FL
Florida House Bill H0645

Florida 2025 Regular Session

Florida House Bill H0645 Compare Versions

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1010 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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1414 A bill to be entitled 1
1515 An act relating to distributed wastewater treatment 2
1616 system permits; amending s. 403.814, F.S.; providing 3
17-definitions; authorizing the Secretary of 4
18-Environmental Protection to grant a general permit for 5
19-the replacement of an existing onsite sewage treatment 6
20-and disposal system with a distributed wastewater 7
21-treatment system under certain circumstances; 8
22-authorizing the installation of distributed wastewater 9
23-treatment units to proceed without any further action 10
24-by the Department of Environmental Protection if a 11
25-permittee submits a notification to the department at 12
26-least a specified number of days before installation; 13
27-providing requirements for such notification; 14
28-requiring a permittee to take specified actions for 15
29-such distributed wastewater treatment units; providing 16
30-an effective date. 17
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32-Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 19
33- 20
34- Section 1. Subsection (13) is added to section 403.814, 21
35-Florida Statutes, to read: 22
36- 403.814 General permits; delegation. — 23
37- (13)(a) For the purposes of this subsection, the term: 24
38- 1. "Distributed wastewater treatment system" or "DWTS" 25
17+definitions; authorizing a general permit for the 4
18+replacement of certain septic systems and the 5
19+installation of certain wastewater treatment units; 6
20+providing requirements for such permits and 7
21+permittees; providing an effective date. 8
22+ 9
23+Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 10
24+ 11
25+ Section 1. Subsection (13) is added to section 403.814, 12
26+Florida Statutes, to read: 13
27+ 403.814 General permits; delegation. — 14
28+ (13)(a) As used in this subsection, the term: 15
29+ 1. "Distributed wastewater treatment system" means a 16
30+category of domestic wastewater fac ility consisting of one or 17
31+more distributed wastewater treatment units. 18
32+ 2. "Distributed wastewater treatment unit" means an 19
33+advanced onsite closed -tank wastewater treatment system that is: 20
34+ a. Designed to achieve secondary treatment standards and a 21
35+minimum of 80 percent total nitrogen removal before discharge to 22
36+a subsurface application system; and 23
37+ b. Remotely operated and controlled by the permittee using 24
38+an electronic control system. 25
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4747 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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51-means an integrated system approach to treating wastewater 26
52-consisting of one or more di stributed wastewater treatment 27
53-units. 28
54- 2. "Distributed wastewater treatment unit" or "DWTU" means 29
55-an advanced onsite closed -tank wastewater treatment system that 30
56-is remotely operated and controlled by the permittee using an 31
57-electronic control system and d esigned to achieve secondary 32
58-treatment standards and a minimum of 80 percent total nitrogen 33
59-removal before discharge to a subsurface application system. 34
60- (b) A general permit is granted for the replacement of an 35
61-existing onsite sewage treatment and dispos al system, otherwise 36
62-subject to s. 381.0065, with a DWTS if the DWTU and DWTS are 37
63-commonly owned and operated by the permittee. Pursuant to 38
64-obtaining this permit, the installation of each DWTU may proceed 39
65-without any further action by the department if th e permittee 40
66-submits a notification to the department at least 30 days before 41
67-installation. Such notification must certify that a Florida -42
68-registered professional designed the DWTU in accordance with 43
69-applicable rules adopted under this chapter and that the 44
70-proposed DWTU meets all of the following requirements: 45
71- 1. The design capacity of the DWTU does not exceed 10,000 46
72-gallons per day of domestic wastewater or 5,000 gallons per day 47
73-of commercial wastewater. 48
74- 2. The DWTU may discharge without disinfection int o a 49
75-slow-rate subsurface application system designed and operated to 50
51+ (b) A general permit is granted for the replacement of 26
52+septic systems subject to s. 381.0065 that have a distributed 27
53+wastewater treatment system which is commonly owned and operated 28
54+by the permittee in accordance with this subsection. The 29
