The Florida Senate
BILL ANALYSIS AND FISCAL IMPACT STATEMENT
(This document is based on the provisions contained in the legislation as of the latest date listed below.)
Prepared By: The Professional Staff of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
BILL: SB 604
INTRODUCER: Senator Berman
SUBJECT: Safe Waterways Act
DATE: February 4, 2022
ANALYST STAFF DIRECTOR REFERENCE ACTION
1. Collazo Rogers EN Pre-meeting
2. CA
3. AP
I. Summary:
SB 604 revises state law governing the sampling of beach waters and public bathing places, the
issuance of health advisories, and the posting of associated signage. The bill:
Eliminates the definition for, and all references to, “beach waters” in state law, and redefines
“public bathing places” to include fresh water, salt water, and brackish water.
Eliminates Department of Health (DOH) discretion regarding whether to:
o Adopt and enforce rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of persons using public
bathing places, by making the adoption and enforcement of such rules mandatory; and
o Issue health advisories if the water quality of a public bathing place fails to meet DOH
standards, by making the issuance of such health advisories mandatory.
Expands the following based upon its revised definition of public bathing places:
o The area over which the issuance of health advisories related to the results of
bacteriological sampling is preempted to DOH; and
o The area for which DOH must give notice of health advisories against swimming to
municipalities, counties, and the local office of the Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP).
Requires local governments having jurisdiction over affected public bathing places to post
and maintain conspicuous signs, which contain certain specified language and are adopted by
DOH rule, to advise the public that DOH has issued a health advisory against swimming.
Requires DOH to monitor affected public bathing places to ensure that signage is posted
appropriately until the bacterial contamination is resolved.
Provides that if an affected public bathing place is not within the jurisdiction of a local
government, then DOH:
o Must post and maintain the required signage as provided in the bill; and
o May coordinate with DEP and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to
implement the signage requirements.
REVISED: BILL: SB 604 Page 2
II. Present Situation:
Department of Health
The Department of Health (DOH) protects and promotes the health of all residents and visitors in
the state through organized state and community efforts, including cooperative agreements with
counties.
1
DOH is required to:
2
Identify, diagnose, and conduct surveillance of diseases and health conditions in the state and
accumulate the health statistics necessary to establish trends;
Implement interventions that prevent or limit the impact or spread of diseases and health
conditions;
Collect, manage, and analyze vital statistics and other health data to inform the public and
formulate public health policy and planning;
Maintain and coordinate preparedness for and responses to public health emergencies in the
state;
Provide or ensure the provision of quality health care and related services to identified
populations in the state;
Regulate environmental activities that have a direct impact on public health in the state; and
Regulate health practitioners for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the
public.
3
DOH is comprised of a state health office (i.e. a central office) in Tallahassee, with statewide
responsibilities; Florida’s 67 County Health Departments (CHDs); 22 Children’s Medical
Services area offices; 12 Medical Quality Assurance regional offices; 9 Disability
Determinations regional offices; and 3 public health laboratories.
4
Facilities for the 67 CHDs are
provided through partnerships with local county governments. These 67 CHDs have a total of
255 sites throughout the state, providing a variety of services, and ranging from small to large in
location size.
5
DOH Regulation of Beach Waters and Public Bathing Places
State law permits, but does not require, DOH to adopt and enforce rules to protect the health,
safety, and welfare of persons using the beach waters and public bathing places of the state.
6
State law defines the term “beach waters” to mean the waters along the coastal and intracoastal
beaches and shores of the state, and includes all salt water and brackish water.
7
A “[p]ublic
bathing place” means a body of water, natural or modified by humans, for swimming, diving,
and recreational bathing used by consent of the owner or owners and held out to the public by
1
Section 20.43(1), F.S.
2
Section 20.43(1)(a)-(g), F.S.
3
Id.
4
DOH, About Us, https://www.floridahealth.gov/about/index.html (last visited Feb. 1, 2022).
5
Id.
6
Section 514.023(2), F.S.
7
Section 514.023(1), F.S. BILL: SB 604 Page 3
any person or public body, regardless of whether a fee is charged to use it.
8
The bathing water
areas of public bathing places include, but are not limited to, lakes, ponds, rivers, streams,
artificial impoundments, and waters along the coastal and intracoastal beaches and shores of the
state.
9
If adopted, the rules must establish health standards and prescribe procedures and timeframes for
bacteriological sampling of beach waters and public bathing places.
10
State law also permits, but
does not require, DOH to issue health advisories if the quality of beach waters or a public
bathing place fails to meet standards adopted by it.
