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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 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 and implement program standards, procedures, 9
and requirements; providing for rulemaking; amending 10
s. 403.067, F.S.; requiring estimated pollutant load 11
reductions in basin management action plans to meet or 12
exceed certain total maximum daily load requirements; 13
revising requirements for the allocation of pollut ant 14
load reductions in the plans; requiring the plans to 15
provide strategies for mitigating or eliminating 16
pollutant load increases; requiring the strategies to 17
be reevaluated during plan updates; requiring new or 18
revised plans to include a list that identi fies and 19
prioritizes certain spatially focused projects; 20
requiring the department to assess certain projects; 21
requiring the assessments to be included in plan 22
updates; providing an effective date. 23
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Flori da: 25
HB 423 2023
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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
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Section 1. Subsection (8) of section 381.0065, Florida 27
Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (9), and a new 28
subsection (8) is added to that section, to read: 29
381.0065 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems; 30
regulation.— 31
(8) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.—Effective July 1, 2025, the 32
owner of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, 33
excluding a system required to have an operating permit, must 34
have the system inspected at least once every 5 years to assess 35
the fundamental operational condit ion of the system, prolong the 36
life of the system, and identify any failure within the system. 37
The department shall administer an onsite sewage treatment and 38
disposal system inspection program for such periodic 39
inspections. The department shall implement t he program 40
standards, procedures, and requirements and adopt rules that 41
must include, at a minimum, all of the following: 42
(a) A schedule for a 5 -year inspection cycle. 43
(b) A county-by-county implementation plan phased in over 44
a 10-year period, with fir st priority given to those areas 45
within a priority focus area for springs identified by the 46
department. 47
(c) Minimum standards for a functioning system. 48
(d) Requirements for the pumpout or repair of a failing 49
system. 50
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(e) Enforcement procedures for fai lure of a system owner 51
to obtain an inspection of the system and failure of a 52
contractor to timely report inspection results to the department 53
and the system owner. 54
Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 55
403.067, Florida Statutes, is ame nded to read: 56
403.067 Establishment and implementation of total maximum 57
daily loads.— 58
(7) DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND 59
IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS. — 60
(a) Basin management action plans. — 61
1. In developing and implementing the total maximum daily 62
load for a water body, the department, or the department in 63
conjunction with a water management district, may develop a 64
basin management action plan that addresses some or all of the 65
watersheds and basins tributary to the water body. The Such plan 66
must integrate the appropriate management strategies available 67
to the state through existing water quality protection programs 68
to achieve the total maximum daily loads and may provide for 69
phased implementation of these management strategies to promote 70
timely, cost-effective actions as provided for in s. 403.151. 71
Estimated pollutant load reductions in a basin management action 72
plan must meet or exceed the total amount of pollutant load 73
reductions needed to meet the total maximum daily load 74
requirements under the plan. The plan must establish a schedule 75
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implementing the management strategies, establish a basis for 76
evaluating the plan's effectiveness, and identify feasible 77
funding strategies for implementing t he plan's management 78
strategies. The management strategies may include regional 79
treatment systems or other public works, when appropriate, and 80
voluntary trading of water quality credits to achieve the needed 81
pollutant load reductions. 82
2. A basin manageme nt action plan must equitably allocate, 83
pursuant to paragraph (6)(b), pollutant load reductions to 84
individual basins, as a whole to all basins, or to each 85
identified point source or category of nonpoint sources, as 86
appropriate. For nonpoint sources for whi ch best management 87
practices have been adopted, the initial requirement specified 88
by the plan must be those practices developed pursuant to 89
paragraph (c). When appropriate, the plan may consider take into 90
account the benefits of pollutant load reduction ac hieved by 91
point or nonpoint sources that have implemented management 92
strategies to reduce pollutant loads, including best management 93
practices, before the development of the basin management action 94
plan. The allocation must consider projected increases in 95
pollutant loading related to population growth as estimated by 96
