CS for CS for CS for SB 218                      First Engrossed
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       
       2014218e1
       
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to transportation; amending s. 125.42,
    3         F.S.; requiring utility and television lines to be
    4         removed from county roads and highways at no cost to
    5         the county if the county finds the lines to be
    6         unreasonably interfering with the widening, repair, or
    7         reconstruction of any such road; providing certain
    8         exceptions; amending s. 316.2397, F.S.; expanding the
    9         types of vehicles that may show or display an amber
   10         light; amending s. 335.06, F.S.; authorizing the
   11         Department of Transportation to improve and maintain
   12         roads that provide access to property within the state
   13         park system if they are part of a county road system
   14         or city street system; requiring that the appropriate
   15         county or municipality maintain such a road if the
   16         department does not maintain it; amending s. 335.065,
   17         F.S.; authorizing the department to use appropriated
   18         funds for the establishment of a statewide system of
   19         interconnected multiuse trails; prioritizing projects
   20         for funding; requiring funded projects to be included
   21         in the department’s work program; providing that the
   22         department is not responsible for or obligated to
   23         provide funds for the operation and maintenance of any
   24         such project; amending s. 337.403, F.S.; providing an
   25         exception for payment of certain utility work
   26         necessitated by a project on the State Highway System
   27         for municipally owned utilities or county-owned
   28         utilities located in rural areas of critical economic
   29         concern; authorizing the Department of Transportation
   30         to pay for such costs under certain circumstances;
   31         revising certain exceptions; providing an exception
   32         for certain rail service projects; creating s.
   33         339.041, F.S.; providing legislative intent;
   34         describing the types of department property eligible
   35         for factoring future revenues received by the
   36         department from leases for communication facilities on
   37         department property; authorizing the department to
   38         enter into agreements with investors to purchase the
   39         revenue streams from department leases of wireless
   40         communication facilities on such property pursuant to
   41         an invitation to negotiate; prohibiting the department
   42         from pledging state credit; allowing the department to
   43         make certain covenants; providing for the
   44         appropriation and payment of moneys received from such
   45         agreements to investors; requiring the proceeds from
   46         such leases to be used for capital expenditures;
   47         amending s. 339.2818, F.S.; subject to the
   48         appropriation of specified additional funding,
   49         authorizing a municipality within a rural area of
   50         critical economic concern or a rural area of critical
   51         economic concern community to compete for certain
   52         funding; providing criteria; amending s. 479.16, F.S.;
   53         exempting certain signs from the provisions of ch.
   54         479, F.S.; exempting from permitting certain signs
   55         placed by tourist-oriented businesses, certain farm
   56         signs placed during harvest seasons, certain
   57         acknowledgment signs on publicly funded school
   58         premises, and certain displays on specific sports
   59         facilities; providing that certain provisions relating
   60         to the regulation of signs may not be implemented or
   61         continued if such actions will adversely impact the
   62         allocation of federal funds to the Department of
   63         Transportation; directing the department to notify a
   64         sign owner that the sign must be removed within a
   65         certain timeframe if federal funds are adversely
   66         impacted; authorizing the department to remove the
   67         sign and assess costs against the sign owner under
   68         certain circumstances; amending s. 479.262, F.S.;
   69         clarifying provisions relating to the tourist-oriented
   70         directional sign program; limiting the placement of
   71         such signs to intersections on certain rural roads;
   72         prohibiting such signs in urban areas or at
   73         interchanges on freeways or expressways; providing an
   74         effective date.
   75          
   76  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   77  
   78         Section 1. Subsection (5) of section 125.42, Florida
   79  Statutes, is amended to read:
   80         125.42 Water, sewage, gas, power, telephone, other utility,
   81  and television lines along county roads and highways.—
   82         (5) In the event of widening, repair, or reconstruction of
   83  any such road, the licensee shall move or remove such water,
   84  sewage, gas, power, telephone, and other utility lines and
   85  television lines at no cost to the county should they be found
   86  by the county to be unreasonably interfering, except as provided
   87  in s. 337.403(1)(d)-(i) s. 337.403(1)(e).
