Florida Senate - 2015                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 896
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì661092#Î661092                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/02/2015           .                                
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       The Committee on Transportation (Brandes) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 1. Section 125.42, Florida Statutes, is amended to
    6  read:
    7         125.42 Water, sewage, gas, power, telephone, other utility,
    8  and television lines within the right-of-way limits of along
    9  county roads and highways.—
   10         (1) The board of county commissioners, with respect to
   11  property located without the corporate limits of any
   12  municipality, is authorized to grant a license to any person or
   13  private corporation to construct, maintain, repair, operate, and
   14  remove lines for the transmission of water, sewage, gas, power,
   15  telephone, other public utilities, and television, or other
   16  communications services as defined in s. 202.11 under, on, over,
   17  across, or within the right-of-way limits of and along any
   18  county highway or any public road or highway acquired by the
   19  county or public by purchase, gift, devise, dedication, or
   20  prescription. However, the board of county commissioners shall
   21  include in any instrument granting such license adequate
   22  provisions:
   23         (a) To prevent the creation of any obstructions or
   24  conditions which are or may become dangerous to the traveling
   25  public;
   26         (b) To require the licensee to repair any damage or injury
   27  to the road or highway by reason of the exercise of the
   28  privileges granted in any instrument creating such license and
   29  to repair the road or highway promptly, restoring it to a
   30  condition at least equal to that which existed immediately prior
   31  to the infliction of such damage or injury;
   32         (c) Whereby the licensee shall hold the board of county
   33  commissioners and members thereof harmless from the payment of
   34  any compensation or damages resulting from the exercise of the
   35  privileges granted in any instrument creating the license; and
   36         (d) As may be reasonably necessary, for the protection of
   37  the county and the public.
   38         (2) A license may be granted in perpetuity or for a term of
   39  years, subject, however, to termination by the licensor, in the
   40  event the road or highway is closed, abandoned, vacated,
   41  discontinued, or reconstructed.
   42         (3) The board of county commissioners is authorized to
   43  grant exclusive or nonexclusive licenses for the purposes stated
   44  herein for television.
   45         (4) This law is intended to provide an additional method
   46  for the granting of licenses and shall not be construed to
   47  repeal any law now in effect relating to the same subject.
   48         (5) In the event of widening, repair, or reconstruction of
   49  any such road, the licensee shall move or remove such water,
   50  sewage, gas, power, telephone, and other utility lines and
   51  television lines at no cost to the county should they be found
   52  by the county to be unreasonably interfering, except as provided
   53  in s. 337.403(1)(d)-(j) s. 337.403(1)(d)-(i).
   54         Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (1), subsection (2),
   55  and paragraph (b) of subsection (3) of section 337.401, Florida
   56  Statutes, are amended to read:
   57         337.401 Use of right-of-way for utilities subject to
   58  regulation; permit; fees.—
   59         (1)(a) The department and local governmental entities,
   60  referred to in this section and in ss. 337.402, 337.403, and
   61  337.404 ss. 337.401-337.404 as the “authority,” that have
   62  jurisdiction and control of public roads or publicly owned rail
   63  corridors are authorized to prescribe and enforce reasonable
   64  rules or regulations with reference to the placing and
   65  maintaining along, across, or on, or within the right-of-way
   66  limits of any road or publicly owned rail corridors under their
   67  respective jurisdictions any electric transmission, telephone,
   68  telegraph, or other communications services lines; pole lines;
   69  poles; railways; ditches; sewers; water, heat, or gas mains;
   70  pipelines; fences; gasoline tanks and pumps; or other structures
   71  referred to in this section and in ss. 337.402, 337.403, and
   72  337.404 this section as the “utility.” The department may enter
   73  into a permit-delegation agreement with a governmental entity if
   74  issuance of a permit is based on requirements that the
   75  department finds will ensure the safety and integrity of
   76  facilities of the Department of Transportation; however, the
   77  permit-delegation agreement does not apply to facilities of
   78  electric utilities as defined in s. 366.02(2).
   79         (2) The authority may grant to any person who is a resident
   80  of this state, or to any corporation which is organized under
   81  the laws of this state or licensed to do business within this
   82  state, the use of a right-of-way for the utility in accordance
   83  with such rules or regulations as the authority may adopt. No
   84  utility shall be installed, located, or relocated unless
   85  authorized by a written permit issued by the authority. However,
   86  for public roads or publicly owned rail corridors under the
   87  jurisdiction of the department, a utility relocation schedule
   88  and relocation agreement may be executed in lieu of a written
   89  permit. The permit shall require the permitholder to be
   90  responsible for any damage resulting from the issuance of such
   91  permit. In exercising its authority over a utility under this
   92  section, a municipality or county may not require a utility to
   93  provide proprietary maps of facilities where such facilities
   94  have been previously subject to a permit from the authority. The
   95  authority may initiate injunctive proceedings as provided in s.