the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business 97
Research and projected increases in pollutant loading related to 98
agricultural growth based on agricultural water use estimates by 99
the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The plan 100
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must provide strategies for mitigating or eliminating the 101
pollutant load increases for the life of the plan. The 102
strategies must be reevaluated during each plan update The plan 103
must also identify the mechanisms that will address potential 104
future increases in pollutant loading . 105
3. The basin management action planning process is 106
intended to involve the broadest possible range of interested 107
parties, with the objective of encouraging the greatest amount 108
of cooperation and consensus possible. In developing a basin 109
management action plan, the department shall assure that key 110
stakeholders, including, but not limited to, applicable local 111
governments, water management districts, the Department of 112
Agriculture and Consumer Services, other appropriate state 113
agencies, local soil and water conservation districts, 114
environmental groups, regulated interests, and affected 115
pollution sources, are invited to participate in the process. 116
The department shall hold at least o ne public meeting in the 117
vicinity of the watershed or basin to discuss and receive 118
comments during the planning process and shall otherwise 119
encourage public participation to the greatest practicable 120
extent. Notice of the public meeting must be published in a 121
newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the 122
watershed or basin lies at least 5 days, but not more than 15 123
days, before the public meeting. A basin management action plan 124
does not supplant or otherwise alter any assessment made under 125
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subsection (3) or subsection (4) or any calculation or initial 126
allocation. 127
4.a. Each new or revised basin management action plan must 128
shall include all of the following : 129
(I)a. The appropriate management strategies available 130
through existing water quality protection programs to achieve 131
total maximum daily loads, which may provide for phased 132
implementation to promote timely, cost -effective actions as 133
provided for in s. 403.151 .; 134
(II)b. A description of best management practices adopted 135
by rule.; 136
(III)c. A list of projects in priority ranking with a 137
planning-level cost estimate and estimated date of completion 138
for each listed project .; 139
(IV) A list that identifies and priorit izes spatially 140
focused suites of projects in areas likely to yield maximum 141
pollutant reductions. 142
(V)d. The source and amount of financial assistance to be 143
made available by the department, a water management district, 144
or other entity for each listed proj ect, if applicable.; and 145
(VI)e. A planning-level estimate of each listed project's 146
expected load reduction, if applicable. 147
b. For each project listed pursuant to this subparagraph 148
which has a total cost that exceeds $1 million, the department 149
must assess through integrated and comprehensive monitoring 150
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whether the project is working to reduce nutrient pollution or 151
water use, or both, as intended. The assessments must be 152
completed expeditiously and included in each plan update. 153
5. The department shall a dopt all or any part of a basin 154
management action plan and any amendment to the such plan by 155
secretarial order pursuant to chapter 120 to implement this 156
section. 157
6. The basin management action plan must include 158
milestones for implementation and water qua lity improvement, and 159
an associated water quality monitoring component sufficient to 160
evaluate whether reasonable progress in pollutant load 161
reductions is being achieved over time. An assessment of 162
progress toward these milestones shall be conducted every 5 163
years, and revisions to the plan shall be made as appropriate. 164
Revisions to the basin management action plan shall be made by 165
the department in cooperation with basin stakeholders. Revisions 166
to the management strategies required for nonpoint sources must 167
follow the procedures in subparagraph (c)4. Revised basin 168
management action plans must be adopted pursuant to subparagraph 169
5. 170
7. In accordance with procedures adopted by rule under 171
paragraph (9)(c), basin management action plans, and other 172
pollution control programs under local, state, or federal 173
authority as provided in subsection (4), may allow point or 174
nonpoint sources that will achieve greater pollutant reductions 175
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than required by an adopted total maximum daily load or 176
wasteload allocation to generate , register, and trade water 177
quality credits for the excess reductions to enable other 178
sources to achieve their allocation; however, the generation of 179
water quality credits does not remove the obligation of a source 180
or activity to meet applicable technology requirements or 181
adopted best management practices. The Such plans must allow 182
trading between NPDES permittees, and trading that may or may 183
not involve NPDES permittees, where the generation or use of the 184
