Florida Senate - 2025 SB 818 By Senator McClain 9-01289A-25 2025818__ 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to utility relocation; amending s. 3 337.403, F.S.; requiring utility owners to provide a 4 certain authority with utility relocation schedules 5 within a certain timeframe to expedite work; revising 6 the timeframe within which a utility owner must 7 initiate work; requiring a service provider to perform 8 work under specific circumstances; requiring the 9 authority to pay relocation expenses in certain 10 instances; amending s. 125.42, F.S.; conforming a 11 cross-reference; providing an effective date. 12 13 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 14 15 Section 1.Subsection (1) of section 337.403, Florida 16 Statutes, is amended to read: 17 337.403Interference caused by utility; expenses. 18 (1)If a utility that is placed upon, under, over, or 19 within the right-of-way limits of any public road or publicly 20 owned rail corridor is found by the authority to be unreasonably 21 interfering in any way with the convenient, safe, or continuous 22 use, or the maintenance, improvement, extension, or expansion, 23 of such public road or publicly owned rail corridor, the utility 24 owner must shall, within 30 days after upon 30 days written 25 notice to the utility or its agent by the authority, provide the 26 authority a reasonable utility relocation schedule to expedite 27 the completion of the authoritys construction or maintenance 28 project identified in the notice, and, within 60 days after the 29 written notice from the authority, initiate the work necessary 30 to alleviate the interference at its own expense except as 31 provided in paragraphs (a)-(k) (a)-(j). The work must be 32 completed within such reasonable time as stated in the notice or 33 such time as agreed to by the authority and the utility owner. 34 (a)If the relocation of utility facilities, as referred to 35 in s. 111 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Pub. L. No. 36 84-627, is necessitated by the construction of a project on the 37 federal-aid interstate system, including extensions thereof 38 within urban areas, and the cost of the project is eligible and 39 approved for reimbursement by the Federal Government to the 40 extent of 90 percent or more under the Federal-Aid Highway Act, 41 or any amendment thereof, then in that event the utility owning 42 or operating such facilities must shall perform any necessary 43 work upon notice from the department, and the state must shall 44 pay the entire expense properly attributable to such work after 45 deducting therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility 46 and any salvage value derived from an old facility. 47 (b)When a joint agreement between the department and the 48 utility is executed for utility work to be accomplished as part 49 of a contract for construction of a transportation facility, the 50 department may participate in those utility work costs that 51 exceed the departments official estimate of the cost of the 52 work by more than 10 percent. The amount of such participation 53 is limited to the difference between the official estimate of 54 all the work in the joint agreement plus 10 percent and the 55 amount awarded for this work in the construction contract for 56 such work. The department may not participate in any utility 57 work costs that occur as a result of changes or additions during 58 the course of the contract. 59 (c)When an agreement between the department and utility is 60 executed for utility work to be accomplished in advance of a 61 contract for construction of a transportation facility, the 62 department may participate in the cost of clearing and grubbing 63 necessary to perform such work. 64 (d)If the utility facility was initially installed to 65 exclusively serve the authority or its tenants, or both, the 66 authority must shall bear the costs of the utility work. 67 However, the authority is not responsible for the cost of 68 utility work related to any subsequent additions to that 69 facility for the purpose of serving others. For a county or 70 municipality, if such utility facility was installed in the 71 right-of-way as a means to serve a county or municipal facility 72 on a parcel of property adjacent to the right-of-way and if the 73 intended use of the county or municipal facility is for a use 74 other than transportation purposes, the obligation of the county 75 or municipality to bear the costs of the utility work shall 76 extend only to utility work on the parcel of property on which 77 the facility of the county or municipality originally served by 78 the utility facility is located. 79 (e)If, under an agreement between a utility and the 80 authority entered into after July 1, 2009, the utility conveys, 81 subordinates, or relinquishes a compensable property right to 82 the authority for the purpose of accommodating the acquisition 83 or use of the right-of-way by the authority, without the 84 agreement expressly addressing future responsibility for the 85 cost of necessary utility work, the authority must shall bear 86 the cost of removal or relocation. This paragraph does not 87 impair or restrict, and may not be used to interpret, the terms 88 of any such agreement entered into before July 1, 2009. 89 (f)If the utility is an electric facility being relocated 90 underground in order to enhance vehicular, bicycle, and 91 pedestrian safety and in which ownership of the electric 92 facility to be placed underground has been transferred from a 93 private to a public utility within the past 5 years, the 94 department must shall incur all costs of the necessary utility 95 work. 96 (g)An authority may bear the costs of utility work 97 required to eliminate an unreasonable interference when the 98 utility is not able to establish that it has a compensable 99 property right in the particular property where the utility is 100 located if: 101 1.The utility was physically located on the particular 102 property before the authority acquired rights in the property; 103 2.The utility demonstrates that it has a compensable 104 property right in adjacent properties along the alignment of the 105 utility or, after due diligence, certifies that the utility does 106 not have evidence to prove or disprove that it has a compensable 107 property right in the particular property where the utility is 108 located; and 109 3.The information available to the authority does not 110 establish the relative priorities of the authoritys and the 111 utilitys interests in the particular property. 112 (h)If a municipally owned utility or county-owned utility 113 is located in a rural area of opportunity, as defined in s. 114 288.0656(2), and the department determines that the utility is 115 unable, and will not be able within the next 10 years, to pay 116 for the cost of utility work necessitated by a department 117 project on the State Highway System, the department may pay, in 118 whole or in part, the cost of such utility work performed by the 119 department or its contractor. 120 (i)If the relocation of utility facilities is necessitated 121 by the construction of a commuter rail service project or an 122 intercity passenger rail service project and the cost of the 123 project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the 124 Federal Government, then in that event the utility owning or 125 operating such facilities located by permit on a department 126 owned rail corridor must shall perform any necessary utility 127 relocation work upon notice from the department, and the 128 department must shall pay the expense properly attributable to 129 such utility relocation work in the same proportion as federal 130 funds are expended on the commuter rail service project or an 131 intercity passenger rail service project after deducting 132 therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility and any 133 salvage value derived from an old facility. In no event is shall 134 the state be required to use state dollars for such utility 135 relocation work. This paragraph does not apply to any phase of 136 the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, known as SunRail. 137 (j)If a utility is lawfully located within an existing and 138 valid utility easement granted by recorded plat, regardless of 139 whether such land was subsequently acquired by the authority by 140 dedication, transfer of fee, or otherwise, the authority must 141 bear the cost of the utility work required to eliminate an 142 unreasonable interference. The authority shall pay the entire 143 expense properly attributable to such work after deducting any 144 increase in the value of a new facility and any salvage value 145 derived from an old facility. 146 (k)If the authority requires a provider of broadband 147 Internet service as defined in s. 288.9961(2), or a cable 148 service provider or video service provider as defined in s. 149 610.103, to relocate a facility used to provide such service, 150 the service provider owning or operating such facility must 151 perform any necessary work upon notice from the authority, and 152 the authority requiring such relocation must pay the entire 153 expense properly attributable to such work. 154 Section 2.Subsection (5) of section 125.42, Florida 155 Statutes, is amended to read: 156 125.42Water, sewage, gas, power, telephone, other utility, 157 and television lines within the right-of-way limits of county 158 roads and highways. 159 (5)In the event of widening, repair, or reconstruction of 160 any such road, the licensee shall move or remove such water, 161 sewage, gas, power, telephone, and other utility lines and 162 television lines at no cost to the county should they be found 163 by the county to be unreasonably interfering, except as provided 164 in s. 337.403(1)(d)-(k) s. 337.403(1)(d)-(j). 165 Section 3.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.