Florida Senate - 2020                                    SB 1706
       
       
        
       By Senator Montford
       
       
       
       
       
       3-00505A-20                                           20201706__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to water testing for pollution;
    3         creating s. 381.00621, F.S.; defining the term
    4         “pollution”; authorizing specified persons or
    5         businesses that suspect contamination of their private
    6         water systems, multifamily water systems, or certain
    7         public water systems to request that the Department of
    8         Health or its agents test such source for pollution,
    9         under certain circumstances; requiring such testing to
   10         be done within a specified timeframe and follow
   11         certain procedures; amending s. 381.0063, F.S.;
   12         revising the specified purposes that funds in a County
   13         Health Department Trust Fund may be used for to
   14         include the costs and expenditures related to certain
   15         water testing provisions; providing an effective date.
   16          
   17  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   18  
   19         Section 1. Section 381.00621, Florida Statutes, is created
   20  to read:
   21         381.00621 Testing for contamination.—
   22         (1) DEFINITION.—As used in this section, the term
   23  “pollution” means the presence in the outdoor land, air, or
   24  waters of the state of any substance, contaminant, or manmade or
   25  human-induced impairment or alteration of the chemical,
   26  physical, biological, or radiological integrity of a water
   27  source in quantities that are or may be potentially harmful or
   28  injurious to human health or welfare.
   29         (2) WATER TESTING.—
   30         (a) If a governmental entity discovers or confirms that
   31  pollution exists in an area which could impact a private water
   32  system, multifamily water system, or public water system not
   33  subject to the Florida Safe Drinking Water Act, and result in a
   34  violation of water quality standards adopted by the department
   35  or the Department of Environmental Protection, any potentially
   36  affected resident, business, or property owner may request the
   37  department or its agents to test the water source for
   38  contamination relating to the pollution identified by the
   39  governmental entity.
   40         (b) If the department receives a request under paragraph
   41  (a), the department or its agents must collect water samples
   42  from the system’s water source, or receive water samples from
   43  the system’s water source collected using methods acceptable to
   44  the department, and submit the samples to a department
   45  laboratory or a department-certified drinking water laboratory
   46  for contaminant analysis. The analysis must be completed as
   47  expeditiously as possible, but not later than 7 business days
   48  after the department’s receipt of a request under paragraph (a).
   49         (c) The department must provide information sufficient for
   50  a resident, business, or property owner who makes a request and
   51  receives the results of testing done under this section to
   52  understand whether the sample contains contaminants that exceed
   53  water quality standards.
   54         Section 2. Section 381.0063, Florida Statutes, is amended
   55  to read:
   56         381.0063 Drinking water funds.—All fees and penalties
   57  received from suppliers of water pursuant to ss. 403.860(5) and
   58  403.861(7)(a) shall be deposited in the appropriate County
   59  Health Department Trust Fund to be used by the department to pay
   60  the costs of expenditures required pursuant to ss. 381.0062,
   61  381.00621, and 403.862(1)(c).
   62         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.