HB198INTRODUCED
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HB198
646WZZ3-1
By Representatives Faulkner, Colvin, Woods
RFD: Ways and Means General Fund
First Read: 05-Feb-25
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5 646WZZ3-1 02/05/2025 JC (L)lg 2024-2336
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First Read: 05-Feb-25
SYNOPSIS:
The State of Alabama has no system for warning
individuals on beaches and coastal areas of an imminent
threat to public safety posed by sharks.
This bill would establish a system under the
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to
warn individuals when a shark is sighted in waters near
a beach or shoreline by providing for alerts to be sent
to mobile cellular devices and to first responders on
duty.
This bill would further provide for the
assistance of other state departments and agencies and
local first responder organizations in the development
and operation of the shark alert system and the
inclusion in the system of beaches and shorelines that
are private property.
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to public safety; to establish a shark alert
system for Baldwin and Mobile Counties; to provide for the
development, implementation, and operation of the alert system
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development, implementation, and operation of the alert system
by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; to
provide for the assistance of other state departments,
agencies, and political subdivisions to the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources; and to set minimum
conditions and requirements for a shark alert system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. (a) For the purposes of this section, the
following terms have the following meanings:
(1) ALERT SYSTEM. The shark alert system.
(2) BEACHES AND COASTAL AREAS, BEACH OR SHORELINE. The
terms include beaches and shorelines that face the Gulf of
Mexico or Mobile Bay, and also includes beaches and shorelines
that face a bay, canal, channel, estuary, inlet, or waterway.
(3) COMMISSIONER. The Commissioner of Conservation and
Natural Resources.
(4) DEPARTMENT. The Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources.
(5) FIRST RESPONDER. The term includes lifeguards,
rescue squad members, emergency medical service providers,
public safety telecommunicators, municipal, county, and state
law enforcement officers, including enforcement officers of
the department, and any other emergency management provider
who responds to an emergency situation.
(6) SHARK. A shark or any marine species presumed by an
individual to be a shark.
(7) WIRELESS EMERGENCY ALERT. A text-like message
broadcast from a cell tower to all compatible mobile wireless
or phone devices that are turned on in a geographic area.
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or phone devices that are turned on in a geographic area.
(b)(1) There is established an alert system to serve
the beaches and coastal areas in Baldwin and Mobile Counties
to be known as the shark alert system.
(2) The alert system shall be developed and implemented
by the commissioner, who shall adopt rules necessary to
accomplish all of the following:
a. Implement the alert system.
b. Establish operating protocols for activating and
deactivating an alert.
c. Establish operating protocols for coordination
during an alert between first responder organizations.
d. Secure the full participation in the alert system by
all owners or managers of beaches or shorelines under private
ownership which are accessible to customers, guests, invitees,
licensees, or patrons.
(3) In the development and implementation of the alert
system, the commissioner shall receive upon request the full
cooperation, including expertise and information, of other
departments and agencies of the State of Alabama or a
political subdivision thereof, including, but not limited to,
the following:
a. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency, including
local emergency management organizations.
b. The Alabama State Law Enforcement Agency.
c. The Office of Emergency Medical Services of the
Alabama Department of Public Health, the Alabama Gulf
Emergency Medical Services System, and all first responder
organizations that employ or use emergency medical services
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organizations that employ or use emergency medical services
personnel licensed under Chapter 18, Title 22 of the Code of
Alabama 1975.
d. The Alabama Public Service Commission.
e. The Offices of Sheriff of Baldwin and Mobile
Counties.
f. The municipalities with jurisdiction over beach or
shoreline, including the police and other municipal
departments that manage public beaches, parks, and piers.
(4) The commissioner may enter into agreements with any
department or agency of the State of Alabama or any political
subdivision, including, but not limited to, those listed in
subdivision (3), to provide necessary resources and support
for the implementation and operation of the alert system.
(5)a. The commissioner may adopt a schedule of civil
fines for noncompliance with rules adopted pursuant to
paragraph (2)d. by owners and managers of private beaches or
shorelines, up to no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000).
b. The department may bring an action for collection of
any civil fine instituted under paragraph a. in the Circuit
Court of Baldwin or Mobile County as applicable.
(c) The alert system shall be activated upon the
occurrence of either of the following events:
(1) When the department receives a report of a shark
attacking an individual.
(2) When the department receives a report of a shark at
a location from which the shark would pose an imminent danger
to an individual at or near a beach or shoreline.
(d) The alert system shall include at a minimum all of
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(d) The alert system shall include at a minimum all of
the following:
(1) A wireless emergency alert that is transmitted to
all mobile communication devices within a defined distance of
a beach or shoreline to which a shark poses an imminent
danger.
(2) Dispatch of the alert to all first responders who
are on duty within a defined mileage radius to a beach or
shoreline to which a shark poses an imminent danger.
(3) A beach flag signal that indicates an alert is
activated and which means that no individual is permitted in
the water.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2025.
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