Florida Senate - 2020 SB 1656
By Senator Albritton
26-01333B-20 20201656__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to reclaimed water; creating s.
3 403.8531, F.S.; providing legislative intent; defining
4 terms; providing that reclaimed water is a water
5 source for public water supply systems; providing
6 specified groundwater and surface water quality
7 protections for potable reuse projects; providing that
8 potable reuse is an alternative water supply and that
9 projects relating to such reuse are eligible for
10 alternative water supply funding; requiring the
11 Department of Environmental Protection to adopt
12 specified rules; requiring the department to review
13 reclaimed water and potable reuse rules and revise
14 them as necessary; requiring the department to review
15 aquifer recharge rules and revise them as necessary;
16 requiring the department to initiate rulemaking and to
17 submit such rules to the Legislature for ratification
18 by specified dates; requiring legislative ratification
19 of the rules; requiring the department and the water
20 management districts to develop and execute, by a
21 specified date, a memorandum of agreement for the
22 coordinated review of specified permits; providing
23 that potable reuse projects by private entities are
24 eligible for certain expedited permitting and tax
25 credits; providing construction; amending s. 403.064,
26 F.S.; prohibiting domestic wastewater treatment
27 facilities from disposing of effluent, reclaimed
28 water, or reuse water by surface water discharge;
29 providing exceptions; requiring the department to
30 adopt rules for the implementation of potable reuse
31 projects which meet certain requirements; requiring
32 the department to convene at least one technical
33 advisory committee for specified purposes; providing
34 for the composition of the advisory committee;
35 providing a directive to the Division of Law Revision;
36 providing an effective date.
37
38 WHEREAS, sustainable water supplies are important to this
39 state’s economy, environment, and quality of life, and
40 WHEREAS, in 2019, Floridians used nearly 6.5 billion
41 gallons of water per day and are projected to need an additional
42 1.1 billion gallons of water per day by 2035, and
43 WHEREAS, more than 75 percent of this state’s water supply
44 comes from groundwater, and the availability of additional fresh
45 groundwater has become limited in many areas of this state, and
46 WHEREAS, this state’s continued growth and economic success
47 depend on the implementation of safe and sustainable alternative
48 water supplies, and
49 WHEREAS, the use of reclaimed water is an important
50 component of both wastewater management and water resource
51 management in this state, and
52 WHEREAS, in 2018, approximately 48 percent of the total
53 domestic wastewater flow in this state, 797 million gallons per
54 day, was reused for beneficial purposes, and
55 WHEREAS, the reuse of water is a critical component of
56 meeting this state’s existing and future water supply needs, and
57 WHEREAS, potable reuse is the augmentation of a drinking
58 water supply with reclaimed water from a municipal wastewater
59 source and is an alternative water supply source that can be
60 harnessed to help meet the additional water needs of this state
61 while protecting both the public health and the environment, and
62 WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that through the use of
63 advanced treatment technology, potable reuse is a safe and
64 sustainable alternative water supply source that can be used to
65 support a diverse, resilient, and sustainable water supply
66 portfolio, and is considered to be in the public interest, and
67 WHEREAS, potable reuse projects, when implemented in a
68 properly planned way using current environmental and engineered
69 treatment processes, have reduced, and will continue to reduce,
70 this state’s dependence on increased withdrawals from
71 groundwater and surface water sources, pollutant loadings to
72 waters of the state, and the nonbeneficial use of reclaimed
73 water, thus improving water quality and benefitting the
74 environment and local economies that depend on this state’s
75 natural resources, NOW, THEREFORE,
76
77 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
78
79 Section 1. Section 403.8531, Florida Statutes, is created
80 to read:
81 403.8531 Potable reuse.—
82 (1) Recognizing that sufficient water supply is imperative
83 to the future of this state and that potable reuse is one source
84 of water that may assist in meeting future demands, the
85 Legislature intends for the department to adopt rules for
86 potable reuse which:
87 (a) Protect the public health and environment by ensuring
88 that the potable reuse rules meet federal and state drinking
89 water and water quality standards, including, but not limited
90 to, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and water
91 quality standards pursuant to chapter 403, and, when possible,
92 implement such rules through existing regulatory programs.
