HB 561 2022
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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
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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 Bi ll 712, the Clean Waterways 24
Act, which implemented many of the recommendations of the task 25
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force, and 26
WHEREAS, full implementation of the task force's 27
recommendations will require enactment of additional substantive 28
legislation, NOW, THEREFORE, 29
30
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 31
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Section 1. Present subsections (5), (6), and (7) of 33
section 381.0065, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as 34
subsections (6), (7), and (8), respectively, and a new 35
subsection (5) is added to that secti on, to read: 36
381.0065 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems; 37
regulation.— 38
(5) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS. —Effective July 1, 2025, the 39
owner of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, 40
excluding a system required to have an operating permit, mus t 41
have the system inspected at least once every 5 years to assess 42
the 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 an d 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
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(b) A county-by-county implementation plan phased in over 51
a 10-year period, with first priority given to those areas 52
within a priority focus area for springs identified by the 53
department. 54
(c) Minimum standards for a functioning system. 55
(d) Requirements for the pumpout or repair of a failing 56
system. 57
(e) Enforcement procedures for failure of a system owner 58
to obtain an inspection of the system and failure of a 59
contractor to timely report inspection results to the department 60
and the system owner. 61
Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 62
403.067, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 63
403.067 Establishment and implementation of total maximum 64
daily loads.— 65
(7) DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND 66
IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS. — 67
(a) Basin management action plans. — 68
1. In developing and implementing the total maximum daily 69
load for a water body, the department, or the department in 70
conjunction with a water management district, may develop a 71
basin management action plan that addresses some or all of the 72
watersheds and basins tributary to the water body. Such plan 73
must integrate the appropriate management strategies available 74
to the state through existing water quality protection programs 75
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to achieve the total maximum daily loads and may provide for 76
phased implementation of these management strategies to promote 77
timely, cost-effective actions as provided for in s. 403.151. 78
The plan must establish a schedule implementing the management 79
strategies, establish a basis for evaluating the plan's 80
effectiveness, and identify feasible funding strategies for 81
implementing the plan's management strategies. The management 82
strategies may include regional treatment systems or other 83
public works, when appropriate, and v oluntary trading of water 84
quality credits to achieve the needed pollutant load reductions. 85
2. A basin management action plan must equitably allocate, 86
pursuant to paragraph (6)(b), pollutant reductions to individual 87
basins, as a whole to all basins, or to each identified point 88
source or category of nonpoint sources, as appropriate. For 89
nonpoint sources for which best management practices have been 90
adopted, the initial requirement specified by the plan must be 91
those practices developed pursuant to paragraph (c). When 92
appropriate, the plan may take into account the benefits of 93
pollutant load reduction achieved by point or nonpoint sources 94
that have implemented management strategies to reduce pollutant 95
loads, including best management practices, before the 96
development of the basin management action plan. The plan must 97
also identify the mechanisms that will address potential future 98
increases in pollutant loading. 99
3. The basin management action planning process is 100
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intended to involve the broadest possible range of interested 101
parties, with the objective of encouraging the greatest amount 102
of cooperation and consensus possible. In developing a basin 103
management action plan, the department shall assure that key 104
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, applicable local 105
governments, water management districts, the Department of 106
Agriculture and Consumer Services, other appropriate state 107
agencies, local soil and water conservation districts, 108
environmental groups, regulated interests, and affected 109
pollution sources, ar e invited to participate in the process. 110
The department shall hold at least one public meeting in the 111
vicinity of the watershed or basin to discuss and receive 112
comments during the planning process and shall otherwise 113
encourage public participation to the g reatest practicable 114
extent. Notice of the public meeting must be published in a 115
newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the 116
watershed or basin lies at least 5 days, but not more than 15 117
days, before the public meeting. A basin management a ction plan 118
does not supplant or otherwise alter any assessment made under 119
subsection (3) or subsection (4) or any calculation or initial 120
allocation. 121
4.a. Each new or revised basin management action plan must 122
shall include: 123
(I)a. The appropriate managem ent strategies available 124
through existing water quality protection programs to achieve 125
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total maximum daily loads, which may provide for phased 126
implementation to promote timely, cost -effective actions as 127
provided for in s. 403.151; 128
(II)b. A description of best management practices adopted 129
by rule; 130
(III)c. A list of projects in priority ranking with a 131
planning-level cost estimate and estimated date of completion 132
for each listed project; 133
(IV) A list that identifies and prioritizes spati ally 134
focused suites of projects in areas likely to yield maximum 135
pollutant reductions; 136
(V)d. The source and amount of financial assistance to be 137
made available by the department, a water management district, 138
or other entity for each listed project, if ap plicable; and 139
(VI)e. A planning-level estimate of each listed project's 140
expected load reduction, if applicable. 141
b. For each project listed pursuant to this subparagraph 142
which has a total cost that exceeds $1 million, the department 143
must assess through integrated and comprehensive monitoring 144
whether the project is working to reduce nutrient pollution or 145
water use, or both, as intended. These assessments must be 146
completed expeditiously and included in each basin management 147
action plan update. 148
5. The department shall adopt all or any part of a basin 149
