Florida Senate - 2021                             CS for SB 1824
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability;
       and Senator Powell
       
       
       
       
       585-03843-21                                          20211824c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to public records; amending s.
    3         252.905, F.S.; defining terms; expanding an exemption
    4         from public records requirements for information
    5         furnished by a person or business to the Division of
    6         Emergency Management or a local emergency management
    7         agency to receive assistance with emergency planning
    8         to include emergency response assessment reports,
    9         evaluation tools, or after-action reports prepared by
   10         the division or a local emergency management agency;
   11         providing for future legislative review and repeal of
   12         the exemption; providing a statement of public
   13         necessity; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 252.905, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   18  read:
   19         252.905 Emergency planning information; public records
   20  exemption.—
   21         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   22         (a) “After-action report” means a report containing
   23  observations of a disaster, an incident, an emergency, or an
   24  exercise and recommendations identifying specific corrective
   25  actions for post-event improvements.
   26         (b) “Emergency response assessment report” means a report
   27  containing analysis and evaluation of collected data and
   28  information pertinent to the response actions taken by first
   29  responders and disaster response stakeholders before, during, or
   30  after a disaster or an emergency as those terms are defined in
   31  s. 252.34. Such response actions include, but are not limited
   32  to, saving lives or relieving suffering, protecting the health
   33  and safety of the public, preventing the escalation of an
   34  incident, mitigating further damage, maintaining or restoring
   35  critical functions, safeguarding the environment, and restoring
   36  normal services.
   37         (c) “Evaluation tools” means instruments or techniques used
   38  to measure and evaluate the quality or efficacy of disaster
   39  response actions or interventions.
   40         (2) The following Any information held by the division or a
   41  local emergency management agency furnished by a person or a
   42  business to the division for the purpose of being provided
   43  assistance with emergency planning is exempt from s. 119.07(1)
   44  and s. 24(a), Art. I of the State Constitution:
   45         (a) Any information furnished by a person or a business to
   46  the division or a local emergency management agency for the
   47  purpose of receiving assistance with emergency planning.
   48         (b) Emergency response assessment reports, evaluation
   49  tools, or after-action reports prepared by the division or a
   50  local emergency management agency.
   51         (3) This section is subject to the Open Government Sunset
   52  Review Act in accordance with s. 119.15 and shall stand repealed
   53  on October 2, 2026, unless reviewed and saved from repeal
   54  through reenactment by the Legislature. This exemption applies
   55  to information held by the division before, on, or after the
   56  effective date of this exemption.
   57         Section 2. The Legislature finds it is a public necessity
   58  that emergency response assessment reports, evaluation tools,
   59  and after-action reports relied upon by emergency management
   60  agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of a response and used to
   61  improve that response be made exempt from s. 119.07(1), Florida
   62  Statutes, and s. 24(a), Article I of the State Constitution.
   63  Such assessments, tools, and reports cover a cross-section of
   64  agencies and entities and may include protected information,
   65  such as threat, vulnerability, and capability assessment
   66  information. This protected information must be exempt from
   67  public records requirements not only because of its sensitive
   68  nature, but to assure participating agencies that their candid
   69  assessments of response techniques or procedures will not be
   70  misunderstood or misinterpreted, but instead be the basis for
   71  meaningful evaluation and improvement of existing response
   72  systems. This need outweighs the value of publicly disclosing
   73  these emergency response assessment reports, evaluations tools,
   74  and after-action reports.
   75         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.