| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to regulation of releases from gambling |
| 3 | vessels; creating s. 376.25, F.S.; providing a short |
| 4 | title; providing definitions; requiring gambling vessels |
| 5 | operating in coastal waters to register with the |
| 6 | Department of Environmental Protection; specifying the |
| 7 | requirements for vessel registration; requiring ports to |
| 8 | establish procedures for the release of certain substances |
| 9 | by gambling vessels at port facilities; requiring ports to |
| 10 | establish and collect certain fees; requiring the |
| 11 | reporting of the release of certain substances into |
| 12 | coastal waters by gambling vessels; providing civil |
| 13 | penalties for violations; providing exemptions; requiring |
| 14 | the department to adopt rules; directing the department to |
| 15 | petition the Federal Government to prohibit certain |
| 16 | releases within the federal territorial waters off the |
| 17 | shores of this state; providing an effective date. |
| 18 |
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| 19 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 20 |
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| 21 | Section 1. Section 376.25, Florida Statutes, is created to |
| 22 | read: |
| 23 | 376.25 Gambling vessels; registration; required and |
| 24 | prohibited releases.-- |
| 25 | (1) SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the "Clean |
| 26 | Ocean Act." |
| 27 | (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section: |
| 28 | (a) "Biomedical waste" means any solid or liquid waste as |
| 29 | defined in s. 381.0098(2)(a). |
| 30 | (b) "Coastal waters" means waters of the Atlantic Ocean or |
| 31 | the Gulf of Mexico within the jurisdiction of the state. |
| 32 | (c) "Department" means the Department of Environmental |
| 33 | Protection. |
| 34 | (d) "Gambling" or "gambling device" means any game of |
| 35 | chance and includes, but is not limited to, cards, keno, |
| 36 | roulette, faro, slot machines, video poker, or blackjack |
| 37 | machines played for money or thing of value. The term "gambling" |
| 38 | does not include penny-ante games as defined in s. |
| 39 | 849.085(2)(a). |
| 40 | (e) "Gambling vessel" means a boat, ship, casino boat, |
| 41 | watercraft, or barge that is kept, operated, or maintained for |
| 42 | the purpose of gambling and that carries or operates gambling |
| 43 | devices for the use of its passengers or otherwise provides |
| 44 | facilities for the purpose of gambling, whether within or |
| 45 | without the jurisdiction of this state, and whether the vessel |
| 46 | is anchored, berthed, lying to, or navigating, and the sailing, |
| 47 | voyaging, or cruising, or any segment of the sailing, voyaging, |
| 48 | or cruising, begins and ends within this state. The term |
| 49 | "gambling vessel" does not include a cruise ship as defined in |
| 50 | 33 C.F.R. s. 101.105. |
| 51 | (f) "Hazardous waste" means any solid waste as defined in |
| 52 | s. 403.703(21). |
| 53 | (g) "Oily bilge water" means bilge water that contains |
| 54 | used lubrication oils, oil sludge and slops, fuel and oil |
| 55 | sludge, used oil, used fuel and fuel filters, and oily waste. |
| 56 | (h) "Port" means any place in the state into which |
| 57 | gambling vessels enter or depart for docking. |
| 58 | (i) "Release" means any discharge of liquids or solids, |
| 59 | however caused, from a gambling vessel and includes any escape, |
| 60 | disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting, or emptying. |
| 61 | (j) "Sewage" means human body waste and the waste from |
| 62 | toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain |
| 63 | human body waste and includes any material that has been |
| 64 | collected or treated through a marine sanitation device, as that |
| 65 | term is used in s. 312 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s. |
| 66 | 1322, or that is a byproduct of sewage treatment. |
| 67 | (k) "Treated blackwater" means that part of treated sewage |
| 68 | carried off by toilets, urinals, and kitchen drains. |
| 69 | (l) "Treated graywater" means that part of treated sewage |
| 70 | that is not blackwater, including waste from the bath, lavatory, |
| 71 | laundry, and sink, except kitchen sink waste. |
| 72 | (m) "Untreated blackwater" means that part of untreated |
| 73 | sewage carried off by toilets, urinals, and kitchen drains. |
| 74 | (n) "Untreated graywater" means that part of untreated |
| 75 | sewage that is not blackwater, including waste from the bath, |
| 76 | lavatory, laundry, and sink, except kitchen sink waste. |
| 77 | (3) REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.-- |
| 78 | (a) For each calendar year in which the owner or operator |
| 79 | of a gambling vessel intends to operate, or cause or allow to be |
| 80 | operated, a gambling vessel in coastal waters, the owner or |
| 81 | operator of the vessel shall register with the department. The |
| 82 | registration shall be completed before any commercial passenger |
| 83 | vessel of the owner or operator enters the marine waters of the |
| 84 | state in that calendar year. The registration shall include the |
| 85 | following information: |
| 86 | 1. The vessel owner's business name and, if different, the |
| 87 | vessel operator's business name for each gambling vessel of the |
