CS/HB 897

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to the regulation of releases from
3gambling vessels; creating s. 376.25, F.S.; providing a
4short title; providing definitions; requiring gambling
5vessels operating in coastal waters of the state to
6register with the Department of Environmental Protection;
7specifying the requirements for vessel registration;
8requiring the owners of certain waterfront-landing
9facilities to establish procedures concerning the release
10of waste from gambling vessels; requiring that such owners
11make available a waste-management service meeting
12specified criteria; requiring that such owners establish
13certain procedures and collect certain fees; requiring
14that the department maintain on its website an estimate of
15the minimum waste-service demand of such waterfront-
16landing facilities; providing criteria governing the
17estimate; requiring notification of the release of certain
18substances into coastal waters by gambling vessels;
19providing requirements for such notification; providing
20civil penalties for violations; providing for the
21department to establish and collect fees meeting specified
22criteria; providing exemptions and legislative intent;
23requiring the department to adopt rules; directing the
24department to seek federal approval to amend the Florida
25Coastal Zone Management Program and, upon such approval,
26to petition the Federal Government, via consistency review
27under the federal Coastal Zone Management Act, to prohibit
28certain releases from gambling vessels within the federal
29territorial waters off the shores of the state; directing
30the department to petition the Federal Government to
31prohibit certain releases from gambling vessels
32independently of such approval; providing an effective
33date.
34
35Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37     Section 1.  Section 376.25, Florida Statutes, is created to
38read:
39     376.25  Gambling vessels; registration; required and
40prohibited releases.--
41     (1)  SHORT TITLE.--This section may be cited as the "Clean
42Ocean Act."
43     (2)  DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section, the term:
44     (a)  "Berth" means a site in this state where a gambling
45vessel moors to embark or disembark its passengers.
46     (b)  "Biomedical waste" has the same meaning as in s.
47381.0098(2).
48     (c)  "Coastal waters" means waters of the Atlantic Ocean
49within 3 nautical miles of the coastline of the state and waters
50of the Gulf of Mexico within 9 nautical miles of the coastline
51of the state.
52(d)  "Coastline" has the same meaning as in the Submerged
53Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. ss. 1301 et seq.
54     (e)  "Department" means the Department of Environmental
55Protection.
56     (f)  "Gambling vessel" means a boat, ship, casino boat,
57watercraft, or barge that is kept, operated, or maintained for
58the purpose of gambling and that carries or operates gambling
59devices for the use of its passengers or otherwise provides
60facilities for the purpose of gambling, whether within or
61without the jurisdiction of this state, and whether the vessel
62is at berth, lying to, or navigating, and the sailing, voyaging,
63or cruising, or any segment of the sailing, voyaging, or
64cruising, begins and ends within this state. The term does not
65include a cruise ship as defined in 33 C.F.R. s. 101.105.
66     (g)  "Hazardous waste" has the same meaning as in s.
67403.703.
68     (h)  "Oily bilge water" means liquid from the bilge of a
69gambling vessel which contains used lubrication oils, oil sludge
70and slops, fuel and oil sludge, used oil, used fuel and fuel
71filters, and oily waste.
72     (i)  "Release" means any discharge of liquids or solids,
73however caused, from a gambling vessel and includes any escape,
74disposal, spilling, leaking, pumping, emitting, or emptying.
75     (j)  "Sewage" means human body waste and the waste from
76toilets and other receptacles intended to receive or retain
77human body waste and includes any material that has been
78collected or treated through a marine sanitation device, as that
79term is used in s. 312 of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. s.
801322, or that is a byproduct of sewage treatment.
81     (k)  "Treated blackwater" means that part of treated sewage
82carried off by toilets, urinals, and kitchen drains.
83     (l)  "Treated graywater" means that part of treated sewage
84that is not blackwater, including waste from the bath, lavatory,
85laundry, and sink, except kitchen sink waste.
