Fla. Stat. § 376.031 — Florida Code / Title XXVIII / Chapter 376 / Section 376.031
376.031 Definitions; ss. 376.011-376.21.
Status: in_force

When used in ss. 376.011-376.21, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the term:

(1) “Barrel” means 42 U.S. gallons at 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

(2) “Board” means the board of arbitration.

(3) “Bulk product facility” means a waterfront location with at least one aboveground tank with a capacity greater than 30,000 gallons which is used for the storage of pollutants.

(4) “Coastline” means the line of mean low water along the portion of the coast that is in direct contact with the open sea and the line marking the seaward limit of inland waters, as determined under the Convention on Territorial Seas and the Contiguous Zone, 15 U.S.T. (Pt. 2) 1606.

(5) “Damage” means the documented extent of any destruction to or loss of any real or personal property, or the documented extent, pursuant to s. 376.121, of any destruction of the environment and natural resources, including all living things except human beings, as the direct result of the discharge of a pollutant.

(6) “Department” means the Department of Environmental Protection.

(7) “Discharge” includes, but is not limited to, any spilling, leaking, seeping, pouring, emitting, emptying, or dumping which occurs within the territorial limits of the state or outside the territorial limits of the state and affects lands and waters within the territorial limits of the state.

(8) “Discharge cleanup organization” means any group, incorporated or unincorporated, of owners or operators of waterfront terminal facilities in any port or harbor of the state, and any other person who may elect to join, organized for the purpose of containing and cleaning up discharges of pollutants through cooperative efforts and shared equipment and facilities. For the purposes of ss. 376.011-376.21, any third-party cleanup contractor or any local government shall be recognized as a discharge cleanup organization, provided such contractor or local government is properly certified by the department.

(9) “Fund” means the Florida Coastal Protection Trust Fund.

(10) “Marine fueling facility” means a commercial or recreational coastal facility providing fuel to vessels, excluding a bulk product facility.

(11) “Operator” means any person operating a terminal facility or vessel, whether by lease, contract, or other form of agreement.

(12) “Other measurements” means measurements set by the department for products transferred at terminals which are other than fluid or which are not commonly measured by the barrel.

(13) “Owner” means any person owning a terminal facility or vessel.

(14) “Person” means any individual, partner, joint venture, corporation; any group of the foregoing, organized or united for a business purpose; or any governmental entity.

(15) “Person in charge” means the person on the scene who is in direct, responsible charge of a terminal facility or vessel from which pollutants are discharged, when the discharge occurs.

(16) “Pollutants” includes oil of any kind and in any form, gasoline, pesticides, ammonia, chlorine, and derivatives thereof, excluding liquefied petroleum gas.

(17) “Pollution” means the presence in the outdoor atmosphere or waters of the state of any one or more substances or pollutants in quantities which are or may be potentially harmful or injurious to human health or welfare, animal or plant life, or property or which may unreasonably interfere with the enjoyment of life or property, including outdoor recreation.

(18) “Remove” or “removal” means containment, cleanup, and removal of oil or a hazardous substance from water and shorelines or the taking of other actions as may be necessary to minimize or mitigate damage to the public health or welfare, including, but not limited to, fish, shellfish, and wildlife, and public and private property, shorelines, and beaches.

(19) “Removal costs” means the costs of removal that are incurred after a discharge of oil has occurred or, in any case in which there is a substantial threat of a discharge of oil, the costs to prevent, minimize, or mitigate oil pollution from such an incident.

(20) “Responsible party” means: (a) Vessels. — In the case of a vessel, any person owning, operating, or demise-chartering the vessel. (b) Onshore facilities. — In the case of an onshore facility, other than a pipeline, any person owning or operating the facility, except a federal agency, the state or a political subdivision of the state, a municipality, a commission, or any interstate body, that, as the owner of the facility, transfers possession and right to use the property to another person by lease, assignment, or permit. (c) Offshore facilities. — In the case of an offshore facility, other than a pipeline or a deepwater port licensed under the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, 33 U.S.C. ss. 1501 et seq., the lessee or permittee of the area in which the facility is located or the holder of a right of use and easement granted under applicable state law or the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, 43 U.S.C. ss. 1301-1356, for the area in which the facility is located, if the holder is a different person than the lessee or permittee, except a federal agency, the state, a municipality, a commission, a political subdivision of any state, or any interstate body, that, as the owner of the facility, transfers possession and right to use the property to another person by lease, assignment, or permit. (d) Deepwater ports. — In the case of a deepwater port licensed under the Deepwater Port Act of 1974, 33 U.S.C. ss. 1501-1524, the licensee. (e) Pipelines. — In the case of a pipeline, any person owning or operating the pipeline. (f) Abandonment. — In the case of an abandoned vessel, onshore facility, deepwater port, pipeline, or offshore facility, the persons who would have been responsible parties immediately prior to the abandonment of the vessel or facility.

(21) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Environmental Protection.

(22) “Technical feasibility” or “technically feasible” means that given available technology, a restoration project can be successfully completed.

(23) “Terminal facility” means any structure, group of structures, motor vehicle, rolling stock, pipeline, equipment, or related appurtenances which are used or capable of being used for one or more of the following purposes: pumping, refining, drilling for, producing, storing, handling, transferring, or processing pollutants, provided such pollutants are transferred over, under, or across any water, estuaries, tidal flats, beaches, or waterfront lands, including, but not limited to, any such facility and related appurtenances owned or operated by a public utility or a governmental or quasi-governmental body. In the event of a ship-to-ship transfer of pollutants, the vessel going to or coming from the place of transfer and a terminal facility shall also be considered a terminal facility. For the purposes of ss. 376.011-376.21, the term “terminal facility” shall not be construed to include spill response vessels engaged in response activities related to removal of pollutants, or temporary storage facilities created to temporarily store recovered pollutants and matter, or waterfront facilities owned and operated by governmental entities acting as agents of public convenience for persons engaged in the drilling for or pumping, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or refining of pollutants; however, each person engaged in the drilling for or pumping, storing, handling, transferring, processing, or refining of pollutants through a waterfront facility owned and operated by such a governmental entity shall be construed as a terminal facility.

(24) “Transfer” or “transferred” means onloading, offloading, fueling, bunkering, lightering, removal of waste pollutants, or other similar transfers, between terminal facility and vessel or vessel and vessel.

(25) “Vessel” includes every description of watercraft or other contrivance used, or capable of being used, as a means of transportation on water, whether self-propelled or otherwise, and includes barges and tugs.

History: s. 3, ch. 70-244; s. 1, ch. 71-243; s. 3, ch. 74-336; s. 1, ch. 80-382; s. 80, ch. 83-310; s. 37, ch. 85-81; s. 10, ch. 90-54; s. 1, ch. 92-30; s. 1, ch. 92-113; s. 289, ch. 94-356; s. 1, ch. 96-263.