   96  120.69 to enforce provisions of this subsection or any rule or
   97  order issued or entered into pursuant thereto.
   98         (3)
   99         (b) Registration described in paragraph (a) does not
  100  establish a right to place or maintain, or priority for the
  101  placement or maintenance of, a communications facility in roads
  102  or rights-of-way of a municipality or county. Each municipality
  103  and county retains the authority to regulate and manage
  104  municipal and county roads or rights-of-way in exercising its
  105  police power. Any rules or regulations adopted by a municipality
  106  or county which govern the occupation of its roads or rights-of
  107  way by providers of communications services must be related to
  108  the placement or maintenance of facilities in such roads or
  109  rights-of-way, must be reasonable and nondiscriminatory, and may
  110  include only those matters necessary to manage the roads or
  111  rights-of-way of the municipality or county. In exercising its
  112  authority over providers of communications services under this
  113  section, a municipality or county may not require a provider of
  114  communications services to provide proprietary maps of
  115  facilities where such facilities have been previously subject to
  116  a permit from the authority.
  117         Section 3. Subsection (1) of section 337.403, Florida
  118  Statutes, is amended to read:
  119         337.403 Interference caused by utility; expenses.—
  120         (1) If a utility that is placed upon, under, over, or
  121  within the right-of-way limits of along any public road or
  122  publicly owned rail corridor is found by the authority to be
  123  unreasonably interfering in any way with the convenient, safe,
  124  or continuous use, or the maintenance, improvement, extension,
  125  or expansion, of such public road, including directly associated
  126  drainage, or publicly owned rail corridor, the utility owner
  127  shall, upon 30 days’ written notice to the utility or its agent
  128  by the authority, initiate the work necessary to alleviate the
  129  interference at its own expense except as provided in paragraphs
  130  (a)-(j) (a)-(i). The work must be completed within such
  131  reasonable time as stated in the notice or such time as agreed
  132  to by the authority and the utility owner. If an authority
  133  requires the relocation of a utility for purposes not described
  134  in this subsection, the authority shall bear the cost of
  135  relocating the utility. If the relocation is required as a
  136  condition or result of a project by an entity other than an
  137  authority, the entity other than the authority shall bear the
  138  costs of relocating the utility. However, nothing in this
  139  subsection shall impair any rights of the holder of any private
  140  railroad right-of-way, including any rights in any agreement
  141  between the holder of the private railroad right-of-way and a
  142  utility that otherwise allocates such relocation cost.
  143         (a) If the relocation of utility facilities, as referred to
  144  in s. 111 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Pub. L. No.
  145  84-627, is necessitated by the construction of a project on the
  146  federal-aid interstate system, including extensions thereof
  147  within urban areas, and the cost of the project is eligible and
  148  approved for reimbursement by the Federal Government to the
  149  extent of 90 percent or more under the Federal Aid Highway Act,
  150  or any amendment thereof, then in that event the utility owning
  151  or operating such facilities shall perform any necessary work
  152  upon notice from the department, and the state shall pay the
  153  entire expense properly attributable to such work after
  154  deducting therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility
  155  and any salvage value derived from an old facility.
  156         (b) When a joint agreement between the department and the
  157  utility is executed for utility work to be accomplished as part
  158  of a contract for construction of a transportation facility, the
  159  department may participate in those utility work costs that
  160  exceed the department’s official estimate of the cost of the
  161  work by more than 10 percent. The amount of such participation
  162  is limited to the difference between the official estimate of
  163  all the work in the joint agreement plus 10 percent and the
  164  amount awarded for this work in the construction contract for
  165  such work. The department may not participate in any utility
  166  work costs that occur as a result of changes or additions during
  167  the course of the contract.
  168         (c) When an agreement between the department and utility is
  169  executed for utility work to be accomplished in advance of a
  170  contract for construction of a transportation facility, the
  171  department may participate in the cost of clearing and grubbing
  172  necessary to perform such work.
  173         (d) If the utility facility was initially installed to
  174  exclusively serve the authority or its tenants, or both, the
  175  authority shall bear the costs of the utility work. However, the
  176  authority is not responsible for the cost of utility work
  177  related to any subsequent additions to that facility for the
  178  purpose of serving others. For a county or municipality, if such
  179  utility facility was installed in the right-of-way as a means to
  180  serve a county or municipal facility on a parcel of property
  181  adjacent to the right-of-way and if the intended use of the
  182  county or municipal facility is for a use other than
  183  transportation purposes, the obligation of the county or
  184  municipality to bear the costs of the utility work shall extend
  185  only to utility work on the parcel of property on which the
  186  facility of the county or municipality originally served by the
  187  utility facility is located.