93 (b) Support reclaimed water being used for potable reuse
94 purposes.
95 (c) Implement the recommendations set forth in the Potable
96 Reuse Commission’s 2020 report “Advancing Potable Reuse in
97 Florida: Framework for the Implementation of Potable Reuse in
98 Florida.”
99 (d) Require that the point of compliance with drinking
100 water standards for potable reuse projects is the final
101 discharge point for finished water from the water treatment
102 facility.
103 (e) Protect the aquifer and Florida’s springs and surface
104 waters by ensuring that potable reuse projects do not cause or
105 contribute to violations of water quality standards in surface
106 waters, including groundwater discharges that flow by interflow
107 and affect water quality in surface waters, and that potable
108 reuse projects shall be designed and operated to ensure
109 compliance with groundwater quality standards.
110 (2) As used in this section, the term:
111 (a) “Advanced treated reclaimed water” means the water
112 produced from an advanced water treatment process for potable
113 reuse applications.
114 (b) “Advanced treatment technology” means the treatment
115 technology selected by a utility to address emerging
116 constituents and pathogens in reclaimed water as part of a
117 potable reuse project.
118 (c) “Direct potable reuse” means the introduction of
119 advanced treated reclaimed water into a raw water supply
120 immediately upstream from a drinking water treatment facility or
121 directly into a potable water supply distribution system.
122 (d) “Emerging constituents” means pharmaceuticals, personal
123 care products, and other chemicals not regulated as part of
124 drinking water quality standards.
125 (e) “Indirect potable reuse” means the planned delivery or
126 discharge of reclaimed water to groundwater or surface waters
127 for the development of, or to supplement, the potable water
128 supply.
129 (f) “Off-spec reclaimed water” means reclaimed water that
130 does not meet the standards for potable reuse.
131 (g) “Potable reuse” means the augmentation of a drinking
132 water supply with advanced treated reclaimed water from a
133 domestic wastewater treatment facility, and consists of direct
134 potable reuse and indirect potable reuse.
135 (h) “Reclaimed water” means water that has received at
136 least secondary treatment and basic disinfection and is reused
137 after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.
138 (3) Reclaimed water is deemed a water source for public
139 water supply systems.
140 (4) Existing water quality protections that prohibit
141 discharges from causing or contributing to violations of water
142 quality standards in groundwater and surface waters apply to
143 potable reuse projects. In addition, when reclaimed water is
144 released or discharged into groundwater or surface waters for
145 potable reuse purposes, consideration of emerging constituents
146 may be required due to existing regulatory requirements, such as
147 antidegradation and discharge standards, as well as impacts to
148 other users of such groundwater or surface water.
149 (5) Potable reuse is an alternative water supply as defined
150 in s. 373.019, and potable reuse projects are eligible for
151 alternative water supply funding. The use of potable reuse water
152 may not be excluded from regional water supply planning under s.
153 373.709.
154 (6) The department shall:
155 (a) Adopt rules that authorize potable reuse projects that
156 are consistent with this section.
157 (b) Review existing rules governing reclaimed water and
158 potable reuse to identify obsolete and inconsistent requirements
159 and adopt rules that revise existing potable reuse rules to
160 eliminate such inconsistencies, while maintaining existing
161 public health and environmental protections.
162 (c) Review aquifer recharge rules, and, if revisions are
163 necessary to ensure continued compliance with existing public
164 health and environmental protection rules when reclaimed water
165 is used for aquifer recharge, adopt such rules.
166 (d) Initiate rulemaking by December 31, 2020, and submit
167 the adopted rules to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
168 of the House of Representatives by December 12, 2022, for
169 ratification. Such rules are effective only upon ratification by
170 the Legislature.
171 (7) The department and the water management districts shall
172 develop and execute a memorandum of agreement providing for the
173 procedural requirements of a coordinated review of all permits
174 associated with the construction and operation of an indirect
175 potable reuse project. The memorandum of agreement must provide
176 that the coordinated review will occur only if requested by a
177 permittee. The purpose of the coordinated review is to share
178 information, to avoid the redundancy of information requested
179 from the permittee, and to ensure consistency in the permit for
180 the protection of the public health and the environment. The
181 department and the water management districts shall develop and
182 execute the memorandum of agreement by December 31, 2022.
