Florida Senate - 2018                                    SB 1570
       
       
        
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       
       35-01528-18                                           20181570__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to the St. Lucie River Watershed
    3         Pollutant Control Program; amending s. 373.4595, F.S.;
    4         specifying that county ordinances regulating the
    5         transportation, composting, or land application of
    6         sewage within the St. Lucie River watershed are not
    7         duplicate regulations; providing an effective date.
    8          
    9  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   10  
   11         Section 1. Paragraph (d) of subsection (4) of section
   12  373.4595, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   13         373.4595 Northern Everglades and Estuaries Protection
   14  Program.—
   15         (4) CALOOSAHATCHEE RIVER WATERSHED PROTECTION PROGRAM AND
   16  ST. LUCIE RIVER WATERSHED PROTECTION PROGRAM.—A protection
   17  program shall be developed and implemented as specified in this
   18  subsection. To protect and restore surface water resources, the
   19  program shall address the reduction of pollutant loadings,
   20  restoration of natural hydrology, and compliance with applicable
   21  state water quality standards. The program shall be achieved
   22  through a phased program of implementation. In addition,
   23  pollutant load reductions based upon adopted total maximum daily
   24  loads established in accordance with s. 403.067 shall serve as a
   25  program objective. In the development and administration of the
   26  program, the coordinating agencies shall maximize opportunities
   27  provided by federal and local government cost-sharing programs
   28  and opportunities for partnerships with the private sector and
   29  local government. The program shall include a goal for salinity
   30  envelopes and freshwater inflow targets for the estuaries based
   31  upon existing research and documentation. The goal may be
   32  revised as new information is available. This goal shall seek to
   33  reduce the frequency and duration of undesirable salinity ranges
   34  while meeting the other water-related needs of the region,
   35  including water supply and flood protection, while recognizing
   36  the extent to which water inflows are within the control and
   37  jurisdiction of the district.
   38         (d) St. Lucie River Watershed Basin Management Action
   39  Plan.—The basin management action plan for the St. Lucie River
   40  watershed adopted pursuant to s. 403.067 shall be the St. Lucie
   41  River Watershed Pollutant Control Program and shall be designed
   42  to be a multifaceted approach to reducing pollutant loads by
   43  improving the management of pollutant sources within the St.
   44  Lucie River watershed through implementation of regulations and
   45  best management practices, development and implementation of
   46  improved best management practices, improvement and restoration
   47  of the hydrologic function of natural and managed systems, and
   48  use of alternative technologies for pollutant reduction, such as
   49  cost-effective biologically based, hybrid wetland/chemical and
   50  other innovative nutrient control technologies. As provided in
   51  s. 403.067(7)(a)6., the St. Lucie River Watershed Basin
   52  Management Action Plan must include milestones for
   53  implementation and water quality improvement, and an associated
   54  water quality monitoring component sufficient to evaluate
   55  whether reasonable progress in pollutant load reductions is
   56  being achieved over time. An assessment of progress toward these
   57  milestones shall be conducted every 5 years and shall be
   58  provided to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the
   59  Speaker of the House of Representatives. Revisions to the plan
   60  shall be made, as appropriate, as a result of each 5-year
   61  review. Revisions to the basin management action plan shall be
   62  made by the department in cooperation with the basin
   63  stakeholders. Revisions to best management practices or other
   64  measures must follow the procedures set forth in s.
   65  403.067(7)(c)4. Revised basin management action plans must be
   66  adopted pursuant to s. 403.067(7)(a)5. The department shall
   67  develop an implementation schedule establishing 5-year, 10-year,
   68  and 15-year measurable milestones and targets to achieve the
   69  total maximum daily load no more than 20 years after adoption of
   70  the plan. The initial implementation schedule shall be used to
   71  provide guidance for planning and funding purposes and is exempt
   72  from chapter 120. Upon the first 5-year review, the
   73  implementation schedule shall be adopted as part of the plan. If
   74  achieving the total maximum daily load within 20 years is not
   75  practicable, the implementation schedule must contain an
   76  explanation of the constraints that prevent achievement of the
   77  total maximum daily load within 20 years, an estimate of the
   78  time needed to achieve the total maximum daily load, and
   79  additional 5-year measurable milestones, as necessary. The
   80  coordinating agencies shall facilitate the use of federal
   81  programs that offer opportunities for water quality treatment,
   82  including preservation, restoration, or creation of wetlands on
   83  agricultural lands.
