Florida Senate - 2013         (PROPOSED COMMITTEE BILL) SPB 7034
       
       
       
       FOR CONSIDERATION By the Committee on Environmental Preservation
       and Conservation
       
       
       
       592-02550-13                                          20137034__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to numeric nutrient criteria; amending
    3         s. 403.061, F.S.; authorizing the Department of
    4         Environmental Protection to implement ss. 403.088 and
    5         403.067, F.S., to control nutrient load in state
    6         waters; authorizing the department to implement its
    7         adopted nutrient standards; directing the department
    8         to remove rule 62-302.531(9), Florida Administrative
    9         Code, when the United States Environmental Protection
   10         Agency withdraws all federal numeric nutrient criteria
   11         rules in the state; subjecting any numeric nutrient
   12         rules for estuaries adopted in 2013 to the provisions
   13         of rule 62-302.531(9), Florida Administrative Code,
   14         and exempting them from ratification under s.
   15         120.541(3), F.S.; directing the department to
   16         establish estuary specific numeric interpretations of
   17         the narrative nutrient criterion for total nitrogen,
   18         total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a for any estuary
   19         not already subject to department numeric nutrient
   20         criteria; directing the department to send a report to
   21         the Governor, the Speaker of the House of
   22         Representatives, and the President of the Senate by
   23         August 1, 2013, concerning the status of establishing
   24         numeric nutrient criteria in the state; providing an
   25         effective date.
   26  
   27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   28  
   29         Section 1. Subsection (43) is added to section 403.061,
   30  Florida Statutes, to read:
   31         403.061 Department; powers and duties.—The department shall
   32  have the power and the duty to control and prohibit pollution of
   33  air and water in accordance with the law and rules adopted and
   34  promulgated by it and, for this purpose, to:
   35         (43)(a) Implement ss. 403.088 and 403.067 in flowing waters
   36  consistent with the attainment and maintenance of:
   37         1. The narrative criterion for nutrients and any in-stream
   38  numeric interpretation of the narrative water quality criterion
   39  for nutrients adopted by the department in streams, canals, and
   40  other conveyances; and
   41         2. Nutrient water quality standards applicable to
   42  downstream waters.
   43         (b) The loading of nutrients to downstream waters from a
   44  stream, canal, or other conveyance shall be limited to provide
   45  for the attainment and maintenance of nutrient water quality
   46  standards in the downstream waters.
   47         1. If the downstream water does not have a total maximum
   48  daily load adopted under s. 403.067 and has not been verified as
   49  impaired by nutrient loadings, then the department shall
   50  implement its authority in a manner that prevents impairment of
   51  the downstream water due to loadings from the upstream water.
   52         2. If the downstream water does not have a total maximum
   53  daily load adopted under s. 403.067 but has been verified as
   54  impaired by nutrient loadings, then the department shall adopt a
   55  total maximum daily load under s. 403.067.
   56         3. If the downstream water has a total maximum daily load
   57  adopted under s. 403.067 that interprets the narrative water
   58  quality criterion for nutrients, then allocations shall be set
   59  for upstream water bodies in accordance with s. 403.067(6), and
   60  if applicable, the basin management action plan established
   61  under s. 403.067(7).
   62         (c) Compliance with an allocation calculated under s.
   63  403.067(6), or if applicable, the basin management action plan
   64  established under s. 403.067(7) for the downstream water shall
   65  constitute reasonable assurance that a discharge does not cause
   66  or contribute to the violation of the downstream nutrient water
   67  quality standards.
   68  
   69  The department shall implement such programs in conjunction with
   70  its other powers and duties and shall place special emphasis on
   71  reducing and eliminating contamination that presents a threat to
   72  humans, animals or plants, or to the environment.
   73         Section 2. The Department of Environmental Protection is
   74  authorized to implement its adopted nutrient standards for
   75  streams, springs, lakes, and estuaries consistent with the
   76  document entitled “Implementation of Florida’s Numeric Nutrient
   77  Standards,” which was proposed for adoption by the department in
   78  the Florida Administrative Register, Vol. xx, No. xx, pages xxx
   79  xxx. This document shall be subject to the provisions of rule
   80  62-302.531(9), Florida Administrative Code, and exempt from
   81  ratification under s. 120.541(3), Florida Statutes.
   82         Section 3. When the United States Environmental Protection
   83  Agency withdraws all federal numeric nutrient criteria rules in
   84  the State of Florida, and otherwise ceases all federal nutrient
   85  rulemaking in the State of Florida, then rule 62-302.531(9),
   86  Florida Administrative Code, shall expire and the Department of
   87  Environmental Protection shall remove it from the Florida
   88  Administrative Code pursuant to the provisions of chapter 120,
   89  Florida Statutes.
   90         Section 4. Any nutrient criteria rules for estuaries
   91  adopted by the Department of Environmental Protection in 2013
   92  are subject to the provisions of rule 62-302.531(9), Florida
   93  Administrative Code, and exempt from ratification under s.
   94  120.541(3), Florida Statutes.
   95         Section 5. The Department of Environmental Protection shall
   96  establish by rule or final order the estuary specific numeric
   97  interpretations of the narrative nutrient criterion for total
   98  nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a for any estuaries
   99  not already subject to the department’s numeric nutrient
  100  criteria, and establish chlorophyll a interpretations of the
  101  narrative nutrient criterion for non-estuarine coastal waters by
  102  December 1, 2014, subject to the provisions of chapter 120,
  103  Florida Statutes. The water quality standard pursuant to s.
  104  403.061(11), Florida Statutes, for total nitrogen, total
  105  phosphorus, and chlorophyll a in estuaries, and chlorophyll a in
  106  non-estuarine coastal waters, shall be the current conditions of
  107  those unimpaired waters, accounting for climactic and hydrologic
  108  cycles, until such time as a numeric interpretation of the
  109  narrative water quality criterion for nutrients is established
  110  by rule or final order. The Department of Environmental
  111  Protection shall send a report to the Governor, the Speaker of
  112  the House of Representatives, and the President of the Senate by
  113  August 1, 2013, conveying the status of establishing numeric
  114  interpretations of the narrative nutrient criterion pursuant to
  115  this section and including the department’s calculation of the
  116  numeric values that represent the current conditions of those
  117  unimpaired waters as stated herein for those estuaries and non
  118  estuarine coastal waters without numeric interpretations of the
  119  narrative nutrient criterion established by rule or final order
  120  as of the date of the report.
  121         Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.