FL S0604

Changes Department of Health authority from discretionary ("may") to mandatory ("shall") to adopt and enforce rules protecting public health at beach waters and public bathing places, including establishing health standards and bacteriological sampling procedures.

Requires Department of Health to issue health advisories when beach waters or public bathing places fail to meet bacteria standards and mandates concurrent notification to affected municipalities or counties.

Mandates adoption of a specific health advisory sign with required language warning of fecal bacteria contamination, to be posted in conspicuous areas around affected waters until subsequent testing shows bacteria levels meet state standards.

Assigns responsibility for sign maintenance to municipalities and counties for locally-owned waters and to the Department of Health for state-owned waters, with coordination authority granted to the Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Requires Department of Health to monitor affected beach waters and public bathing places to ensure compliance with signage requirements until contamination is resolved; effective July 1, 2022.