   88         Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 316.2397, Florida
   89  Statutes, is amended to read:
   90         316.2397 Certain lights prohibited; exceptions.—
   91         (4) Road or street maintenance equipment, road or street
   92  maintenance vehicles, road service vehicles, refuse collection
   93  vehicles, petroleum tankers, and mail carrier vehicles may show
   94  or display amber lights when in operation or a hazard exists. A
   95  commercial motor vehicle or trailer designed to transport
   96  unprocessed logs or pulpwood may show or display an amber light
   97  affixed to the rearmost point of the vehicle or trailer.
   98         Section 3. Section 335.06, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   99  read:
  100         335.06 Access roads to the state park system.—Any road that
  101  which provides access to property within the state park system
  102  shall be maintained by the department if the road is a part of
  103  the State Highway System; however, if such road is part of a
  104  county road system or city street system, the department may
  105  improve and maintain it. If the department does not maintain a
  106  county or city road that provides access to the state park
  107  system, the road or shall be maintained by the appropriate
  108  county or municipality if the road is a part of the county road
  109  system or the city street system.
  110         Section 4. Subsections (4) and (5) are added to section
  111  335.065, Florida Statutes, to read:
  112         335.065 Bicycle and pedestrian ways along state roads and
  113  transportation facilities.—
  114         (4) The department may use appropriated funds to support
  115  the establishment of a statewide system of interconnected
  116  multiuse trails and to pay the cost of planning, land
  117  acquisition, design, and construction of such trails and related
  118  facilities. The department shall give funding priority to
  119  projects that:
  120         (a) Are identified by the Florida Greenways and Trails
  121  Council as a priority within the Florida Greenways and Trails
  122  System under chapter 260.
  123         (b) Support the transportation needs of bicyclists and
  124  pedestrians.
  125         (c) Have national, statewide, or regional importance.
  126         (d) Facilitate an interconnected system of trails by
  127  completing gaps between existing trails.
  128         (5) A project funded under subsection (4) shall:
  129         (a) Be included in the department’s work program developed
  130  in accordance with s. 339.135.
  131         (b) Be operated and maintained by an entity other than the
  132  department upon completion of construction. The department is
  133  not obligated to provide funds for the operation and maintenance
  134  of the project.
  135         Section 5. Subsection (1) of section 337.403, Florida
  136  Statutes, is amended to read:
  137         337.403 Interference caused by relocation of utility;
  138  expenses.—
  139         (1) If a utility that is placed upon, under, over, or along
  140  any public road or publicly owned rail corridor is found by the
  141  authority to be unreasonably interfering in any way with the
  142  convenient, safe, or continuous use, or the maintenance,
  143  improvement, extension, or expansion, of such public road or
  144  publicly owned rail corridor, the utility owner shall, upon 30
  145  days’ written notice to the utility or its agent by the
  146  authority, initiate the work necessary to alleviate the
  147  interference at its own expense except as provided in paragraphs
  148  (a)-(i) (a)-(g). The work must be completed within such
  149  reasonable time as stated in the notice or such time as agreed
  150  to by the authority and the utility owner.
  151         (a) If the relocation of utility facilities, as referred to
  152  in s. 111 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Pub. L. No.
  153  84-627 627 of the 84th Congress, is necessitated by the
  154  construction of a project on the federal-aid interstate system,
  155  including extensions thereof within urban areas, and the cost of
  156  the project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the
  157  Federal Government to the extent of 90 percent or more under the
  158  Federal Aid Highway Act, or any amendment thereof, then in that
  159  event the utility owning or operating such facilities shall
  160  perform any necessary work upon notice from the department, and
  161  the state shall pay the entire expense properly attributable to
  162  such work after deducting therefrom any increase in the value of
  163  a new facility and any salvage value derived from an old
  164  facility.
  165         (b) When a joint agreement between the department and the
  166  utility is executed for utility work to be accomplished as part
  167  of a contract for construction of a transportation facility, the
  168  department may participate in those utility work costs that
  169  exceed the department’s official estimate of the cost of the
  170  work by more than 10 percent. The amount of such participation
  171  is shall be limited to the difference between the official
  172  estimate of all the work in the joint agreement plus 10 percent
  173  and the amount awarded for this work in the construction
  174  contract for such work. The department may not participate in
  175  any utility work costs that occur as a result of changes or
  176  additions during the course of the contract.
