HB 1389

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to utility right-of-way relocation;
3amending s. 337.403, F.S.; requiring utility owners to
4remove or relocate at their expense utilities that
5interfere with public roads or rail corridors; providing
6an exception if a local governmental entity acquires
7property where the utility was legally located prior to
8the acquisition; adding an exception for certain permits
9issued in 1972; providing for notice to utilities prior to
10commencement of work; requiring the initiation of removal
11by the utility; providing an effective date.
12
13Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
14
15     Section 1.  Subsections (1) and (2) of section 337.403,
16Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
17     337.403  Relocation of utility; expenses.-
18     (1)  When a Any utility that has heretofore or hereafter
19placed upon, under, over, or along any public road or publicly
20owned rail corridor that is found by the authority to be
21unreasonably interfering in any way with the convenient, safe,
22or continuous use, or the maintenance, improvement, extension,
23or expansion, of such public road or publicly owned rail
24corridor, the utility owner shall, upon 30 days' written notice
25to the utility or its agent by the authority, initiate the
26removal or relocation of be removed or relocated by such utility
27at its own expense except as provided in paragraphs (a)-(h) (a)-
28(f).
29     (a)  If the relocation of utility facilities, as referred
30to in s. 111 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Pub. L. No.
31627 of the 84th Congress, is necessitated by the construction of
32a project on the federal-aid interstate system, including
33extensions thereof within urban areas, and the cost of the
34project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the
35Federal Government to the extent of 90 percent or more under the
36Federal Aid Highway Act, or any amendment thereof, then in that
37event the utility owning or operating such facilities shall
38relocate the facilities upon order of the department, and the
39state shall pay the entire expense properly attributable to such
40relocation after deducting therefrom any increase in the value
41of the new facility and any salvage value derived from the old
42facility.
43     (b)  When a joint agreement between the department and the
44utility is executed for utility improvement, relocation, or
45removal work to be accomplished as part of a contract for
46construction of a transportation facility, the department may
47participate in those utility improvement, relocation, or removal
48costs that exceed the department's official estimate of the cost
49of the work by more than 10 percent. The amount of such
50participation shall be limited to the difference between the
51official estimate of all the work in the joint agreement plus 10
52percent and the amount awarded for this work in the construction
53contract for such work. The department may not participate in
54any utility improvement, relocation, or removal costs that occur
55as a result of changes or additions during the course of the
56contract.
57     (c)  When an agreement between the department and utility
58is executed for utility improvement, relocation, or removal work
59to be accomplished in advance of a contract for construction of
60a transportation facility, the department may participate in the
61cost of clearing and grubbing necessary to perform such work.
62     (d)  If the utility facility being removed or relocated was
63initially installed to exclusively serve the authority
64department, its tenants, or both, the authority department shall
65bear the costs of removing or relocating that utility facility.
66However, the authority department is not responsible for bearing
67the cost of removing or relocating any subsequent additions to
68that facility for the purpose of serving others.
69     (e)  If, under an agreement between a utility and the
70authority entered into after July 1, 2009, the utility conveys,
71subordinates, or relinquishes a compensable property right to
72the authority for the purpose of accommodating the acquisition
73or use of the right-of-way by the authority, without the
74agreement expressly addressing future responsibility for the
75cost of removing or relocating the utility, the authority shall
76bear the cost of removal or relocation. This paragraph does not
77impair or restrict, and may not be used to interpret, the terms
78of any such agreement entered into before July 1, 2009.
79     (f)  If the authority acquires property on which a utility
80is legally located, the authority shall bear the costs of
81removing or relocating that utility.
82     (g)  For any permit issued in 1972 by the department to any
83utility when the utility was in possession of the permitted
84property and transferred its interest to the department and if
85master agreements between the department and the utility were
86entered into before any permits were issued, the department
87shall pay for any relocation expenses affecting a compensable
88interest of the utility, notwithstanding any permit, statutory,
89or contractual language to the contrary. This paragraph applies
90only to utilities located on the Turnpike Homestead extension
91and if the utility transferred its interest to the department
92without compensation for future relocation expenses.
93     (h)(f)  If the utility is an electric facility being
94relocated underground in order to enhance vehicular, bicycle,
95and pedestrian safety and in which ownership of the electric
96facility to be placed underground has been transferred from a
97private to a public utility within the past 5 years, the
98department shall incur all costs of the relocation.
99     (2)  If such removal or relocation is incidental to work to
100be done on such road or publicly owned rail corridor, the notice
101shall be given at the same time the contract for the work is
102advertised for bids, or not less than 30 days prior to the
103commencement of such work by the authority.
104     Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.