183 (8) To encourage investment in the development of potable
184 reuse projects by private entities, a potable reuse project
185 developed as a qualifying project pursuant to s. 255.065 is:
186 (a) Beginning January 1, 2025, eligible for expedited
187 permitting under s. 403.973.
188 (b) Granted an annual credit against the tax imposed by
189 chapter 220 in an amount equal to 5 percent of the eligible
190 capital costs generated by a qualifying project for a period not
191 to exceed 20 years after the date that project operations begin.
192 The tax credit applies only to the corporate income tax
193 liability or the premium tax liability generated by or arising
194 out of the qualifying project, and the sum of all tax credits
195 provided pursuant to this section may not exceed 100 percent of
196 the eligible capital costs as defined in s. 220.191(1)(c). Any
197 credit granted pursuant to this paragraph may not be carried
198 forward or backward.
199 (c) Granted a 3-year extension of any deadlines imposed
200 under s. 403.064(17).
201 (d) Consistent with s. 373.707, eligible for priority
202 funding in the same manner as other alternative water supply
203 projects from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, under the
204 Water Protection and Sustainability Program, and for water
205 management district cooperative funding.
206 (9) This section is not intended and may not be construed
207 to supersede s. 373.250(3).
208 Section 2. Subsection (17) is added to section 403.064,
209 Florida Statutes, to read:
210 403.064 Reuse of reclaimed water.—
211 (17) Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section
212 to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2026, domestic wastewater
213 treatment facilities may not dispose of effluent, reclaimed
214 water, or reuse water by surface water discharge, except that
215 this prohibition does not apply to indirect potable reuse
216 projects; domestic wastewater treatment facility discharges
217 during wet weather which occur in accordance with the applicable
218 department permit; discharges into a stormwater management
219 system which are subsequently withdrawn by a user for irrigation
220 purposes; domestic wastewater treatment facilities located in
221 fiscally constrained counties as defined in s. 218.67(1);
222 projects where reclaimed water is recovered from an aquifer
223 recharge system and subsequently discharged into a surface water
224 for potable reuse; wetlands creation, restoration, and
225 enhancement projects; surface water minimum flows and levels
226 recovery or prevention strategy plan projects; or domestic
227 wastewater treatment facilities located in municipalities that
228 are entirely within a rural area of opportunity designated under
229 s. 288.0656.
230 Section 3. (1) In implementing s. 403.8531, Florida
231 Statutes, as created by this act, the Department of
232 Environmental Protection, in coordination with one or more
233 technical working groups pursuant to subsection (2), shall adopt
234 rules for the implementation of potable reuse projects. The
235 department shall:
236 (a) Revise the appropriate chapters in the Florida
237 Administrative Code, including chapter 62-610, Florida
238 Administrative Code, to ensure that all rules implementing
239 potable reuse are in the Florida Administrative Code division 62
240 governing drinking water regulation.
241 (b) Revise existing drinking water rules to include
242 reclaimed water as a source water for the public water supply
243 and require such treatment of the water as is necessary to meet
244 existing drinking water rules, including rules for pathogens.
245 The potable reuse rules must include the implementation of a log
246 reduction credit system using advanced treatment technology to
247 meet pathogen treatment requirements, and must require a public
248 water supplier to provide an approach to meet the required
249 pathogen treatment requirements in an engineering report as part
250 of its public water supply permit application for authorization
251 of potable reuse. To ensure protection of the public health, as
252 part of the public water supply permit application to authorize
253 potable reuse, a public water supplier shall provide a
254 department-specified level of treatment or propose an approach
255 to achieving the log reduction targets based on source water
256 characterization that is sufficient for a pathogen risk of
257 infection which meets the national drinking water criteria of
258 less than 1 x 10-4 annually.
259 (c) Prescribe the means for using appropriate treatment
260 technology to address emerging constituents in potable reuse
261 projects. The advanced treatment technology must be technically
262 and economically feasible and must provide for flexibility in
263 the specific treatment processes employed to recognize different
264 project scenarios, emerging constituent concentrations, desired
265 finished water quality, and the treatment capability of the
266 facility. The advanced treatment technology may also be used for
267 pathogen removal or reduction.
