FL H7091

Establishes a standardized four-class administrative and civil penalty framework (s. 570.971): Class I up to $1,000, Class II up to $5,000, Class III up to $10,000, and Class IV $10,000 or more per violation, applied across dozens of regulated industries including food establishments, pest control, petroleum, LP gas, amusement rides, charitable solicitation, and citrus fruit dealers, with authority to refuse license issuance or renewal for unpaid penalties.

Reorganizes Chapter 570, F.S., into five designated parts (General Provisions, Program Services, Agricultural Development, Agricultural Water Policy, and Penalties), with extensive renumbering, transfers of sections to more relevant chapters, and updated cross-references for advisory council governance throughout Florida Statutes.

Creates the Office of Energy within the department to administer and enforce Parts II and III of Chapter 377, supervised by a senior manager appointed by the Commissioner of Agriculture.

Grants the department new immediate closure authority over food establishments presenting an imminent threat to public health, safety, and welfare, with inspection required within 24 hours of closure, and makes defacing a closed-for-operation sign or resisting closure a second-degree misdemeanor.

Modernizes licensing and registration across multiple programs—including pesticide dealers, fertilizer registrants, seed dealers, and commercial feed distributors—by authorizing applications through the department's website, while adjusting fee structures such as eliminating the two lowest seed dealer fee tiers and setting a new minimum of $100 for $1,000–$2,499 in sales.

Expands the Casuarina cunninghamiana windbreak program from a 5-year pilot in three counties to a permanent statewide program, removing detailed monitoring protocols, hybridization research requirements, and female flower destruction mandates while retaining core permitting, baseline survey, and destruction requirements.

Protects lands in dispersed water storage programs under contract with DEP or water management districts by requiring continued agricultural classification and assessment as nonproductive agricultural lands, and allows landowners with best management practice agreements to establish baseline wetland conditions at their own expense.

Revises pesticide regulation by eliminating the 48-hour written damage/injury reporting requirement for claimants, extending recordkeeping requirements to all licensed private applicators using restricted pesticides, allowing discontinued pesticides to remain on shelves without further registration after a 2-year maintenance period, and repealing the antifouling paint program (s. 487.172).

Requires the Florida Forest Service to pay 15% of gross receipts from Goethe State Forest to each fiscally constrained county where the forest is located, split equally between county commissions and school boards, and renames the wildfire training center to "Withlacoochee Forest Training Center."

Repeals or consolidates multiple outdated provisions, including the Pest Control Compact, Florida Consumer Services Act, equestrian educational sports program, enriched grain product standards (ss. 500.301–500.306), and retail meat sale provisions (s. 500.601), effective July 1, 2014.