Daylight Saving Time in Florida

Summary 

The Florida Department of Transport is giving a notice to propose a rule on permanent adoption the daylight saving time throughout the year. There is jurisdiction over appeals that arise from the Sunshine Protection Act of 2019. 2.670. For the last 56 years there has not been major revisions of the Uniform Time Act since it was passed in 1966. Most states have opted out of the DST while others continually opposed it. Florida, however has benefitted in terms of improved public safety and significant energy savings. As such the Florida Department of Transport is pushing for this proposed rule to be passed as a permanent rule. These proposed revisions of the Uniform Time Act (1966) will serve as a guideline to the citizens of Florida regarding the proposed rule of a permanent all year-round Daylight Saving Time. The proposed rule will be consistent between the state and federal approvals. 

Dates: The Florida Department of Transport invites interested parties to make comments on the Daylight Savings Time proposed rule. For one’s comments to be considered, they have to be written and typed and submitted before June 14th 2020. 

Addresses: Interested parties will submit their comments by FDOT-R670-202. This will be done either by mail or through the website. Comments written and typed will be delivered to the chairman of Florida Department of Transport, Kevin J. Thibault. Alternatively, interested parties can also leave their comments in the Federal Register website. In case one is in need of further information they can contact the below address: 

Telephone: 850-414-4100

Toll-Free: 866-374-FDOT (3368). 

Background 

The Sunshine Protection Act (2019) was first introduced during the 2017-18 senate session by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. Over time, the bill has picked bi-partisan sponsors including Republicans such as Marsha Blackburn Lamer Alexander and Democrats such as Patty Murray, Ron Weyden, and Doug Jones among others (Bandari et al, 2019). In Florida, the bill was signed by the governor at that time Rick Scott. The state to state changes in Daylight Saving Time has been surrounded by controversies due to the potential effects it has on health, sports, productivity, and the economy in general. One of the remarkable areas the DST effects has been felt is in commuter. That is why Rubio and other proponents of the Sunshine Protection Act are pushing for it to get presidential assent and become a national bill. According to Rubio, standardizing DST does not have to be a profound legacy in the history of the United States (Watson, 2019). On the contrary, if assented into a national bill, numerous benefits would be reaped. For instance, the amount of time for outdoor exercise would be increased sequentially reducing cardiac complications and strokes. Gray & Jenkins in their study reveal that reveals that the recalibration of the portion of the day spent in sunlight to standard work hours would improve Americans’ public health in terms of reduced depression and more time outdoor activities such as cycling and walking into the parks. It would also be beneficial to the agricultural sector as farmers would no longer have to be affected by two-time changes on an annual basis. Most importantly the transport sector would end the interstate commuter confusion that stems from changing clocks twice in a year. 

It is worth noting that prior to the Sunshine Protection Act was the Uniform Time Act of 1966 that has for a long time been used to avoid time confusion arising from varying time zones across states. By that time most states across the United States of America used to observe DST depending on their locally formulated laws. As such, it was a time of confusion because of the variance across states. Congress stepped up to halt the confusion and introduce a pattern that would be uniform for the entire country. Given presidential assent by Lyndon Johnson in 89-387 on the 12th of April the Uniform Act of 1966 (15 U.S. Code Section 260a) became a public law (Trost et al, 219). Its creation led to a standard pattern in Daylight Saving Time across the country. Henceforth, DST would last between the first Sunday of April up to the last Sunday of the month of October. In 1972, the law underwent a review with the purpose of determining whether states that had more than one time zone would be allowed to observe DST or not. Following the review, the Uniform Time Act was further amended in 1986. DST would then be last between first Sunday of April at 2 a.m. and end at the same time on the last Sunday of October. Further, in 2005, yet another amendment was made; the Energy Policy Act 2005 made yet another time changes whereby Daylight Saving Time would begin at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November (Trost et al, 2019). It is worth noting that during all these changes, the state of Florida has never opposed the DST. However, the confusion stemming from changing the clock twice annually has created the need to propose for a permanent all-year round Daylight Saving Time in the state. 

The proposed rule incorporates procedures to be followed and provides rules and guidelines to proponents who will come before the DOT or present their comments. In addition to the proposed rule, there are four major revisions to be made. These include providing an intent as required for the state of Florida and its political subdivisions, provision of an effective date, and certain conditions that should be met. Also, the fact that Florida referred to as the state of Sunshine means that the proposed rule of permanent Daylight Saving Time is important. 

Over the years, various acts have been challenged in court for failure to comply with requirements as stated under Section 6 Article III of the Florida Constitution (Talbot, 2016). It requires that the proposed rule be briefly expressed as a title. In this particular case, provisions that the proposed rule should consider include fee, rulemaking authority, and an effective date. As such these considerations are not exclusive for the proposed rule. Also interested appellants have at 180days during which they can file an appeal for decisions issued by the Florida Department of Transport. 

Definitions 

Section 267. 

It is worth noting that in construing of the proposed rule every word or phrase will carry the below meanings:

Writing means printing, typing, handwriting, and typewriting. It is also inclusive of all means by which letters are formed on paper, wood, stone or any gadget The world could also mean any information stored or created in any electronic form and is retrievable. 

