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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to environmental management; creating 2
s. 373.4134, F.S.; providing legislative findings; 3
providing definitions; providing for water quality 4
enhancement areas, enhancement service areas, and 5
enhancement credits; providing requirements for such 6
water quality enhancement area permits, enhancement 7
service areas, and enhancement credits; directing the 8
Department of Environmental Protection and wate r 9
management districts to authorize the sale and use of 10
enhancement credits for specified purposes; providing 11
that the authority of the act is supplemental; 12
directing the department to maintain enhancement 13
credit ledgers; authorizing the department to adop t 14
rules; amending s. 403.892, F.S.; correcting a cross -15
reference; revising requirements for developers and 16
homebuilders to qualify for graywater technology 17
incentives; providing that certain occupancy is not 18
eligibility criterion for such incentives; requi ring 19
the department to adopt and modify specified rules; 20
providing rulemaking requirements; authorizing 21
positions and providing an appropriation; providing an 22
effective date. 23
24
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 25
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26
Section 1. Section 373.4134, Florida Statutes, is created 27
to read: 28
373.4134 Water quality enhancement areas. - 29
(1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT. -The Legislature finds 30
that: 31
(a) Water quality will be improved and adverse water 32
quality impacts of activities regul ated under this part may be 33
offset by the construction, operation, maintenance, and long -34
term management of water quality enhancement areas that provide 35
offsite compensatory treatment. 36
(b) An expansion of existing authority for regional 37
treatment to include offsite compensatory treatment in water 38
quality enhancement areas to make enhancement credits available 39
for purchase by governmental entities to offset impacts 40
regulated under this part is needed. 41
(c) The construction, operation, maintenance, and lon g-42
term management of water quality enhancement areas under this 43
section will improve the certainty and long -term viability of 44
water quality treatment systems. 45
(d) Water quality enhancement areas are a valuable tool to 46
assist governmental entities in sati sfying the net improvement 47
performance standards under s. 373.414(1)(b)3. to ensure 48
significant reduction of pollutant loadings. 49
(e) Water quality enhancement areas that provide water 50
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quality enhancement credits to governmental entities seeking 51
permits under this part and governmental entities seeking to 52
meet an assigned basin management action plan allocation or 53
reasonable assurance plan under s. 403.067 are considered an 54
appropriate and permittable option. 55
(2) DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section, the term: 56
(a) "Enhancement credit" means a standard unit of measure 57
that represents a quantity of pollutant removed. 58
(b) "Enhancement service area" means the geographic area 59
in which the water quality enhancement area can reasonably be 60
expected to offset adverse water quality impacts. 61
(c) "Governmental entity" means any political subdivision, 62
including any state agency, department, agency of the state, 63
county, municipality, special district, school district, utility 64
authority, or other authority or any i nstrumentality, agency, 65
unit, or department thereof. 66
(d) "Planning unit" means the total maximum daily load 67
planning unit that is an individual tributary basin or a group 68
of smaller adjacent tributary basins with similar 69
characteristics. 70
(e) "Water quality enhancement area" means a natural 71
system constructed, operated, managed, and maintained under a 72
permit issued under this section for the purpose of providing 73
offsite, compensatory regional treatment within an identified 74
enhancement service area for which enhancement credits may be 75
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provided. 76
(f) "Water quality enhancement area permit" means a permit 77
issued for a water quality enhancement area which authorizes the 78
construction, operation, management, and maintenance of a water 79
quality enhancement area and the purchase and sale of 80
enhancement credits. 81
(3) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT AREAS. - 82
(a) The construction, operation, management, and 83
maintenance of a water quality enhancement area must be approved 84
through the environmental resource permitting process. 85
Department rules pertaining to environmental resource permits 86
apply to water quality enhancement areas and enhancement 87
credits. 88
(b) Water quality enhancement credits may only be sold to 89
