Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1656
       
       
       
       
       
       
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                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
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       The Committee on Innovation, Industry, and Technology
       (Albritton) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Substitute for Amendment (451010) (with title
    2  amendment)
    3  
    4         Delete everything after the enacting clause
    5  and insert:
    6         Section 1. Subsection (17) is added to section 403.064,
    7  Florida Statutes, to read:
    8         403.064 Reuse of reclaimed water.—
    9         (17)Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section
   10  to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2026, domestic wastewater
   11  treatment facilities may not dispose of effluent, reclaimed
   12  water, or reuse water by surface water discharge, except that
   13  this prohibition does not apply to indirect potable reuse
   14  projects; domestic wastewater treatment facility discharges
   15  during wet weather which occur in accordance with the applicable
   16  department permit; discharges into a stormwater management
   17  system which are subsequently withdrawn by a user for irrigation
   18  purposes; domestic wastewater treatment facilities located in
   19  fiscally constrained counties as defined in s. 218.67(1);
   20  projects where reclaimed water is recovered from an aquifer
   21  recharge system and subsequently discharged into a surface water
   22  for potable reuse; wetlands creation, restoration, and
   23  enhancement projects; minimum flows and levels recovery or
   24  prevention strategy plan projects; domestic wastewater treatment
   25  facilities with reuse systems that provide a minimum of 90
   26  percent of a facility’s annual average flow, as determined by
   27  the department using monitoring data for the prior 5 consecutive
   28  years, for reuse purposes authorized by the department; domestic
   29  wastewater treatment facilities located in municipalities that
   30  have less than $10 million in total revenue, as determined by
   31  the most recent annual financial report submitted to the
   32  Department of Financial Services in accordance with s. 218.32;
   33  or domestic wastewater treatment facilities located in
   34  municipalities that are entirely within a rural area of
   35  opportunity designated under s. 288.0656.
   36         Section 2. Section 403.8531, Florida Statutes, is created
   37  to read:
   38         403.8531Potable reuse.—
   39         (1)Recognizing that sufficient water supply is imperative
   40  to the future of this state and that potable reuse is one source
   41  of water which may assist in meeting future demands, the
   42  Legislature intends for the department to adopt rules for
   43  potable reuse which:
   44         (a)Protect the public health and environment by ensuring
   45  that the potable reuse rules meet federal and state drinking
   46  water and water quality standards, including, but not limited
   47  to, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and water
   48  quality standards pursuant to chapter 403, and, when possible,
   49  implement such rules through existing regulatory programs.
   50         (b)Support reclaimed water being used for potable reuse
   51  purposes.
   52         (c)Implement the recommendations set forth in the Potable
   53  Reuse Commission’s 2020 report “Advancing Potable Reuse in
   54  Florida: Framework for the Implementation of Potable Reuse in
   55  Florida.”
   56         (d)Require that the point of compliance with drinking
   57  water standards for potable reuse projects is the final
   58  discharge point for finished water from the water treatment
   59  facility.
   60         (e)Protect the aquifer and Florida’s springs and surface
   61  waters by ensuring that potable reuse projects do not cause or
   62  contribute to violations of water quality standards in surface
   63  waters, including groundwater discharges that flow by interflow
   64  and affect water quality in surface waters, and that potable
   65  reuse projects shall be designed and operated to ensure
   66  compliance with groundwater quality standards.
   67         (2)As used in this section, the term:
   68         (a)“Advanced treated reclaimed water” means the water
   69  produced from an advanced water treatment process for potable
   70  reuse applications.
   71         (b)“Advanced treatment technology” means the treatment
   72  technology selected by a utility to address emerging
   73  constituents and pathogens in reclaimed water as part of a
   74  potable reuse project.
   75         (c)“Direct potable reuse” means the introduction of
   76  advanced treated reclaimed water into a raw water supply
   77  immediately upstream from a drinking water treatment facility or
   78  directly into a potable water supply distribution system.
   79         (d)“Emerging constituents” means pharmaceuticals, personal
   80  care products, and other chemicals not regulated as part of
   81  drinking water quality standards.