  177         (c) When an agreement between the department and utility is
  178  executed for utility work to be accomplished in advance of a
  179  contract for construction of a transportation facility, the
  180  department may participate in the cost of clearing and grubbing
  181  necessary to perform such work.
  182         (d) If the utility facility was initially installed to
  183  exclusively serve the authority or its tenants, or both, the
  184  authority shall bear the costs of the utility work. However, the
  185  authority is not responsible for the cost of utility work
  186  related to any subsequent additions to that facility for the
  187  purpose of serving others. For a county or municipality, if such
  188  utility facility was installed in the right-of-way as a means to
  189  serve a county or municipal facility on a parcel of property
  190  adjacent to the right-of-way and if the intended use of the
  191  county or municipal facility is for a use other than
  192  transportation purposes, the obligation of the county or
  193  municipality to bear the costs of the utility work shall extend
  194  only to utility work on the parcel of property on which the
  195  facility of the county or municipality originally served by the
  196  utility facility is located.
  197         (e) If, under an agreement between a utility and the
  198  authority entered into after July 1, 2009, the utility conveys,
  199  subordinates, or relinquishes a compensable property right to
  200  the authority for the purpose of accommodating the acquisition
  201  or use of the right-of-way by the authority, without the
  202  agreement expressly addressing future responsibility for the
  203  cost of necessary utility work, the authority shall bear the
  204  cost of removal or relocation. This paragraph does not impair or
  205  restrict, and may not be used to interpret, the terms of any
  206  such agreement entered into before July 1, 2009.
  207         (f) If the utility is an electric facility being relocated
  208  underground in order to enhance vehicular, bicycle, and
  209  pedestrian safety and in which ownership of the electric
  210  facility to be placed underground has been transferred from a
  211  private to a public utility within the past 5 years, the
  212  department shall incur all costs of the necessary utility work.
  213         (g) An authority may bear the costs of utility work
  214  required to eliminate an unreasonable interference when the
  215  utility is not able to establish that it has a compensable
  216  property right in the particular property where the utility is
  217  located if:
  218         1. The utility was physically located on the particular
  219  property before the authority acquired rights in the property;
  220         2. The utility demonstrates that it has a compensable
  221  property right in all adjacent properties along the alignment of
  222  the utility or, after due diligence, certifies that the utility
  223  does not have evidence to prove or disprove that it has a
  224  compensable property right in the particular property where the
  225  utility is located; and
  226         3. The information available to the authority does not
  227  establish the relative priorities of the authority’s and the
  228  utility’s interests in the particular property.
  229         (h) If a municipally owned utility or county-owned utility
  230  is located in a rural area of critical economic concern, as
  231  defined in s. 288.0656(2), and the department determines that
  232  the utility is unable, and will not be able within the next 10
  233  years, to pay for the cost of utility work necessitated by a
  234  department project on the State Highway System, the department
  235  may pay, in whole or in part, the cost of such utility work
  236  performed by the department or its contractor.
  237         (i) If the relocation of utility facilities is necessitated
  238  by the construction of a commuter rail service project or an
  239  intercity passenger rail service project and the cost of the
  240  project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the
  241  Federal Government, then in that event the utility owning or
  242  operating such facilities located by permit on a department
  243  owned rail corridor shall perform any necessary utility
  244  relocation work upon notice from the department, and the
  245  department shall pay the expense properly attributable to such
  246  utility relocation work in the same proportion as federal funds
  247  are expended on the commuter rail service project or an
  248  intercity passenger rail service project after deducting
  249  therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility and any
  250  salvage value derived from an old facility. In no event shall
  251  the state be required to use state dollars for such utility
  252  relocation work. This paragraph does not apply to any phase of
  253  the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, known as SunRail.
