| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to a public records exemption; creating s. |
| 3 | 556.113, F.S.; providing an exemption from public records |
| 4 | requirements for proprietary confidential business |
| 5 | information held by Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, |
| 6 | Inc., for the purpose of describing the extent and root |
| 7 | cause of damage to an underground facility or using the |
| 8 | member ticket management software system; defining |
| 9 | "proprietary confidential business information" for |
| 10 | purposes of the act; providing for review and repeal; |
| 11 | providing a statement of public necessity; providing an |
| 12 | effective date. |
| 13 |
|
| 14 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 15 |
|
| 16 | Section 1. Section 556.113, Florida Statutes, is created |
| 17 | to read: |
| 18 | 556.113 Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc.; public |
| 19 | records exemption.-- |
| 20 | (1) For purposes of this section, "proprietary |
| 21 | confidential business information" means information provided |
| 22 | by: |
| 23 | (a) A member operator, which information is a map, plan, |
| 24 | facility location diagram, internal damage investigation report |
| 25 | or analysis, dispatch methodology, trade secret as defined in s. |
| 26 | 688.002, or describes the exact location of a utility |
| 27 | underground facility or the protection, repair, or restoration |
| 28 | thereof, and: |
| 29 | 1. Is intended to be and is treated by the member operator |
| 30 | as confidential; |
| 31 | 2. The disclosure of which would be reasonably likely to |
| 32 | be used by a competitor to harm the business interests of the |
| 33 | member operator or could be used for the purpose of inflicting |
| 34 | damage on underground facilities; and |
| 35 | 3. Is not otherwise readily ascertainable or publicly |
| 36 | available by proper means by other persons from another source |
| 37 | in the same configuration as provided to Sunshine State One-Call |
| 38 | of Florida, Inc. |
| 39 | (b) An excavator, which information is an internal damage |
| 40 | investigation report or analysis relating to underground utility |
| 41 | facilities damages, and: |
| 42 | 1. Is intended to be and is treated by the excavator as |
| 43 | confidential; |
| 44 | 2. The disclosure of which would be reasonably likely to |
| 45 | be used by a competitor to harm the business interests of the |
| 46 | excavator or could be used for the purpose of inflicting damage |
| 47 | on underground facilities; and |
| 48 | 3. Is not otherwise readily ascertainable or publicly |
| 49 | available by proper means by other persons from another source |
| 50 | in the same configuration as provided to Sunshine State One-Call |
| 51 | of Florida, Inc. |
| 52 | (2) Proprietary confidential business information held by |
| 53 | Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., for the purpose of |
| 54 | describing the extent and root cause of damage to an underground |
| 55 | facility or using the member ticket management software system |
| 56 | is exempt from s. 119.07(1) and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State |
| 57 | Constitution. |
| 58 | (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset |
| 59 | Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed |
| 60 | on October 2, 2012, unless reviewed and saved from repeal |
| 61 | through reenactment by the Legislature. |
| 62 | Section 2. The Legislature finds that it is a public |
| 63 | necessity that proprietary confidential business information |
| 64 | held by Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., for the |
| 65 | purpose of describing the extent and root cause of damage to an |
| 66 | underground facility or using the member ticket management |
| 67 | software system be made exempt from public records requirements. |
| 68 | Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc. can only effectively |
| 69 | promote safe excavation practices, permit targeted educational |
| 70 | efforts, prevent future damage to underground facilities, |
| 71 | further public safety awareness in order to help prevent |
| 72 | personal injury or death to excavators and the public generally, |
| 73 | measure compliance related to effective enforcement of one-call |
| 74 | laws, and provide the basis for standardized measurement of the |
| 75 | effectiveness of underground facility damage prevention efforts |
| 76 | used by Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., if Sunshine |
| 77 | State One-Call of Florida, Inc., obtains damage information. |
| 78 | Without an exemption from public records requirements, the |
| 79 | Legislature finds that the proprietary and confidential nature |
| 80 | of the information needed by Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, |
| 81 | Inc., will continue to be an obstacle to the release of such |
| 82 | damage information to Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., |
| 83 | by both member operators and excavators. Under the ticket |
| 84 | management system provided to member operators by Sunshine State |
| 85 | One-Call of Florida, Inc., large member operators can save |
| 86 | considerable expense that is currently incurred when the same |
| 87 | ticket management system is purchased on an individual basis, |
| 88 | and small member operators can obtain access to such a system |
| 89 | that was heretofore too expensive to be employed. The ticket |
| 90 | management system available at no cost to all member operators |
| 91 | of Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., promotes efficiency |
| 92 | and greatly improves safety. The lack of an exemption from |
| 93 | public records requirements for proprietary confidential |
| 94 | information held by Sunshine State One-Call of Florida, Inc., |
| 95 | for the purpose of describing the extent and root cause of |
| 96 | damage to an underground facility or using the member ticket |
| 97 | management software system would stifle use of the system by |
| 98 | both large and small member operators. |
| 99 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |