Florida Senate - 2025 SB 1646
By Senator Berman
26-01854-25 20251646__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to water quality improvements;
3 providing legislative findings; requiring the Office
4 of Program Policy Analysis and Government
5 Accountability (OPPAGA) to conduct a study of the
6 prevalence and effects of lead in drinking water in
7 certain public facilities; specifying the information
8 that must be included in the study; requiring OPPAGA
9 to consult with interested entities in conducting the
10 study; requiring OPPAGA to submit the study to the
11 Governor and Legislature by a specified date;
12 providing for future repeal; amending s. 403.0673,
13 F.S.; requiring the Department of Environmental
14 Protection to consider and prioritize certain water
15 quality improvement projects relating to special flood
16 hazard areas; providing requirements for the
17 Department of Health, the Fish and Wildlife
18 Conservation Commission, and water management
19 districts relating to harmful algal blooms; requiring
20 water management districts to submit a plan relating
21 to the prevention and mitigation of the harmful
22 effects of blue-green algal blooms to certain entities
23 by a specified date; requiring specified entities to
24 provide a schedule for implementing the plan;
25 requiring the Department of Agriculture and Consumer
26 Services and the South Florida Water Management
27 District to take specified actions to ensure nitrogen
28 levels continue to drop in Lake Okeechobee; requiring
29 the Department of Environmental Protection and the St.
30 Johns River Water Management District to take
31 specified actions relating to improving water quality
32 in the Upper St. Johns River Basin; providing
33 reporting requirements; providing an effective date.
34
35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37 Section 1. (1) The Legislature finds that:
38 (a) The adverse health effects of lead exposure in children
39 and adults are well documented and no safe blood-lead level in
40 children has been identified.
41 (b) Lead accumulates in the body and can be ingested from
42 various sources, including water sources used for drinking, food
43 preparation, or cooking.
44 (c) All sources of lead should be controlled or eliminated
45 to prevent lead poisoning.
46 (2) The Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
47 Accountability (OPPAGA) shall conduct a study of the prevalence
48 and effects of lead in drinking water in all public facilities
49 that receive state funding. OPPAGA may contract with an outside
50 vendor to conduct the study subject to legislative appropriation
51 or available resources.
52 (3) The study must include all of the following
53 information:
54 (a) The amount of lead piping at each public facility that
55 receives state funding.
56 (b) The effects of lead on the health, growth, and mental
57 development of persons who use or are employed at public
58 facilities that receive state funding.
59 (c) The financial impact on this state due to the effects
60 of lead on the health, growth, and mental development of persons
61 who use or are employed at public facilities that receive state
62 funding.
63 (d) The cost to this state to maintain the lead pipes
64 currently used by public facilities that receive state funding,
65 including pipes that use lead in solder.
66 (e) The cost for this state to provide point-of-use water
67 filters certified by the American National Standards Institute
68 to public facilities that receive state funding to reduce lead
69 levels in the water.
70 (4) In conducting the study, OPPAGA shall consult with any
71 interested entities.
72 (5) OPPAGA shall submit the study to the Governor, the
73 President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of
74 Representatives by January 1, 2026.
75 (6) This section is repealed on June 30, 2026, unless
76 reviewed and saved from repeal through reenactment by the
77 Legislature.
78 Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 403.0673, Florida
79 Statutes, is amended to read:
80 403.0673 Water quality improvement grant program.—A grant
81 program is established within the Department of Environmental
82 Protection to address wastewater, stormwater, and agricultural
83 sources of nutrient loading to surface water or groundwater.
84 (3) The department shall consider and prioritize those
85 projects that:
86 (a) Have the maximum estimated reduction in nutrient load
87 per project;
88 (b) Demonstrate project readiness;
89 (c) Are cost-effective;
90 (d) Have a cost share identified by the applicant, except
91 for rural areas of opportunity;
92 (e) Have multiyear project implementation schedules with
93 previous state commitment and involvement in the project,
94 considering previously funded phases, the total amount of
95 previous state funding, and previous partial appropriations for
96 the proposed project;
97 (f) Are in a location where reductions are needed most to
98 attain the water quality standards of a waterbody not attaining
99 nutrient or nutrient-related standards; or
100 (g) Were determined eligible in a previous application
101 cycle and were able to demonstrate project readiness but were
102 not awarded a grant; or
103 (h) Are located in any special flood hazard area defined by
104 the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
105
106 Any project that does not result in reducing nutrient loading to
107 a waterbody identified in subsection (1) is not eligible for
108 funding under this section.
109 Section 3. Harmful algal blooms.—
110 (1) The Department of Health shall develop:
111 (a) A training program for health care professionals that
112 improves the diagnosis, treatment, and reporting of harmful
113 algal bloom-related illnesses. The training program must contain
114 separate components to address red tide and blue-green algae.
115 (b) Guidelines, protocols, and related training programs to
116 protect the health of persons who regularly work near harmful
117 algal blooms.
118 (2) The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shall
119 consider the work of the Florida Red Tide Mitigation and
120 Technology Development Initiative to develop a model to be used
121 in creating a red tide early warning system. The model must be
122 deployed by July 1, 2027.
123 (3)(a) By July 1, 2027, the water management districts
124 shall collaboratively develop, based on the Blue-Green Algae
125 Task Force Consensus Document #1, dated October 11, 2019, a
126 comprehensive plan to prevent and mitigate the harmful effects
127 of blue-green algal blooms. The plan must be submitted to the
128 President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
129 Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and the
130 Minority Leader of the House of Representatives by July 1, 2027.
131 (b) Once developed, each water management district and each
132 county and municipality must provide a schedule for implementing
133 the plan within their jurisdictions. The schedule must include a
134 completion timeline and anticipated fiscal impacts. A county or
135 municipality that determines that there are no water bodies
136 within its jurisdiction which may be impacted by a blue-green
137 algal outbreak must provide reasons for such determination in a
138 report to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by
139 December 1, 2027.
140 Section 4. Lake Okeechobee; Upper St. Johns River Basin.—
141 (1)(a) To protect the northern estuaries, including the
142 Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie estuaries, the Department of
143 Agriculture and Consumer Services and the South Florida Water
144 Management District must continue to work with agricultural
145 interests to monitor their best management practices (BMPs) to
146 ensure that total nitrogen levels continue to drop in Lake
147 Okeechobee. The BMPs north of the lake and the total maximum
148 daily load (TMDL) for the lake must be reevaluated for accuracy
149 and effectiveness every 12 months, beginning July 1, 2026, and
150 may be revised to achieve greater environmental benefit and
151 improved water quality.
152 (b) The department and the water management district must
153 jointly provide a report on any revisions made to the BMPs or
154 the TMDL to the Governor, the President of the Senate, the
155 Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of
156 the Senate, and the Minority Leader of the House of
157 Representatives every 24 months, beginning July 1, 2028.
158 (2)(a) The Department of Environmental Protection and the
159 St. Johns River Water Management District must ensure that the
160 TMDLs and basin management action plans for the Upper St. Johns
161 River Basin are monitored and expeditiously implemented. The
162 TMDLs and basin management action plans must be reevaluated for
163 accuracy and effectiveness every 12 months, beginning July 1,
164 2026, and may be revised to achieve greater environmental
165 benefit and improved water quality.
166 (b) The department and the water management district must
167 jointly submit a report on any revisions to the TMDLs or basin
168 management action plans to the Governor, the Commissioner of
169 Agriculture, the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the
170 House of Representatives, the Minority Leader of the Senate, and
171 the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives every 24
172 months, beginning July 1, 2028.
173 Section 5. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.