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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to offenses involving critical 2
infrastructure; creating s. 812.141, F.S.; providing 3
definitions; providing criminal penalties for 4
improperly tampering with critical infrastructure 5
resulting in specified monetary damage or cost to 6
restore; providing for civil liability upon a 7
conviction for such violations; providing criminal 8
penalties for trespass upon critical infrastructure; 9
providing notice requirements; providing criminal 10
penalties for the unauthorized access to or tampering 11
with specified electronic devices or networks of 12
critical infrastructure; providing an effective date. 13
14
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of F lorida: 15
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Section 1. Section 812.141, Florida Statutes, is created 17
to read: 18
812.141 Offenses involving critical infrastructure; 19
improper tampering; civil remedies; trespass on critical 20
infrastructure; computer offenses involving critical 21
infrastructure.— 22
(1) For purposes of this section, the term: 23
(a) "Critical infrastructure" means: 24
1. Any linear asset; or 25
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2. Any of the following for which the owner or operator 26
thereof has employed measures designed to exclude unauthorized 27
persons, including, but not limited to, fences, barriers, guard 28
posts, or signs prohibiting trespass: 29
a. An electric power generation, transmission, or 30
distribution facility, or a substation, a switching station, or 31
an electrical control center. 32
b. A chemical or rubber ma nufacturing or storage facility. 33
c. A mining facility. 34
d. A natural gas or compressed gas compressor station or 35
storage facility. 36
e. A gas processing plant, including a plant used in the 37
processing, treatment, or fractionation of natural gas. 38
f. A liquid natural gas or propane gas terminal or storage 39
facility with a capacity of 4,000 gallons or more. 40
g. A wireless or wired communications facility, including 41
the tower, antennae, support structures, and all associated 42
ground-based equipment. 43
h. A water intake structure, water treatment facility, 44
wastewater treatment plant, pump station, or lift station. 45
i. A seaport listed in s. 311.09. 46
j. A railroad switching yard, trucking terminal, or other 47
freight transportation facility. 48
k. An airport as defined in s. 330.27. 49
l. A spaceport territory as defined in s. 331.303. 50
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m. A transmission facility used by a federally licensed 51
radio or television station. 52
n. A military base or military facility conducting 53
research and development of milita ry weapons systems, 54
subsystems, components, or parts. 55
o. A civilian defense industrial base conducting research 56
and development of military weapons systems, subsystems, 57
components, or parts. 58
p. A dam as defined in s. 373.403(1), or other water 59
control structures such as locks, floodgates, or dikes that are 60
designed to maintain or control the level of navigable 61
waterways. 62
(b) "Improperly tampers" means to cause, or attempt to 63
cause, significant damage to, or a significant interruption or 64
impairment of a function of, critical infrastructure without 65
permission or authority to do so. 66
(c) "Linear asset" means any electric distribution or 67
transmission asset, oil or gas distribution or transmission 68
pipeline, communication wirelines, or railway, and any 69
attachments thereto. 70
(2) A person commits a felony of the second degree, 71
punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084, 72
if he or she knowingly and intentionally improperly tampers with 73
critical infrastructure which results in: 74
(a) Damage to such critical infrastructure that is $200 or 75
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more; or 76
(b) The interruption or impairment of the function of such 77
critical infrastructure which costs $200 or more in labor and 78
supplies to restore. 79
(3) A person who is found in a civil action to have 80
improperly tampered with critical infrastructure based on a 81
conviction for a violation of subsection (2) is liable to the 82
owner or operator of the critical infrastructure for damages in 83
an amount equal to three times the actual damage sustained by 84
the owner or operator due to any property damage, personal 85
injury, or wrongful death, caused by the act or an amount equal 86
to three times any claim the owner or operator was required to 87
pay for any property damage, personal injury, or wrongful death 88
caused by the malfunction of the critical infrastructure 89
resulting from the act, whichever is greater . 90
(4) A person commits the offense of trespass on critical 91
infrastructure, a felony of the third degree, punishable as 92
provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084 , if he or she 93
without being authorized, licensed, or invited, willfully enters 94
upon or remains on critical infrastructure as to which notice 95
against entering or remaining in is given, either by actual 96
communication to the offender or by posting, fencing, or 97
cultivation as described in s. 810.011. 98
(5)(a) A person who willfully, knowingly, and without 99
authorization gains access to a computer, a computer system, a 100
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computer network, or an electronic device that is owned, 101
operated, or used by any critical inf rastructure entity while 102
knowing that such access is unauthorized commits a felony of the 103
third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, 104
or s. 775.084. 105
(b) A person who willfully, knowingly, and without 106
authorization physically tampers w ith, inserts a computer 107
contaminant into, or otherwise transmits commands or electronic 108
communications to, a computer, a computer system, a computer 109
network, or an electronic device that causes a disruption in any 110
service delivered by any critical infrastr ucture commits a 111
felony of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 112
775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 113
(c) For purposes of this subsection, the terms "computer," 114
"computer system," "computer network," and "electronic device" 115
have the same meaning s as in s. 815.03. 116
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 117