Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 By Senator Stewart 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 1 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. A bill to be entitled 1

An act relating to implementation of the 2 recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force; 3 amending s. 381.0065, F.S.; requiring owners of 4 certain onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems 5 to have the systems periodically inspected, beginning 6 on a specified date; requiring the Department of 7 Environmental Protection to administer the inspection 8 program; requiring the department to implement program 9 standards, procedures, and requirements; providing for 10 rulemaking; amending s. 403.067, F.S.; requiring new 11 or revised basin management action plans to include a 12 list that identifies and prioritizes certain spatially 13 focused projects; requiring the department to assess 14 certain projects; providing an effective date. 15 16 WHEREAS, Governor Ron DeSantis created the Blue-Green Algae 17 Task Force in 2019 to “improve water quality for the benefit of 18 all Floridians,” and the task force’s consensus report was 19 issued in October 2019, with multiple recommendations for basin 20 management action plans (BMAP), agriculture, human waste, 21 stormwater, technology, public health, and science, and 22 WHEREAS, the Legislature recognizes that in June 2020, 23 Governor DeSantis signed Senate Bill 712, the Clean Waterways 24 Act, which implemented many of the recommendations of the task 25 force, and 26 WHEREAS, full implementation of the task force’s 27 recommendations will require enactment of additional substantive 28 legislation, NOW, THEREFORE, 29

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 2 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. 30 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31 32

Section 1. Present subsections (5), (6), and (7) of

section 33 381.0065, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (6), 34 (7), and (8), respectively, and a new subsection (5) is added to 35 that section, to read: 36 381.0065 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems; 37 regulation.— 38

(5) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.—Effective July 1, 2025, the owner 39 of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, excluding a 40 system required to have an operating permit, must have the 41 system inspected at least once every 5 years to assess the 42 fundamental operational condition of the system, prolong the 43 life of the system, and identify any failure within the system. 44 The department shall administer an onsite sewage treatment and 45 disposal system inspection program for such periodic 46 inspections. The department shall implement the program 47 standards, procedures, and requirements and adopt rules that 48 must include, at a minimum, all of the following: 49 (

a) A

schedule for a 5-year inspection cycle. 50 (

b) A county-by-county implementation plan phased in over a 51 10-year period, with first priority given to those areas within 52 a priority focus area for springs identified by the department. 53 (

c) Minimum standards for a functioning system. 54 (

d) Requirements for the pumpout or repair of a failing 55 system. 56 (

e) Enforcement procedures for failure of a system owner to 57 obtain an inspection of the system and failure of a contractor 58

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 3 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. to timely report inspection results to the department and the 59 system owner. 60

Section 2. Paragraph (

a) of subsection (7) of

section 61 403.067, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 62 403.067 Establishment and implementation of total maximum 63 daily loads.— 64

(7) DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND 65 IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS.— 66 (

a) Basin management action plans.— 67 1. In developing and implementing the total maximum daily 68 load for a water body, the department, or the department in 69 conjunction with a water management district, may develop a 70 basin management action plan that addresses some or all of the 71 watersheds and basins tributary to the water body.

Such plan 72 must integrate the appropriate management strategies available 73 to the state through existing water quality protection programs 74 to achieve the total maximum daily loads and may provide for 75 phased implementation of these management strategies to promote 76 timely, cost-effective actions as provided for in s. 403.151. 77 The plan must establish a

schedule implementing the management 78 strategies, establish a basis for evaluating the plan’s 79 effectiveness, and identify feasible funding strategies for 80 implementing the plan’s management strategies. The management 81 strategies may include regional treatment systems or other 82 public works, when appropriate, and voluntary trading of water 83 quality credits to achieve the needed pollutant load reductions. 84 2. A basin management action plan must equitably allocate, 85 pursuant to paragraph (6)(b), pollutant reductions to individual 86 basins, as a whole to all basins, or to each identified point 87

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 4 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. source or category of nonpoint sources, as appropriate. For 88 nonpoint sources for which best management practices have been 89 adopted, the initial requirement specified by the plan must be 90 those practices developed pursuant to paragraph (c).

