Florida Senate - 2025 SENATOR AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for CS for SB 492
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LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
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Floor: 2/AD/2R .
04/29/2025 10:16 AM .
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Senator McClain moved the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Between lines 287 and 288
4 insert:
5 Section 2. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (2) of
6 section 376.308, Florida Statutes, to read:
7 376.308 Liabilities and defenses of facilities.—
8 (2) In addition to the defense described in paragraph
9 (1)(c), the only other defenses of a person specified in
10 subsection (1) are to plead and prove that the occurrence was
11 solely the result of any of the following or any combination of
12 the following:
13 (e) The condition giving rise to the cause of action is a
14 natural geological substance of a former phosphate mine, as
15 defined in s. 378.213, for which:
16 1. A notice has been recorded in accordance with s.
17 378.213(1); and
18 2. The Department of Health has conducted a survey under s.
19 404.0561(1).
20 Section 3. Section 378.213, Florida Statutes, is created to
21 read:
22 378.213 Notice of former phosphate mine site.—
23 (1) A landowner may record a notice in the official records
24 of the county in which the land is located which identifies the
25 landowner’s property as a former phosphate mine. The recorded
26 notice must be in substantially the following form:
27
28 NOTICE
29 This property is a former phosphate mine as defined in
30 s. 378.213(2), Florida Statutes.
31
32 Such recording serves as notice that the land is a former
33 phosphate mine.
34 (2) As used in this section, the term “former phosphate
35 mine” means an area of land upon which phosphate mining has been
36 conducted and which may have been subject to a radiation survey
37 in accordance with s. 404.0561 and state reclamation
38 requirements of ss. 378.201-378.212, but does not include a
39 phosphogypsum stack as defined in s. 403.4154(1)(d).
40 Section 4. Section 404.0561, Florida Statutes, is created
41 to read:
42 404.0561 Survey of former phosphate mining lands.—
43 (1) Upon petition by a current landowner, the department
44 shall conduct a gamma radiation survey of a former phosphate
45 land parcel within 120 days after receipt of the petition to
46 determine the radioactivity levels. The survey must document
47 gamma radiation exposure measurements and the locations of the
48 measurements.
49 (2) The department shall provide a copy of the preliminary
50 survey results to the petitioner within 30 days after completion
51 of the survey. Within 60 days after receipt of the survey, the
52 petitioner may request an additional survey based upon any
53 reasonable belief that the survey was flawed or not
54 representative of conditions on the site. The department shall
55 conduct one additional survey within 90 days after receipt of
56 the petitioner’s request. The additional survey must meet the
57 requirements of this section and is deemed final within 90 days
58 after completion.
59 Section 5. Section 768.405, Florida Statutes, is created to
60 read:
61 768.405 Documentation of radiation levels.—In any civil
62 action based on strict liability under s. 376.313(3), negligence
63 or similar conduct related to an alleged discharge of hazardous
64 substances or condition of pollution related to phosphate
65 mining, including the presence of mining overburden, solid waste
66 from the extraction, or beneficiation of phosphate rock from a
67 phosphate mine; or any other similar claim related to the mining
68 of phosphatic rock or reclamation of a mined area, the plaintiff
69 must include a radiation survey of the property with the
70 complaint. The survey must be prepared by a person certified as
71 either a health physicist by the American Board of Health
72 Physics or as a radiation protection technologist by the
73 National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists. The
74 survey must be representative and document the measured gamma
75 radiation on the property, including background values
76 determined in accordance with the Environmental Protection
77 Agency’s Multi-agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation
78 Manual; the locations of the measurements; the testing
79 equipment; the testing methodology used, including the equipment
80 calibration date and protocol; and the name of the person
81 performing the survey and describe the person’s relevant
82 training, education, and experience. The survey shall be
83 verified under penalty of perjury as provided in s. 92.525.
84
85 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
86 And the title is amended as follows:
87 Delete line 35
88 and insert:
89 thereafter; amending s. 376.308, F.S.; providing
90 conditions for a cause of action against certain
91 former phosphate mine sites; creating s. 378.213,
92 F.S.; authorizing landowners to record certain notice
93 of former phosphate mines; specifying requirements for
94 such notice; defining the term “former phosphate
95 mine”; creating s. 404.0561, F.S.; requiring the
96 Department of Health to conduct gamma radiation
97 surveys of former phosphate land parcels upon
98 petition; creating s. 768.405, F.S.; requiring that
99 specified documentation of radiation levels be
100 submitted in certain civil actions related to
101 phosphate mining; providing an effective date.