86     (m)  "Untreated blackwater" means that part of untreated
87sewage carried off by toilets, urinals, and kitchen drains.
88     (n)  "Untreated graywater" means that part of untreated
89sewage that is not blackwater, including waste from bath,
90lavatory, laundry, and sink, except kitchen sink waste.
91     (o)  "Waste" means sewage, oily bilge water, treated
92graywater, untreated graywater, treated blackwater, untreated
93blackwater, hazardous waste, or biomedical waste.
94     (3)  REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS.--
95     (a)  For each calendar year in which the owner or operator
96of a gambling vessel intends to operate, or cause or allow to be
97operated, a gambling vessel in coastal waters, the owner or
98operator of the vessel shall register with the department. The
99registration shall be completed before the gambling vessel
100enters the coastal waters of the state in that calendar year.
101The registration shall include the following information:
102     1.  The vessel owner's business name and, if different, the
103vessel operator's business name for each gambling vessel of the
104owner or operator which is scheduled to be in coastal waters
105during the calendar year.
106     2.  The postal address, e-mail address, telephone number,
107and facsimile number of the principal place of each business
108identified under subparagraph 1.
109     3.  The name and address of an agent for service of process
110for each business identified under subparagraph 1. The owner and
111operator shall continuously maintain a designated agent for
112service of process whenever a gambling vessel of the owner or
113operator is in coastal waters, and the agent must be an
114individual resident of this state, a domestic corporation, or a
115foreign corporation having a place of business in and authorized
116to do business in this state.
117     4.  The name or call sign, port of registry, berth
118location, passenger and crew capacity, and weekly schedule of
119when passengers are to be onboard for each of the owner's or
120operator's vessels scheduled to be in coastal waters during the
121calendar year and after the date of registration. If passengers
122embark or disembark a gambling vessel from another vessel while
123the gambling vessel is in coastal waters but not moored to a
124waterfront landing, a waterfront-landing facility in this state
125where the other vessel moors while such passengers embark or
126disembark for the gambling-vessel voyage must also be registered
127as a berth location of the gambling vessel.
128     5.  A description of all waste management systems,
129including systems for the treatment, storage, or disposal of
130waste for each gambling vessel identified under subparagraph 4.,
131including, but not limited to, system type, design, operation,
132location, and capacity of all discharge pipes and valves, and
133the number and capacity of all storage areas and holding tanks.
134     (b)  Registration under paragraph (a) shall be executed
135under oath by the owner or operator or designated representative
136thereof.
137     (c)  Upon request of the department, the registrant shall
138submit registration information required under this subsection
139electronically.
140     (d)  The registrant shall promptly advise the department of
141a change in the information provided by the registrant under
142paragraph (a) during the period that a registration is valid.
143     (4)  RELEASE PROCEDURES; DISPOSAL FEE.--
144     (a)  The owner of each waterfront-landing facility that is
145registered as a gambling vessel's berth location shall:
146     1.  Establish procedures for the release of waste from
147gambling vessels at the facility.
148     2.  Make available a waste-management service that has the
149capability, at minimum, of handling and disposing of the
150facility's minimum waste-service demand as calculated by the
151department under paragraph (b).
152     3.  Collect a fee not to exceed the costs associated with
153making such waste-management service available from each
154gambling vessel for which the waterfront-landing facility is a
155registered berth.
156     (b)  The department shall maintain on its website a current
157estimate of the minimum waste-service demand for each
158waterfront-landing facility that is a registered berth for a
159gambling vessel. The minimum waste-service demand is the volume
160of waste that is reasonably expected to be released at the
161facility over a calendar year from gambling vessels that have a
162registered berth at the facility. In estimating a facility's
163minimum waste-service demand, the department shall consider, for
164each gambling vessel that has a registered berth at the
165facility:
166     1.  The registered capacity of the vessel's systems for
167treating, holding, or disposing of waste; and
168     2.  Other appropriate information, including, but not
169limited to, other information provided during registration of
170the vessel.