   82         (e)“Indirect potable reuse” means the planned delivery or
   83  discharge of reclaimed water to groundwater or surface waters
   84  for the development of, or to supplement, the potable water
   85  supply.
   86         (f)“Off-spec reclaimed water” means reclaimed water that
   87  does not meet the standards for potable reuse.
   88         (g)“Potable reuse” means the augmentation of a drinking
   89  water supply with advanced treated reclaimed water from a
   90  domestic wastewater treatment facility, and consists of direct
   91  potable reuse and indirect potable reuse.
   92         (h)“Reclaimed water” means water that has received at
   93  least secondary treatment and basic disinfection and is reused
   94  after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.
   95         (3)To comply with drinking water quality standards,
   96  reclaimed water is deemed a water source for public water supply
   97  systems.
   98         (4)Existing water quality protections that prohibit
   99  discharges from causing or contributing to violations of water
  100  quality standards in groundwater and surface waters apply to
  101  potable reuse projects. In addition, when reclaimed water is
  102  released or discharged into groundwater or surface water for
  103  potable reuse purposes, there shall be a consideration of
  104  emerging constituents and impacts to other users of such
  105  groundwater or surface water.
  106         (5)Potable reuse is an alternative water supply as defined
  107  in s. 373.019, and potable reuse projects are eligible for
  108  alternative water supply funding. The use of potable reuse water
  109  may not be excluded from regional water supply planning under s.
  110  373.709.
  111         (6)The department shall:
  112         (a)Adopt rules that authorize potable reuse projects that
  113  are consistent with this section.
  114         (b)Review existing rules governing reclaimed water and
  115  potable reuse to identify obsolete and inconsistent requirements
  116  and adopt rules that revise existing potable reuse rules to
  117  eliminate such inconsistencies, while maintaining existing
  118  public health and environmental protections.
  119         (c)Review aquifer recharge rules and, if revisions are
  120  necessary to ensure continued compliance with existing public
  121  health and environmental protection rules when reclaimed water
  122  is used for aquifer recharge, adopt such rules.
  123         (d)Initiate rulemaking by December 31, 2020, and submit
  124  the adopted rules to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
  125  of the House of Representatives by December 12, 2021, for
  126  approval and incorporation into chapter 403 by the Legislature.
  127  Such rules may not be published as administrative rules by the
  128  department.
  129         (7)The department and the water management districts shall
  130  develop and execute a memorandum of agreement providing for the
  131  procedural requirements of a coordinated review of all permits
  132  associated with the construction and operation of an indirect
  133  potable reuse project. The memorandum of agreement must provide
  134  that the coordinated review will occur only if requested by a
  135  permittee. The purpose of the coordinated review is to share
  136  information, to avoid the redundancy of information requested
  137  from the permittee, and to ensure consistency in the permit for
  138  the protection of the public health and the environment. The
  139  department and the water management districts shall develop and
  140  execute the memorandum of agreement by December 31, 2022.
  141         (8)To encourage investment in the development of potable
  142  reuse projects by private entities, a potable reuse project
  143  developed as a qualifying project pursuant to s. 255.065 is:
  144         (a)Beginning January 1, 2025, eligible for expedited
  145  permitting under s. 403.973.
  146         (b)Granted an annual credit against the tax imposed by
  147  chapter 220 in an amount equal to 5 percent of the eligible
  148  capital costs generated by a qualifying project for a period not
  149  to exceed 20 years after the date that project operations begin.
  150  The tax credit applies only to the corporate income tax
  151  liability or the premium tax liability generated by or arising
  152  out of the qualifying project, and the sum of all tax credits
  153  provided pursuant to this section may not exceed 100 percent of
  154  the eligible capital costs as defined in s. 220.191(1)(c). Any
  155  credit granted pursuant to this paragraph may not be carried
  156  forward or backward.
  157         (c)Granted a 3-year extension of any deadlines imposed
  158  under s. 403.064(17).
