HB 0525 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to infant cribs; creating s. 501.144,
3	F.S., the Florida Infant Crib Safety Act; providing
4	definitions; prohibiting commercial users from
5	manufacturing, remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling,
6	contracting to sell or resell, leasing, or subletting
7	specified cribs determined to be unsafe for use by
8	infants; prohibiting transient public lodging
9	establishments from offering or providing for use
10	specified cribs determined to be unsafe for use by
11	infants; providing criteria for determining the safety of
12	infant cribs; providing exemptions; providing specified
13	immunity from civil liability; providing penalties;
14	providing that violation of the act constitutes an unfair
15	and deceptive trade practice; authorizing the Department
16	of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department of
17	Business and Professional Regulation, and the Department
18	of Children and Family Services to collaborate with public
19	agencies and private-sector entities to prepare specified
20	public education materials and programs; authorizing the
21	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to adopt
22	rules and prescribe forms; amending s. 509.221, F.S.;
23	prohibiting the use of certain cribs in public lodging
24	establishments; reenacting s. 509.032, F.S.; providing for
25	regulation and rulemaking by the Division of Hotels and
26	Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional
27	Regulation; creating s. 402.3031, F.S.; prohibiting unsafe
28	cribs in certain facilities; providing for enforcement and
29	rulemaking powers of the Department of Children and Family
30	Services; creating an infant crib safety enforcement
31	demonstration program; providing that crib inspections are
32	not required in certain counties for a specified time;
33	requiring crib inspections in certain counties for a
34	specified time; providing requirements for crib
35	inspections by the Department of Business and Professional
36	Regulation; requiring transient public lodging
37	establishments to provide for inspection of cribs;
38	requiring a report; providing for rulemaking by the
39	Department of Business and Professional Regulation;
40	providing for expiration of the demonstration program;
41	providing an effective date.
42
43	WHEREAS, the disability and death of infants resulting from
44	injuries sustained in crib accidents are a serious threat to the
45	public health, safety, and welfare of the people of the state,
46	and
47	WHEREAS, the design and construction of an infant crib must
48	ensure that it is safe, and a parent or caregiver has a right to
49	believe that an infant crib in use is a safe containment in
50	which to place an infant, and
51	WHEREAS, more than 13,000 infants are injured in unsafe
52	cribs every year, and
53	WHEREAS, prohibiting the manufacture, remanufacture,
54	retrofitting, sale, contracting to sell or resell, leasing, or
55	subletting of unsafe infant cribs, particularly unsafe
56	secondhand, hand-me-down, or heirloom cribs, will reduce
57	injuries and deaths caused by cribs, and
58	WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to reduce the
59	occurrence of injuries and deaths to infants as a result of
60	unsafe cribs that do not conform to modern safety standards by
61	making it illegal to manufacture, remanufacture, retrofit, sell,
62	contract to sell or resell, lease, or sublet any full-size or
63	non-full-size crib that is unsafe, and
64	WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
65	public and private collaboration in disseminating materials
66	relative to the safety of infant cribs to parents, child care
67	providers, and those individuals who would be likely to sell,
68	donate, or otherwise provide to others unsafe infant cribs, NOW,
69	THEREFORE,
70
71	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
72
73	Section 1. Section 501.144, Florida Statutes, is created
74	to read:
75	501.144 Florida Infant Crib Safety Act.--
76	(1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the
77	"Florida Infant Crib Safety Act."
78	(2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
79	(a) "Commercial user" means a dealer under s. 212.06(2),
80	or any person who is in the business of manufacturing,
81	remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling, leasing, or subletting
82	full-size or non-full-size cribs. The term includes a child care
83	facility, family day care home, large family child care home,
84	and specialized child care facility for the care of mildly ill
85	children, which facility or home is licensed by the Department
86	of Children and Family Services or local licensing agencies.
87	(b) "Crib" means a bed or containment designed to
88	accommodate an infant.
89	(c) "Department" means the Department of Agriculture and
90	Consumer Services.
91	(d) "Full-size crib" means a full-size baby crib as
92	defined in 16 C.F.R. part 1508, relating to requirements for
93	full-size baby cribs.
94	(e) "Infant" means a person less than 35 inches tall and
95	less than 3 years of age.
96	(f) "Non-full-size crib" means a non-full-size baby crib
97	as defined in 16 C.F.R. part 1509, relating to requirements for
98	non-full-size baby cribs.