credits involve an entity or activity not subject t o department 185
water discharge permits whose owner voluntarily elects to obtain 186
department authorization for the generation and sale of credits. 187
8. The department's rule relating to the equitable 188
abatement of pollutants into surface waters do not apply to 189
water bodies or water body segments for which a basin management 190
plan that considers takes into account future new or expanded 191
activities or discharges has been adopted under this section. 192
9. In order to promote resilient wastewater utilities, if 193
the department identifies domestic wastewater treatment 194
facilities or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems as 195
contributors of at least 20 percent of point source or nonpoint 196
source nutrient pollution or if the department determines 197
remediation is necessar y to achieve the total maximum daily 198
load, a basin management action plan for a nutrient total 199
maximum daily load must include the following: 200
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a. A wastewater treatment plan developed by each local 201
government, in cooperation with the department, the water 202
management district, and the public and private domestic 203
wastewater treatment facilities within the jurisdiction of the 204
local government, that addresses domestic wastewater. The 205
wastewater treatment plan must: 206
(I) Provide for construction, expansion, or upgrades 207
necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load requirements 208
applicable to the domestic wastewater treatment facility. 209
(II) Include the permitted capacity in average annual 210
gallons per day for the domestic wastewater treatment facility; 211
the average nutrient concentration and the estimated average 212
nutrient load of the domestic wastewater; a projected timeline 213
of the dates by which the construction of any facility 214
improvements will begin and be completed and the date by which 215
operations of the improved facility will begin; the estimated 216
cost of the improvements; and the identity of responsible 217
parties. 218
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The wastewater treatment plan must be adopted as part of the 220
basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025. A local 221
government that does not have a domestic wastewater treatment 222
facility in its jurisdiction is not required to develop a 223
wastewater treatment plan unless there is a demonstrated need to 224
establish a domestic wastewater treatment facility within its 225
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jurisdiction to improve wate r quality necessary to achieve a 226
total maximum daily load. A local government is not responsible 227
for a private domestic wastewater facility's compliance with a 228
basin management action plan unless such facility is operated 229
through a public-private partnership to which the local 230
government is a party. 231
b. An onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 232
remediation plan developed by each local government in 233
cooperation with the department, the Department of Health, water 234
management districts, and public and pr ivate domestic wastewater 235
treatment facilities. 236
(I) The onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 237
remediation plan must identify cost -effective and financially 238
feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load 239
reductions required for onsite sewa ge treatment and disposal 240
systems. To identify cost -effective and financially feasible 241
projects for remediation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal 242
systems, the local government shall: 243
(A) Include an inventory of onsite sewage treatment and 244
disposal systems based on the best information available; 245
(B) Identify onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems 246
that would be eliminated through connection to existing or 247
future central domestic wastewater infrastructure in the 248
jurisdiction or domestic wastew ater service area of the local 249
government, that would be replaced with or upgraded to enhanced 250
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nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, 251
or that would remain on conventional onsite sewage treatment and 252
disposal systems; 253
(C) Estimate the costs of potential onsite sewage 254
treatment and disposal system connections, upgrades, or 255
replacements; and 256
(D) Identify deadlines and interim milestones for the 257
planning, design, and construction of projects. 258
(II) The department shall adopt the onsite sewage 259
treatment and disposal system remediation plan as part of the 260
basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025, or as 261
required for Outstanding Florida Springs under s. 373.807. 262
10. When identifying wastewater projects in a basin 263
management action plan, the department may not require the 264
higher cost option if it achieves the same nutrient load 265
reduction as a lower cost option. A regulated entity may choose 266
a different cost option if it complies with the pollutant 267
reduction requirements of an adopted total maximum daily load 268
and meets or exceeds the pollution reduction requirement of the 269
original project. 270
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 271