governmental entities. 90
(c) A water quality enh ancement area must address the 91
contributions of pollutants for those parameters in an 92
enhancement service area that does not meet state water quality 93
standards. 94
(d) A water quality enhancement area must use, create, or 95
improve natural systems in order to improve water quality. 96
(e) A governmental entity may use a water quality 97
enhancement area for its own water quality needs. However, a 98
governmental entity may not act as a sponsor to construct, 99
operate, manage, or maintain a water quality enhancement are a or 100
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market enhancement credits to third parties. 101
(f) A local government may not require a permit or 102
otherwise impose regulations governing the operation of a water 103
quality enhancement area. 104
(4) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT AREA PERMIT. - 105
(a) To obtain a water quality enhancement area permit, the 106
applicant must provide reasonable assurances that the proposed 107
water quality enhancement area will: 108
1. Meet the requirements for issuance of an environmental 109
resource permit. 110
2. Benefit water quality in the e nhancement service area. 111
3. Achieve defined performance or success criteria for the 112
reduction of pollutants or other constituents that prevent 113
receiving waters from meeting state water quality standards. 114
4. Ensure long-term pollutant reduction through effective 115
operation and maintenance in perpetuity by designation of a 116
responsible long-term maintenance entity supported by an 117
endowment or other long -term financial assurance sufficient to 118
ensure perpetual operation and maintenance. 119
5. Demonstrate suffi cient legal or equitable interest in 120
the property to ensure access and perpetual protection and 121
management of the land within the water quality enhancement 122
area. 123
6. Provide for permanent preservation of the water quality 124
enhancement area under s. 704.06. 125
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(b) The water quality enhancement area permit must provide 126
for the assessment, valuation, and award of credits based on 127
units of pollutants removed. To assist the department in 128
determining enhancement credits, a water quality enhancement 129
area application must include the following information: 130
1. Rainfall data over the longest period of record 131
available collected from the closest site to the proposed water 132
quality enhancement area, preferably within the same drainage 133
basin. 134
2. Anticipated average ann ual water quality and quantity 135
inflows to the proposed water quality enhancement area, based on 136
published local data collected over a period of record that most 137
closely matches the rainfall data under this paragraph. 138
3. Site-specific conditions affecting the anticipated 139
performance of the proposed water quality enhancement area, 140
including the proposed treatment type and the anticipated 141
associated reduction rates, as demonstrated by the performance 142
of other areas where the treatment type has been establish ed and 143
operating over a minimum of two consecutive wet and dry seasons. 144
4. Data from collection stations, approved in advance by 145
the department, in sites that the department deems sufficient to 146
determine flows and local water quality conditions. 147
(c) The issuance of a water quality enhancement area 148
permit under this subsection does not preclude the 149
responsibility of an applicant to obtain other applicable 150
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federal, state, and local permits for construction activities 151
associated with the water quali ty enhancement area. 152
(5) ENHANCEMENT SERVICE AREA. - 153
(a) An enhancement service area shall be based on a basin 154
management action plan or reasonable assurance plan boundary 155
adopted by the department. If the department does not adopt a 156
basin management action plan or reasonable assurance plan 157
boundary, the enhancement service area shall be the planning 158
unit. 159
(b) A water quality enhancement area may only provide 160
enhancement credits in an enhancement service area, except for: 161
1. Projects with adverse impacts located partially within 162
the enhancement service area. 163
2. Linear projects, such as roadways, transmission lines, 164
distribution lines, pipelines, railways, or seaports listed in 165
s. 311.09(1). 166
(c) Once an enhancement service area has been establis hed 167
by the department, the enhancement service area shall be 168
accepted by all water management districts and local 169
governments. 170
(6) ENHANCEMENT CREDITS. - 171
(a) The department or water management district shall 172
authorize the sale and use of enhancement cre dits to 173
governmental entities to offset adverse water quality impacts of 174
activities regulated under this part or to assist governmental 175