  159         (d)Consistent with s. 373.707, eligible for priority
  160  funding in the same manner as other alternative water supply
  161  projects from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, under the
  162  Water Protection and Sustainability Program, and for water
  163  management district cooperative funding.
  164         (9)This section is not intended and may not be construed
  165  to supersede s. 373.250(3).
  166         Section 3. Section 403.892, Florida Statutes, is created to
  167  read:
  168         403.892 Incentives for the use of graywater technologies.—
  169         (1)As used in this section, the term:
  170         (a)“Developer” has the same meaning as in s. 380.031.
  171         (b)“Graywater” has the same meaning as in s.
  172  381.0065(2)(e).
  173         (2)To promote the beneficial reuse of water in this state,
  174  a county, municipality, or special district shall do all of the
  175  following:
  176         (a)Authorize the use of residential graywater technologies
  177  in their respective jurisdictions which comply with the Florida
  178  Building Code; and
  179         (b)Provide incentives to developers to fully offset the
  180  costs of their beneficial reuse of water contribution through
  181  graywater technology. Such incentives may include, but are not
  182  limited to:
  183         1.Allowing the developer density or intensity bonus
  184  incentives or more floor space than allowed under the current or
  185  proposed future land use designation or zoning;
  186         2.Reducing or waiving fees, such as impact fees or water
  187  and sewer charges; or
  188         3.Granting other incentives.
  189         (3)If the local government has already applied one of the
  190  incentives identified in paragraph (2)(b) to the development,
  191  the local government must provide the developer with an
  192  additional incentive identified in paragraph (2)(b) to meet the
  193  requirements of this section.
  194         Section 4. (1)In implementing s. 403.8531, Florida
  195  Statutes, as created by this act, the Department of
  196  Environmental Protection, in coordination with one or more
  197  technical working groups pursuant to subsection (2), shall adopt
  198  rules for the implementation of potable reuse projects. The
  199  department shall:
  200         (a)Revise the appropriate chapters in the Florida
  201  Administrative Code, including chapter 62-610, Florida
  202  Administrative Code, to ensure that all rules implementing
  203  potable reuse are in the Florida Administrative Code division 62
  204  governing drinking water regulation.
  205         (b)Revise existing drinking water rules to include
  206  reclaimed water as a source water for the public water supply
  207  and require such treatment of the water as is necessary to meet
  208  existing drinking water rules, including rules for pathogens.
  209  The potable reuse rules must include the implementation of a log
  210  reduction credit system using advanced treatment technology to
  211  meet pathogen treatment requirements, and must require a public
  212  water supplier to provide an approach to meet the required
  213  pathogen treatment requirements in an engineering report as part
  214  of its public water supply permit application for authorization
  215  of potable reuse. To ensure protection of the public health, as
  216  part of the public water supply permit application to authorize
  217  potable reuse, a public water supplier shall provide a
  218  department-specified level of treatment or propose an approach
  219  to achieving the log reduction targets based on source water
  220  characterization that is sufficient for a pathogen risk of
  221  infection which meets the national drinking water criteria of
  222  less than 1 x 10-4 annually.
  223         (c)Prescribe the means for using appropriate treatment
  224  technology to address emerging constituents in potable reuse
  225  projects. The advanced treatment technology must be technically
  226  and economically feasible and must provide for flexibility in
  227  the specific treatment processes employed to recognize different
  228  project scenarios, emerging constituent concentrations, desired
  229  finished water quality, and the treatment capability of the
  230  facility. The advanced treatment technology may also be used for
  231  pathogen removal or reduction.
  232         1.The rules must require appropriate monitoring to
  233  evaluate advanced treatment technology treatment performance,
  234  including the monitoring of surrogate parameters and controls,
  235  which monitoring must occur either before or after the advanced
  236  treatment technologies treatment process, or both, as
  237  appropriate.
  238         2.For direct potable reuse projects, the rules must
  239  require reclaimed water to be included in the source water
  240  characterization for a drinking water treatment facility and, if
  241  that source water characterization indicates the presence of
  242  emerging constituents at levels of public health interest, must
  243  specify how appropriate treatment technology will be used to
  244  address those emerging constituents.
