Florida Senate - 2023 CS for SB 1538 By the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; and Senator Stewart 592-03512-23 20231538c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to implementation of the 3 recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force; 4 amending s. 403.067, F.S.; requiring the Department of 5 Environmental Protection to assess certain projects; 6 providing requirements for the assessments; providing 7 an effective date. 8 9 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10 11 Section 1.Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section 12 403.067, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 13 403.067Establishment and implementation of total maximum 14 daily loads. 15 (7)DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND 16 IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS. 17 (a)Basin management action plans. 18 1.In developing and implementing the total maximum daily 19 load for a water body, the department, or the department in 20 conjunction with a water management district, may develop a 21 basin management action plan that addresses some or all of the 22 watersheds and basins tributary to the water body. Such plan 23 must integrate the appropriate management strategies available 24 to the state through existing water quality protection programs 25 to achieve the total maximum daily loads and may provide for 26 phased implementation of these management strategies to promote 27 timely, cost-effective actions as provided for in s. 403.151. 28 The plan must establish a schedule implementing the management 29 strategies, establish a basis for evaluating the plans 30 effectiveness, and identify feasible funding strategies for 31 implementing the plans management strategies. The management 32 strategies may include regional treatment systems or other 33 public works, when appropriate, and voluntary trading of water 34 quality credits to achieve the needed pollutant load reductions. 35 2.A basin management action plan must equitably allocate, 36 pursuant to paragraph (6)(b), pollutant reductions to individual 37 basins, as a whole to all basins, or to each identified point 38 source or category of nonpoint sources, as appropriate. For 39 nonpoint sources for which best management practices have been 40 adopted, the initial requirement specified by the plan must be 41 those practices developed pursuant to paragraph (c). When 42 appropriate, the plan may take into account the benefits of 43 pollutant load reduction achieved by point or nonpoint sources 44 that have implemented management strategies to reduce pollutant 45 loads, including best management practices, before the 46 development of the basin management action plan. The plan must 47 also identify the mechanisms that will address potential future 48 increases in pollutant loading. 49 3.The basin management action planning process is intended 50 to involve the broadest possible range of interested parties, 51 with the objective of encouraging the greatest amount of 52 cooperation and consensus possible. In developing a basin 53 management action plan, the department shall assure that key 54 stakeholders, including, but not limited to, applicable local 55 governments, water management districts, the Department of 56 Agriculture and Consumer Services, other appropriate state 57 agencies, local soil and water conservation districts, 58 environmental groups, regulated interests, and affected 59 pollution sources, are invited to participate in the process. 60 The department shall hold at least one public meeting in the 61 vicinity of the watershed or basin to discuss and receive 62 comments during the planning process and shall otherwise 63 encourage public participation to the greatest practicable 64 extent. Notice of the public meeting must be published in a 65 newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the 66 watershed or basin lies at least 5 days, but not more than 15 67 days, before the public meeting. A basin management action plan 68 does not supplant or otherwise alter any assessment made under 69 subsection (3) or subsection (4) or any calculation or initial 70 allocation. 71 4.a.Each new or revised basin management action plan must 72 shall include: 73 (I)a.The appropriate management strategies available 74 through existing water quality protection programs to achieve 75 total maximum daily loads, which may provide for phased 76 implementation to promote timely, cost-effective actions as 77 provided for in s. 403.151; 78 (II)b.A description of best management practices adopted 79 by rule; 80 (III)c.A list of projects in priority ranking with a 81 planning-level cost estimate and estimated date of completion 82 for each listed project; 83 (IV)d.The source and amount of financial assistance to be 84 made available by the department, a water management district, 85 or other entity for each listed project, if applicable; and 86 (V)e.A planning-level estimate of each listed projects 87 expected load reduction, if applicable. 88 b.For each project listed pursuant to this subparagraph 89 which has a total cost that exceeds $1 million, the department 90 must assess through integrated and comprehensive monitoring 91 whether the project is working to reduce nutrient pollution or 92 water use, or both, as intended. These assessments must be 93 completed expeditiously and included in each basin management 94 action plan update. 95 5.The department shall adopt all or any part of a basin 96 management action plan and any amendment to such plan by 97 secretarial order pursuant to chapter 120 to implement this 98 section. 99 6.The basin management action plan must include milestones 100 for implementation and water quality improvement, and an 101 associated water quality monitoring component sufficient to 102 evaluate whether reasonable progress in pollutant load 103 reductions is being achieved over time. An assessment of 104 progress toward these milestones shall be conducted every 5 105 years, and revisions to the plan shall be made as appropriate. 