11
The issuance of health advisories related to
the results of bacteriological sampling of beach waters is preempted to the state.
12
DOH has adopted and enforces rules requiring the owners or managers of public bathing places
to monitor for water quality, report the results to DOH and the relevant county health
department, and provide notice to DOH and the public whenever there are water quality
violations of adopted bacteriological standards for fecal coliform, E. coli, and enterococci.
13
Bacteriological samples for public bathing places must be collected and tested monthly.
14
If test
results exceed standards, the relevant county health department must perform an inspection and
the bathing place owner or manager must post a no swimming advisory; only after re-sampling
confirms that the bathing water again meets standards may the owner or manager rescind the
posted no-swimming advisory.
15
DOH can close a public pool for failing to comply with the
rules, including failing to comply with water quality standards, and may attach a sign that states:
“Pool closed. This pool is not in compliance with Chapter 64E-9, F.A.C., and may endanger the
health, safety or welfare of persons using this facility.”
16
By statute, whenever DOH issues a health advisory against swimming in beach waters or a
public bathing place on the basis of finding elevated levels of fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, or
enterococci bacteria in a water sample, DOH must concurrently notify the municipality or county
in which the affected beach waters are located, whichever has jurisdiction, and the local office of
the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
17
The local office of DEP must then
promptly investigate wastewater treatment facilities within 1 mile of the affected beach waters or
public bathing place to determine if a facility experienced an incident that may have contributed
to the contamination and provide the results of the investigation in writing or by electronic
means to the municipality or county, as applicable.
18
8
Section 514.011(4), F.S.
9
Id.
10
Id.
11
Section 514.023(3), F.S.
12
Id.
13
Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.013(1)-(3).
14
Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.013(1)(a).
15
Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.013(1)-(2).
16
See Fla. Admin. Code R. 64E-9.017(1)(h) (permitting closure for “[a]ny other condition” endangering the health, safety, or
welfare of persons using the public pool).
17
Section 514.023(4), F.S.
18
Id. BILL: SB 604 Page 4
Fecal Coliform, Escherichia Coli, and Enterococci Bacteria
Coliforms are bacteria that live in the intestines of warm-blooded animals (humans, pets, farm
animals, and wildlife).
19
Fecal coliform bacteria are a kind of coliform associated with human or
animal wastes. Escherichia coli (E. coli) is part of the group of fecal coliforms.
20
Enterococci are
also bacteria associated with human and animal wastes.
21
Sources of fecal indicator bacteria include wastewater treatment plant effluent, leaking septic
systems, stormwater runoff, sewage discharged or dumped from recreational boats, domestic
animal and wildlife waste, improper land application of manure or sewage, and runoff from
manure storage areas, pastures, rangelands, and feedlots.
22
Coliforms and enterococci are indicators of the presence of fecal material in water and, therefore,
of the possible presence of disease-causing bacteria, viruses, and protozoa.
23
These pathogens
can sicken swimmers and others who use rivers and streams for recreation or eat raw shellfish or
fish. Other potential health effects can include diseases of the skin, eyes, ears and respiratory
tract. Eating fish or shellfish harvested from waters with fecal contamination can also result in
human illness.
24
The Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act
The federal Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 (BEACH Act)
25
amended the Clean Water Act in 2000.
26
The BEACH Act is designed to reduce the risk of
disease to users of coastal recreation waters. It authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to award program development and implementation grants to eligible states, territories,
tribes, and local governments to support microbiological testing and monitoring of coastal
recreational waters, including the Great Lakes and waters adjacent to beaches or similar points of
access used by the public. BEACH Act grants also provide support for developing and
implementing programs to notify the public of the potential for exposure to disease-causing
microorganisms in coastal recreation waters.
27
III. Effect of Proposed Changes:
Section 1 of the bill revises the definition for “public bathing place” in state law to clarify that it
includes fresh, salt, and brackish waters.
19
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Response to 2005 Hurricanes, https://archive.epa.gov/katrina/web/html/
fecal.html (last visited Feb. 1, 2022).
20
Id.
21
EPA, National Aquatic Resource Surveys, Indicators: Enterococci, https://www.epa.gov/national-aquatic-resource-
surveys/indicators-enterococci (last visited Feb 1, 2022).
