Florida Senate - 2024 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT Bill No. SB 1082 Ì727784QÎ727784 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House Comm: WD . 02/20/2024 . . . . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— The Committee on Rules (Collins) recommended the following: 1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment) 2 3 Delete lines 29 - 146 4 and insert: 5 paragraphs (b) through (e), respectively, new paragraphs (a), 6 (f), and (g) are added to that subsection, and subsection (5) is 7 added to that section, to read: 8 163.3162 Agricultural Lands and Practices.— 9 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term: 10 (a) “Agricultural worker” means a person who is seasonally 11 or annually employed in bona fide agricultural production; is 12 lawfully present in the United States; is authorized to work at 13 the time of employment and remains so throughout the duration of 14 that employment; and has been verified through the process 15 provided in s. 448.095. The term includes a migrant farmworker 16 as defined in s. 381.008 and a worker with an H-2A visa. 17 (f) “Housing site” means the totality of development 18 supporting authorized housing, including buildings, mobile 19 homes, barracks, dormitories used as living quarters, parking 20 areas, common areas such as athletic fields or playgrounds, 21 storage structures, and other related structures. 22 (g) “Nonimmigrant agricultural employee” means a person who 23 is working in this state pursuant to 8 U.S.C. s. 1188. 24 (5) HOUSING FOR NONIMMIGRANT AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYEES WITH AN 25 H-2A VISA.— 26 (a) A governmental entity may not adopt or enforce any 27 legislation to inhibit the construction or installation of 28 housing for nonimmigrant agricultural employees with an H-2A 29 visa on land classified as agricultural land pursuant to s. 30 193.461 which is operated as a bona fide farm except as provided 31 in this subsection. However, a local government may adopt land 32 use regulations relating to the construction or installation of 33 housing for agricultural workers on lands classified as 34 agricultural if such regulations are less restrictive than those 35 provided in this section. 36 (b) Construction or installation of housing units for 37 nonimmigrant agricultural employees with an H-2A visa on parcels 38 of land classified as agricultural land under s. 193.461 must 39 satisfy all of the following criteria: 40 1. The dwelling units must meet federal, state, and local 41 building standards, including H-2A farmworker housing standards 42 regulated by the Department of Health and federal standards for 43 H-2A visa housing. If written notice of intent is required to be 44 submitted to the Department of Health pursuant to s. 381.0083, 45 the appropriate governmental entity with jurisdiction over the 46 agricultural lands may also require submittal of a copy of the 47 written notice. 48 2. The housing site must be maintained in a neat, orderly, 49 and safe manner. 50 3. All structures containing dwelling units must be located 51 a minimum of 10 feet apart. 52 4. The square footage of the housing site’s climate 53 controlled facilities may not exceed 1.5 percent of the 54 property’s area or 35,000 square feet, whichever is less. 55 5. A housing site must provide front, side, and rear yard 56 setbacks of at least 50 feet. However, an internal project 57 driveway may be located in the required yard space if the yard 58 is adjacent to a public roadway or to property that is under 59 common ownership with the housing site. 60 6. A housing site may not be located less than 250 feet 61 from a property line adjacent to property zoned for residential 62 use. If the housing site is located less than 500 feet from any 63 property line, screening must be provided between the housing 64 site and any residentially developed adjacent parcels that are 65 under different ownership. The screening may be designed in any 66 of the following ways: 67 a. Evergreen plants that, at the time of planting, are at 68 least 6 feet in height and provide an overall screening opacity 69 of 75 percent; 70 b. A masonry wall at least 6 feet in height and finished on 71 all sides with brick, stone, or painted or pigmented stucco; 72 c. A solid wood or PVC fence at least 6 feet in height with 73 the finished side of the fence facing out; 74 d. A row of evergreen shade trees that, at the time of 75 planting, are at least 10 feet in height, a minimum of 2-inch 76 caliper, and spaced no more than 20 feet apart; or 77 e. A berm made with a combination of the materials listed 78 in sub-subparagraphs a.-d., which is at least 6 feet in height 79 and provides an overall screening capacity of 75 percent at the 80 time of installation. 81 7. All access drives that serve the housing site must be 82 made of packed shell, gravel, or a similar material that will 83 provide a relatively dust-free surface. 84 (c) Any local ordinance adopted pursuant to this subsection 85 must comply with all state and federal regulations for migrant 86 farmworker housing, as applicable, including rules adopted by 87 the Department of Health pursuant to ss. 381.008–381.00897 and 88 federal regulations under the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural 89 Worker Protection Act or the H-2A visa program. 90 (d) Beginning July 1, 2024, a property owner must maintain 91 records of all approved permits, including successor permits, 92 for migrant labor camps or residential migrant housing as 93 required under s. 381.0081. A property owner must maintain such 94 records for at least 3 years and make the records available for 95 inspection within 14 days after receipt of a request for records 96 by a governmental entity. 97 (e) A housing site may not continue to be used and may be 98 required to be removed under the following circumstances: 99 1. If, for any reason, a housing site is not being used for 100 nonimmigrant agricultural employees with an H-2A visa for longer 101 than 365 days, any structures used as living quarters must be 102 removed from the housing site within 180 days after receipt of 103 written notification from the county unless the property owner 104 can demonstrate that use of the site for housing nonimmigrant 105 agricultural employees with an H-2A visa will occur within 90 106 days 107 2. If the property on which the housing site is located 108 ceases to be classified as agricultural land, housing authorized 109 under this section ceases to be eligible for residential uses 110 unless and until it is approved under the zoning and land use 111 regulations of the governmental entity. 112 3. If the permit authorized by the Department of Health for 113 the housing site is revoked, any structures must be removed from 114 the housing site within 180 days after receipt of written 115 notification from the county unless the permit is reinstated by 116 the Department of Health. 117 (f) Notwithstanding this subsection, the construction or 118 installation of housing for seasonal agricultural employees in 119 the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern and the City of 120 Key West Area of Critical State Concern is subject to the permit 121 allocation systems of the Florida Keys Area of Critical State 122 Concern and City of Key West Area of Critical State Concern, 123 respectively. 124 (g) A housing site that was constructed and in use before 125 126 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================ 127 And the title is amended as follows: 128 Delete lines 2 - 14 129 and insert: 130 An act relating to housing for nonimmigrant 131 agricultural employees; amending s. 163.3162, F.S.; 132 defining terms; prohibiting a governmental entity from 133 adopting or enforcing any legislation to inhibit the 134 construction of housing for nonimmigrant agricultural 135 employees with an H-2A visa on agricultural land 136 operated as a bona fide farm; requiring that the 137 construction or installation of such housing units on 138 agricultural lands satisfy certain criteria; requiring 139 that local ordinances comply with certain regulations; 140 requiring property