Senate Bill 56 (2026) — Residential impacts from mining activities
SB 56
Florida Bills
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 56 By Senator Sharief 35-00140-26 202656__ Page 1 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to residential impacts from mining 2 activities; providing a
short title; amending s. 3 552.30, F.S.; providing legislative findings; defining 4 terms; providing that the Division of State Fire 5 Marshal retains sole and exclusive authority to adopt 6 standards, limits, and regulations for explosives used 7 for certain mining activities; authorizing the 8 delegation of such authority to specified entities; 9 providing maximum blasting limits for areas inside and 10 outside of residential protection zones; requiring 11 certain persons to monitor and record blast sites; 12 requiring such monitoring and recording to capture 13 certain information by instruments that are certified 14 annually; requiring raw and
summary data for a blast 15 site to be posted on the division’s website and made 16 available to the public within a specified timeframe; 17 requiring such data to be retained for a specified 18 timeframe; requiring an operator to provide specific 19 notice of each blasting window to addressees within a 20 specified distance of the blast site; requiring the 21 operator and the local government to prominently 22 display links on their websites to direct residents to 23 register for such notice; requiring an operator to 24 post a monthly blasting
schedule on the division’s 25 website; restricting blasting to specific days and 26 times; requiring an operator to fund a third-party 27 pre-blast survey upon request by certain persons; 28 requiring an operator to provide a post-blast survey 29
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 56 35-00140-26 202656__ Page 2 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. under certain circumstances; requiring a post-blast 30 survey vendor to be independent of the operator; 31 requiring the State Fire Marshal to carry out a 32 specific duty; authorizing local governments that 33 receive delegation to install and operate their own 34 seismographs; authorizing such local governments to 35 recover reasonable costs; providing civil and criminal 36 penalties for violations of the act; requiring the 37 State Fire Marshal to adopt rules within a specified 38 timeframe; amending s. 552.40, F.S.; revising the 39 administrative procedures and remedies for filing a 40 petition for alleged damage due to the use of 41 explosives in connection with construction materials; 42 removing and prohibiting a fee for filing a petition; 43 providing that the Division of Administrative Hearings 44 has exclusive jurisdiction over such claims; providing 45 that a prevailing petitioner is entitled to reasonable 46 attorney fees and costs; creating a rebuttable 47 presumption against an operator if certain information 48 is shown; providing that an operator may overcome the 49 presumption with clear and convincing evidence; 50 reenacting s. 552.38(1), F.S., relating to security 51 requirements to obtain a license to conduct 52 construction materials mining activities, to 53 incorporate the amendment made to s. 552.30, F.S., in 54 a reference thereto; providing an effective date. 55 56 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 57 58
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Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Residential 59 Blasting Safety and Transparency Act.” 60
Section
Section 552.30, Florida Statutes, is amended to 61 read: 62 (Substantial rewording of section. 63 See s. 552.30, F.S., for present text.) 64 552.30 Construction materials mining activities.— 65
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.—The Legislature finds that 66 construction materials mining is vital to Florida’s 67 infrastructure but must be conducted in a manner that protects 68 nearby residences and critical facilities. Existing standards 69 reference the United States Bureau of Mines Report of 70 Investigations (RI) 8507 Structure Response and Damage Produced 71 by Ground Vibration From Surface Mine Blasting but do not fully 72 account for chronic impacts in dense urban settings. It is in 73 the public interest to adopt enhanced residential protections, 74 transparent monitoring, and timely notice. 75
(2) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section, the term: 76 (a) “Blast survey” means an inspection that documents the 77 existing conditions of nearby properties before an operator 78 performs explosive blasting. 79 (b) “Operator” means a person that uses explosives for 80 blasting. 81 (c) “Protected structure” means a residential structure, 82 school, hospital, nursing home, or critical utility location. 83 (d) “Residential protection zone” means an area within a 2-84 mile radius of a blast site, within which area protected 85 structures are located. 86 (e) “Root cause analysis” means a systematic process used 87
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 56 35-00140-26 202656__ Page 4 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. to identify the fundamental reasons for a blasting incident for 88 the purpose of preventing future incidents. 89
(3) STATE FIRE MARSHAL; AUTHORITY.—Notwithstanding s. 90 552.25, the Division of State Fire Marshal retains sole and 91 exclusive authority to adopt standards, limits, and regulations 92 for explosives used for construction materials mining 93 activities. This