99	(g) "Transient public lodging establishment" means any
100	hotel, motel, resort condominium, transient apartment,
101	roominghouse, bed and breakfast inn, or resort dwelling, as
102	defined in s. 509.242.
103	(3) PROHIBITED PRACTICES.--
104	(a) A commercial user may not manufacture, remanufacture,
105	retrofit, sell, contract to sell or resell, lease, or sublet a
106	full-size or non-full-size crib that is unsafe for an infant
107	because the crib does not conform to the standards set forth in
108	paragraph (4)(a) or because the crib has any of the dangerous
109	features or characteristics set forth in paragraph (4)(b).
110	(b) A transient public lodging establishment may not offer
111	or provide for use a full-size or non-full-size crib that is
112	unsafe for an infant because the crib does not conform to the
113	standards set forth in paragraph (4)(a) or because the crib has
114	any of the dangerous features or characteristics set forth in
115	paragraph (4)(b). Further, violation of this section by a
116	transient public lodging establishment is a violation of chapter
117	509 and is subject to the penalties set forth in s. 509.261.
118	(c) A violation of this section is a deceptive and unfair
119	trade practice and constitutes a violation of part II of chapter
120	501, the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
121	(4) PRESUMPTION AS UNSAFE; CRITERIA.--
122	(a) A crib is presumed to be unsafe under this section if
123	it does not conform to all of the following:
124	1. 16 C.F.R. part 1303, relating to ban of lead-containing
125	paint and certain consumer products bearing lead-containing
126	paint; 16 C.F.R. part 1508, relating to requirements for full-
127	size baby cribs; and 16 C.F.R. part 1509, relating to
128	requirements for non-full-size baby cribs.
129	2. American Society for Testing and Materials Voluntary
130	Standards F966-96, F1169-99, and F1822-97.
131	3. Rules adopted by the department which implement the
132	provisions of this subsection.
133	(b) A crib is unsafe if it has any of the following
134	dangerous features or characteristics:
135	1. Corner posts that extend more than 1/16 of an inch.
136	2. Spaces between side slats which are more than 2-3/8
137	inches wide.
138	3. A mattress support that can be easily dislodged from
139	any point of the crib. A mattress segment can be easily
140	dislodged if it cannot withstand at least a 25-pound upward
141	force from underneath the crib. For portable folding cribs, this
142	subparagraph does not apply to mattress supports or mattress
143	segments that are designed to allow the crib to be folded, if
144	the crib is equipped with latches that work to prevent the
145	unintentional collapse of the crib.
146	4. Cutout designs on the end panels.
147	5. Rail-height dimensions that do not conform to the
148	following:
149	a. The height of the rail and end panel as measured from
150	the top of the rail or panel in its lowest position to the top
151	of the mattress support in its highest position is at least 9
152	inches.
153	b. The height of the rail and end panel as measured from
154	the top of the rail or panel in its highest position to the top
155	of the mattress support in its lowest position is at least 26
156	inches.
157	6. Upon completion of assembly, any screw, bolt, or
158	hardware that is loose and not secured.
159	7. Any sharp edge, point, or rough surface or any wood
160	surface that is not smooth and free from splinters, splits, or
161	cracks.
162	8. A tear in mesh or fabric sides of a non-full-size crib.
163	9. With respect to portable folding cribs having central
164	hinges and rail assemblies that move downward when folded,
165	latches that do not automatically engage when placed in the
166	position recommended by the manufacturer for use.
167	10. Crib sheets used on mattresses which are not sized to
168	match the mattress size.
169	(5) EXEMPTIONS; CIVIL IMMUNITY.--
170	(a) A crib that is clearly not intended for use by an
171	infant, including, but not limited to, a toy or display item, is
172	exempt from this section if the crib is accompanied, at the time
173	of manufacturing, remanufacturing, retrofitting, selling,
174	leasing, or subletting, by a notice to be furnished by the
175	commercial user on forms prescribed by the department declaring
176	that the crib is not intended to be used for an infant and is
177	dangerous to use for an infant.
178	(b) A commercial user, other than a child care facility,
179	family day care home, large family child care home, or
180	specialized child care facility for the care of mildly ill
181	children, which has complied with the notice requirements set
182	forth under paragraph (a) is immune from civil liability
183	resulting from the use of a crib, notwithstanding the provisions
184	of this section.
185	(c) When a commercial user leases a crib for use away from
186	the premises of the commercial user, the commercial user is
187	immune from civil liability created by this section resulting
188	from either the assembly of the crib by a person other than the
189	commercial user or its agent or the use of crib sheets that were
190	not provided by the commercial user or its agent.