When 91 appropriate, the plan may take into account the benefits of 92 pollutant load reduction achieved by point or nonpoint sources 93 that have implemented management strategies to reduce pollutant 94 loads, including best management practices, before the 95 development of the basin management action plan. The plan must 96 also identify the mechanisms that will address potential future 97 increases in pollutant loading. 98 3.

The basin management action planning process is intended 99 to involve the broadest possible range of interested parties, 100 with the objective of encouraging the greatest amount of 101 cooperation and consensus possible.

In developing a basin 102 management action plan, the department shall assure that key 103 stakeholders, including, but not limited to, applicable local 104 governments, water management districts, the Department of 105 Agriculture and Consumer Services, other appropriate state 106 agencies, local soil and water conservation districts, 107 environmental groups, regulated interests, and affected 108 pollution sources, are invited to participate in the process. 109 The department shall hold at least one public meeting in the 110 vicinity of the watershed or basin to discuss and receive 111 comments during the planning process and shall otherwise 112 encourage public participation to the greatest practicable 113 extent.

Notice of the public meeting must be published in a 114 newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the 115 watershed or basin lies at least 5 days, but not more than 15 116

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 5 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. days, before the public meeting. A basin management action plan 117 does not supplant or otherwise alter any assessment made under 118 subsection (3) or subsection (4) or any calculation or initial 119 allocation. 120 4.a. Each new or revised basin management action plan must 121 shall include: 122 (I)a.

The appropriate management strategies available 123 through existing water quality protection programs to achieve 124 total maximum daily loads, which may provide for phased 125 implementation to promote timely, cost-effective actions as 126 provided for in s. 403.151; 127 (II)b. A description of best management practices adopted 128 by rule; 129 (III)c.

A list of projects in priority ranking with a 130 planning-level cost estimate and estimated date of completion 131 for each listed project; 132 (IV) A list that identifies and prioritizes spatially 133 focused suites of projects in areas likely to yield maximum 134 pollutant reductions; 135 (V)d. The source and amount of financial assistance to be 136 made available by the department, a water management district, 137 or other entity for each listed project, if applicable; and 138 (VI)e. A planning-level estimate of each listed project’s 139 expected load reduction, if applicable. 140 b.

For each project listed pursuant to this subparagraph 141 which has a total cost that exceeds $1 million, the department 142 must assess through integrated and comprehensive monitoring 143 whether the project is working to reduce nutrient pollution or 144 water use, or both, as intended. These assessments must be 145

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 6 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. completed expeditiously and included in each basin management 146 action plan update. 147 5. The department shall adopt all or any part of a basin 148 management action plan and any amendment to such plan by 149 secretarial order pursuant to

chapter 120 to implement this 150 section. 151 6. The basin management action plan must include milestones 152 for implementation and water quality improvement, and an 153 associated water quality monitoring component sufficient to 154 evaluate whether reasonable progress in pollutant load 155 reductions is being achieved over time. An assessment of 156 progress toward these milestones shall be conducted every 5 157 years, and revisions to the plan shall be made as appropriate. 158 Revisions to the basin management action plan shall be made by 159 the department in cooperation with basin stakeholders.

Revisions 160 to the management strategies required for nonpoint sources must 161 follow the procedures in subparagraph (c)4. Revised basin 162 management action plans must be adopted pursuant to subparagraph 163 5. 164 7.

In accordance with procedures adopted by rule under 165 paragraph (9)(c), basin management action plans, and other 166 pollution control programs under local, state, or federal 167 authority as provided in subsection (4), may allow point or 168 nonpoint sources that will achieve greater pollutant reductions 169 than required by an adopted total maximum daily load or 170 wasteload allocation to generate, register, and trade water 171 quality credits for the excess reductions to enable other 172 sources to achieve their allocation; however, the generation of 173 water quality credits does not remove the obligation of a source 174

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 7 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. or activity to meet applicable technology requirements or 175 adopted best management practices. Such plans must allow trading 176 between NPDES permittees, and trading that may or may not 177 involve NPDES permittees, where the generation or use of the 178 credits involve an entity or activity not subject to department 179 water discharge permits whose owner voluntarily elects to obtain 180 department authorization for the generation and sale of credits. 181 8.