  254         Section 6. Section 339.041, Florida Statutes, is created to
  255  read:
  256         339.041Factoring of revenues from leases for wireless
  257  communication facilities.—
  258         (1)The Legislature finds that efforts to increase funding
  259  for capital expenditures for the transportation system are
  260  necessary for the protection of the public safety and general
  261  welfare and for the preservation of transportation facilities in
  262  this state. It is, therefore, the intent of the Legislature:
  263         (a) To create a mechanism for factoring future revenues
  264  received by the department from leases for wireless
  265  communication facilities on department property on a nonrecourse
  266  basis;
  267         (b)To fund fixed capital expenditures for the statewide
  268  transportation system from proceeds generated through this
  269  mechanism; and
  270         (c)To maximize revenues from factoring by ensuring that
  271  such revenues are exempt from income taxation under federal law
  272  in order to increase funds available for capital expenditures.
  273         (2) For the purposes of factoring revenues under this
  274  section, department property includes real property located
  275  within the department’s limited access rights-of-way, property
  276  located outside the current operating right-of-way limits which
  277  is not needed to support current transportation facilities,
  278  other property owned by the Board of Trustees of the Internal
  279  Improvement Trust Fund and leased by the department, space on
  280  department telecommunications facilities, and space on
  281  department structures.
  282         (3) The department may solicit investors willing to enter
  283  into agreements to purchase the revenue stream from one or more
  284  existing department leases for wireless communication facilities
  285  on property owned or controlled by the department through the
  286  issuance of an invitation to negotiate. Such agreements shall be
  287  structured as tax-exempt financings for federal income tax
  288  purposes in order to result in the largest possible payout.
  289         (4) The department may not pledge the credit, the general
  290  revenues, or the taxing power of the state or of any political
  291  subdivision of the state. The obligations of the department and
  292  investors under the agreement do not constitute a general
  293  obligation of the state or a pledge of the full faith and credit
  294  or taxing power of the state. The agreement is payable from and
  295  secured solely by payments received from department leases for
  296  wireless communication facilities on property owned or
  297  controlled by the department, and neither the state nor any of
  298  its agencies has any liability beyond such payments.
  299         (5) The department may make any covenant or representation
  300  necessary or desirable in connection with the agreement,
  301  including a commitment by the department to take whatever
  302  actions are necessary on behalf of investors to enforce the
  303  department’s rights to payments on property leased for wireless
  304  communications facilities. However, the department may not
  305  guarantee that revenues actually received in a future year will
  306  be those anticipated in its leases for wireless communication
  307  facilities. The department may agree to use its best efforts to
  308  ensure that anticipated future-year revenues are protected. Any
  309  risk that actual revenues received from department leases for
  310  wireless communications facilities will be lower than
  311  anticipated shall be borne exclusively by investors.
  312         (6) Subject to annual appropriation, the investors shall
  313  collect the lease payments on a schedule and in a manner
  314  established in the agreements entered into pursuant to this
  315  section between the department and the investors. The agreements
  316  may provide for lease payments to be made directly to investors
  317  by lessees if the lease agreements entered into by the
  318  department and the lessees pursuant to s. 365.172(12)(f) allow
  319  direct payment.
  320         (7) Proceeds received by the department from leases for
  321  wireless communication facilities shall be deposited in the
  322  State Transportation Trust Fund created under s. 206.46 and used
  323  for fixed capital expenditures for the statewide transportation
  324  system.
  325         Section 7. Subsection (7) is added to section 339.2818,
  326  Florida Statutes, to read:
  327         339.2818 Small County Outreach Program.—
  328         (7) Subject to a specific appropriation in addition to
  329  funds annually appropriated for projects under this section, a
  330  municipality within a rural area of critical economic concern or
  331  a rural area of critical economic concern community designated
  332  under s. 288.0656(7)(a) may compete for the additional project
  333  funding using the criteria listed in subsection (4) at up to 100
  334  percent of project costs, excluding capacity improvement
  335  projects.
  336         Section 8. Section 479.16, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  337  read:
  338         479.16 Signs for which permits are not required.—Signs
  339  placed on benches, transit shelters, modular news racks, street
  340  light poles, public pay telephones, and waste disposal
  341  receptacles within the right-of-way, as provided under s.
