Florida Senate - 2020                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. SB 1656
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì451010RÎ451010                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




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   16  system which are subsequently withdrawn by a user for irrigation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