Florida SB 1654: Registration of Sexual Predators and Sexual Offenders

Bill Text

1654 
Cooling Towers 
2026-01-09T09:16:24Z 
Requiring owners of cooling towers to register their cooling tower, domestic water tank, or supplemental disinfection water system with the Department of Health; requiring owners of cooling towers, domestic water holding tanks, or supplemental disinfection systems to report, beginning on a specified date, specified information to the department; requiring owners of cooling towers to provide notification to the county health department and the public within a specified timeframe under specified circumstances; requiring that persons conducting disinfections possess certain qualifications, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1654 

 By Senator Simon 

 3-01591A-26 20261654__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to cooling towers; creating part III 
 3 of ch. 386, F.S., entitled “Water Safety for Cooling 
 4 Towers, Water Storage Tanks, and Supplemental 
 5 Disinfection Systems”; creating s. 386.301, F.S.; 
 6 providing legislative purpose and intent; creating s. 
 7 386.302, F.S.; defining terms; creating s. 386.303, 
 8 F.S.; requiring owners of cooling towers to register 
 9 their cooling tower, domestic water tank, or 
 10 supplemental disinfection water system with the 
 11 Department of Health; providing minimum requirements 
 12 for the registration system; requiring owners of 
 13 cooling towers, domestic water holding tanks, or 
 14 supplemental disinfection systems to report, beginning 
 15 on a specified date, specified information to the 
 16 department; requiring either a landlord or tenant, but 
 17 not both, to register the cooling tower under certain 
 18 circumstances; providing registration 
 19 responsibilities; requiring the department to maintain 
 20 and provide methods for collecting data in a specified 
 21 way; requiring owners of cooling towers to maintain 
 22 certain records for a specified timeframe; requiring 
 23 that a copy of the cooling tower’s maintenance program 
 24 and plan be kept on the cooling tower premises; 
 25 requiring cooling tower owners to make certain records 
 26 and plans immediately available to the department or 
 27 county health department upon request; creating s. 
 28 386.304, F.S.; requiring owners of cooling towers to 
 29 develop or update a maintenance program and plan for 
 30 existing and newly installed cooling towers by a 
 31 specified date; providing requirements for the 
 32 maintenance programs and plans; creating s. 386.305, 
 33 F.S.; requiring that certain culture analyses be 
 34 conducted by certified environmental laboratories; 
 35 providing requirements for interpreting the results of 
 36 bacteriological and Legionella culture analyses; 
 37 creating s. 386.306, F.S.; requiring owners of cooling 
 38 towers to provide notification to the county health 
 39 department and the public within a specified timeframe 
 40 under specified circumstances; requiring the county 
 41 health department, or the department at its 
 42 discretion, to determine the manner of certain 
 43 notifications; creating s. 386.307, F.S.; requiring 
 44 that persons conducting disinfections possess certain 
 45 qualifications; requiring owners of cooling towers to 
 46 maintain certain information related to the applicator 
 47 who disinfects the tower; specifying the types of 
 48 products that may be used during a disinfection; 
 49 providing cooling tower efficiency standards; creating 
 50 s. 386.308, F.S.; requiring owners of cooling towers 
 51 to have their cooling towers inspected before initial 
 52 startup, and at specified intervals thereafter; 
 53 providing compliance inspection requirements; 
 54 requiring that information collected during compliance 
 55 inspection be collected and entered into the 
 56 department’s mobile data collection platform and 
 57 submitted to the registration portal; requiring 
 58 persons conducting inspections to report deficiencies 
 59 to the owner for corrective action; requiring initial 
 60 and annual certification of cooling towers by a 
 61 specified date; providing requirements for 
 62 certification; requiring that all inspection findings, 
 63 deficiencies, corrective actions, and certifications 
 64 be reported to the department and maintained by the 
 65 owner; creating s. 386.309, F.S.; authorizing the 
 66 department or a county health department to require an 
 67 owner to conduct a Legionella culture sampling and 
 68 analysis under certain circumstances; authorizing an 
 69 officer, employee, or agent of the department or 
 70 county health department to enter a property and take 
 71 water samples to inspect a cooling tower; authorizing 
 72 the department or county health department to 
 73 determine that certain actions by the owner of a 
 74 cooling tower constitute a nuisance; providing for 
 75 civil and criminal penalties; requiring the State 
 76 Surgeon General to sub