  342  337.408, are exempt from this chapter. The following signs are
  343  exempt from the requirement that a permit for a sign be obtained
  344  under the provisions of this chapter but must are required to
  345  comply with the provisions of s. 479.11(4)-(8):
  346         (1) Signs erected on the premises of an establishment,
  347  which signs consist primarily of the name of the establishment
  348  or which identify the principal or accessory merchandise,
  349  services, activities, or entertainment sold, produced,
  350  manufactured, or furnished on the premises of the establishment
  351  and which comply with the lighting restrictions imposed under
  352  department rule adopted pursuant to s. 479.11(5), or signs owned
  353  by a municipality or a county located on the premises of such
  354  municipality or such county which display information regarding
  355  government services, activities, events, or entertainment. For
  356  purposes of this section, the following types of messages shall
  357  not be considered information regarding government services,
  358  activities, events, or entertainment:
  359         (a) Messages that which specifically reference any
  360  commercial enterprise.
  361         (b) Messages that which reference a commercial sponsor of
  362  any event.
  363         (c) Personal messages.
  364         (d) Political campaign messages.
  365  
  366  If a sign located on the premises of an establishment consists
  367  principally of brand name or trade name advertising and the
  368  merchandise or service is only incidental to the principal
  369  activity, or if the owner of the establishment receives rental
  370  income from the sign, then the sign is not exempt under this
  371  subsection.
  372         (2) Signs erected, used, or maintained on a farm by the
  373  owner or lessee of such farm and relating solely to farm
  374  produce, merchandise, service, or entertainment sold, produced,
  375  manufactured, or furnished on such farm.
  376         (3) Signs posted or displayed on real property by the owner
  377  or by the authority of the owner, stating that the real property
  378  is for sale or rent. However, if the sign contains any message
  379  not pertaining to the sale or rental of the that real property,
  380  then it is not exempt under this section.
  381         (4) Official notices or advertisements posted or displayed
  382  on private property by or under the direction of any public or
  383  court officer in the performance of her or his official or
  384  directed duties, or by trustees under deeds of trust or deeds of
  385  assignment or other similar instruments.
  386         (5) Danger or precautionary signs relating to the premises
  387  on which they are located; forest fire warning signs erected
  388  under the authority of the Florida Forest Service of the
  389  Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services; and signs,
  390  notices, or symbols erected by the United States Government
  391  under the direction of the United States Forestry Service.
  392         (6) Notices of any railroad, bridge, ferry, or other
  393  transportation or transmission company necessary for the
  394  direction or safety of the public.
  395         (7) Signs, notices, or symbols for the information of
  396  aviators as to location, directions, and landings and conditions
  397  affecting safety in aviation erected or authorized by the
  398  department.
  399         (8) Signs or notices measuring up to 8 square feet in area
  400  which are erected or maintained upon property and state stating
  401  only the name of the owner, lessee, or occupant of the premises
  402  and not exceeding 8 square feet in area.
  403         (9) Historical markers erected by duly constituted and
  404  authorized public authorities.
  405         (10) Official traffic control signs and markers erected,
  406  caused to be erected, or approved by the department.
  407         (11) Signs erected upon property warning the public against
  408  hunting and fishing or trespassing thereon.
  409         (12) Signs not in excess of up to 8 square feet which that
  410  are owned by and relate to the facilities and activities of
  411  churches, civic organizations, fraternal organizations,
  412  charitable organizations, or units or agencies of government.
  413         (13) Except that signs placed on benches, transit shelters,
  414  and waste receptacles as provided for in s. 337.408 are exempt
  415  from all provisions of this chapter.
  416         (13)(14) Signs relating exclusively to political campaigns.
  417         (14)(15) Signs measuring up to not in excess of 16 square
  418  feet placed at a road junction with the State Highway System
  419  denoting only the distance or direction of a residence or farm
  420  operation, or, outside an incorporated in a rural area where a
  421  hardship is created because a small business is not visible from
  422  the road junction with the State Highway System, one sign
  423  measuring up to not in excess of 16 square feet, denoting only
  424  the name of the business and the distance and direction to the
  425  business. The small-business-sign provision of this subsection
  426  does not apply to charter counties and may not be implemented if
  427  the Federal Government notifies the department that
  428  implementation will adversely affect the allocation of federal
  429  funds to the department.
