Florida Senate - 2022 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. CS for SB 1426
Ì442316ÇÎ442316
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RS .
02/16/2022 .
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Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Environment, and
General Government (Burgess) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete lines 52 - 317
4 and insert:
5 by governmental entities to address impacts regulated under this
6 part is needed.
7 (c) The construction, operation, maintenance, and long-term
8 management of water quality enhancement areas pursuant to this
9 section will improve the certainty and long-term viability of
10 water quality treatment systems.
11 (d) Water quality enhancement areas are a valuable tool to
12 assist governmental entities in satisfying the net improvement
13 performance standard pursuant to s. 373.414(1)(b)3. to ensure
14 significant reductions of pollutant loadings.
15 (e) Water quality enhancement areas that provide water
16 quality enhancement credits to governmental entities seeking
17 permits under this part and to governmental entities seeking to
18 meet an assigned basin management action plan allocation or
19 reasonable assurance plan pursuant to s. 403.067 are considered
20 an appropriate and permittable option.
21 (2) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section, the term:
22 (a) “Enhancement credit” means a standard unit of measure
23 which represents a quantity of pollutant removed.
24 (b) “Governmental entity” means any political subdivision
25 of the state, including any state agency, department, agency of
26 the state, county, municipality, special district, school
27 district, utility authority, or other authority or
28 instrumentality, agency, unit, or department thereof.
29 (c) “Water quality enhancement area” means a natural system
30 constructed, operated, managed, and maintained pursuant to a
31 permit issued under this section for the purpose of providing
32 offsite, compensatory regional treatment for which enhancement
33 credits may be provided.
34 (d) “Water quality enhancement area permit” means a permit
35 issued for a water quality enhancement area which authorizes the
36 construction, operation, management, and maintenance of an
37 enhancement area and the purchase and sale of enhancement
38 credits.
39 (3) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT AREAS.—
40 (a) An environmental resource permit issued by the
41 department under this section must authorize the construction,
42 operation, management, and maintenance of a water quality
43 enhancement area.
44 (b) Water quality enhancement credits may be sold only to
45 governmental entities.
46 (c) A water quality enhancement area must address
47 contributions of pollutants for those parameters in the
48 watershed in which the water quality enhancement area is located
49 which do not meet state water quality standards.
50 (d) A water quality enhancement area must use, create, or
51 improve natural systems in order to improve water quality.
52 (e) A governmental entity may use a water quality
53 enhancement area for its own water quality needs. However, a
54 governmental entity may not act as a sponsor to construct,
55 operate, manage, or maintain a water quality enhancement area or
56 market enhancement credits to third parties.
57 (f) A local government may not require a permit or
58 otherwise impose regulations governing the operation of a water
59 quality enhancement area.
60 (g) This section does not eliminate the obligation of an
61 applicant for a water quality enhancement area permit or an
62 applicant proposing to use enhancement credits to comply with
63 all requirements of this part pertaining to adverse impacts to
64 water quality in receiving waters and adjacent lands.
65 (4) WATER QUALITY ENHANCEMENT AREA PERMIT.—
66 (a) To obtain a water quality enhancement area permit, the
67 applicant must provide reasonable assurances that the proposed
68 water quality enhancement area will:
69 1. Meet the requirements for issuance of an environmental
70 resource permit;
71 2. Benefit water quality in the watershed in which the
72 water quality enhancement area is located;
73 3. Meet defined performance or success criteria for the
74 reduction of pollutants or other constituents that prevent
75 receiving waters from meeting state water quality standards;
76 4. Ensure long-term pollutant reduction through effective
77 operation and maintenance in perpetuity by designation of a
78 responsible long-term maintenance entity supported by an
79 endowment or other long-term financial assurance sufficient to
80 assure perpetual operation and maintenance;
81 5. Demonstrate sufficient legal or equitable interest in
82 the property to ensure access and perpetual protection and
83 management of the land within the water quality enhancement
84 area; and
85 6. Provide for permanent preservation of the water quality
86 enhancement area which meets the requirements of s. 704.06.
87 (b) The water quality enhancement area permit must provide
88 for the assessment, valuation, and award of credits based on
89 units of pollutant removed.
