Florida Senate - 2015                              CS for SB 912
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation;
       and Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       592-03277-15                                           2015912c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to recycled and recovered materials;
    3         amending s. 403.727, F.S.; exempting a person who
    4         sells, transfers, or arranges for the transfer of
    5         recycled and recovered materials from liability for
    6         hazardous substances released or threatened to be
    7         released from the receiving facility or site under
    8         certain circumstances; defining the term “recycled and
    9         recovered materials”; providing retroactive
   10         application under certain circumstances; providing an
   11         effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Subsection (4) of section 403.727, Florida
   16  Statues, is amended, present subsection (8) of that section is
   17  redesignated as subsection (9), and a new subsection (8) is
   18  added to that section, to read:
   19         403.727 Violations; defenses, penalties, and remedies.—
   20         (4) In addition to any other liability under this chapter,
   21  and subject only to the defenses set forth in subsections (5),
   22  (6), and (7), and (8):
   23         (a) The owner and operator of a facility;
   24         (b) Any person who at the time of disposal of any hazardous
   25  substance owned or operated any facility at which such hazardous
   26  substance was disposed of;
   27         (c) Any person who, by contract, agreement, or otherwise,
   28  arranged for disposal or treatment, or arranged with a
   29  transporter for transport for disposal or treatment, of
   30  hazardous substances owned or possessed by such person or by any
   31  other party or entity at any facility owned or operated by
   32  another party or entity and containing such hazardous
   33  substances; and
   34         (d) Any person who accepts or has accepted any hazardous
   35  substances for transport to disposal or treatment facilities or
   36  sites selected by such person,
   37  
   38  is liable for all costs of removal or remedial action incurred
   39  by the department under this section and damages for injury to,
   40  destruction of, or loss of natural resources, including the
   41  reasonable costs of assessing such injury, destruction, or loss
   42  resulting from the release or threatened release of a hazardous
   43  substance as defined in the Comprehensive Environmental
   44  Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, Pub. L. No.
   45  96-510.
   46         (8) In order to promote the reuse and recycling of
   47  recovered materials and to remove potential impediments to
   48  recycling, a person who sells, transfers, or arranges for the
   49  transfer of recycled and recovered materials to a facility owned
   50  or operated by another person for the purpose of reclamation,
   51  recycling, manufacturing, or reuse of such materials is relieved
   52  from liability for hazardous substances released or threatened
   53  to be released from the receiving facility. This relief from
   54  liability does not apply if the person fails to exercise
   55  reasonable care with respect to the management and handling of
   56  the recycled and recovered materials, or if the arrangement for
   57  reclamation, recycling, manufacturing, or reuse of such
   58  materials was not reasonably expected to be legitimate based on
   59  information generally available to the person at the time of the
   60  arrangement. For the purpose of this subsection, the term
   61  “recycled and recovered materials” means scrap paper; scrap
   62  plastic; scrap glass; scrap textiles; scrap rubber, other than
   63  whole tires; scrap metal; or spent lead-acid or nickel-cadmium
   64  batteries or other spent batteries. The term includes minor
   65  amounts of material incident to or adhering to the scrap
   66  material as a result of its normal and customary use before
   67  becoming scrap. The term does not include hazardous waste. This
   68  subsection applies to causes of action accruing on or after July
   69  1, 2015, and applies retroactively to causes of action accruing
   70  before July 1, 2015, for which a lawsuit has not been filed.
   71         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2015.