section establishes minimum residential 94 protections that must be incorporated into rule and any permit. 95 Delegation to local governments for monitoring and enforcement 96 is authorized as provided in this section. 97
(4) RESIDENTIAL PROTECTION ZONES.—For a blast occurring 98 within 2 miles of a residential structure, school, hospital, 99 nursing home, or critical utility location, the following 100 maximum limits apply at the nearest protected structure not 101 owned by the permittee: 102 (
a) For ground vibrations, the lesser of the following: 103 1. The RI 8507 frequency dependent limit. 104 2. Two-tenths of an inch per second for frequencies less 105 than 10 hertz. 106 3. Three-tenths of an inch per second for frequencies 107 between 10 and 40 hertz. 108 4. Five-tenths of an inch per second for frequencies 109 greater than 40 hertz. 110 (
b) For air blasting, an impulse noise measuring less than 111 128 decibels when measured in accordance with ANSI S12.7 or its 112 successor standard. 113
(5) AREAS OUTSIDE RESIDENTIAL PROTECTION ZONES.—For areas 114 outside of a residential protection zone, the maximum limits 115 must conform to RI 8507, Appendix B or stricter limits that are 116
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 56 35-00140-26 202656__ Page 5 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. adopted by rule by the State Fire Marshal. 117
(6) MANDATORY INDEPENDENT MONITORING.— 118 (
a) Each blast site must be monitored and recorded by: 119 1. One operator seismograph at the scaled distance nearest 120 protected structure; and 121 2. At least one independent seismograph operated under a 122 contract with the State Fire Marshal or a local government 123 delegated by the State Fire Marshal, placed per rule for 124 orthogonal coverage. 125 (
b) Monitoring and recording of the blast site must capture 126 ground blast, frequency, waveform, and air blast using 127 instruments that are certified annually by the State Fire 128 Marshal. 129 (
c) Raw and
summary data for each blast must be posted on 130 the division’s website and made available to the public within 131 48 hours after such blast. Such data must be retained for 5 132 years. 133
(7) PRE-BLAST NOTICE AND SCHEDULE.— 134 (
a) An operator shall provide at least 72 hours’ advance 135 notice of each blasting window by e-mail or text message to all 136 addressees within the residential protection zone who register 137 to receive the notices. The operator and local government shall 138 prominently display links on their websites to direct residents 139 to register for such notification. An operator shall also post a 140 monthly blasting
schedule on the division’s website to be 141 available to the public. 142 (
b) Blasting may be conducted only Monday through Friday, 143 excluding legal holidays, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., unless 144 otherwise authorized for safety. 145
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(8) PRE-BLASTING AND POST-BLASTING SURVEYS.— 146 (
a) An operator must fund a third-party pre-blast survey 147 upon request by any person who has a structure in a residential 148 protection zone. 149 (
b) An operator must provide a post-blast survey upon a 150 timely filed claim made pursuant to s. 552.40. A survey vendor 151 conducting a post-blast survey shall be independent of the 152 operator. 153
(9) DELEGATION TO LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—The State Fire Marshal 154 shall provide a standard agreement for the delegation of 155 monitoring, fee collection, and enforcement to counties and 156 municipalities. Local governments that receive such delegation 157 may install and operate their own seismographs and recover 158 reasonable costs. 159
(10) VIOLATIONS; PENALTIES.— 160 (
a) An operator whose blast exceeds the limits as set forth 161 in subsection (4) or subsection (5) commits a violation of this 162 section. Any such operator is liable for the costs to conduct a 163 mandatory root cause analysis along with any corrective action 164 to correct the violation. 165 (
b) If an operator commits more than 3 violations of 166 paragraph (
a) within any rolling 12-month period, in addition to 167 any penalties in paragraph (a), the operator may be subject to a 168 30-day suspension from blasting as well as comply with all plan 169 approvals provided by the State Fire Marshal before resuming 170 blasting operations. 171 (
c) An operator who knowingly falsifies monitoring data 172 commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in 173 s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. 174
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(11) RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.—The State Fire Marshal shall 175 adopt rules to implement and administer this
section by January 176 1, 2027. Such rules may address, but need not be limited to, 177 instrumentation standards, data formats, penalties, and notice 178 templates. 179
Section 3. Subsections (1), (2), and (4) of
section 552.40, 180 Florida Statutes, are amended to read: 181 552.40 Administrative remedy for alleged damage due to the 182 use of explosives in connection with construction materials 183 mining activities.— 184
(1) A person may initiate an administrative proceeding to 185 recover damages resulting from the use of explosives in 186 connection with construction materials mining activities by 187 filing a petition with the Division of Administrative Hearings 188 by electronic means through the division’s website on a form 189 provided by it and accompanied by a filing fee of $100 within 1 190 year 180 days after the occurrence of the alleged damage.