90 (c) The department shall base its determination of the
91 award of enhancement credits on standard numerical models that
92 establish the water quality enhancement area’s ability to remove
93 pollutants.
94 1. Where a basin management action plan exists for the
95 watershed in which the water quality enhancement area is
96 located, the applicant must use the same numerical models used
97 for that basin management action plan in the water quality
98 enhancement area permit application.
99 2. If a basin management action plan does not exist for the
100 watershed in which the water quality enhancement area is
101 located, the applicant, with the approval of the department, may
102 submit as part of the water quality enhancement area permit
103 application model parameters and results used in a numerical
104 model used by the department to develop a basin management
105 action plan for a watershed with similar physical
106 characteristics and pollutants as that where the proposed water
107 quality enhancement area is to be located.
108 3. If the department determines that its numerical model
109 used for a basin management action plan is not appropriate for
110 the proposed water quality enhancement area, the department must
111 use a standard numerical model for the proposed water quality
112 enhancement area.
113 4. To assist the department in evaluating and determining
114 enhancement credits, a water quality enhancement area permit
115 application must include the numerical model results, including
116 the parameters used to establish the water quality enhancement
117 area’s efficacy. These parameters must include, but need not be
118 limited to:
119 a. Rainfall data over the longest period of record
120 available, collected from the closest site to the proposed water
121 quality enhancement area, preferably within the same drainage
122 basin.
123 b. Anticipated average annual water quality and quantity
124 inflows to the proposed water quality enhancement area, based on
125 published local data collected over a period of record which
126 most closely matches the rainfall data under this paragraph.
127 c. Site-specific conditions affecting the anticipated
128 performance of the proposed water quality enhancement area,
129 including the proposed treatment type and the anticipated
130 associated reduction rates, as demonstrated by the performance
131 of other areas where the treatment type has been established and
132 operating over a minimum of two consecutive wet and dry seasons.
133 d. Data collection stations approved in advance by the
134 department at sites that the department deems sufficient to
135 determine flows and local water quality conditions.
136 e. An attenuation factor applied to the water quality
137 enhancement area to account for the water quality enhancement
138 area’s location within the watershed.
139 (d) The issuance of a water quality enhancement area permit
140 under this section does not preclude the responsibility of an
141 applicant to obtain other applicable federal, state, and local
142 permits for the construction activities associated with the
143 water quality enhancement area.
144 (5) MONITORING AND VERIFICATION.—
145 (a) An applicant for a water quality enhancement area
146 permit must propose a performance and success criteria
147 monitoring and verification plan, with protocols to be
148 implemented once the water quality enhancement area is
149 operational. The protocols must be appropriate for the water
150 quality enhancement area and sufficient to demonstrate that the
151 area is meeting defined performance or success criteria for the
152 reduction of pollutants or contaminants for which credits are
153 awarded by the department.
154 (b) If a permittee fails to comply with the conditions of a
155 water quality enhancement area permit, the department must
156 revoke the permittee’s ability to sell enhancement credits until
157 the water quality enhancement area is compliant with the permit
158 conditions.
159 (6) ENHANCEMENT CREDITS.—
160 (a) The department or water management district shall
161 authorize the sale and use of enhancement credits to
162 governmental entities to address adverse water quality impacts
163 of activities regulated under this part or to assist
164 governmental entities seeking to meet an assigned basin
165 management action plan allocation or reasonable assurance plan
166 pursuant to s. 403.067.
167 (b) Water quality improvement projects using natural
168 systems or land use modifications, including, but not limited
169 to, constructed wetlands or minor impoundments that reduce
170 pollutants to a receiving water body, may be used by an
171 applicant to generate enhancement credits if approved by the
172 department. Water quality enhancement areas may not be located
173 on lands purchased for conservation pursuant to the Florida
174 Forever Act or the Florida Preservation 2000 Act.
175 (c) The department shall provide for and maintain a ledger
176 that tracks the award, release, and use of enhancement credits.
177 1. The operator of a water quality enhancement area shall
178 notify the department of the amount of enhancement credits sold
179 or used within 30 days after the date the enhancement credit
180 transaction is completed.