  245         3.For indirect potable reuse projects, the department
  246  shall amend the existing monitoring requirements contained
  247  within part V of chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code, to
  248  require monitoring for one or more representative emerging
  249  constituents. The utility responsible for the indirect potable
  250  reuse project shall develop an emerging constituent monitoring
  251  protocol consisting of the selection of one or more
  252  representative emerging constituents for monitoring and the
  253  identification of action levels associated with such emerging
  254  constituents. The monitoring protocol must provide that, if
  255  elevated levels of the representative emerging constituent are
  256  detected, the utility must report the elevated detection to the
  257  department and investigate the source and cause of such elevated
  258  emerging constituent. The utility shall submit the monitoring
  259  protocol to the department for review and approval and shall
  260  implement the monitoring protocol as approved by the department.
  261  If the monitoring protocol detects an elevated emerging
  262  constituent, and if the utility’s investigation indicates that
  263  the use of the reclaimed water is the cause of such elevated
  264  emerging constituent, the utility must develop a plan to address
  265  or remedy that cause. The utility’s monitoring results,
  266  investigation of any detected elevated emerging constituent
  267  levels, determination of cause, and any plan developed to
  268  address or remedy the cause must be submitted to the department
  269  for review and approval.
  270         (d)Specify industrial pretreatment requirements for
  271  potable reuse projects. These industrial pretreatment
  272  requirements must match the industrial pretreatment requirements
  273  contained in chapter 62-625, Florida Administrative Code, as of
  274  the effective date of this act. If necessary, the department
  275  also must require the utility operating a potable reuse project
  276  to implement a source control program, and the utility shall
  277  identify the sources that need to be addressed.
  278         (e)Provide off-spec reclaimed water requirements for
  279  potable reuse projects which include the immediate disposal,
  280  temporary storage, alternative nonpotable reuse, or retreatment
  281  or disposal of off-spec reclaimed water based on operating
  282  protocols established by the public water supplier and approved
  283  by the department.
  284         (f)Revise existing rules to specify the point of
  285  compliance with drinking water standards for potable reuse
  286  projects as the point where the finished water is finally
  287  discharged from the drinking water treatment facility to the
  288  water distribution system.
  289         (g)Ensure that, as rules for potable reuse projects are
  290  implemented, chapter 62-610.850, Florida Administrative Code, is
  291  applicable.
  292         (h)Revise the definition of the term “indirect potable
  293  reuse” provided in chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code,
  294  to match the definition provided in s. 403.8531, Florida
  295  Statutes.
  296         (2)The department shall convene and lead one or more
  297  technical advisory committees to coordinate the rulemaking and
  298  review of rules required by s. 403.8531, Florida Statutes. The
  299  technical advisory committees, which shall assist in the
  300  development of such rules, must be composed of knowledgeable
  301  representatives of a broad group of interested stakeholders,
  302  including, but not limited to, representatives from the water
  303  management districts, the wastewater utility industry, the water
  304  utility industry, the environmental community, the business
  305  community, the public health community, and the agricultural
  306  community, and consumers.
  307         Section 5. To further promote the reuse of reclaimed water
  308  for irrigation purposes, the rules that apply when reclaimed
  309  water is injected into a receiving groundwater having 1,000 to
  310  3,000 mg/L total dissolved solids are applicable to reclaimed
  311  water aquifer storage and recovery wells injecting into a
  312  receiving groundwater of less than 1,000 mg/L total dissolved
  313  solids if the applicant demonstrates that there are no public
  314  supply wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and
  315  recovery wells and that it has implemented institutional
  316  controls to prevent the future construction of public supply
  317  wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and recovery
  318  wells.
  319         Section 6. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
  320  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
  321  occurs in this act with the date the act becomes a law.
  322         Section 7. The Legislature determines and declares that
  323  this act fulfills an important state interest.