55+installation of a distributed wastewater treatment unit under 30
56+the permit may proce ed without any further agency action by the 31
57+department if, at least 30 days before installation of the 32
58+distributed wastewater treatment unit, a notification certifying 33
59+that the unit was designed by a professional registered in this 34
60+state in accordance with rules adopted under this chapter and 35
61+will meet all of the following requirements: 36
62+ 1. The design capacity of the distributed wastewater 37
63+treatment unit will not exceed 10,000 gallons per day of 38
64+domestic wastewater or 5,000 gallons per day of commercial 39
65+wastewater. 40
66+ 2. The distributed wastewater treatment unit may discharge 41
67+without disinfection into a slow -rate subsurface application 42
68+system that is designed and operated to protect public health 43
69+and safety and meets the current separation from, and at all 44
70+times has a minimum of 12 inches of separation from, the 45
71+seasonal high groundwater. 46
72+ 3. Horizontal setback distances from the distributed 47
73+wastewater treatment unit and subsurface application system to 48
74+property lines, surface waterbodies, potable water well s, and 49
75+utilities are consistent with rules adopted under s. 381.0065 50
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8484 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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88-protect public health and safety and maintain the current 51
89-separation, and in no case has less than 12 inches of 52
90-separation, between the bottom surface of the drainfield and the 53
91-water table elevation at the wettest season of the year. 54
92- 3. The horizontal setback distance from the DWTU and 55
93-subsurface application system to property lines, surface 56
94-waterbodies, potable water wells, and utilities is consistent 57
95-with rules adopted under this chapt er and s. 381.0065. 58
96- 4. The permittee has legal access to maintain and operate 59
97-the DWTU and remove the DWTU in the case of termination of 60
98-service. 61
99- 5. The permittee has submitted a plan for conducting 62
100-monthly effluent compliance sampling of a representat ive number 63
101-of deployed DWTUs, the results of which may be aggregated to 64
102-determine compliance with performance standards consistent with 65
103-this subsection and rules adopted under this chapter. 66
104- 6. The operation of the DWTU does not: 67
105- a. Create saturated conditions on the ground surface; 68
106- b. Adversely impact wetlands or other surface waters; or 69
107- c. Cause or contribute to a violation of state water 70
108-quality standards. 71
109- (c) The permittee shall: 72
110- 1. Conduct monthly reporting, annual inspections, 73
111-recordkeeping, and biosolids management for the DWTU consistent 74
112-with rules adopted under this chapter. 75
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121-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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125- 2. Schedule staffing and visitation by licensed operators 76
126-for the DWTU in a manner that is consistent with rules adopted 77
127-under this chapter, except that visitati on may be accomplished 78
128-using an electronic control system. 79
129- Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 80
88+and this chapter. 51
89+ (c) A permittee under this subsection must: 52
90+ 1. Have legal access to maintain, operate, and, in the 53
91+case of termination of service, remove the distributed 54
92+wastewater treatment unit. 55
93+ 2. Submit a plan for conducting monthly effluent 56
94+compliance sampling of a representative number of deployed 57
95+distributed wastewater treatment units, the results of which may 58
96+be aggregated to determine compliance with performance standards 59
97+consistent with this subsection and rules adopted under this 60
98+chapter. 61
99+ 3. Conduct monthly reporting, annual inspections, 62
100+recordkeeping, and biosolids management consistent with rules 63
101+adopted under this chapter. 64
102+ 4. Have staffing and visitation by license d operators in a 65
103+manner that is consistent with rules adopted under this chapter, 66
104+except that visitation may be accomplished using an electronic 67
105+control system. 68
106+ (d) The operation of any distributed wastewater treatment 69
107+unit installed under the general pe rmit may not: 70
108+ 1. Create saturated conditions on the ground surface; 71
109+ 2. Adversely impact wetlands or other surface waters; or 72
110+ 3. Cause or contribute to a violation of state water 73
111+quality standards. 74
112+ Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025. 75