268 1. The rules must require appropriate monitoring to
269 evaluate advanced treatment technology treatment performance,
270 including the monitoring of surrogate parameters and controls,
271 which monitoring must occur either before or after the advanced
272 treatment technologies treatment process, or both, as
273 appropriate.
274 2. For direct potable reuse projects, the rules must
275 require reclaimed water to be included in the source water
276 characterization for a drinking water treatment facility and, if
277 that source water characterization indicates the presence of
278 emerging constituents at levels of public health interest, must
279 specify how appropriate treatment technology will be used to
280 address those emerging constituents.
281 3. For indirect potable reuse projects, the department
282 shall amend the existing monitoring requirements contained
283 within part V of chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code, to
284 require monitoring for one or more representative emerging
285 constituents. The utility responsible for the indirect potable
286 reuse project shall develop an emerging constituent monitoring
287 protocol consisting of the selection of one or more
288 representative emerging constituents for monitoring and the
289 identification of action levels associated with such emerging
290 constituents. The monitoring protocol must provide that, if
291 elevated levels of the representative emerging constituent are
292 detected, the utility must report the elevated detection to the
293 department and investigate the source and cause of such elevated
294 emerging constituent. The utility shall submit the monitoring
295 protocol to the department for review and approval and shall
296 implement the monitoring protocol as approved by the department.
297 If the monitoring protocol detects an elevated emerging
298 constituent, and if the utility’s investigation indicates that
299 the use of the reclaimed water is the cause of such elevated
300 emerging constituent, the utility must develop a plan to address
301 or remedy that cause. The utility’s monitoring results,
302 investigation of any detected elevated emerging constituent
303 levels, determination of cause, and any plan developed to
304 address or remedy the cause must be submitted to the department
305 for review and approval.
306 (d) Specify industrial pretreatment requirements for
307 potable reuse projects. These industrial pretreatment
308 requirements must match the industrial pretreatment requirements
309 contained in chapter 62-625, Florida Administrative Code, as of
310 the effective date of this act. If necessary, the department
311 also must require the utility operating a potable reuse project
312 to implement a source control program, and the utility shall
313 identify the sources that need to be addressed.
314 (e) Provide off-spec reclaimed water requirements for
315 potable reuse projects which include the immediate disposal,
316 temporary storage, alternative nonpotable reuse, or retreatment
317 or disposal of off-spec reclaimed water based on operating
318 protocols established by the public water supplier and approved
319 by the department.
320 (f) Revise existing rules to specify the point of
321 compliance with drinking water standards for potable reuse
322 projects as the point where the finished water is finally
323 discharged from the drinking water treatment facility to the
324 water distribution system.
325 (g) Ensure that, as rules for potable reuse projects are
326 implemented, chapter 62-610.850, Florida Administrative Code, is
327 applicable.
328 (h) Revise the definition of the term “indirect potable
329 reuse” provided in chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code,
330 to match the definition provided in s. 403.8531, Florida
331 Statutes.
332 (2) The department shall convene and lead one or more
333 technical advisory committees to coordinate the rulemaking and
334 review of rules required by s. 403.8531, Florida Statutes. The
335 technical advisory committees, which shall assist in the
336 development of such rules, must be composed of knowledgeable
337 representatives of a broad group of interested stakeholders,
338 including, but not limited to, representatives from the water
339 management districts, the wastewater utility industry, the water
340 utility industry, the environmental community, the business
341 community, the public health community, and the agricultural
342 community, and consumers.
343 Section 4. To further promote the reuse of reclaimed water
344 for irrigation purposes, the rules that apply when reclaimed
345 water is injected into a receiving groundwater having 1,000 to
346 3,000 mg/L total dissolved solids are applicable to reclaimed
347 water aquifer storage and recovery wells injecting into a
348 receiving groundwater of less than 1,000 mg/L total dissolved
349 solids if the applicant demonstrates that there are no public
350 supply wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and
351 recovery wells and that it has implemented institutional
352 controls to prevent the future construction of public supply
353 wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and recovery
354 wells.
355 Section 5. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
356 replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
357 occurs in this act with the date the act becomes a law.
358 Section 6. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.