  324         Section 8. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.
  325  
  326  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  327  And the title is amended as follows:
  328         Delete everything before the enacting clause
  329  and insert:
  330                        A bill to be entitled                      
  331         An act relating to reclaimed water; amending s.
  332         403.064, F.S.; prohibiting domestic wastewater
  333         treatment facilities from disposing of effluent,
  334         reclaimed water, or reuse water by surface water
  335         discharge beginning on a specified date; providing
  336         exceptions; creating s. 403.8531, F.S.; providing
  337         legislative intent; defining terms; providing that
  338         reclaimed water is a water source for public water
  339         supply systems; providing specified groundwater and
  340         surface water quality protections for potable reuse
  341         projects; providing that potable reuse is an
  342         alternative water supply and that projects relating to
  343         such reuse are eligible for alternative water supply
  344         funding; requiring the Department of Environmental
  345         Protection to adopt specified rules; requiring the
  346         department to review reclaimed water and potable reuse
  347         rules and revise them as necessary; requiring the
  348         department to review aquifer recharge rules and revise
  349         them as necessary; requiring the department to
  350         initiate rulemaking and to submit such rules to the
  351         Legislature for approval by specified dates; requiring
  352         the department and the water management districts to
  353         develop and execute, by a specified date, a memorandum
  354         of agreement for the coordinated review of specified
  355         permits; providing that potable reuse projects are
  356         eligible for certain expedited permitting and tax
  357         credits; providing construction; creating s. 403.892,
  358         F.S.; defining terms; requiring counties,
  359         municipalities, and special districts to authorize
  360         graywater technologies under certain circumstances and
  361         to provide incentives for the implementation of such
  362         technologies; requiring the department to adopt rules
  363         for the implementation of potable reuse projects which
  364         meet certain requirements; requiring the department to
  365         convene at least one technical advisory committee for
  366         specified purposes; providing for the composition of
  367         the technical advisory committee; providing for the
  368         applicability of specified reclaimed water aquifer
  369         storage and recovery well requirements; providing a
  370         directive to the Division of Law Revision; providing a
  371         declaration of important state interest; providing an
  372         effective date.
  373  
  374         WHEREAS, sustainable water supplies are important to this
  375  state’s economy, environment, and quality of life, and
  376         WHEREAS, in 2019, Floridians used nearly 6.5 billion
  377  gallons of water per day and are projected to need an additional
  378  1.1 billion gallons of water per day by 2035, and
  379         WHEREAS, more than 75 percent of this state’s water supply
  380  comes from groundwater, and the availability of additional fresh
  381  groundwater has become limited in many areas of this state, and
  382         WHEREAS, this state’s continued growth and economic success
  383  depend on the implementation of safe and sustainable alternative
  384  water supplies, and
  385         WHEREAS, the use of reclaimed water is an important
  386  component of both wastewater management and water resource
  387  management in this state, and
  388         WHEREAS, in 2018, approximately 48 percent of the total
  389  domestic wastewater flow in this state, 797 million gallons per
  390  day, was reused for beneficial purposes, and
  391         WHEREAS, the reuse of water is a critical component of
  392  meeting this state’s existing and future water supply needs, and
  393         WHEREAS, potable reuse is the augmentation of a drinking
  394  water supply with reclaimed water from a municipal wastewater
  395  source and is an alternative water supply source that can be
  396  harnessed to help meet the additional water needs of this state
  397  while protecting both the public health and the environment, and
  398         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that through the use of
  399  advanced treatment technology, potable reuse is a safe and
  400  sustainable alternative water supply source that can be used to
  401  support a diverse, resilient, and sustainable water supply
  402  portfolio, and is considered to be in the public interest, and
  403         WHEREAS, potable reuse projects, when implemented in a
  404  properly planned way using current environmental and engineered
  405  treatment processes, have reduced, and will continue to reduce,
  406  this state’s dependence on increased withdrawals from
  407  groundwater and surface water sources, pollutant loadings to
  408  waters of the state, and the nonbeneficial use of reclaimed
  409  water, thus improving water quality and benefitting the
  410  environment and local economies that depend on this state’s
  411  natural resources, NOW, THEREFORE,