management action plan and any amendment to such plan by 150
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secretarial order pursuant to chapter 120 to implement this 151
section. 152
6. The basin management action plan must include 153
milestones for implementation an d water quality improvement, and 154
an associated water quality monitoring component sufficient to 155
evaluate whether reasonable progress in pollutant load 156
reductions is being achieved over time. An assessment of 157
progress toward these milestones shall be conduc ted every 5 158
years, and revisions to the plan shall be made as appropriate. 159
Revisions to the basin management action plan shall be made by 160
the department in cooperation with basin stakeholders. Revisions 161
to the management strategies required for nonpoint so urces must 162
follow the procedures in subparagraph (c)4. Revised basin 163
management action plans must be adopted pursuant to subparagraph 164
5. 165
7. In accordance with procedures adopted by rule under 166
paragraph (9)(c), basin management action plans, and other 167
pollution control programs under local, state, or federal 168
authority as provided in subsection (4), may allow point or 169
nonpoint sources that will achieve greater pollutant reductions 170
than required by an adopted total maximum daily load or 171
wasteload allocation to generate, register, and trade water 172
quality credits for the excess reductions to enable other 173
sources to achieve their allocation; however, the generation of 174
water quality credits does not remove the obligation of a source 175
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or activity to meet applicable technology requirements or 176
adopted best management practices. Such plans must allow trading 177
between NPDES permittees, and trading that may or may not 178
involve NPDES permittees, where the generation or use of the 179
credits involve an entity or activity not su bject to department 180
water discharge permits whose owner voluntarily elects to obtain 181
department authorization for the generation and sale of credits. 182
8. The department's rule relating to the equitable 183
abatement of pollutants into surface waters do not ap ply to 184
water bodies or water body segments for which a basin management 185
plan that takes into account future new or expanded activities 186
or discharges has been adopted under this section. 187
9. In order to promote resilient wastewater utilities, if 188
the department identifies domestic wastewater treatment 189
facilities or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems as 190
contributors of at least 20 percent of point source or nonpoint 191
source nutrient pollution or if the department determines 192
remediation is necessary t o achieve the total maximum daily 193
load, a basin management action plan for a nutrient total 194
maximum daily load must include the following: 195
a. A wastewater treatment plan developed by each local 196
government, in cooperation with the department, the water 197
management district, and the public and private domestic 198
wastewater treatment facilities within the jurisdiction of the 199
local government, that addresses domestic wastewater. The 200
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wastewater treatment plan must: 201
(I) Provide for construction, expansion, or up grades 202
necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load requirements 203
applicable to the domestic wastewater treatment facility. 204
(II) Include the permitted capacity in average annual 205
gallons per day for the domestic wastewater treatment facility; 206
the average nutrient concentration and the estimated average 207
nutrient load of the domestic wastewater; a projected timeline 208
of the dates by which the construction of any facility 209
improvements will begin and be completed and the date by which 210
operations of the impr oved facility will begin; the estimated 211
cost of the improvements; and the identity of responsible 212
parties. 213
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The wastewater treatment plan must be adopted as part of the 215
basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025. A local 216
government that does n ot have a domestic wastewater treatment 217
facility in its jurisdiction is not required to develop a 218
wastewater treatment plan unless there is a demonstrated need to 219
establish a domestic wastewater treatment facility within its 220
jurisdiction to improve water q uality necessary to achieve a 221
total maximum daily load. A local government is not responsible 222
for a private domestic wastewater facility's compliance with a 223
basin management action plan unless such facility is operated 224
through a public-private partnership to which the local 225
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government is a party. 226
b. An onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 227
remediation plan developed by each local government in 228
cooperation with the department, the Department of Health, water 229
management districts, and public and priva te domestic wastewater 230
treatment facilities. 231
(I) The onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 232
remediation plan must identify cost -effective and financially 233
feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load 234
reductions required for onsite sewage treatment and disposal 235
systems. To identify cost -effective and financially feasible 236
projects for remediation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal 237
systems, the local government shall: 238
(A) Include an inventory of onsite sewage treatment and 239
disposal systems based on the best information available; 240
(B) Identify onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems 241
that would be eliminated through connection to existing or 242
future central domestic wastewater infrastructure in the 243
jurisdiction or domestic wastew ater service area of the local 244
government, that would be replaced with or upgraded to enhanced 245
nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, 246
or that would remain on conventional onsite sewage treatment and 247
disposal systems; 248
(C) Estimate the costs of potential onsite sewage 249
treatment and disposal system connections, upgrades, or 250
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replacements; and 251
(D) Identify deadlines and interim milestones for the 252
planning, design, and construction of projects. 253
(II) The department shall adopt the on site sewage 254
treatment and disposal system remediation plan as part of the 255
basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025, or as 256
required for Outstanding Florida Springs under s. 373.807. 257
10. When identifying wastewater projects in a basin 258
management action plan, the department may not require the 259
higher cost option if it achieves the same nutrient load 260
reduction as a lower cost option. A regulated entity may choose 261
a different cost option if it complies with the pollutant 262
reduction requirements o f an adopted total maximum daily load 263
and meets or exceeds the pollution reduction requirement of the 264
original project. 265
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 266