  430         (15)Signs placed by a local tourist-oriented business
  431  located within a rural area of critical economic concern as
  432  defined in s. 288.0656(2) which are:
  433         (a)Not more than 8 square feet in size or not more than 4
  434  feet in height;
  435         (b) Located only in rural areas on a facility that does not
  436  meet the definition of a limited access facility as defined by
  437  department rule;
  438         (c)Located within 2 miles of the business location and at
  439  least 500 feet apart;
  440         (d)Located only in two directions leading to the business;
  441  and
  442         (e)Not located within the road right-of-way.
  443  
  444  A business placing such signs must be at least 4 miles from any
  445  other business using this exemption and may not participate in
  446  any other directional signage program by the department.
  447         (16)Signs measuring up to 32 square feet denoting only the
  448  distance or direction of a farm operation which are erected at a
  449  road junction with the State Highway System, but only during the
  450  harvest season of the farm operation for a period not to exceed
  451  4 months.
  452         (17)Acknowledgment signs erected upon publicly funded
  453  school premises which relate to a specific public school club,
  454  team, or event which are placed at least 1,000 feet from any
  455  other acknowledgment signs on the same side of the roadway. The
  456  sponsor information on an acknowledgment sign may constitute no
  457  more than 100 square feet of the sign. For purposes of this
  458  subsection, the term “acknowledgment sign” means a sign that is
  459  intended to inform the traveling public that a public school
  460  club, team, or event has been sponsored by a person, firm, or
  461  other entity.
  462         (18)Displays erected upon a sports facility the content of
  463  which is directly related to the facility’s activities or where
  464  products or services offered on the sports facility property are
  465  present. Displays must be mounted flush to the surface of the
  466  sports facility and must rely upon the building facade for
  467  structural support. For purposes of this subsection, the term
  468  “sports facility” means an athletic complex, athletic arena, or
  469  athletic stadium, including physically connected parking
  470  facilities, which is open to the public and has a permanently
  471  installed seating capacity of 15,000 people or more.
  472  
  473  The exemptions in subsections (14)-(18) may not be implemented
  474  or continued if the Federal Government notifies the department
  475  that implementation or continuation will adversely impact the
  476  allocation of federal funds to the department. If the exemptions
  477  in subsections (14)-(18) are not implemented or continued due to
  478  notification from the Federal Government that the allocation of
  479  federal funds to the department will be adversely impacted, the
  480  department shall provide notice to the sign owner that the sign
  481  must be removed within 30 days. If the sign is not removed
  482  within 30 days after receipt of the notice by the sign owner,
  483  the department may remove the sign, and the costs incurred in
  484  connection with the sign removal shall be assessed against and
  485  collected from the sign owner.
  486         Section 9. Section 479.262, Florida Statutes, is amended to
  487  read:
  488         479.262 Tourist-oriented directional sign program.—
  489         (1) A tourist-oriented directional sign program to provide
  490  directions to rural tourist-oriented businesses, services, and
  491  activities may be established for intersections on rural and
  492  conventional state, county, or municipal roads only in rural
  493  counties identified by criteria and population in s. 288.0656
  494  when approved and permitted by county or local government
  495  entities within their respective jurisdictional areas at
  496  intersections on rural and conventional state, county, or
  497  municipal roads. A county or local government that which issues
  498  permits for a tourist-oriented directional sign program is shall
  499  be responsible for sign construction, maintenance, and program
  500  operation in compliance with subsection (3) for roads on the
  501  state highway system and may establish permit fees sufficient to
  502  offset associated costs. A tourist-oriented directional sign may
  503  not be used on roads in urban areas or at interchanges on
  504  freeways or expressways.
  505         (2) This section does not create a proprietary or
  506  compensable interest in any tourist-oriented directional sign
  507  site or location for any permittee on any rural and conventional
  508  state, county, or municipal road roads. The department or the
  509  permitting entity may terminate permits or change locations of
  510  tourist-oriented directional sign sites as determined necessary
  511  for construction or improvement of transportation facilities or
  512  for improved traffic control or safety.
  513         (3) Tourist-oriented directional signs installed on the
  514  state highway system must shall comply with the requirements of
  515  the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices and rules
  516  established by the department. The department may adopt rules to
  517  establish requirements for participant qualification,
  518  construction standards, location of sign sites, and other
  519  criteria necessary to implement this program.
  520         Section 10. This act shall take effect July 1, 2014.