Latest news with #SB1388
Axios
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
How new laws will reshape boating in Florida
Changes to Florida's boating laws are on the horizon. Why it matters: The Sunshine State is home to the most boats in the nation, with just over a million registered last year, and also sees the most accidents on the water: 685 in 2024. Pinellas ranks fourth in the state for boating accidents, with 42 reported last year. Six resulted in fatalities, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Dive in: DeSantis signed a handful of boating bills Monday, one of which he championed as the "Boater Freedom Act." The bill, SB 1388, requires officers to have probable cause to pull over boaters. SB 1388 also bars local governments from limiting the use or sale of boats based on their power source, such as gas-powered boats. HB 481 allows counties with more than 1.5 million people, like Miami-Dade and Hillsborough, to limit boats from anchoring overnight for more than 30 days in a six-month period. HB 735 directs the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission to create and manage competitive grant programs for the construction and maintenance of boat ramps, piers, docks and more. What's next: The Legislature also sent DeSantis a bill, HB 289, that would raise penalties for leaving the scene of a boating crash that resulted in death, injuries or property damage. HB 289 sets a four-year minimum sentence for a boating under the influence (BUI) manslaughter conviction and makes it a second-degree misdemeanor to give a false statement to officers after a crash. The intrigue: Lawmakers had proposed expanding the state's boater education requirement to all operators as well as suspending driver licenses for BUI convictions, but neither made it to the final version.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some FWC, police stops of boats, boarding to be halted by new Florida law. What to know
As of July 1, law enforcement in Florida will need probable cause to pull over boats under a new law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The law also protects gas-powered boats by preventing local governments from restricting watercraft sales based on what fuel is used, and blocks any "alien power" from getting a fishing license in Florida. SB 1388, dubbed the Boater Freedom Act, prohibits any law enforcement officer, including Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, from stopping or boarding a vessel solely to conduct a safety or marine sanitation equipment inspection. The law makes safety or sanitation equipment violations secondary offenses and requires probable cause for any stops. 'This Boater Freedom Act is going to make sure that Florida remains the boater capital of the world,' DeSantis said May 19 at a press conference at a marina in Panama City. 'This is really significant legislation today. I know there's a lot of people throughout Florida that are going to be happy that this legislation finally got across the finish line.' The bill requires the creation of a "Florida Freedom Boater" safety registration decal, potentially good for multiple years, to be issued during registration or renewal to show that the vessel has met the safety requirements. SB 1388 makes the following changes to Florida law: Law enforcement officials may no longer stop, board and search boats, even with consent, solely to inspect the craft's safety or marine sanitation equipment. Probable cause to believe a violation has happened or will happen is required Violations of safety or marine sanitation equipment requirements bumped down to secondary offense The FWC and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles are ordered to create a 'Florida Freedom Boater' safety inspection decal to be issued at registration or renewal. The FWC may decode on the expiration date but it must be between one and five years. Local governments and entities may not pass laws or regulations restricting the use or sale of a watercraft based on the energy source it uses, such as a ban on gas or diesel-powered boats to encourage environmentally-friendly electric motors The FWC's ability to establish springs protection zones where the speed and operation of vessels can be restricted and some methods of anchoring or beaching vessels can be prohibited to protect the environment has been weakened. Now the agency may only act to prevent "significant" harm, rather than just harm, and only if "the operation, anchoring, mooring, beaching, or grounding of vessels is determined to be the predominant cause of negative impacts" The FWC may not license any vessel owned in whole or in part by any alien power. Previously, Florida law prohibited fishing licenses for "alien powers" who subscribed to the doctrine of international communism or who had signed a treaty or nonaggression pact with a communist power, but the new law changes that to block licenses for all alien powers. "Alien power" is left undefined. It is unclear how this would affect, for example, foreign-owned yachts. The law goes into effect on July 1, 2025. This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida Boater Freedom Act: mew law to block random stops
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
DeSantis ends surprise boat inspections in Florida
Boaters will no longer be stopped by state wildlife officers for random boat-safety inspections under a bill signed Monday by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The measure (SB 1388), which will take effect July 1, will require Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers to have probable cause to halt boaters. "When you have somebody who has been stopped three times in one day without there ever being a basis to stop them, then you know something's wrong," DeSantis said during an appearance at Watson Landings Marina in Panama City. DeSantis said such inspections have created friction between boaters and law-enforcement officers. He pushed for lawmakers to approve the change this year, in part because of an incident last year involving a boater in Jupiter that drew heavy attention online. "They board his vessel, they have him blow the breathalyzer, 0.0. He wasn't drinking, and there was no basis to do it," DeSantis said Monday. "There was no activity that was suspicious. There was no safety violations. There was no reckless boating. And it was this whole thing, this guy ends up getting arrested. I'm just thinking to myself, 'That is not what we want.'" Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Executive Director Roger Young said the agency will focus "on violations that are occurring, that we're seeing, reckless operation, careless operation." The House voted 104-7 to pass the bill, while the Senate approved it in a 35-2 vote.
