Florida Senate - 2025 CS for CS for SB 832
By the Committees on Environment and Natural Resources; and
Judiciary; and Senator Burgess
592-02834-25 2025832c2
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to former phosphate mining lands;
3 amending s. 376.308, F.S.; providing conditions for a
4 cause of action against certain former phosphate mine
5 sites; creating s. 378.213, F.S.; authorizing
6 landowners to record certain notice of former
7 phosphate mines; specifying requirements for such
8 notice; defining the term “former phosphate mine”;
9 creating s. 404.0561, F.S.; requiring the Department
10 of Health to conduct gamma radiation surveys of former
11 phosphate land parcels upon petition; providing
12 conditions and requirements for such surveys;
13 specifying that petitioners bear the cost of surveys;
14 creating s. 768.405, F.S.; requiring that specified
15 documentation of radiation levels be submitted in
16 certain civil actions related to phosphate mining;
17 providing an effective date.
18
19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
20
21 Section 1. Paragraph (e) is added to subsection (2) of
22 section 376.308, Florida Statutes, to read:
23 376.308 Liabilities and defenses of facilities.—
24 (2) In addition to the defense described in paragraph
25 (1)(c), the only other defenses of a person specified in
26 subsection (1) are to plead and prove that the occurrence was
27 solely the result of any of the following or any combination of
28 the following:
29 (e) The condition giving rise to the cause of action is a
30 natural geological substance of a former phosphate mine, as
31 defined in s. 378.213, for which:
32 1. A notice has been recorded in accordance with s.
33 378.213(2); and
34 2. The Department of Health has conducted a survey under s.
35 404.0561(1).
36 Section 2. Section 378.213, Florida Statutes, is created to
37 read:
38 378.213 Notice of former phosphate mine site.—
39 (1) A landowner may record a notice in the official records
40 of the county in which the land is located which identifies the
41 landowner’s property as a former phosphate mine. The recorded
42 notice must be in substantially the following form:
43
44 NOTICE
45 This property is a former phosphate mine as defined in
46 s. 378.213(2), Florida Statutes.
47
48 Such recording serves as notice that the land is a former
49 phosphate mine.
50 (2) As used in this section, the term “former phosphate
51 mine” means an area of land upon which phosphate mining has been
52 conducted and which may have been subject to a radiation survey
53 in accordance with s. 404.0561 and state reclamation
54 requirements of ss. 378.201-378.212, but does not include a
55 phosphogypsum stack as defined in s. 403.4154(1)(d).
56 Section 3. Section 404.0561, Florida Statutes, is created
57 to read:
58 404.0561 Survey of former phosphate mining lands.—
59 (1) Upon petition by a current landowner, the department
60 shall conduct a gamma radiation survey of a former phosphate
61 land parcel within 120 days after receipt of the petition to
62 determine the radioactivity levels. The survey must document
63 gamma radiation exposure measurements and the locations of the
64 measurements. Gamma radiation measurements must be taken at the
65 density of one per site or one per acre of land, whichever is
66 greater.
67 (2) The department shall provide a copy of the preliminary
68 survey results to the petitioner within 30 days after completion
69 of the survey. Within 60 days after receipt of the survey, the
70 petitioner may request an additional survey based upon any
71 reasonable belief that the survey was flawed or not
72 representative of conditions on the site. The department shall
73 conduct one additional survey within 90 days after receipt of
74 the petitioner’s request. The additional survey must meet the
75 requirements of this section and is deemed final within 90 days
76 after completion.
77 (3) A petitioner requesting a survey pursuant to this
78 section is responsible for the cost of the survey conducted by
79 the department.
80 Section 4. Section 768.405, Florida Statutes, is created to
81 read:
82 768.405 Documentation of radiation levels.—In any civil
83 action based on strict liability under s. 376.313(3), negligence
84 or similar conduct related to an alleged discharge of hazardous
85 substances or condition of pollution related to phosphate
86 mining, including the presence of mining overburden, solid waste
87 from the extraction, or beneficiation of phosphate rock from a
88 phosphate mine; or any other similar claim related to the mining
89 of phosphatic rock or reclamation of a mined area, the plaintiff
90 must include a radiation survey of the property with the
91 complaint. The survey must be prepared by a person certified as
92 either a health physicist by the American Board of Health
93 Physics or as a radiation protection technologist by the
94 National Registry of Radiation Protection Technologists. The
95 survey must be representative and document the measured gamma
96 radiation on the property, including background values
97 determined in accordance with the Environmental Protection
98 Agency’s Multi-agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation
99 Manual; the locations of the measurements; the testing
100 equipment; the testing methodology used, including the equipment
101 calibration date and protocol; and the name of the person
102 performing the survey and describe the person’s relevant
103 training, education, and experience. The survey shall be
104 verified under penalty of perjury as provided in s. 92.525.
105 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.