Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 818 By the Committee on Transportation; and Senator McClain 596-03161-25 2025818c1 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 a finding and declaration 12 of important state interest; providing an effective 13 date. 14 15 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 16 17 Section 1.Subsection (1) of section 337.403, Florida 18 Statutes, is amended to read: 19 337.403Interference caused by utility; expenses. 20 (1)If a utility that is placed upon, under, over, or 21 within the right-of-way limits of any public road or publicly 22 owned rail corridor is found by the authority to be unreasonably 23 interfering in any way with the convenient, safe, or continuous 24 use, or the maintenance, improvement, extension, or expansion, 25 of such public road or publicly owned rail corridor, the utility 26 owner must shall, within 30 days after upon 30 days written 27 notice to the utility or its agent by the authority, provide the 28 authority a reasonable utility relocation schedule to expedite 29 the completion of the authoritys construction or maintenance 30 project identified in the notice, and, within 60 days after the 31 written notice from the authority, initiate the work necessary 32 to alleviate the interference at its own expense except as 33 provided in paragraphs (a)-(k) (a)-(j). The work must be 34 completed within such reasonable time as stated in the notice or 35 such time as agreed to by the authority and the utility owner. 36 (a)If the relocation of utility facilities, as referred to 37 in s. 111 of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, Pub. L. No. 38 84-627, is necessitated by the construction of a project on the 39 federal-aid interstate system, including extensions thereof 40 within urban areas, and the cost of the project is eligible and 41 approved for reimbursement by the Federal Government to the 42 extent of 90 percent or more under the Federal-Aid Highway Act, 43 or any amendment thereof, then in that event the utility owning 44 or operating such facilities must shall perform any necessary 45 work upon notice from the department, and the state must shall 46 pay the entire expense properly attributable to such work after 47 deducting therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility 48 and any salvage value derived from an old facility. 49 (b)When a joint agreement between the department and the 50 utility is executed for utility work to be accomplished as part 51 of a contract for construction of a transportation facility, the 52 department may participate in those utility work costs that 53 exceed the departments official estimate of the cost of the 54 work by more than 10 percent. The amount of such participation 55 is limited to the difference between the official estimate of 56 all the work in the joint agreement plus 10 percent and the 57 amount awarded for this work in the construction contract for 58 such work. The department may not participate in any utility 59 work costs that occur as a result of changes or additions during 60 the course of the contract. 61 (c)When an agreement between the department and utility is 62 executed for utility work to be accomplished in advance of a 63 contract for construction of a transportation facility, the 64 department may participate in the cost of clearing and grubbing 65 necessary to perform such work. 66 (d)If the utility facility was initially installed to 67 exclusively serve the authority or its tenants, or both, the 68 authority must shall bear the costs of the utility work. 69 However, the authority is not responsible for the cost of 70 utility work related to any subsequent additions to that 71 facility for the purpose of serving others. For a county or 72 municipality, if such utility facility was installed in the 73 right-of-way as a means to serve a county or municipal facility 74 on a parcel of property adjacent to the right-of-way and if the 75 intended use of the county or municipal facility is for a use 76 other than transportation purposes, the obligation of the county 77 or municipality to bear the costs of the utility work shall 78 extend only to utility work on the parcel of property on which 79 the facility of the county or municipality originally served by 80 the utility facility is located. 81 (e)If, under an agreement between a utility and the 82 authority entered into after July 1, 2009, the utility conveys, 83 subordinates, or relinquishes a compensable property right to 84 the authority for the purpose of accommodating the acquisition 85 or use of the right-of-way by the authority, without the 86 agreement expressly addressing future responsibility for the 87 cost of necessary utility work, the authority must shall bear 88 the cost of removal or relocation. This paragraph does not 89 impair or restrict, and may not be used to interpret, the terms 90 of any such agreement entered into before July 1, 2009. 91 (f)If the utility is an electric facility being relocated 92 underground in order to enhance vehicular, bicycle, and 93 pedestrian safety and in which ownership of the electric 94 facility to be placed underground has been transferred from a 95 private to a public utility within the past 5 years, the 96 department must shall incur all costs of the necessary utility 97 work. 98 (g)An authority may bear the costs of utility work 99 required to eliminate an unreasonable interference when the 100 utility is not able to establish that it has a compensable 101 property right in the particular property where the utility is 102 located if: 103 1.The utility was physically located on the particular 104 property before the authority acquired rights in the property; 105 2.The utility demonstrates that it has a compensable 106 property right in adjacent properties along the alignment of the 107 utility or, after due diligence, certifies that the utility does 108 not have evidence to prove or disprove that it has a compensable 109 property right in the particular property where the utility is 110 located; and 111 3.The information available to the authority does not 112 establish the relative priorities of the authoritys and the 113 utilitys interests in the particular property. 114 (h)If a municipally owned utility or county-owned utility 115 is located in a rural area of opportunity, as defined in s. 116 288.0656(2), and the department determines that the utility is 117 unable, and will not be able within the next 10 years, to pay 118 for the cost of utility work necessitated by a department 119 project on the State Highway System, the department may pay, in 120 whole or in part, the cost of such utility work performed by the 121 department or its contractor. 122 (i)If the relocation of utility facilities is necessitated 123 by the construction of a commuter rail service project or an 124 intercity passenger rail service project and the cost of the 125 project is eligible and approved for reimbursement by the 126 Federal Government, then in that event the utility owning or 127 operating such facilities located by permit on a department 128 owned rail corridor must shall perform any necessary utility 129 relocation work upon notice from the department, and the 130 department must shall pay the expense properly attributable to 131 such utility relocation work in the same proportion as federal 132 funds are expended on the commuter rail service project or an 133 intercity passenger rail service project after deducting 134 therefrom any increase in the value of a new facility and any 135 salvage value derived from an old facility. In no event is shall 136 the state be required to use state dollars for such utility 137 relocation work. This paragraph does not apply to any phase of 138 the Central Florida Commuter Rail project, known as SunRail. 139 (j)If a utility is lawfully located within an existing and 140 valid utility easement granted by recorded plat, regardless of 141 whether such land was subsequently acquired by the authority by 142 dedication, transfer of fee, or otherwise, the authority must 143 bear the cost of the utility work required to eliminate an 144 unreasonable interference. The authority shall pay the entire 145 expense properly attributable to such work after deducting any 146 increase in the value of a new facility and any salvage value 147 derived from an old facility. 148 (k)If the authority requires a provider of broadband 149 Internet service as defined in s. 288.9961(2), or a cable 150 service provider or video service provider as defined in s. 151 610.103, to relocate a facility used to provide such service, 152 the service provider owning or operating such facility must 153 perform any necessary work upon notice from the authority, and 154 the authority requiring such relocation must pay the entire 155 expense properly attributable to such work. 156 Section 2.Subsection (5) of section 125.42, Florida 157 Statutes, is amended to read: 158 125.42Water, sewage, gas, power, telephone, other utility, 159 and television lines within the right-of-way limits of county 160 roads and highways. 161 (5)In the event of widening, repair, or reconstruction of 162 any such road, the licensee shall move or remove such water, 163 sewage, gas, power, telephone, and other utility lines and 164 television lines at no cost to the county should they be found 165 by the county to be unreasonably interfering, except as provided 166 in s. 337.403(1)(d)-(k) s. 337.403(1)(d)-(j). 167 Section 3.The Legislature finds and declares that this act 168 fulfills an important state interest. 169 Section 4.This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.