181 2. A water management district that authorizes applicants
182 seeking permits under this part to use enhancement credits to
183 address water quality impacts must report to the department the
184 amount of enhancement credits used by the applicants.
185 (d) Reductions in pollutant loading required under any
186 state regulatory program are not eligible to be considered as
187 enhancement credits.
188 (e) Enhancement credits may not be used by point source
189 dischargers to satisfy regulatory requirements other than those
190 necessary to obtain an environmental resource permit for
191 construction and operation of the surface water management
192 system of the site.
193 (f) Use of enhancement credits made available by water
194 quality enhancement areas is voluntary.
195 (g) Any landowner, discharger, or other responsible person
196 regulated under this part or s. 403.067 implementing applicable
197 management strategies specified in an adopted basin management
198 action plan or reasonable assurance plan may not be required by
199 any permit or other enforcement action to use enhancement
200 credits to reduce pollutant loads to achieve the pollutant
201 reductions established pursuant to s. 403.067.
202 (h) A local government may not deny the use of enhancement
203 credits due to the location of the water quality enhancement
204 area outside the jurisdiction of the local government.
205 (7) AUTHORITY.—The authority granted to the department
206 under this section is supplemental to the authority granted
207 under s. 403.067(8).
208 (8) RULES.—The department may adopt rules to implement this
209 section.
210 Section 2. Paragraph (b) of subsection (1) and paragraphs
211 (a), (b), and (d) of subsection (3) of section 403.892, Florida
212 Statutes, are amended, and subsection (6) is added to that
213 section, to read:
214 403.892 Incentives for the use of graywater technologies.—
215 (1) As used in this section, the term:
216 (b) “Graywater” has the same meaning as in s.
217 381.0065(2)(f) s. 381.0065(2)(e).
218 (3) To qualify for the incentives under subsection (2), the
219 developer or homebuilder must certify to the applicable
220 governmental entity as part of its application for development
221 approval or amendment of a development order that all of the
222 following conditions are met:
223 (a) The proposed or existing development has at least 25
224 single-family residential homes that are either detached or
225 multifamily dwellings. This paragraph does not apply to
226 multifamily projects over five stories in height.
227 (b) Each single-family residential home or residence will
228 have its own residential graywater system that is dedicated for
229 its use. Each residence forming part of a multifamily project
230 will be serviced by either its own residential graywater system
231 dedicated for its use or a master graywater collection and reuse
232 system for the entire project.
233 (d) The required maintenance of the graywater system will
234 be the responsibility of the owner residential homeowner.
235 (6) This section does not apply to multifamily projects
236 more than five stories in height. Whether a dwelling is occupied
237 by an owner is not an eligibility criterion for a developer or
238 homebuilder to receive the incentives authorized pursuant to
239 this section.
240 Section 3. The Department of Environmental Protection shall
241 adopt and modify rules adopted pursuant to ss. 373.4136 and
242 373.414, Florida Statutes, to ensure that required financial
243 assurances are equivalent and sufficient to provide for the
244 long-term management of mitigation permitted under ss. 373.4136
245 and 373.414, Florida Statutes. The department, in consultation
246 with the water management districts, shall include the
247 rulemaking required by this section in existing active
248 rulemaking or shall complete rule development by June 30, 2023.
249
250 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
251 And the title is amended as follows:
252 Delete lines 5 - 34
253 and insert:
254 enhancement areas; providing requirements for water
255 quality enhancement areas and permits; requiring
256 applicants to propose performance and success criteria
257 monitoring and verification plans that meet certain
258 requirements; providing requirements for enhancement
259 credits; requiring the Department of Environmental
260 Protection to revoke a permit under certain
261 conditions; requiring the department and water
262 management districts to authorize the sale and use of
263 enhancement credits to governmental entities to
264 address certain adverse water quality impacts and to
265 meet certain water quality requirements; requiring the
266 department to maintain enhancement credit ledgers;
267 providing construction; authorizing the department to
268 adopt rules; amending s. 403.892, F.S.; correcting a
269 cross-reference; revising the conditions that a
270 developer or homebuilder must certify it meets as part
271 of its application for development approval or
272 amendment of a development order; providing
273 applicability; requiring the department to adopt and
274 modify specified rules, as applicable; providing
275 requirements for such rulemaking;