| 88 | owner or operator which is scheduled to be in coastal waters |
| 89 | during the calendar year. |
| 90 | 2. The postal address, e-mail address, telephone number, |
| 91 | and facsimile number of the principal place of each business |
| 92 | identified in subparagraph 1. |
| 93 | 3. The name and address of an agent for service of process |
| 94 | for each business identified under subparagraph 1. The owner and |
| 95 | operator shall continuously maintain a designated agent for |
| 96 | service of process whenever a gambling vessel of the owner or |
| 97 | operator is in coastal waters, and the agent must be an |
| 98 | individual resident of this state, a domestic corporation, or a |
| 99 | foreign corporation having a place of business in and authorized |
| 100 | to do business in this state. |
| 101 | 4. The name or call sign, port of registry, and passenger |
| 102 | and crew capacity of each of the owner's or operator's vessels |
| 103 | scheduled to call upon a port in this state or otherwise to be |
| 104 | in coastal waters during the calendar year and after the date of |
| 105 | registration. |
| 106 | 5. A description of all waste treatment systems of each |
| 107 | vessel identified under subparagraph 4., including system type, |
| 108 | design, operation, location of all discharge pipes and valves, |
| 109 | and the number and capacity of all storage areas and holding |
| 110 | tanks. |
| 111 | (b) Registration under paragraph (a) shall be executed |
| 112 | under oath by the owner or operator or designated representative |
| 113 | thereof. |
| 114 | (c) Upon request of the department, the registrant shall |
| 115 | submit registration information required under this subsection |
| 116 | electronically. |
| 117 | (4) REQUIRED RELEASES.-- |
| 118 | (a) Each port shall establish procedures, including a |
| 119 | process for verification of the contents released, for the |
| 120 | release of sewage, oily bilge water, untreated or treated |
| 121 | graywater, untreated or treated blackwater, hazardous waste, and |
| 122 | biomedical waste from gambling vessels at port facilities. |
| 123 | (b) Each port shall establish and collect a fee not to |
| 124 | exceed the costs associated with disposal of the required |
| 125 | releases from gambling vessels. |
| 126 | (5) NOTIFICATION OF RELEASES.--If a gambling vessel |
| 127 | releases any sewage, oily bilge water, untreated or treated |
| 128 | graywater, untreated or treated blackwater, hazardous waste, or |
| 129 | biomedical waste into coastal waters, the owner or operator |
| 130 | shall immediately, but no later than 24 hours after the release, |
| 131 | notify the department of the release. The owner or operator |
| 132 | shall include all of the following information in the |
| 133 | notification: |
| 134 | (a) Date of the release. |
| 135 | (b) Time of the release. |
| 136 | (c) Location of the release. |
| 137 | (d) Volume of the release. |
| 138 | (e) Source of the release. |
| 139 | (f) Remedial actions taken to prevent future releases. |
| 140 | (6) PENALTIES.-- |
| 141 | (a) A person who violates this section is subject to a |
| 142 | civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation. |
| 143 | (b) The civil penalty imposed for each separate violation |
| 144 | of this section is separate from, and in addition to, any other |
| 145 | civil penalty imposed for a separate violation under this |
| 146 | subsection or any other provision of law. |
| 147 | (c) In determining the amount of a civil penalty imposed |
| 148 | under this subsection, the department shall take into |
| 149 | consideration all relevant circumstances, including, but not |
| 150 | limited to, the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of |
| 151 | the violation. In making this determination, the department |
| 152 | shall consider the degree of toxicity and volume of the release, |
| 153 | the extent of harm caused by the violation, whether the effects |
| 154 | of the violation can be reversed or mitigated, and, with respect |
| 155 | to the defendant, the ability to pay, the effect of a civil |
| 156 | penalty on the ability to continue in business, all voluntary |
| 157 | cleanup efforts undertaken in the past, the prior history of |
| 158 | violations, the gravity of the behavior, the economic benefit, |
| 159 | if any, resulting from the violation, and all other matters the |
| 160 | department determines justice may require. |
| 161 | (7) APPLICABILITY.--This section does not apply to |
| 162 | releases made for the purpose of securing the safety of the |
| 163 | gambling vessel or saving life at sea if all reasonable |
| 164 | precautions have been taken for the purpose of preventing or |
| 165 | minimizing the release. |
| 166 | (8) RULES.--The department shall adopt rules pursuant to |
| 167 | ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to implement and administer this |
| 168 | section. |
| 169 | Section 2. The Department of Environmental Protection |
| 170 | shall request the appropriate federal agencies to prohibit the |
| 171 | release of all sewage, oily bilge water, untreated or treated |
| 172 | graywater, untreated or treated blackwater, hazardous waste, or |
| 173 | biomedical waste from any gambling vessel within the federal |
| 174 | territorial waters off the shores of this state. |
| 175 | Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007. |