Florida Senate - 2018                             CS for SB 1664
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation;
       and Senator Simmons
       
       
       
       
       592-02317A-18                                         20181664c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to basin management action plans;
    3         amending s. 403.067, F.S.; defining “onsite sewage
    4         treatment and disposal system”; requiring the
    5         Department of Environmental Protection and other
    6         entities, as part of a basin management action plan,
    7         to develop onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
    8         remediation plans under certain conditions; specifying
    9         parameters for selecting priority focus areas for
   10         remediation; specifying the parameters for developing
   11         and adopting a remediation plan; specifying
   12         requirements for the installation, repair,
   13         modification, or upgrade of certain onsite sewage
   14         treatment and disposal systems; requiring the
   15         department to evaluate the need for the creation or
   16         improvement of wastewater treatment facilities;
   17         authorizing funding; providing criteria for the
   18         prioritization of funding for wastewater treatment
   19         facilities; requiring the department to develop rules;
   20         providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision
   21         and Information; providing an effective date.
   22          
   23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   24  
   25         Section 1. Present paragraph (d) of subsection (7) of
   26  section 403.067, Florida Statutes, is redesignated as paragraph
   27  (f), and new paragraphs (d) and (e) are added to that
   28  subsection, to read:
   29         403.067 Establishment and implementation of total maximum
   30  daily loads.—
   31         (7) DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND
   32  IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS.—
   33         (d) Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems.—
   34         1.For purposes of this paragraph, “onsite sewage treatment
   35  and disposal system” has the same meaning as in s. 381.0065.
   36         2. As part of a basin management action plan, the
   37  department, the Department of Health, relevant local
   38  governments, and relevant local public and private wastewater
   39  utilities must develop an onsite sewage treatment and disposal
   40  system remediation plan if the department determines that
   41  remediation is necessary to achieve a total maximum daily load.
   42  In order to promote cost-effective remediation, the department
   43  may identify one or more priority focus areas. The department
   44  shall identify these areas by considering soil conditions;
   45  groundwater or surface water travel time; proximity to surface
   46  waters, including predominantly marine waters as defined by
   47  department rule; hydrogeology; onsite system density; nutrient
   48  load; and other factors that may lead to water quality
   49  degradation. The remediation plan must identify cost-effective
   50  and financially feasible projects necessary to reduce the
   51  nutrient impacts from onsite sewage treatment and disposal
   52  systems. The plan shall be completed and adopted as part of the
   53  basin management action plan within 5 years of the effective
   54  date of this act. The department is the lead agency in
   55  coordinating the preparation and adoption of the plan. In
   56  developing and adopting the plan, the department shall:
   57         a. Collect and evaluate credible scientific information on
   58  the effect of nutrients on surface and groundwaters;
   59         b. Work with local stakeholders to develop a public
   60  education plan to provide area residents with reliable,
   61  understandable information about onsite sewage treatment and
   62  disposal systems and surface and groundwater pollution;
   63         c. Ensure that the plan includes options, if appropriate,
   64  for system repair, upgrade, or replacement; drainfield
   65  modification; the addition of effective nutrient-reducing
   66  features; connection to a central sewerage system; or other
   67  actions addressing onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
   68  issues. The department shall include in the plan a priority
   69  ranking for each onsite system, or group of systems, that
   70  requires remediation. The priority ranking shall be used to
   71  ensure the most effective, efficient use of the funding provided
   72  for onsite system remediation. In awarding any such funds, the
   73  department may consider expected nutrient reduction benefit per
   74  unit cost, the size and scope of the project, local financial
   75  contribution to the project relative to the overall cost, and
   76  the financial impact on property owners and the community. For
   77  the purpose of awarding funds, the department may, at its
   78  discretion, totally or partially waive this consideration of the
   79  local contribution for proposed projects within an area
   80  designated as a rural area of opportunity under s. 288.0656; and
   81         d. Ensure that the plan includes an implementation schedule
   82  for completion of the actions related to reducing onsite sewage
   83  treatment and disposal system nutrient loads, with milestones,
   84  periodic progress evaluations, and a completion date necessary
   85  to achieve the total maximum daily load within the timeframe
   86  established in the basin management action plan.
   87         3. The installation, repair, modification, or upgrade of
   88  onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems on lots of 1 acre
   89  or less and within the boundaries of a basin management action
   90  plan with an onsite sewage treatment and disposal remediation
   91  plan must conform to the requirements of the remediation plan.
   92         (e)Wastewater treatment facilities.—As part of the basin
   93  management action plan, the department shall evaluate the need
   94  for the creation or improvement of wastewater treatment
   95  facilities to meet the total maximum daily load. The department
   96  shall identify funding sources available to the relevant local
   97  governments for the creation or improvement of wastewater
   98  treatment facilities. The department and the relevant water
   99  management districts are authorized and encouraged to enter into
  100  cost-share agreements with the relevant local governments for
  101  the creation or improvement of wastewater treatment facilities.
  102  If a wastewater treatment facility is identified for funding
  103  pursuant to this paragraph, the department and the water
  104  management districts shall give priority to projects according
  105  to the extent each project is intended to remove, mitigate, or
  106  prevent adverse effects on surface or groundwater quality and
  107  public health. The relative costs of achieving environmental and
  108  public health benefits must be taken into consideration during
  109  the department’s or water management district’s assignment of
  110  project priorities. The department shall adopt a priority system
  111  by rule. In developing the priority system, the department or
  112  water management district shall give priority to projects that:
  113         1. Eliminate public health hazards;
  114         2. Enable compliance with laws requiring the elimination of
  115  discharges to specific water bodies;
  116         3. Assist in the implementation of total maximum daily
  117  loads adopted under this section;
  118         4. Enable compliance with other pollution control
  119  requirements, including, but not limited to, toxics control,
  120  wastewater residuals management, and reduction of nutrients and
  121  bacteria;
  122         5. Assist in the implementation of surface water
  123  improvement and management plans and pollutant load reduction
  124  goals developed under state water policy;
  125         6. Promote reclaimed water reuse;
  126         7. Eliminate failing onsite sewage treatment and disposal
  127  systems or those that are causing environmental damage; or
  128         8. Reduce pollutants to and otherwise promote the
  129  restoration of Florida’s surface and groundwaters.
  130         Section 2. Division of Law Revision and Information is
  131  directed to replace the phrase “the effective date of this act”
  132  wherever it occurs in this act with the date the act becomes a
  133  law.
  134         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.
  135