191	(6) PENALTY.--
192	(a) A commercial user, other than a commercial user
193	subject to the penalties provided in paragraph (b) or paragraph
194	(c), which willfully and knowingly violates subsection (3)
195	commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by a fine
196	of not more than $10,000 and imprisonment for a term of not more
197	than 1 year.
198	(b) A transient public lodging establishment that violates
199	subsection (3) is subject to the penalties set forth in s.
200	509.261.
201	(c) A child care facility, family day care home, large
202	family child care home, or specialized child care facility for
203	the care of mildly ill children which violates subsection (3) is
204	subject to the penalties set forth in ss. 402.301-402.319.
205	(7) PUBLIC EDUCATION MATERIALS AND PROGRAMS.--The
206	Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the Department
207	of Business and Professional Regulation, and the Department of
208	Children and Family Services may collaborate with any public
209	agency or private-sector entity to prepare public education
210	materials or programs designed to inform parents, child care
211	providers, commercial users, and any other person or entity that
212	is likely to place unsafe cribs in the stream of commerce of the
213	dangers posed by secondhand, hand-me-down, or heirloom cribs
214	that do not conform to the standards set forth in this section
215	or that have any of the dangerous features or characteristics
216	set forth in this section.
217	(8) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.--The department may adopt rules
218	under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 for the administration of this
219	section.
220	Section 2. Subsection (10) is added to section 509.221,
221	Florida Statutes, to read:
222	509.221 Sanitary regulations.--
223	(10) A transient public lodging establishment may not
224	offer or provide for use a full-size or non-full-size crib that
225	is unsafe for an infant because it is not in conformity with the
226	requirements of s. 501.144.
227	Section 3. Section 509.032, Florida Statutes, is reenacted
228	to read:
229	509.032 Duties.--
230	(1) GENERAL.--The division shall carry out all of the
231	provisions of this chapter and all other applicable laws and
232	rules relating to the inspection or regulation of public lodging
233	establishments and public food service establishments for the
234	purpose of safeguarding the public health, safety, and welfare.
235	The division shall be responsible for ascertaining that an
236	operator licensed under this chapter does not engage in any
237	misleading advertising or unethical practices.
238	(2) INSPECTION OF PREMISES.--
239	(a) The division has responsibility and jurisdiction for
240	all inspections required by this chapter. The division has
241	responsibility for quality assurance. Each licensed
242	establishment shall be inspected at least biannually, except for
243	transient and nontransient apartments, which shall be inspected
244	at least annually, and shall be inspected at such other times as
245	the division determines is necessary to ensure the public's
246	health, safety, and welfare. The division shall establish a
247	system to determine inspection frequency. Public lodging units
248	classified as resort condominiums or resort dwellings are not
249	subject to this requirement, but shall be made available to the
250	division upon request. If, during the inspection of a public
251	lodging establishment classified for renting to transient or
252	nontransient tenants, an inspector identifies vulnerable adults
253	who appear to be victims of neglect, as defined in s. 415.102,
254	or, in the case of a building that is not equipped with
255	automatic sprinkler systems, tenants or clients who may be
256	unable to self-preserve in an emergency, the division shall
257	convene meetings with the following agencies as appropriate to
258	the individual situation: the Department of Health, the
259	Department of Elderly Affairs, the area agency on aging, the
260	local fire marshal, the landlord and affected tenants and
261	clients, and other relevant organizations, to develop a plan
262	which improves the prospects for safety of affected residents
263	and, if necessary, identifies alternative living arrangements
264	such as facilities licensed under part II or part III of chapter
265	400.
266	(b) For purposes of performing required inspections and
267	the enforcement of this chapter, the division has the right of
268	entry and access to public lodging establishments and public
269	food service establishments at any reasonable time.
270	(c) Public food service establishment inspections shall be
271	conducted to enforce provisions of this part and to educate,
272	inform, and promote cooperation between the division and the
273	establishment.
