Enrolled Bill Summary

            Senate Bill 1573 amends the Parks and Wildlife Code to require the Parks and Wildlife Department to issue permits for certain floating cabins moored in public coastal water. The bill sets forth provisions for the permitting process, including the contents of a permit application, fees that may be charged for a permit or a permit renewal, and terms of the permit. The bill authorizes a permit holder to transfer the permit to a new owner of the cabin for which the permit was issued and authorizes the Parks and Wildlife Commission to establish a program to purchase floating cabins. The bill requires a cabin to be marked, lighted, and equipped with a portable marine sanitation device; authorizes a permit holder to relocate or replace a cabin under certain circumstances; and prohibits a permit holder from increasing the size of a cabin or locating the cabin in certain state-owned sites. The bill authorizes the department to suspend or revoke a permit, bring a civil action, or require removal of the cabin as a result of a violation of these provisions and provides that it is a Parks and Wildlife Code misdemeanor to violate certain provisions.

            The bill also requires a person who owned and moored a floating cabin before August 31, 2001, to pay a fee of $1,500 on or before that date, and it requires the department to remit those fees to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the floating cabins cleanup account in the general revenue fund. Money in the account is to be used only for the cleanup of illegal or abandoned floating cabins and related debris in the coastal water.