106 Revisions to the basin management action plan shall be made by 107 the department in cooperation with basin stakeholders. Revisions 108 to the management strategies required for nonpoint sources must 109 follow the procedures in subparagraph (c)4. Revised basin 110 management action plans must be adopted pursuant to subparagraph 111 5. 112 7.In accordance with procedures adopted by rule under 113 paragraph (9)(c), basin management action plans, and other 114 pollution control programs under local, state, or federal 115 authority as provided in subsection (4), may allow point or 116 nonpoint sources that will achieve greater pollutant reductions 117 than required by an adopted total maximum daily load or 118 wasteload allocation to generate, register, and trade water 119 quality credits for the excess reductions to enable other 120 sources to achieve their allocation; however, the generation of 121 water quality credits does not remove the obligation of a source 122 or activity to meet applicable technology requirements or 123 adopted best management practices. Such plans must allow trading 124 between NPDES permittees, and trading that may or may not 125 involve NPDES permittees, where the generation or use of the 126 credits involve an entity or activity not subject to department 127 water discharge permits whose owner voluntarily elects to obtain 128 department authorization for the generation and sale of credits. 129 8.The departments rule relating to the equitable 130 abatement of pollutants into surface waters do not apply to 131 water bodies or water body segments for which a basin management 132 plan that takes into account future new or expanded activities 133 or discharges has been adopted under this section. 134 9.In order to promote resilient wastewater utilities, if 135 the department identifies domestic wastewater treatment 136 facilities or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems as 137 contributors of at least 20 percent of point source or nonpoint 138 source nutrient pollution or if the department determines 139 remediation is necessary to achieve the total maximum daily 140 load, a basin management action plan for a nutrient total 141 maximum daily load must include the following: 142 a.A wastewater treatment plan developed by each local 143 government, in cooperation with the department, the water 144 management district, and the public and private domestic 145 wastewater treatment facilities within the jurisdiction of the 146 local government, that addresses domestic wastewater. The 147 wastewater treatment plan must: 148 (I)Provide for construction, expansion, or upgrades 149 necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load requirements 150 applicable to the domestic wastewater treatment facility. 151 (II)Include the permitted capacity in average annual 152 gallons per day for the domestic wastewater treatment facility; 153 the average nutrient concentration and the estimated average 154 nutrient load of the domestic wastewater; a projected timeline 155 of the dates by which the construction of any facility 156 improvements will begin and be completed and the date by which 157 operations of the improved facility will begin; the estimated 158 cost of the improvements; and the identity of responsible 159 parties. 160 161 The wastewater treatment plan must be adopted as part of the 162 basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025. A local 163 government that does not have a domestic wastewater treatment 164 facility in its jurisdiction is not required to develop a 165 wastewater treatment plan unless there is a demonstrated need to 166 establish a domestic wastewater treatment facility within its 167 jurisdiction to improve water quality necessary to achieve a 168 total maximum daily load. A local government is not responsible 169 for a private domestic wastewater facilitys compliance with a 170 basin management action plan unless such facility is operated 171 through a public-private partnership to which the local 172 government is a party. 173 b.An onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 174 remediation plan developed by each local government in 175 cooperation with the department, the Department of Health, water 176 management districts, and public and private domestic wastewater 177 treatment facilities. 178 (I)The onsite sewage treatment and disposal system 179 remediation plan must identify cost-effective and financially 180 feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load 181 reductions required for onsite sewage treatment and disposal 182 systems. To identify cost-effective and financially feasible 183 projects for remediation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal 184 systems, the local government shall: 185 (A)Include an inventory of onsite sewage treatment and 186 disposal systems based on the best information available; 187 (B)Identify onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems 188 that would be eliminated through connection to existing or 189 future central domestic wastewater infrastructure in the 190 jurisdiction or domestic wastewater service area of the local 191 government, that would be replaced with or upgraded to enhanced 192 nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, 193 or that would remain on conventional onsite sewage treatment and 194 disposal systems; 195 (C)Estimate the costs of potential onsite sewage treatment 196 and disposal system connections, upgrades, or replacements; and 197 (D)Identify deadlines and interim milestones for the 198 planning, design, and construction of projects. 199 (II)The department shall adopt the onsite sewage treatment 200 and disposal system remediation plan as part of the basin 201 management action plan no later than July 1, 2025, or as 202 required for Outstanding Florida Springs under s. 373.807. 203 10.When identifying wastewater projects in a basin 204 management action plan, the department may not require the 205 higher cost option if it achieves the same nutrient load 206 reduction as a lower cost option. A regulated entity may choose 207 a different cost option if it complies with the pollutant 208 reduction requirements of an adopted total maximum daily load 209 and meets or exceeds the pollution reduction requirement of the 210 original project. 211 Section 2.This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.