   84         1. Nonpoint source best management practices consistent
   85  with s. 403.067, designed to achieve the objectives of the St.
   86  Lucie River Watershed Protection Program, shall be implemented
   87  on an expedited basis. The coordinating agencies may develop an
   88  intergovernmental agreement with local governments to implement
   89  the nonagricultural nonpoint source best management practices
   90  within their respective geographic boundaries.
   91         2. This subsection does not preclude the department or the
   92  district from requiring compliance with water quality standards,
   93  adopted total maximum daily loads, or current best management
   94  practices requirements set forth in any applicable regulatory
   95  program authorized by law for the purpose of protecting water
   96  quality. This subsection applies only to the extent that it does
   97  not conflict with any rules adopted by the department or
   98  district which are necessary to maintain a federally delegated
   99  or approved program.
  100         3. Projects that make use of private lands, or lands held
  101  in trust for Indian tribes, to reduce pollutant loadings or
  102  concentrations within a basin, or that reduce the volume of
  103  harmful discharges by one or more of the following methods:
  104  restoring the natural hydrology of the basin, restoring wildlife
  105  habitat or impacted wetlands, reducing peak flows after storm
  106  events, or increasing aquifer recharge, are eligible for grants
  107  available under this section from the coordinating agencies.
  108         4. The St. Lucie River Watershed Basin Management Action
  109  Plan shall require assessment of current water management
  110  practices within the watershed and shall require development of
  111  recommendations for structural, nonstructural, and operational
  112  improvements. Such recommendations shall consider and balance
  113  water supply, flood control, estuarine salinity, aquatic
  114  habitat, and water quality considerations.
  115         5. The department may not authorize the disposal of
  116  domestic wastewater biosolids within the St. Lucie River
  117  watershed unless the applicant can affirmatively demonstrate
  118  that the nutrients in the biosolids will not add to nutrient
  119  loadings in the watershed. This demonstration shall be based on
  120  achieving a net balance between nutrient imports relative to
  121  exports on the permitted application site. Exports shall include
  122  only nutrients removed from the St. Lucie River watershed
  123  through products generated on the permitted application site.
  124  This prohibition does not apply to Class AA biosolids that are
  125  marketed and distributed as fertilizer products in accordance
  126  with department rule.
  127         6. The Department of Health shall require all entities
  128  disposing of septage within the St. Lucie River watershed to
  129  develop and submit to that agency an agricultural use plan that
  130  limits applications based upon nutrient loading consistent with
  131  any basin management action plan adopted pursuant to s. 403.067.
  132         7. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
  133  shall initiate rulemaking requiring entities within the St.
  134  Lucie River watershed which land-apply animal manure to develop
  135  a resource management system level conservation plan, according
  136  to United States Department of Agriculture criteria, which limit
  137  such application. Such rules shall include criteria and
  138  thresholds for the requirement to develop a conservation or
  139  nutrient management plan, requirements for plan approval, site
  140  inspection requirements, and recordkeeping requirements.
  141         8. The district shall initiate rulemaking to provide for a
  142  monitoring program for nonpoint source dischargers required to
  143  monitor water quality pursuant to s. 403.067(7)(b)2.g. or (c)3.
  144  The results of such monitoring must be reported to the
  145  coordinating agencies.
  146         9.Notwithstanding ss. 163.3162(3) and 823.14(6), a county
  147  ordinance that regulates the transportation, composting, or land
  148  application of biosolids or other forms of sewage within the St.
  149  Lucie River watershed is not a duplication of regulation.
  150         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.