Florida Senate - 2019 SB 1172
By Senator Brandes
24-01499C-19 20191172__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to sanitary sewer laterals; defining
3 the term “sanitary sewer lateral”; encouraging
4 counties and municipalities to establish a sanitary
5 sewer lateral inspection program by a specified date;
6 providing parameters for such a program; creating s.
7 689.301, F.S.; requiring a seller of real property to
8 disclose any actually known defects of the property’s
9 sanitary sewer lateral; defining the term “sanitary
10 sewer lateral”; providing an effective date.
11
12 WHEREAS, a sanitary sewer lateral is the portion of the
13 sewer network which connects private properties to the public
14 sewer system, conveying wastewater from homes and businesses to
15 centralized wastewater treatment plants, and
16 WHEREAS, a property owner is typically responsible for all
17 maintenance, operation, cleaning, repair, and reconstruction of
18 a sanitary sewer lateral on private property, and
19 WHEREAS, defects in private sanitary sewer laterals may
20 occur due to system aging, structural failure, lack of proper
21 maintenance, or poor construction and design practices, and
22 WHEREAS, defective sanitary sewer laterals can cause
23 blockages, backups, or overflows into the environment, can
24 contribute to water pollution, and can have a significant impact
25 on the performance of a sewer system and treatment plant, and
26 WHEREAS, defective sanitary sewer laterals on private
27 property can be difficult to detect, and
28 WHEREAS, inspections of sanitary sewer laterals are not
29 required by state law, and
30 WHEREAS, facts that materially affect the value of real
31 estate must be disclosed in real estate transactions, NOW,
32 THEREFORE,
33
34 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
35
36 Section 1. Sanitary sewer lateral inspection program.—
37 (1) As used in this section, the term “sanitary sewer
38 lateral” means a privately owned pipeline connecting a property
39 to the main sewer line and which is maintained and repaired by
40 the property owner.
41 (2) By July 1, 2021, counties and municipalities are
42 encouraged to establish an evaluation and rehabilitation program
43 for sanitary sewer laterals on residential and commercial
44 properties within the county’s or municipality’s jurisdiction to
45 identify and reduce extraneous flow from leaking sanitary sewer
46 laterals. At a minimum, the program may do all of the following:
47 (a) Establish a system to identify defective, damaged, or
48 deteriorated sanitary sewer laterals on residential and
49 commercial properties within the jurisdiction of a county or a
50 municipality.
51 (b) Consider economical methods for a property owner to
52 repair or replace a defective, damaged, or deteriorated sanitary
53 sewer lateral.
54 (c) Establish and maintain a publicly accessible database
55 to store information on properties where a defective, damaged,
56 or deteriorated sanitary sewer lateral has been identified. The
57 database must include, but is not limited to, the address of the
58 property, the names of any persons notified by the county or
59 municipality of the faulty sanitary sewer lateral, and the date
60 and method of such notification.
61 Section 2. Section 689.301, Florida Statutes, is created to
62 read:
63 689.301 Disclosure of known defects of sanitary sewer
64 laterals to prospective purchaser.—Before executing a contract
65 for sale, a seller of real property shall disclose to a
66 prospective purchaser any defects of the property’s sanitary
67 sewer lateral which are actually known to the seller. As used in
68 this section, the term “sanitary sewer lateral” means the
69 privately owned pipeline connecting a property to the main sewer
70 line.
71 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.