| 1 | The Committee on Judiciary recommends the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Committee Substitute |
| 4 | Remove the entire bill and insert: |
| 5 | A bill to be entitled |
| 6 | An act relating to a limitation of liability for donated |
| 7 | firefighting equipment; creating s. 768.1315, F.S.; |
| 8 | providing a popular name; providing definitions; providing |
| 9 | that a state agency or political subdivision is not liable |
| 10 | for civil damages resulting from personal injuries, |
| 11 | property damage, or death proximately caused by defective |
| 12 | fire control or fire rescue equipment donated to a |
| 13 | volunteer fire department; providing certain exceptions to |
| 14 | the limitation on liability; providing applicability; |
| 15 | providing an effective date. |
| 16 |
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| 17 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Section 1. Section 768.1315, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 20 | to read: |
| 21 | 768.1315 Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters' Assistance |
| 22 | Act; immunity from civil liability.-- |
| 23 | (1) SHORT TITLE.--This section shall be known by the |
| 24 | popular name the "Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighters' |
| 25 | Assistance Act." |
| 26 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term: |
| 27 | (a) "Authorized technician" means a technician who is |
| 28 | certified by the manufacturer of fire control or fire rescue |
| 29 | equipment as qualified to inspect that equipment. The technician |
| 30 | shall not be employed by the state agency or political |
| 31 | subdivision administering the distribution of the fire control |
| 32 | or fire rescue equipment. |
| 33 | (b) "Qualified fire control or fire rescue equipment" |
| 34 | means equipment used for fire control or fire rescue which has |
| 35 | been recertified by an authorized technician as meeting the |
| 36 | manufacturer's specifications and which is distributed by or |
| 37 | through a state agency or political subdivision to a volunteer |
| 38 | fire department. |
| 39 | (3) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.--A state agency or political |
| 40 | subdivision, including a person acting as an agent thereof, |
| 41 | which acts reasonably in donating qualified fire control or fire |
| 42 | rescue equipment to a volunteer fire department is not liable |
| 43 | for civil damages under any state law for personal injury, |
| 44 | property damage, or death proximately caused, after the |
| 45 | donation, by a defect in the equipment. |
| 46 | (4) EXCEPTIONS TO LIABILITY PROTECTION.--Subsection (3) |
| 47 | does not apply to a state agency or political subdivision if: |
| 48 | (a) The defect that proximately caused the injury, damage, |
| 49 | or death resulted from an act or omission of the state agency or |
| 50 | political subdivision which constitutes malice, gross |
| 51 | negligence, recklessness, or intentional misconduct; |
| 52 | (b) The state agency or political subdivision is the |
| 53 | manufacturer of the qualified fire control or fire rescue |
| 54 | equipment; or |
| 55 | (c) The state agency or political subdivision modified or |
| 56 | altered the equipment after it had been recertified by an |
| 57 | authorized technician as meeting the manufacturer's |
| 58 | specifications. |
| 59 | Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2004, and |
| 60 | applies to any cause of action that accrues on or after that |
| 61 | date. |