Florida § 252.351 - Mandatory reporting of certain incidents by political subdivisions.

§ 252.351. Mandatory reporting of certain incidents by political subdivisions.

(1) For purposes of this section, the term “office” means the State Watch Office established within the division pursuant to s. 14.2016. (2) The division shall create and maintain a list of reportable incidents. The list shall include, but is not limited to, the following events: (a) Major fires, including wildfires, commercial or multiunit residential fires, or industrial fires. (b) Search and rescue operations, including structure collapses or urban search and rescue responses. (c) Bomb threats or threats to inflict harm on a large number of people or significant infrastructure, suspicious devices, or device detonations. (d) Natural hazards and severe weather, including earthquakes, landslides, or ground subsidence or sinkholes. (e) Public health and population protective actions, including public health hazards, evacuation orders, or emergency shelter openings. (f) Animal or agricultural events, including suspected or confirmed animal diseases, suspected or confirmed agricultural diseases, crop failures, or food supply contamination. (g) Environmental concerns, including an incident of reportable pollution release as required in s. 403.077(2). (h) Nuclear power plant events, including events in process or that have occurred which indicate a potential degradation of the level of safety of the plant or which indicate a security threat to facility protection. (i) Major transportation events, including aircraft or airport incidents, passenger or commercial railroad incidents, major road or bridge closures, or marine incidents involving a blocked navigable channel of a major waterway. (j) Major utility or infrastructure events, including dam failures or overtopping, drinking water facility breaches, or major utility outages or disruptions involving transmission lines or substations. (k) Military events, when information regarding such activities is provided to a political subdivision. (3) As soon as practicable following its initial response to an incident, a political subdivision shall provide notification to the office that an incident specified on the list of reportable incidents has occurred within its geographical boundaries. The division may establish guidelines specifying the method and format a political subdivision must use when reporting an incident. (4) Beginning December 1, 2020, and by December 1 every year thereafter, the division must provide the list of reportable incidents to each political subdivision.