Florida SB 726: Alternative Sources of Weather Information

Bill Text

726 
Alternative Sources of Weather Information 
2025-12-03T06:58:40Z 
Revising the requirements of the state comprehensive emergency plan to include the evaluation of the integration of supplemental weather observational data and advanced forecasting products and the effects on specified areas; requiring the Division of Emergency Management to take specified actions to integrate, evaluate, and promote supplemental weather observational data and advanced forecasting products in a certain manner, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 726 

 By Senator McClain 

 9-00622-26 2026726__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to alternative sources of weather 
 3 information; amending s. 252.35, F.S.; revising the 
 4 requirements of the state comprehensive emergency plan 
 5 to include the evaluation of the integration of 
 6 supplemental weather observational data and advanced 
 7 forecasting products and the effects on specified 
 8 areas; creating s. 252.396, F.S.; defining the terms 
 9 “advanced forecasting products” and “supplemental 
 10 weather observational data”; requiring the Division of 
 11 Emergency Management to take specified actions to 
 12 integrate, evaluate, and promote supplemental weather 
 13 observational data and advanced forecasting products 
 14 in a certain manner; providing an effective date. 
 15 
 16 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 17 
 18 Section 1. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) of section 
 19 252.35, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
 20 252.35 Emergency management powers; Division of Emergency 
 21 Management.— 
 22 (2) The division is responsible for carrying out the 
 23 provisions of ss. 252.31-252.90. In performing its duties, the 
 24 division shall: 
 25 (a) Prepare a state comprehensive emergency management 
 26 plan, which must be integrated into and coordinated with the 
 27 emergency management plans and programs of the Federal 
 28 Government. The division shall adopt the plan as a rule in 
 29 accordance with chapter 120. The plan must be implemented by a 
 30 continuous, integrated comprehensive emergency management 
 31 program. The plan must contain provisions to ensure that the 
 32 state is prepared for emergencies and minor, major, and 
 33 catastrophic disasters, and the division shall work closely with 
 34 local governments and agencies and organizations with emergency 
 35 management responsibilities in preparing and maintaining the 
 36 plan. The state comprehensive emergency management plan must be 
 37 operations oriented and: 
 38 1. Include an evacuation component that includes specific 
 39 regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes 
 40 intergovernmental coordination of evacuation activities. This 
 41 component must, at a minimum: contain guidelines for lifting 
 42 tolls on state highways; ensure coordination pertaining to 
 43 evacuees crossing county lines; set forth procedures for 
 44 directing people caught on evacuation routes to safe shelter; 
 45 establish strategies for ensuring sufficient, reasonably priced 
 46 fueling locations along evacuation routes; and establish 
 47 policies and strategies for emergency medical evacuations. 
 48 2. Include a shelter component that includes specific 
 49 regional and interregional planning provisions and promotes 
 50 coordination of shelter activities between the public, private, 
 51 and nonprofit sectors. This component must, at a minimum: 
 52 contain strategies to ensure the availability of adequate public 
 53 shelter space in each county; establish strategies for refuge 
 54 of-last-resort programs; provide strategies to assist local 
 55 emergency management efforts to ensure that adequate staffing 
 56 plans exist for all shelters, including medical and security 
 57 personnel; provide for a postdisaster communications system for 
 58 public shelters; establish model shelter guidelines for 
 59 operations, registration, inventory, power generation 
 60 capability, information management, and staffing; and set forth 
 61 policy guidance for sheltering people with special needs. 
 62 3. Include a postdisaster response and recovery component 
 63 that includes specific regional and interregional planning 
 64 provisions and promotes intergovernmental coordination of 
 65 postdisaster response and recovery activities. This component 
 66 must provide for postdisaster response and recovery strategies 
 67 according to whether a disaster is minor, major, or 
 68 catastrophic. The postdisaster response and recovery component 
 69 must, at a minimum: establish the structure of the state’s 
 70 postdisaster response and recovery organization; establish 
 71 procedures for activating the state’s plan; set forth policies 
 72 used to guide postdisaster response and recovery activities; 
 73 describe the chain of command during the postdisaster response 
 74 and recovery p