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37 part as of July 1, 2024, are superseded by this subsection and
38 may be repealed without further rulemaking pursuant to s. 120.54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41 rules repealed with the Department of State.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.