274	(d) The division shall adopt and enforce sanitation rules
275	consistent with law to ensure the protection of the public from
276	food-borne illness in those establishments licensed under this
277	chapter. These rules shall provide the standards and
278	requirements for obtaining, storing, preparing, processing,
279	serving, or displaying food in public food service
280	establishments, approving public food service establishment
281	facility plans, conducting necessary public food service
282	establishment inspections for compliance with sanitation
283	regulations, cooperating and coordinating with the Department of
284	Health in epidemiological investigations, and initiating
285	enforcement actions, and for other such responsibilities deemed
286	necessary by the division. The division may not establish by
287	rule any regulation governing the design, construction,
288	erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of any
289	public lodging or public food service establishment. It is the
290	intent of the Legislature to preempt that function to the
291	Florida Building Commission and the State Fire Marshal through
292	adoption and maintenance of the Florida Building Code and the
293	Florida Fire Prevention Code. The division shall provide
294	technical assistance to the commission and the State Fire
295	Marshal in updating the construction standards of the Florida
296	Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code which govern
297	public lodging and public food service establishments. Further,
298	the division shall enforce the provisions of the Florida
299	Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code which apply
300	to public lodging and public food service establishments in
301	conducting any inspections authorized by this part.
302	(e)1. Relating to facility plan approvals, the division
303	may establish, by rule, fees for conducting plan reviews and may
304	grant variances from construction standards in hardship cases,
305	which variances may be less restrictive than the provisions
306	specified in this section or the rules adopted under this
307	section. A variance may not be granted pursuant to this section
308	until the division is satisfied that:
309	a. The variance shall not adversely affect the health of
310	the public.
311	b. No reasonable alternative to the required construction
312	exists.
313	c. The hardship was not caused intentionally by the action
314	of the applicant.
315	2. The division's advisory council shall review
316	applications for variances and recommend agency action. The
317	division shall make arrangements to expedite emergency requests
318	for variances, to ensure that such requests are acted upon
319	within 30 days of receipt.
320	3. The division shall establish, by rule, a fee for the
321	cost of the variance process. Such fee shall not exceed $150
322	for routine variance requests and $300 for emergency variance
323	requests.
324	(f) In conducting inspections of establishments licensed
325	under this chapter, the division shall determine if each coin-
326	operated amusement machine that is operated on the premises of a
327	licensed establishment is properly registered with the
328	Department of Revenue. Each month the division shall report to
329	the Department of Revenue the sales tax registration number of
330	the operator of any licensed establishment that has on location
331	a coin-operated amusement machine and that does not have an
332	identifying certificate conspicuously displayed as required by
333	s. 212.05(1)(h).
334	(g) In inspecting public food service establishments, the
335	department shall provide each inspected establishment with the
336	food-recovery brochure developed under s. 570.0725.
337	(3) SANITARY STANDARDS; EMERGENCIES; TEMPORARY FOOD
338	SERVICE EVENTS.--The division shall:
339	(a) Prescribe sanitary standards which shall be enforced
340	in public food service establishments.
341	(b) Inspect public lodging establishments and public food
342	service establishments whenever necessary to respond to an
343	emergency or epidemiological condition.
344	(c) Administer a public notification process for temporary
345	food service events and distribute educational materials that
346	address safe food storage, preparation, and service procedures.
347	1. Sponsors of temporary food service events shall notify
348	the division not less than 3 days prior to the scheduled event
349	of the type of food service proposed, the time and location of
350	the event, a complete list of food service vendors participating
351	in the event, the number of individual food service facilities
352	each vendor will operate at the event, and the identification
353	number of each food service vendor's current license as a public
354	food service establishment or temporary food service event
355	licensee. Notification may be completed orally, by telephone, in
356	person, or in writing. A public food service establishment or
357	food service vendor may not use this notification process to
358	circumvent the license requirements of this chapter.
359	2. The division shall keep a record of all notifications
360	received for proposed temporary food service events and shall
361	provide appropriate educational materials to the event sponsors,
362	including the food-recovery brochure developed under s.
363	570.0725.
364	3.a. A public food service establishment or other food
365	service vendor must obtain one of the following classes of
366	license from the division: an individual license, for a fee of
367	no more than $105, for each temporary food service event in
368	which it participates; or an annual license, for a fee of no
369	more than $1,000, that entitles the licensee to participate in
370	an unlimited number of food service events during the license
371	period. The division shall establish license fees, by rule, and
372	may limit the number of food service facilities a licensee may
373	operate at a particular temporary food service event under a
374	single license.
375	b. Public food service establishments holding current
376	licenses from the division may operate under the regulations of
377	such a license at temporary food service events of 3 days or
378	less in duration.
379	(4) STOP-SALE ORDERS.--The division may stop the sale, and
380	supervise the proper destruction, of any food or food product
381	when the director or the director's designee determines that
382	such food or food product represents a threat to the public
383	safety or welfare. If the operator of a public food service
384	establishment licensed under this chapter has received official
385	notification from a health authority that a food or food product
386	from that establishment has potentially contributed to any
387	instance or outbreak of food-borne illness, the food or food
388	product must be maintained in safe storage in the establishment
389	until the responsible health authority has examined, sampled,
390	seized, or requested destruction of the food or food product.
