TALLAHASSEE – A bill to better protect Florida farmers from nuisance lawsuits filed by neighbors sailed through the Senate Rules Committee March 4 on a 14-2 vote, setting up a vote on the Senate floor.
The passage of SB 88, authored by state Sen. Jason Brodeur (R-Sanford), is a priority this year for the Florida Farm Bureau Federation. Although farmers who follow good agricultural practices currently have some protections against nuisance litigation, the movement of more city dwellers to the countryside has created a need to modernize the current law, according to Adam Basford, the federation’s director of state legislative affairs.
In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has tended to accelerate the movement of people to rural areas as more workers are able to telecommute, Basford said.
“When you move into rural areas, the potential for you to interface with a farming operation is increased,” he told the Florida Record. “... It’s important to make sure that our farmers’ good practices are protected.”
Nuisance issues defined in the legislation include noise, odors, particle emissions and vibrations. In addition, agritourism activities, such as wineries and self-harvest operations, would also be protected from civil suits.
“This is just an opportunity to modernize it and update it to make sure we can operate in the present day so that farmers can continue to do what they need to do for the state,” Basford said.
The bill also expands the types of liabilities protected during the normal operation of farms. These can include lawsuits alleging personal injury, trespass and other types of torts. And the bill attempts to hold the line on potential damages awards, according to Basford.
Under the bill, to be successful in a civil suit against a farming operation, plaintiffs must surmount a “clear and convincing evidence standard” when a claim involves allegations of noncompliance with federal environmental regulations or laws, or best-practices requirements, according to the legislature’s analysis of the bill.
In addition, SB 88 limits compensatory damages to a verifiable reduction of the market value of a neighbor’s property.
If the legislation does not pass, farmers could face increased financial burdens due to excessive litigation in the years ahead, Basford said.
“There’s definitely a potential for that,” he said. “But we feel like this is good public policy regardless if it were a (legal) flashpoint or not.”