The department’s rule relating to the equitable 182 abatement of pollutants into surface waters do not apply to 183 water bodies or water body segments for which a basin management 184 plan that takes into account future new or expanded activities 185 or discharges has been adopted under this section. 186 9.

In order to promote resilient wastewater utilities, if 187 the department identifies domestic wastewater treatment 188 facilities or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems as 189 contributors of at least 20 percent of point source or nonpoint 190 source nutrient pollution or if the department determines 191 remediation is necessary to achieve the total maximum daily 192 load, a basin management action plan for a nutrient total 193 maximum daily load must include the following: 194 a.

A wastewater treatment plan developed by each local 195 government, in cooperation with the department, the water 196 management district, and the public and private domestic 197 wastewater treatment facilities within the jurisdiction of the 198 local government, that addresses domestic wastewater. The 199 wastewater treatment plan must: 200 (

I) Provide for construction, expansion, or upgrades 201 necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load requirements 202 applicable to the domestic wastewater treatment facility. 203

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 8 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. (II) Include the permitted capacity in average annual 204 gallons per day for the domestic wastewater treatment facility; 205 the average nutrient concentration and the estimated average 206 nutrient load of the domestic wastewater; a projected timeline 207 of the dates by which the construction of any facility 208 improvements will begin and be completed and the date by which 209 operations of the improved facility will begin; the estimated 210 cost of the improvements; and the identity of responsible 211 parties. 212 213 The wastewater treatment plan must be adopted as part of the 214 basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025.

A local 215 government that does not have a domestic wastewater treatment 216 facility in its jurisdiction is not required to develop a 217 wastewater treatment plan unless there is a demonstrated need to 218 establish a domestic wastewater treatment facility within its 219 jurisdiction to improve water quality necessary to achieve a 220 total maximum daily load.

A local government is not responsible 221 for a private domestic wastewater facility’s compliance with a 222 basin management action plan unless such facility is operated 223 through a public-private partnership to which the local 224 government is a party. 225 b. An onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 226 remediation plan developed by each local government in 227 cooperation with the department, the Department of Health, water 228 management districts, and public and private domestic wastewater 229 treatment facilities. 230 (

I) The onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 231 remediation plan must identify cost-effective and financially 232

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 9 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load 233 reductions required for onsite sewage treatment and disposal 234 systems. To identify cost-effective and financially feasible 235 projects for remediation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal 236 systems, the local government shall: 237 (

A) Include an inventory of onsite sewage treatment and 238 disposal systems based on the best information available; 239 (

B) Identify onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems 240 that would be eliminated through connection to existing or 241 future central domestic wastewater infrastructure in the 242 jurisdiction or domestic wastewater service area of the local 243 government, that would be replaced with or upgraded to enhanced 244 nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, 245 or that would remain on conventional onsite sewage treatment and 246 disposal systems; 247 (

C) Estimate the costs of potential onsite sewage treatment 248 and disposal system connections, upgrades, or replacements; and 249 (

D) Identify deadlines and interim milestones for the 250 planning, design, and construction of projects. 251 (II) The department shall adopt the onsite sewage treatment 252 and disposal system remediation plan as part of the basin 253 management action plan no later than July 1, 2025, or as 254 required for Outstanding Florida Springs under s. 373.807. 255 10. When identifying wastewater projects in a basin 256 management action plan, the department may not require the 257 higher cost option if it achieves the same nutrient load 258 reduction as a lower cost option.

A regulated entity may choose 259 a different cost option if it complies with the pollutant 260 reduction requirements of an adopted total maximum daily load 261

Florida Senate - 2022 SB 832 13-00423A-22 2022832__ Page 10 of 10 CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions. and meets or exceeds the pollution reduction requirement of the 262 original project. 263

Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 264