391	(5) REPORTS REQUIRED.--The division shall send the
392	Governor a written report, which shall state, but not be limited
393	to, the total number of inspections conducted by the division to
394	ensure the enforcement of sanitary standards, the total number
395	of inspections conducted in response to emergency or
396	epidemiological conditions, the number of violations of each
397	sanitary standard, and any recommendations for improved
398	inspection procedures. The division shall also keep accurate
399	account of all expenses arising out of the performance of its
400	duties and all fees collected under this chapter. The report
401	shall be submitted by September 30 following the end of the
402	fiscal year.
403	(6) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.--The division shall adopt such
404	rules as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this
405	chapter.
406	(7) PREEMPTION AUTHORITY.--The regulation of public
407	lodging establishments and public food service establishments,
408	the inspection of public lodging establishments and public food
409	service establishments for compliance with the sanitation
410	standards adopted under this section, and the regulation of food
411	safety protection standards for required training and testing of
412	food service establishment personnel are preempted to the state.
413	This subsection does not preempt the authority of a local
414	government or local enforcement district to conduct inspections
415	of public lodging and public food service establishments for
416	compliance with the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire
417	Prevention Code, pursuant to ss. 553.80 and 633.022.
418	Section 4. Section 402.3031, Florida Statutes, is created
419	to read:
420	402.3031 Infant crib safety.--A child care facility,
421	family day care home, large family child care home, or
422	specialized child care facility for the care of mildly ill
423	children may not offer or provide for use a full-size or non-
424	full-size crib that is not in conformity with the requirements
425	of s. 501.144. The department shall enforce this section and
426	may adopt rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 necessary for
427	the administration of this section.
428	Section 5. Infant crib safety enforcement demonstration
429	program.--
430	(1) As used in this section, the term:
431	(a) "Division" means the Division of Hotels and
432	Restaurants of the Department of Business and Professional
433	Regulation.
434	(b) "Transient public lodging establishment" has the
435	meaning ascribed in section 501.144, Florida Statutes.
436	(2) Effective October 1, 2004, through June 30, 2007, the
437	division shall implement an infant crib safety enforcement
438	demonstration program consistent with this section in Broward,
439	Franklin, Miami-Dade, Orange, and Osceola Counties. During the
440	period of the demonstration program, the division is not
441	required to inspect infant cribs for enforcement of section
442	501.144, section 509.032, or section 509.221(10), Florida
443	Statutes, in a county that is not included in the demonstration
444	program.
445	(3) During the period of the demonstration program:
446	(a) Each transient public lodging establishment located in
447	a county included in the demonstration program shall annually
448	file with the division a certificate attesting that each full-
449	size and non-full-size crib offered or provided for use in the
450	establishment has been inspected by a person who is competent,
451	based upon criteria established by the division, to conduct the
452	inspection, and that each crib is in conformity with the
453	requirements of section 501.144, Florida Statutes. The division
454	shall prescribe the forms, timetables, and procedures for filing
455	the certificate.
456	(b) The division shall inspect the full-size and non-full-
457	size cribs offered or provided for use in each transient public
458	lodging establishment located in a county included in the
459	demonstration program. The division shall perform these crib
460	inspections during its routine inspections conducted under
461	section 509.032, Florida Statutes. When performing these crib
462	inspections, the division is not required to inspect every crib
463	at each establishment, but may use selective inspection
464	techniques, including, but not limited to, random sampling.
465	(4) The division shall conduct an evaluation of the
466	effectiveness of the demonstration program. By January 1, 2007,
467	the division shall submit a report on the evaluation to the
468	Governor, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House
469	of Representatives, and the majority and minority leaders of the
470	Senate and the House of Representatives. The report must include
471	an evaluation of compliance by transient public lodging
472	establishments, the time and costs associated with conducting
473	crib inspections, and the barriers to enforcing the Florida
474	Infant Crib Safety Act. The report must also include
475	recommendations as to whether the demonstration program should
476	be continued, expanded, or revised to enhance its administration
477	or effectiveness.
478	(5) The Department of Business and Professional Regulation
479	may adopt rules under sections 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida
480	Statutes, for the administration of this section.
481	(6) This section expires June 30, 2007.
482	Section 6. This act shall take effect October 1, 2004.