Florida Senate - 2020                                    SB 7020
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Infrastructure and Security
       
       
       
       
       
       596-02013-20                                          20207020__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to emergency staging areas; creating
    3         s. 338.236, F.S.; authorizing the Department of
    4         Transportation to plan, design, and construct staging
    5         areas as part of the turnpike system for the intended
    6         purpose of staging supplies for prompt provision of
    7         assistance to the public in a declared state of
    8         emergency; requiring the department, in consultation
    9         with the Division of Emergency Management, to select
   10         sites for such areas; providing factors to be
   11         considered by the department and division in selecting
   12         sites; requiring the department to give priority
   13         consideration to placement of such staging areas in
   14         specified counties; authorizing the department to
   15         acquire property necessary for such staging areas;
   16         authorizing the department to authorize certain other
   17         uses of staging areas; requiring staging area projects
   18         to be included in the department’s work program;
   19         providing an effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 338.236, Florida Statutes, is created to
   24  read:
   25         338.236 Staging areas for emergencies.—The Department of
   26  Transportation may plan, design, and construct staging areas to
   27  be activated during a declared state of emergency at key
   28  geographic locations on the turnpike system. Such staging areas
   29  must be used for the staging of emergency supplies, such as
   30  water, fuel, generators, vehicles, equipment, and other related
   31  materials, to facilitate the prompt provision of emergency
   32  assistance to the public, and to otherwise facilitate emergency
   33  response and assistance, including evacuations, deployment of
   34  emergency-related supplies and personnel, and restoration of
   35  essential services.
   36         (1) In selecting a proposed site for a designated staging
   37  area under this section, the department, in consultation with
   38  the Division of Emergency Management, must consider the extent
   39  to which such site:
   40         (a) Is located in a geographic area that best facilitates
   41  the wide dissemination of emergency-related supplies and
   42  equipment;
   43         (b) Provides ease of access to major highways and other
   44  transportation facilities;
   45         (c) Is sufficiently large to accommodate the staging of a
   46  significant amount of emergency-related supplies and equipment;
   47         (d) Provides space in support of emergency preparedness and
   48  evacuation activities, such as fuel reserve capacity;
   49         (e) Could be used during nonemergency periods for
   50  commercial motor vehicle parking and for other uses; and
   51         (f) Is consistent with other state and local emergency
   52  management considerations.
   53  
   54  The department must give priority consideration to placement of
   55  such staging areas in counties with a population of 200,000 or
   56  fewer, as determined by the most recent official estimate
   57  pursuant to s. 186.901, in which a multi-use corridor of
   58  regional economic significance, as provided in s. 338.2278, is
   59  located.
   60         (2) The department may acquire property and property rights
   61  necessary for such staging areas as provided in s. 338.04.
   62         (3) The department may authorize other uses of a staging
   63  area as provided in the Florida Transportation Code, including,
   64  but not limited to, for commercial motor vehicle parking to
   65  comply with federal hours-of-service off-duty requirements or
   66  sleeper berth requirements and for other vehicular parking to
   67  provide rest for drivers.
   68         (4) Staging area projects must be included in the work
   69  program developed by the department pursuant to s. 339.135.
   70         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.