Bill Text: FL S0578 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Marina Evacuations
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-04-14 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/HB 223 (Ch. 2021-108) [S0578 Detail]
Download: Florida-2021-S0578-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2021 SB 578 By Senator Wright 14-00622-21 2021578__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to marina evacuations; amending s. 3 327.59, F.S.; prohibiting vessels under a specified 4 weight from remaining in certain marinas that have 5 been deemed unsuitable for refuge during a hurricane 6 after the issuance of a hurricane watch; requiring a 7 marina owner, operator, employee, or agent to remove 8 specified vessels under certain circumstances; 9 providing that such owner, operator, employee, or 10 agent may charge the vessel owner a reasonable fee for 11 such removal and may not be held liable for any 12 damages as a result of such removal; providing 13 construction; providing that the owners or operators 14 of certain vessels may be subject to a fine that the 15 deepwater seaport issuing an evacuation order is 16 required to impose and collect; providing an effective 17 date. 18 19 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 20 21 Section 1. Subsection (1) of section 327.59, Florida 22 Statutes, is amended, and subsection (5) is added to that 23 section, to read: 24 327.59 Marina evacuations.— 25 (1) Except as provided in this sectionAfter June 1, 1994, 26 marinas may not adopt, maintain, or enforce policies pertaining 27 to evacuation of vessels which require vessels to be removed 28 from marinas following the issuance of a hurricane watch or 29 warning, in order to ensure that protecting the lives and safety 30 of vessel owners is placed before interests of protecting 31 property. 32 (5) Upon the issuance of a hurricane watch affecting the 33 waters of marinas located in a deepwater seaport, vessels under 34 500 gross tons may not remain in the waters of such marinas that 35 have been deemed not suitable for refuge during a hurricane. 36 Vessel owners shall promptly remove their vessels from the 37 waterways upon issuance of an evacuation order by the deepwater 38 seaport. If the United States Coast Guard captain of the port 39 sets the port condition to “Yankee” and a vessel owner has 40 failed to remove a vessel from the waterway, the marina owner, 41 operator, employee, or agent, regardless of any existing 42 contractual provisions between the marina owner and the vessel 43 owner, shall remove the vessel, or cause the vessel to be 44 removed, if reasonable, from its slip and may charge the vessel 45 owner a reasonable fee for any such services rendered. A marina 46 owner, operator, employee, or agent may not be held liable for 47 any damage incurred to a vessel from a hurricane and is held 48 harmless as a result of such actions to remove the vessel from 49 the waterways. Nothing in this section may be construed to 50 provide immunity to a marina owner, operator, employee, or agent 51 for any damage caused by intentional acts or negligence when 52 removing a vessel pursuant to this section. After the hurricane 53 watch has been issued, the owner or operator of any vessel that 54 has not been removed from the waterway of the marina, pursuant 55 to an order from the deepwater seaport, may be subject to a 56 fine, which must be imposed and collected by the deepwater 57 seaport that issued the evacuation order if assessed, in an 58 amount not exceeding three times the cost associated with 59 removing the vessel from the waterway. 60 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2021.