As mentioned previously, Sunshine 811 and
the Florida Natural Gas Association are
planning on filing another bill this coming
session that will include:
■ ■
■ ■
■ ■
delegation of enforcement to a
government body;
increase in fines to $2500; and,
immunity to contractors who followed
the appropriate locate process and
stayed within the designated survey
areas.
Currently, the enforcement organizations
that are being bantered about are the local
fire departments that would be tasked with
issuing citations and levying increased fines.
With over 1000 fire departments of varying
abilities in this state, this leads to many
questions including training and education,
as well as enforcement consistency.
We will continue to participate in the
process and keep you abreast of any new
developments. We were recently told that
the 2020 Session focus will be on training
and education with a damage prevention
enforcement proposal to be presented
during the subsequent 2021 Session.
SEPTEMBER 2019 • DITCHMEN
13