Florida Senate - 2024                CS for CS for CS for SB 738
       
       
        
       By the Committees on Fiscal Policy; Judiciary; and Environment
       and Natural Resources; and Senator Burgess
       
       
       
       
       594-03390-24                                           2024738c3
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to environmental management; amending
    3         s. 373.4131, F.S.; requiring that nonindustrial
    4         stormwater management systems be designed with side
    5         slopes that meet certain minimum design requirements;
    6         providing an exception; superseding certain side slope
    7         rules; amending s. 376.313, F.S.; revising
    8         construction relating to causes of action for damages
    9         to real or personal property directly resulting from
   10         certain discharges or other conditions of pollution;
   11         providing an effective date.
   12          
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Subsection (7) is added to section 373.4131,
   16  Florida Statutes, to read:
   17         373.4131 Statewide environmental resource permitting
   18  rules.—
   19         (7)A side slope for a nonindustrial stormwater management
   20  system, in or adjacent to residential or urban areas that are
   21  accessible to the general public, must be designed, except as
   22  provided in paragraph (a), with a horizontal-to-vertical ratio
   23  no steeper than 4:1 to a depth of at least 2 feet below the
   24  control elevation and must be stabilized with vegetation to
   25  prevent erosion and provide for pollutant removal.
   26         (a)A side slope for a nonindustrial stormwater management
   27  system, in or adjacent to residential or urban areas that are
   28  accessible to the general public, may be designed with a steeper
   29  than 4:1 horizontal-to-vertical ratio if the slope incorporates
   30  adequate temporary and permanent erosion and sediment control
   31  best management practices. A system designed or authorized to be
   32  steeper than 4:1 must be fenced, be greenscaped, or have other
   33  barriers installed sufficiently to prevent accidental incursion
   34  into the system.
   35         (b)All side slope rules adopted by the department, water
   36  management districts, or delegated local programs under this
   37  part as of July 1, 2024, are superseded by this subsection and
   38  may be repealed without further rulemaking pursuant to s. 120.54
   39  by publication of a notice of repeal in the Florida
   40  Administrative Register and subsequent filing of a list of the
   41  rules repealed with the Department of State.
   42         Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 376.313, Florida
   43  Statutes, is amended to read:
   44         376.313 Nonexclusiveness of remedies and individual cause
   45  of action for damages under ss. 376.30-376.317.—
   46         (3) Except as provided in s. 376.3078(3) and (11), nothing
   47  contained in ss. 376.30-376.317 do not prohibit a prohibits any
   48  person from bringing a cause of action in a court of competent
   49  jurisdiction for all damages to real or personal property
   50  directly resulting from a discharge or other condition of
   51  pollution covered by ss. 376.30-376.317 and which was not
   52  authorized by any government approval or permit issued pursuant
   53  to chapter 373, chapter 376, or chapter 403. Nothing in This
   54  chapter does not shall prohibit or diminish a party’s right to
   55  contribution from other parties jointly or severally liable for
   56  a prohibited discharge of pollutants or hazardous substances or
   57  other pollution conditions. Except as otherwise provided in
   58  subsection (4) or subsection (5), in any such suit, it is not
   59  necessary for such person to plead or prove negligence in any
   60  form or manner. Such person need only plead and prove the fact
   61  of the prohibited discharge or other pollutive condition and
   62  that it has occurred. The only strict-liability exceptions
   63  defenses to such cause of action are shall be those specified in
   64  s. 376.308 or s. 376.82.
   65         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.