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
DeSantis signs law that restricts when authorities can stop boaters
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law the Boater Freedom Act on Monday, which places new restrictions on when state and local law enforcement can stop boaters and board their vessels. DeSantis was joined at the a news conference in Panama City ahead of Memorial Day weekend by sponsors Rep. Griff Griffitts and Sen. Jay Trumbell, who touted SB 1388 as one that rids boaters of 'government overreach.' The bill, which goes into effect July 1, says an officer cannot stop a boat or board someone's boat solely to do a safety or equipment inspection. Officers are only allowed to stop a boat when there is probable cause of a violation. DeSantis at the news conference Monday said the law previously allowed officers to stop boaters without probable cause or suspicion of any violation in order to conduct safety inspections, like property searches, which could then lead to unexpected further law enforcement action. Boaters will be protected from 'suspicionless searches' under the new law, DeSantis said. He appeared to reference one stop of a boater that went viral online, where Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers pulled a Jupiter man over for violating a slow speed minimum wake zone and then arrested him for BUI, even though testing later proved he was sober. 'If there's a basis to intervene, that's one thing … But to just go in without any basis is not the way we want to do it in the state of Florida,' DeSantis said. 'And I think it's unnecessarily created friction between the boating community and some folks in law enforcement.' Trumbell, a frequent boater himself, said one of his neighbors shared with him that he had been stopped by law enforcement out on the water three times in the same day last year for random safety inspections. The bill does not get rid of inspections, he said, but 'ensures that they happen for the right reasons and not at random.' 'We do respect our law enforcement officers and their mission, but there has to be a balance,' he said. 'This bill is about restoring common sense to marine enforcement.' Boaters will be able to receive a 'Florida Freedom Boater' decal to show law enforcement that they are keeping the needed safety requirements and 'strikes an appropriate balance between ensuring compliance with boating laws and reducing unnecessary disruptions for law-abiding boaters,' the governor's office said in a news release Monday. The law also prohibits state and any local governments from imposing restrictions on the types of boats people can use or sell based on the fuel it uses. DeSantis said there has been a 'movement' with some local governments to regulate boat usage based on its energy source. 'We know a lot of families opt for used vessels and of course they're gonna be gas powered,' he said. 'People want to be able to afford this, and if you impose these draconian restrictions, you're not gonna be able to do it.'
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
'Save Our Boating Rights Florida' spearheads fight to strengthen criteria for Springs Protection Zones
The Brief One group is spearheading the fight to strengthen the criteria for Springs Protection Zones. East coast-based group, Save Our Boating Rights Florida formed last fall in an effort to prevent SPZs in Silver Glen Springs in Marion, Lake, Volusia, counties. A Springs Protection Zone bans vessels from anchoring, mooring, grounding, and beaching. FLORIDA - A local grassroots group is spearheading an amendment to Governor DeSantis' 'Boater Freedom Initiative' to strengthen the criteria for Springs Protection Zones (SPZs). Last Summer the Weeki Wachee River became the first spring to adopt SPZs and remains the only to have them. The area spans 5.5 miles between the Rogers Park Boat Ramp and State Park Spring Head. A Springs Protection Zone bans vessels from anchoring, mooring, grounding, and beaching. A vessel is defined as a boat, houseboat, airboat, paddleboard, canoe, or kayak. Violators could face a $140 fine. It's an effort to preserve vegetation and protect wildlife like manatees. REALATED: New Springs Protection Zones aiming to protect manatees in Weeki Wachee River East coast-based group, 'Save Our Boating Rights Florida', formed last fall in an effort to prevent SPZs in Silver Glen Springs in Marion, Lake, Volusia, counties. Kris Wake Co-Founded the group. She said since being adopted Weeki Wachee, the FWC and HCSO have issued more than 200 warnings for SPZ violations, but no citations. "There's still a lot of community advocates over there [in Weeki Wachee] that they believed that the spring protection zones were going to be the answer, but now they have realized that the problem is still there," she says. Wake said SPZs point the finger at the wrong group. She said, "One of the things they did in Weeki Wachee was they did an impact study, and they found that a majority of the degradation at that time was in-water use. Feet trampling was the issue in Weeki Wachee." Wake cited a 2022 Florida Department of Environmental Protection impact study. The group has since partnered with lawmakers to add an amendment to Gov. Desantis' 'Boater Freedom Initiative', also known as SB 1388. "We are aware that there are multiple layers of degradation, there's multiple things that have caused harm to our springs. In the way that this particular law was written, the only harm that we are addressing at all is harm by vessels," she explained, "We in no way want to remove the spring protection zones off of the toolbelt of FWC. We just wanted to make sure the law isn't so narrow." The amendment more clearly specifies the criteria for future Springs Protection Zones. She said, "One blade of eel grass could be constituted harm. So we need to make sure it's very clear what harm is." The amendment states 'severe harm' to wildlife, water quality, and wetlands predominantly by vessels would qualify for a SPZ. Wake said the bill has one more senate committee to go through before it makes its way to the House floor. CLICK HERE:>>>Follow FOX 13 on YouTube The Source Information for this story was gathered by FOX 13's Jennifer Kveglis. STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA: Download the FOX Local app for your smart TV Download FOX Local mobile app: Apple | Android Download the FOX 13 News app for breaking news alerts, latest headlines Download the SkyTower Radar app Sign up for FOX 13's daily newsletter
