Florida Senate - 2025 SENATOR AMENDMENT Bill No. CS for CS for SB 492 Ì181416"Î181416 LEGISLATIVE ACTION Senate . House . . . Floor: 2/AD/2R . 04/29/2025 10:16 AM . ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— 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.