22
See EPA, Response to 2005 Hurricanes, https://archive.epa.gov/katrina/web/html/fecal.html (last visited Feb. 1, 2022)
(regarding coliforms); see also EPA, National Aquatic Resource Surveys, Indicators: Enterococci, https://www.epa.gov/
national-aquatic-resource-surveys/indicators-enterococci (last visited Feb 1, 2022) (regarding enterococci).
23
See id.
24
See id.
25
Pub. L. No. 106-284, 114 Stat. 870 (2000), available at https://www.congress.gov/106/plaws/publ284/PLAW-
106publ284.pdf (last visited Feb. 1, 2022).
26
EPA, Summary of the BEACH Act, https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-beach-act (last visited Feb. 1, 2022).
27
Id. BILL: SB 604 Page 5
Section 2 of the bill deletes all references to “beach waters” in state law and replaces them with
the revised definition of “public bathing place.”
The bill eliminates Department of Health (DOH) discretion regarding whether to adopt and
enforce rules to protect the health, safety, and welfare of persons using public bathing places in
the state, by making the adoption and enforcement of such rules mandatory. It also eliminates
DOH discretion regarding whether to issue health advisories if the quality of a public bathing
place fails to meet standards established by DOH, by making the issuance of such health
advisories mandatory.
The bill relies upon the revised definition of public bathing places to expand:
The area over which the issuance of health advisories related to the results of bacteriological
sampling is preempted to DOH; and
The area for which DOH must give notice of health advisories against swimming to
municipalities, counties, and the local office of the Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP).
The bill requires the municipality or county in which the affected public bathing place is located,
whichever has jurisdiction, to post conspicuous signs, adopted by DOH rule, around the affected
areas to advise the public that DOH has issued a health advisory against swimming in that area
due to elevated levels of fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, or enterococci bacteria in the water. It
requires the sign to include the following language:
THIS WATER BODY HAS BEEN VERIFIED BY THE FLORIDA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH TO BE CONTAMINATED WITH FECAL
BACTERIA. RESTORATION IN COMPLIANCE WITH STATE WATER
QUALITY STANDARDS IS REQUIRED. THIS WATER BODY PRESENTS A
RISK OF INFECTION OR ILLNESS. AVOID SWIMMING AND USE
CAUTION TO AVOID INGESTING THE WATER OR EXPOSING OPEN
CUTS. SECTION 514.023, FLORIDA STATUTES.
The bill requires the municipality or county, as applicable, to maintain the signage until
subsequent testing of the water shows the bacteria levels meet DOH’s standards again. DOH
must monitor affected public bathing places to ensure that signage is posted appropriately until
the bacteria contamination is resolved.
The bill provides that if the affected public bathing place is not within the jurisdiction of a
municipality or county, DOH must post and maintain the required signage as provided in the bill.
DOH may coordinate with DEP and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to
implement the signage requirements in the bill.
Section 3 of the bill provides an effective date of July 1, 2022. BILL: SB 604 Page 6
IV. Constitutional Issues:
A. Municipality/County Mandates Restrictions:
None.
B. Public Records/Open Meetings Issues:
None.
C. Trust Funds Restrictions:
None.
D. State Tax or Fee Increases:
None.
E. Other Constitutional Issues:
None.
V. Fiscal Impact Statement:
A. Tax/Fee Issues:
None.
B. Private Sector Impact:
The bill will have a positive fiscal impact on the owners and managers of privately-
owned public bathing places, who will no longer be responsible for the acquisition,
posting, and removal of signage. Instead, municipalities, counties, and the Department of
Health will assume these duties under the bill.
C. Government Sector Impact:
The bill will likely cause municipalities and counties to incur costs associated with the
acquisition, posting, and removal of signage. Additionally, DOH estimates that it will
incur a total of approximately $4,660,000 million in costs for FTEs, lab testing, and water
sample collections conducted weekly at approximately 920 new water quality testing
sites in the first lapsed year, and $4,860,000 each subsequent year on a recurring basis.
28
VI. Technical Deficiencies:
None.
28
DOH, 2022 Agency Legislative Bill Analysis, Agency: Department of Health, Bill No. 604 (on file with the Florida Senate
Environment and Natural Resources Committee). BILL: SB 604 Page 7
VII. Related Issues:
None.
VIII. Statutes Affected:
This bill substantially amends sections 514.011 and 514.023 of the Florida Statutes.
IX. Additional Information:
A. Committee Substitute – Statement of Changes:
(Summarizing differences between the Committee Substitute and the prior version of the bill.)
None.
B. Amendments:
None.
This Senate Bill Analysis does not reflect the intent or official position of the bill’s introducer or the Florida Senate.