HB 7177

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the comprehensive statewide water
3	conservation program; amending s. 373.227, F.S.; revising
4	provisions of the program to provide for a Conserve
5	Florida Clearinghouse and a Conserve Florida Clearinghouse
6	Guide to assist public water supply utilities in
7	developing goal-based water conservation plans to meet
8	water conservation requirements for obtaining consumptive
9	use permits; encouraging water management districts and
10	public water supply utilities to use the guide for water
11	conservation plans, reports, and assessments; revising
12	requirements for goal-based water conservation plans
13	submitted by public water supply utilities as part of
14	consumptive use permit applications; deleting an obsolete
15	provision requiring the Department of Environmental
16	Protection to submit a report on the program to the
17	Governor, the Legislature, and substantive legislative
18	committees by a specified date; providing an effective
19	date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Section 373.227, Florida Statutes, is amended
24	to read:
25	373.227  Water conservation; legislative findings;
26	legislative intent; objectives; comprehensive statewide water
27	conservation program requirements.-
28	(1)  The Legislature recognizes that the proper
29	conservation of water is an important means of achieving the
30	economical and efficient utilization of water necessary, in
31	part, to constitute a reasonable-beneficial use. The overall
32	water conservation goal of the state is to prevent and reduce
33	wasteful, uneconomical, impractical, or unreasonable use of
34	water resources. The Legislature finds that the social,
35	economic, and cultural conditions of the state relating to the
36	use of public water supply vary by service area and that public
37	water supply utilities must have the flexibility to tailor water
38	conservation measures to best suit their individual
39	circumstances. The Legislature encourages the use of efficient,
40	effective, and affordable water conservation measures. Where
41	water is provided by a public water supply utility, the
42	Legislature intends that a variety of conservation measures be
43	made available and used to encourage efficient water use. To
44	achieve these conservation objectives, the state should
45	emphasize goal-based, accountable, tailored, and measurable
46	water conservation programs for public water supply. For
47	purposes of this section, the term "public water supply utility"
48	includes both publicly owned and privately owned public water
49	supply utilities that sell potable water on a retail basis to
50	end users.
51	(2)  To implement the findings in subsection (1), the
52	department, in cooperation with the water management districts
53	and other stakeholders, shall develop a comprehensive statewide
54	water conservation program for public water supply. The program
55	should:
56	(a)  Encourage utilities to implement water conservation
57	programs that are economically efficient, effective, affordable,
58	and appropriate;
59	(b)  Allow no reduction in, and increase where possible,
60	utility-specific water conservation effectiveness over current
61	programs;
62	(c)  Be goal-based, accountable, measurable, and
63	implemented collaboratively with water suppliers, water users,
64	and water management agencies;
65	(d)  Include cost and benefit data on individual water
66	conservation practices to assist in tailoring practices to be
67	effective for the unique characteristics of particular utility
68	service areas, focusing upon cost-effective measures;
69	(e)  Use standardized public water supply conservation
70	definitions and standardized quantitative and qualitative
71	performance measures for an overall system of assessing and
72	benchmarking the effectiveness of water conservation programs
73	and practices;
74	(f)  Create a Conserve Florida Clearinghouse or inventory
75	for water conservation programs and practices available to
76	public water supply utilities which will provide an integrated
77	statewide database for the collection, evaluation, and
78	dissemination of quantitative and qualitative information on
79	public water supply conservation programs and practices and
80	their effectiveness. The clearinghouse or inventory should have
81	technical assistance capabilities to aid in the design,
82	refinement, and implementation of water conservation programs
83	and practices. The clearinghouse or inventory shall also provide
84	for continual assessment of the effectiveness of water
85	conservation programs and practices;
86	(g)  Develop a standardized water conservation planning
87	process for utilities; and
88	(h)  Develop and maintain a Florida-specific Conserve
89	Florida Clearinghouse Guide water conservation guidance document
90	containing a menu of affordable and effective water conservation
91	practices to assist public water supply utilities in the design
92	and implementation of goal-based, utility-specific water
93	conservation plans tailored for their individual service areas
94	as provided in subsection (5) (4).
95	(3)  The Conserve Florida Clearinghouse Guide is recognized
96	as an appropriate tool to assist public water supply utilities
97	in developing goal-based water conservation plans to meet the
98	water conservation requirements for obtaining consumptive use
99	permits. Water management districts and public water supply
100	utilities are encouraged to use the guide in developing water
101	conservation plans, reporting on the implementation of water
102	conservation practices and measures included in consumptive use
103	permits, evaluating proposals for financial cost sharing of
104	water conservation activities, and assessing the effectiveness
105	of water conservation projects.
106	(4)(3)  Regarding the use of water conservation or drought
107	rate structures as a conservation practice, a water management
108	district shall afford a public water supply utility wide
109	latitude in selecting a rate structure and shall limit its
110	review to whether the utility has provided reasonable assurance
111	that the rate structure contains a schedule of rates designed to
112	promote efficient use of water by providing economic incentives.
113	A water management district shall not fix or revise rates.
114	(5)(4)  As part of an application for a consumptive use
115	permit, a public water supply utility may propose a goal-based
116	water conservation plan that is tailored to its individual
117	circumstances as a partial or entire alternative to the water
118	conservation requirements adopted by the appropriate water
119	management district. The public water supply utility is
120	encouraged, but not required, to use the Conserve Florida
121	Clearinghouse Guide in developing its goal-based water
122	conservation plan. The plan shall include a schedule for
123	implementing the utility's water conservation goal or goals. The
124	plan must include a means for measuring progress towards the
125	water conservation goal or goals must be measurable.
126	(6)  If a public water supply utility elects to develop a
127	goal-based water conservation plan, the utility shall submit the
128	plan to the appropriate water management district for approval.
129	The plan must be designed to achieve the water conservation goal
130	or goals in a cost-effective manner, considering the utility's
131	customers, service area, and other individual circumstances of
132	the utility. If the utility provides reasonable assurance that
133	the plan will achieve effective water conservation at least as
134	well as the water conservation requirements adopted by the
135	appropriate water management district and is otherwise
136	consistent with s. 373.223, the district must approve the plan
137	which shall satisfy water conservation requirements imposed as a
138	condition of obtaining a consumptive use permit. The
139	conservation measures included in an approved goal-based water
140	conservation plan may be reviewed periodically and updated as
141	needed to ensure efficient water use for the duration of the
142	permit. If the plan fails to meet the water conservation goal or
143	goals by the timeframes specified in the permit, the public
144	water supply utility shall revise the plan to address the
145	deficiency or employ the water conservation requirements that
146	would otherwise apply in the absence of an approved goal-based
147	plan.
148	(5)  By December 1, 2005, the department shall submit a
149	written report to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of
150	the House of Representatives, and the appropriate substantive
151	committees of the Senate and the House of Representatives on the
152	progress made in implementing the comprehensive statewide water
153	conservation program for public water supply required by this
154	section. The report must include any statutory changes and
155	funding requests necessary for the continued development and
156	implementation of the program.
157	(7)(6)  The department or a water management district may
158	adopt rules pursuant to ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54 to carry out
159	the purposes of this section.
160	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.