171     (5)  NOTIFICATION OF RELEASES.--If a gambling vessel
172releases any waste into coastal waters, the owner or operator
173shall immediately, but no later than 24 hours after the release,
174notify the department of the release. The owner or operator
175shall include all of the following information in the
176notification:
177     (a)  Date of the release.
178     (b)  Time of the release.
179     (c)  Location of the release.
180     (d)  Volume of the release.
181     (e)  Source of the release.
182     (f)  Remedial actions taken to prevent future releases.
183     (6)  PENALTIES.--
184     (a)  A person who violates this section is subject to a
185civil penalty of not more than $50,000 for each violation.
186     (b)  The civil penalty imposed for each separate violation
187of this section is separate from, and in addition to, any other
188civil penalty imposed for a separate violation under this
189subsection or any other law.
190     (c)  In determining the amount of a civil penalty imposed
191under this subsection, the department shall consider all
192relevant circumstances, including, but not limited to, the
193nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the violation. In
194making this determination, the department shall consider the
195degree of toxicity and volume of the release, the extent of harm
196caused by the violation, whether the effects of the violation
197can be reversed or mitigated, and, with respect to the
198defendant, the ability to pay, the effect of a civil penalty on
199the ability to continue in business, all voluntary cleanup
200efforts undertaken in the past, the prior history of violations,
201the gravity of the behavior, the economic benefit, if any,
202resulting from the violation, and all other matters the
203department determines justice may require.
204     (7)  FEES.--The department shall establish and collect fees
205that are adequate to cover the entire cost to the department of
206developing and implementing its responsibilities, as required or
207authorized under this section, which concern registration of
208gambling vessels, tracking of releases, compliance with this
209section, and enforcement of this section.
210     (8)  APPLICABILITY.--This section:
211     (a)  Does not apply to releases made for the purpose of
212securing the safety of the gambling vessel or saving life at sea
213if all reasonable precautions have been taken for the purpose of
214preventing or minimizing the release.
215     (b)  Is intended to supplement and not conflict with
216federal law.
217     (c)  Does not apply to vessels of any branch of the United
218States Armed Services.
219     (d)  Does not require a person who holds a valid NPDES
220permit governing releases from a gambling vessel to violate such
221permit. As used in this paragraph, the term "NPDES permit" means
222a permit issued by the United States Environmental Protection
223Agency under s. 402 of the Clean Water Act, Pub. L. No. 92-500,
224as amended, 33 U.S.C. ss. 1251 et seq., or by the department
225under s. 403.0885.
226     (e)  Does not apply to any gambling vessel that can
227annually verify to the department that it operates a marine
228waste treatment system that produces sterile, clear, and
229odorless reuse water without generating solid waste and that
230eliminates the need to pump out or dump wastewater.
231     (9)  RULES.--The department shall adopt rules pursuant to
232ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to administer this section.
233     (10)  FEDERAL ACTIVITIES.--
234     (a)  The department shall submit a request to the United
235States Secretary of Commerce proposing that the Florida Coastal
236Zone Management Program be amended to include this section.
237     1.  The request must be submitted by August 1, 2008, and
238must comply with the federal Coastal Zone Management Act and
239implementing regulations, including, but not limited to, the
240procedures in 16 U.S.C. s. 1455(c).
241     2.  If the Secretary of Commerce approves the amendment of
242the Florida Coastal Zone Management Program to include this
243section, the department shall request the appropriate federal
244agencies to prohibit the release of waste from any gambling
245vessel in any waters which could affect the coastal waters of
246the state in accordance with 16 U.S.C. s. 1456(c)(1).
247     (b)  Independent of the process to amend the Florida
248Coastal Zone Management Program under paragraph (a), the
249department shall request the appropriate federal agencies to
250prohibit the release of waste from any gambling vessel within
251the federal territorial waters off the shores of this state.
252     Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2008.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.