent cleanup program; amending
4 s. 376.301, F.S.; defining the term "nearby
5 real property owner" with respect to protection
6 and restoration of lands and surface and ground
7 waters; amending s. 376.3078, F.S.; exempting
8 certain property owners from liability for
9 damages arising from contamination by
10 drycleaning solvents in certain circumstances;
11 providing for retroactive application; amending
12 s. 376.313, F.S.; revising provisions that
13 provide nonexclusiveness of remedies and
14 individual causes of action; providing an
15 effective date.
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17 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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19 Section 1. Subsection (47) is added to section
20 376.301, Florida Statutes, to read:
21 376.301 Definitions of terms used in ss.
22 376.30-376.319, 376.70, and 376.75.--When used in ss.
23 376.30-376.319, 376.70, and 376.75, unless the context clearly
24 requires otherwise, the term:
25 (47) "Nearby real property owner" means the individual
26 or entity that is vested with ownership, dominion, or legal or
27 rightful title to real property, or that has a ground lease in
28 real property, onto which drycleaning solvent has migrated
29 through soil or groundwater from a drycleaning facility or
30 wholesale supply facility eligible for site rehabilitation
31 under s. 376.3078(3) or from a drycleaning facility or
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Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 956
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1 wholesale supply facility that is approved by the department
2 for voluntary cleanup under s. 376.3078(11).
3 Section 2. Subsection (14) is added to section
4 376.3078, Florida Statutes, to read:
5 376.3078 Drycleaning facility restoration; funds;
6 uses; liability; recovery of expenditures.--
7 (14) PROPERTY DAMAGES TO A NEARBY REAL PROPERTY
8 OWNER.--
9 (a) In accordance with the eligibility and voluntary
10 cleanup provisions of this section, no person, who may be
11 liable for drycleaning solvent contamination, including any
12 real property owner, shall be liable for property damage
13 claims of any kind from any person unless that person sells,
14 transfers, or changes the land use of the contaminated
15 property and demonstrates that an actual economic damage has
16 occurred as a result of the contamination.
17 (b) At a minimum, any such claim shall be based on a
18 bona fide valid appraisal that supports the claim and
19 demonstrates the loss in fair market value to the contaminated
20 property.
21 (c) Damages awarded for any such claim shall be the
22 actual damage and shall not exceed the difference between the
23 present value of the land and the value of the land if the
24 pollution did not exist. Any actual or potential costs for
25 site rehabilitation shall not be included in the damage award,
26 if any.
27 (d) No person may be compensated more than once for
28 the same loss.
29 (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of this
30 chapter, this subsection applies to causes of action accruing
31 on or after the effective date of this act and applies
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Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 956
312-1897-03
1 retroactively to causes of action accruing before the
2 effective date of this act for which a lawsuit has not been
3 filed before the effective date of this act.
4 Section 3. Subsection (3) and paragraph (a) of
5 subsection (5) of section 376.313, Florida Statutes, are
6 amended to read:
7 376.313 Nonexclusiveness of remedies and individual
8 cause of action for damages under ss. 376.30-376.319.--
9 (3) Except as provided in s. 376.3078(14)
10 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing contained
11 in ss. 376.30-376.319 prohibits any person from bringing a
12 cause of action in a court of competent jurisdiction for all
13 damages resulting from a discharge or other condition of
14 pollution covered by ss. 376.30-376.319. Nothing in this
15 chapter shall prohibit or diminish a party's right to
16 contribution from other parties jointly or severally liable
17 for a prohibited discharge of pollutants or hazardous
18 substances or other pollution conditions. Except as otherwise
19 provided in subsection (4) or subsection (5), in any such
20 suit, it is not necessary for such person to plead or prove
21 negligence in any form or manner. Such person need only plead
22 and prove the fact of the prohibited discharge or other
23 pollutive condition and that it has occurred. The only
24 defenses to such cause of action shall be those specified in
25 s. 376.308.
26 (5)(a) In any civil action against the owner or
27 operator of a drycleaning facility or a wholesale supply
28 facility, or the owner of the real property on which such
29 facility is located, if such facility is not eligible under s.
30 376.3078(3) and is not involved in voluntary cleanup under s.
31 376.3078(11), for damages arising from the discharge of
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Florida Senate - 2003 CS for SB 956
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1 drycleaning solvents from a drycleaning facility or wholesale
2 supply facility, the provisions of subsection (3) shall not
3 apply if it can be proven that, at the time of the discharge
4 the alleged damages resulted solely from a discharge from a
5 drycleaning facility or wholesale supply facility that was in
6 compliance with department rules regulating drycleaning
7 facilities or wholesale supply facilities.
8 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
9 law.
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11 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
12 Senate Bill 956
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14 The committee substitute substantially changes the civil
liability immunity provisions. The original bill provided for
15 immunity from all property damage claims. The committee
substitute permits property damage claims provided an actual
16 economic loss can be proven.
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