  188         (e) If, under an agreement between a utility and the
  189  authority entered into after July 1, 2009, the utility conveys,
  190  subordinates, or relinquishes a compensable property right to
  191  the authority for the purpose of accommodating the acquisition
  192  or use of the right-of-way by the authority, without the
  193  agreement expressly addressing future responsibility for the
  194  cost of necessary utility work, the authority shall bear the
  195  cost of removal or relocation. This paragraph does not impair or
  196  restrict, and may not be used to interpret, the terms of any
  197  such agreement entered into before July 1, 2009.
  198         (f) If the utility is an electric facility being relocated
  199  underground in order to enhance vehicular, bicycle, and
  200  pedestrian safety and in which ownership of the electric
  201  facility to be placed underground has been transferred from a
  202  private to a public utility within the past 5 years, the
  203  department shall incur all costs of the necessary utility work.
  204         (g) An authority may bear the costs of utility work
  205  required to eliminate an unreasonable interference when the
  206  utility is not able to establish that it has a compensable
  207  property right in the particular property where the utility is
  208  located if:
  209         1. The utility was physically located on the particular
  210  property before the authority acquired rights in the property;
  211         2. The utility demonstrates that it has a compensable
  212  property right in adjacent properties along the alignment of the
  213  utility or, after due diligence, certifies that the utility does
  214  not have evidence to prove or disprove that it has a compensable
  215  property right in the particular property where the utility is
  216  located; and
  217         3. The information available to the authority does not
  218  establish the relative priorities of the authority’s and the
  219  utility’s interests in the particular property.
  220         (h) If a municipally owned utility or county-owned utility
  221  is located in a rural area of critical economic concern, as
  222  defined in s. 288.0656(2), and the department determines that
  223  the utility is unable, and will not be able within the next 10
  224  years, to pay for the cost of utility work necessitated by a
  225  department project on the State Highway System, the department
  226  may pay, in whole or in part, the cost of such utility work
  227  performed by the department or its contractor.
  228         (i) If the relocation of utility facilities is necessitated
  229  by the construction of a commuter rail service project or an
  230  intercity passenger rail service project and the cost of the
  231  project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the
  232  Federal Government, then in that event the utility owning or
  233  operating such facilities located by permit on a department
  234  owned rail corridor shall perform any necessary utility
  235  relocation work upon notice from the department, and the
  236  department shall pay the expense properly attributable to such
  237  utility relocation work in the same proportion as federal funds
  238  are expended on the commuter rail service project or an
  239  intercity passenger rail service project after deducting
  240  therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility and any
  241  salvage value derived from an old facility. In no event shall
  242  the state be required to use state dollars for such utility
  243  relocation work. This paragraph does not apply to any phase of
  244  the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, known as SunRail.
  245         (j) If a utility is lawfully located within an existing and
  246  valid utility easement granted by recorded plat, regardless of
  247  whether such land was subsequently acquired by the authority by
  248  dedication, transfer of fee, or otherwise, the authority shall
  249  bear the cost of the utility work required to eliminate an
  250  unreasonable interference.
  251         Section 4. The Legislature finds that a proper and
  252  legitimate state purpose is served by clarifying a utility’s
  253  responsibility for relocating its facilities within the right
  254  of-way or within a utility easement granted by recorded plat.
  255  Therefore, the Legislature determines and declares that this act
  256  fulfills an important state interest.
  257         Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
  258  
  259  
  260  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  261  And the title is amended as follows:
  262         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  263  and insert:
  264                        A bill to be entitled                      
  265         An act relating to the location of utilities; amending
  266         s. 125.42, F.S.; authorizing the board of county
  267         commissioners to grant a license to work on or operate
  268         specified communications services within the right-of
  269         way limits of certain county or public highways or
  270         roads; conforming a cross-reference; amending s.
  271         337.401, F.S.; authorizing the Department of
  272         Transportation and certain local governmental entities
  273         to prescribe and enforce rules or regulations
  274         regarding placing and maintaining specified structures
  275         within the right-of-way limits of roads or publicly
  276         owned rail corridors under their respective
  277         jurisdictions; prohibiting a municipality or county
  278         from requiring a utility to provide proprietary maps
  279         of facilities under certain circumstances; prohibiting
  280         a municipality or county from requiring a provider of
  281         communications services to provide proprietary maps of
  282         facilities under certain circumstances; amending s.
  283         337.403, F.S.; requiring a utility owner, under
  284         certain circumstances, to initiate at its own expense
  285         the work necessary to alleviate an interference to a
  286         public road, including directly associated drainage,
  287         or publicly owned rail corridor which is caused by the
  288         utility if the utility is placed within the right-of
  289         way limits of the public road or publicly owned rail
  290         corridor; conforming a cross-reference; requiring an
  291         authority or an entity other than the authority to
  292         bear the costs of relocating a utility in certain
  293         circumstances; providing applicability; requiring the
  294         authority to bear the cost of the utility work
  295         necessary to eliminate an unreasonable interference if
  296         the utility is lawfully located within a certain
  297         utility easement; providing legislative findings;
  298         providing an effective date.