Reference to nay office means any person within the Department of Transport in the states of Florida that is authorized to perform duties in the office. 

The number of residents of the state of Florida and its political subdivisions shall be considered beginning with the Federal Census of 1950. 

Political Subdivision means counties, towns, districts, bridges, schools, villages, roads, bridge districts and other districts that are in the state of Florida. 

World War 1 means the time period between April 6th 1917 up to the 11th of November 1918 

The Sunshine Protection Act means that if amendments is made by the 116th Congress of the U.S. to authorize observance of DST as the standard time, the state of Florida and all its political subdivisions shall be observe it. 

Rulemaking means the authority of the Florida Department of Transport to propose the rule on Daylight Saving Time in Florida

“ State” will mean Florida. 

Public will refer to the residents of the state including its political divisions. 

OMB refers to the Office of Management and Budget 

Administrative Requirements for the Proposed Rule

In the process of proposing rules, there are administrative requirements that must be followed. As provided by the Florida Administrative Code below are some Executive Orders and Acts that will be either be complied to or considered. 

According to the Florida Administrative Code, a rule published requires indexing by the Department of state. Condition for this requirement is within 90 days since it was filed. Furthermore, the Department of State is responsible for establishment of procedures for indexing rules (Moody, General & Moody, 2019).

As an agency, the Florida Department of Transport has the mandate to hold public workshops for the purpose of rule development. 

In terms of notice, the proposed rule on permanent Daytime Savings in Florida should give its intended action. The notice should be inclusive of the estimated regulatory costs. Conditions include within 21 days since it was published and issuance of procedure to the public regarding hearing of the proposed rule. 

Executive Order 12866 – The agency is required to determine whether the proposed rule is significant in terms of the economy and serious inconsistency. If it is determined that the propose rule is not significance it does not need to undergo an OMB review (Kits, 2020). 

Executive Order 12988 – This requires the Florida Department of Transport to review the existing and new regulations to ensure compliance with requirements such as elimination of errors and ambiguity. 

Executive Order 13563- Coined by the former President of the United States, Barrack Obama, the Executive Order emphasizes on the importance of protecting public health, safety and children while promoting economic growth, creating jobs, and being innovative. Particularly, the order empathizes on the need for agencies being predictable and certain through the use of tools that are not burdensome while making regulations. As such, the Department of Transport is required to take into account qualitative and quantative benefits and costs. Further the order reaffirms and defines some provisions of Executive Order 12866 which is a key order in rulemaking. 

Paperwork Reduction Act – Information collected in this proposed rule will be submitted for approval to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (Vin, 2020). Further, the Act reinforces one guiding principle in rule making; reduction in redundancy, and inconsistent requirements. As such the Department of Transport will base collection of public comments based on the budget approved by the OMB. S

Instructions for Providing Comments

This is the final step for our proposed rule. The proposal for having a permanent Daylight Saving Time in the state of Florida is inclusive of notice and comments as required by the Florida Administrative Act. As such, it is the duty of the Florida Department of Transport to provide the public with an opportunity to give their opinions and comments regarding any aspect of the proposed rule. The public will be expected to submit a single copy of their comments through the method listed earlier in the address. The public is required to include the agency name (In this case the Florida Department of Transport). Also, due to issues related with COVID-19, we would highly encourage comments by the public to be submitted through the internet. This will help in social distancing and curb the risk of getting the virus. 

It is also worth noting that the agency will post all the public comments on the regulations portal for the government without changing any comment. Therefore, the public is encouraged not to include personal information such as social numbers, address, email addresses, and telephone contacts. The Florida Department of Transport will not be liable for personal information on the website. 

Finally, the Department will make the public comments on rule making docket available for inspection within working hours. If any member of the public feels that they need to make changes in their comments, the Florida Department of Transport will provide aids such as readers and magnifiers to help with the process. 

In conclusion, the proposed rule on Daylight Saving Time in the state from the Florida Department of Transport is divided into sections as shown above. Before a bill becomes a national law, it has to be proposed by the agency and follow the above procedure. The need for proposing the rule for permanent Daylight Saving Time in Florida arises from the necessity to bring to an end the seasonal changes of the clock every March and November. Usually, the changes have affected interstate commuter. As such the proposal will be open for public comments as highlighted in the paper. 

References

Bandari, J., Maganty, A., Davies, B. J., & Docimo, S. G. (2019). Sunshine Act: Accounting for Equity Options.  Journal of Health Care Finance .

Gray, T. R., & Jenkins, J. A. (2018). Congress and the political economy of daylight saving time.

Talbot Dean, D. A. (2016).  The Florida State Constitution . Oxford University Press.

Trost, C. A., Houghton, M., Grzaslewicz, B., Wolff, K. D., & Orzeske, B. (2019). The Revised Uniform Unclaimed Property Act: A Response to Issues Raised in The Business Lawyer, Volume 73, Issue 3.  The Business Lawyer ,  74 .

Watson, N. F. (2019). Time to show leadership on the Daylight Saving Time debate.  Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine ,  15 (06), 815-817.