A 191 filing fee may not be imposed If the petitioner submits an 192 affidavit stating that the petitioner’s annual income is less 193 than 150 percent of the applicable federal poverty guideline 194 published in the Federal Register by the United States 195 Department of Health and Human Services, the $100 filing fee 196 must be waived. 197
(2) The Division of Administrative Hearings has exclusive 198 jurisdiction over claims filed pursuant to this section. Claims 199 arising out of substantially similar blasts may be consolidated 200 for efficiency, and the prevailing petitioners are entitled to 201 reasonable attorney fees and costs The petition must include: 202 (
a) The name and address of the petitioner; 203
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b) The name and address of the respondent, including the 204 applicable user licenseholder under s. 552.091(5) and 205 permitholder under s. 552.30; 206 (
c) The approximate time, date, and place of the use of 207 explosives which is alleged to have resulted in damage to the 208 petitioner; and 209 (
d) A description of the damage caused and the amount 210 sought for recovery. 211
(4) If monitoring data show that a blast exceeded any limit 212 in s. 552.30(3) or (4) at or near the petitioner’s property 213 during the relevant period, there is a rebuttable presumption 214 that the blast proximately caused the claimed damage. The 215 operator may overcome the presumption by clear and convincing 216 evidence The administrative judge shall issue an order directing 217 mediation under Rule 1700 et seq., Florida Rules of Civil 218 Procedure. The parties shall jointly select a mediator and the 219 location of mediation.
If the parties fail to do so within 30 220 days after the order for mediation is issued, the administrative 221 law judge shall designate the mediator and the location of 222 mediation. Petitioner and respondent shall each pay one-half of 223 the cost of mediation. If the petitioner’s annual income is less 224 than 150 percent of the applicable federal poverty guideline 225 published in the Federal Register by the United States 226 Department of Health and Human Services, the respondent shall 227 bear the full cost of mediation.
The mediation must be concluded 228 within 60 days after the date of designation of the mediator 229 unless the parties agree upon a different date. 230
Section 4. For the purpose of incorporating the amendment 231 made by this act to
section 552.30, Florida Statutes, in a 232
Florida Senate - 2026 SB 56 35-00140-26 202656__ Page 9 of 9 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. reference thereto, subsection (1) of
section 552.38, Florida 233 Statutes, is reenacted to read: 234 552.38 Security requirement.— 235
(1) As a prerequisite to obtaining or renewing a valid user 236 license as required by s. 552.091(5)(a), or obtaining or 237 renewing a valid license or permit under s. 552.30, a person who 238 uses explosives in connection with construction materials mining 239 activities must post and maintain a bond or letter of credit as 240 security as required under subsection (2). Evidence that the 241 bond has been posted and maintained in compliance with this 242
section must be maintained by any licensee or permitholder for 243 the use of explosives in connection with construction materials 244 mining activities as part of the mandatory record maintenance 245 requirements of s. 552.112. The person must maintain, in a 246 format approved by the Division of State Fire Marshal of the 247 Department of Financial Services, a completed form that shows 248 the amount and location of the bond or identifies the bond 249 surety and the current bond value. 250