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entities seeking to meet an assigned basin management action 176
plan allocation or reasonable assurance plan pursuant to s. 177
403.067. 178
(b) Water quality improvement projects using natural 179
systems or land use modifications, including, but not limited 180
to, constructed wetlands or minor impoundments that reduce 181
pollutants to a receiving water body may be used by an applicant 182
to generate enhancement credits if approved by the department. 183
(c) The department shall provide for and maintain a ledger 184
that tracks the award, release, and use of enhancement credits. 185
1. The operator of a water quality enhancement area shall 186
notify the department of the amount of enhancement credits sold 187
or used within 30 days after the date the enhancement credit 188
transaction is completed. 189
2. A water management district that authorizes applicants 190
seeking permits under this part to use enhancement credits to 191
offset water quality impacts must report to the department the 192
amount of enhancement credits used by the applicant. 193
(d) Reductions in pollutant loading required under any 194
state regulatory program are not eligible to be considered as 195
enhancement credits. 196
(e) Enhancement credits may not be used by point source 197
dischargers to satisfy regulatory requirements other than those 198
necessary to obtain an environmental resource permit for 199
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construction and operation of the surface water management 200
system of the site. 201
(f) Use of enhancement credits made available by a water 202
quality enhancement area shall be voluntary. 203
(g) Any landowner, discharger, or other responsible person 204
regulated under this part or s. 403.067 that is implementing 205
applicable management st rategies specified in an adopted basin 206
management action plan or reasonable assurance plan may not be 207
required by any permit or other enforcement action to use 208
enhancement credits to reduce pollutant loads to achieve the 209
pollutant reductions established pu rsuant to s. 403.067. 210
(h) A local government may not deny the use of enhancement 211
credits due to the location of the water quality enhancement 212
area outside the jurisdiction of the local government. 213
(7) AUTHORITY.-The authority granted to the department 214
under this section is supplemental to the authority granted 215
under s. 403.067(8). 216
(8) RULES.-The department may adopt rules to implement 217
this section. 218
Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraphs 219
(a) and (d) of subsection (3) of section 4 03.892, Florida 220
Statutes, are amended, and subsection (6) is added to that 221
section, to read: 222
403.892 Incentives for the use of graywater technologies. — 223
(1) As used in this section, the term: 224
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(b) "Graywater" has the same meaning as in s. 225
381.0065(2)(f) s. 381.0065(2)(e). 226
(3) To qualify for the incentives under subsection (2), 227
the developer or homebuilder must certify to the applicable 228
governmental entity as part of its application for development 229
approval or amendment of a development order that all of the 230
following conditions are met: 231
(a) The proposed or existing development has at least 25 232
single-family residential homes that are either detached or 233
multifamily dwellings. This paragraph does not apply to 234
multifamily projects over five stories in he ight. 235
(d) The required maintenance of the graywater system will 236
be the responsibility of the owner residential homeowner . 237
(6) This section does not apply to multifamily projects 238
over five stories in height. Whether a dwelling is owner 239
occupied is not an eligibility criterion for a developer or 240
homebuilder to receive the incentives authorized under this 241
section. 242
Section 3. The Department of Environmental Protection 243
shall adopt and modify rules adopted pursuant to ss. 373.4136 244
and 373.414, Florida Sta tues, to ensure that required financial 245
assurances are equivalent and sufficient to provide for the 246
long-term management of mitigation permitted under ss. 373.4136 247
and 373.414, Florida Statues. The department, in consultation 248
with the water management dist ricts, shall include the 249
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rulemaking required by this section in existing active 250
rulemaking, or shall complete rule development by June 30, 2023. 251
Section 4. For the 2022-2023 fiscal year, nine full -time 252
equivalent positions with associated salary rate o f 479,000 are 253
authorized and the sum of $878,275 in recurring funds from the 254
General Revenue Fund are appropriated to the Department of 255
Environmental Protection for the purpose of implementing this 256
act. 257
Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022. 258