House Bill hb1815
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Florida House of Representatives - 2002 HB 1815
By Representatives Joyner and Lerner
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to drinking water protection
3 and contamination prevention; creating s.
4 403.065, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
5 providing definitions; providing for a
6 moratorium on permitting of aquifer storage and
7 recovery wells that do not meet specified
8 criteria; requiring the Florida Geological
9 Survey to establish a statewide drinking water
10 reconnaissance; requiring the Department of
11 Health and local health officials to provide
12 for a coordinated response to health threats
13 that may be linked to drinking water
14 contaminants; providing for a waterborne
15 disease tracking network; providing for
16 collection, analysis, and reporting of data;
17 providing appropriations; providing an
18 effective date.
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20 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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22 Section 1. Section 403.065, Florida Statutes, is
23 created to read:
24 403.065 Drinking water protection and contamination
25 prevention.--
26 (1) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS.--
27 (a) The Legislature finds and declares that it is in
28 the public interest to prevent contamination of drinking water
29 and provide adequate drinking water supplies, to protect the
30 public health from waterborne diseases, to provide support for
31 natural systems, to conserve water resources, and to use
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1 caution when operating in a sphere of scientific uncertainty.
2 The Legislature further finds that groundwater supplies more
3 than 90 percent of the state's residents with drinking water,
4 due in part to the contamination of surface waters. The
5 Legislature further finds that it is necessary to prevent
6 contamination of water from biological and chemical waste in
7 order to reduce the incidence of waterborne diseases and
8 protect vulnerable marine and freshwater ecosystems. The
9 Legislature further finds that Florida's water supply is
10 threatened by the over-allocation of water for industrial,
11 agricultural, and domestic purposes, which has contributed to
12 the creation of a water crisis in the state.
13 (b) The Legislature recognizes the inadequacy of
14 existing data and information on the extent of contamination
15 of the state's surface and ground water and the impact of
16 aquifer storage and recovery on these water resources. Issues
17 of concern for which adequate data and information do not
18 exist include:
19 1. The chemical and biological effects of mixing
20 surface, ground, or reclaimed water with native groundwater.
21 2. The fate of biological contaminants, including
22 viruses, protozoa, and bacteria, contained in water that may
23 be injected into, above, or below underground sources of
24 drinking water, as defined by 42 U.S.C. s. 300h, et. seq. and
25 40 C.F.R. 144.3 (2000), through aquifer storage and recovery
26 wells.
27 3. The aggregate hydraulic and geologic impacts of
28 injecting billions of gallons of ground and surface water per
29 day into, above, or below underground sources of drinking
30 water.
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1 4. Possible fracturing of overlying geologic
2 formations that may be caused by injection pressure or
3 pressure buildup within an injection zone, and the subsequent
4 endangerment of underground sources of drinking water.
5 5. The impact of aquifer storage and recovery wells on
6 current and future public water supply systems.
7 6. The impact of aquifer storage and recovery wells on
8 private wells used for domestic purposes.
9 7. The reliability of institutional controls to
10 prevent exposure to humans of groundwater contaminated by
11 surface, ground, or reclaimed water stored through the use of
12 aquifer storage and recovery wells.
13 8. The extent and impact of aquifer transformation
14 products created as the result of the aquifer storage and
15 recovery wells.
16 9. The extent and impact of toxins created by harmful
17 algal blooms.
18 10. The direct, indirect, and societal costs
19 associated with drinking water contamination, including, but
20 not limited to, treatment costs borne by public water supply
21 systems and owners of private wells.
22 11. The impact of the disposal of municipal effluent
23 into the regional aquifer systems which receive surface and
24 ground water from aquifer storage and recovery wells.
25 12. The impact of land use activities on the
26 availability of fresh water for domestic, industrial, and
27 agricultural purposes.
28 (2) DEFINITIONS.--As used in this section:
29 (a) "Recovered water" means water that is injected
30 through aquifer storage and recovery wells and later withdrawn
31 for domestic, industrial, agricultural, or environmental use
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1 by the operator of aquifer storage and recovery wells or any
2 other person.
3 (b) "Source water" means ground and surface water that
4 is injected through aquifer storage and recovery wells.
5 (3) MORATORIUM; PERMIT CRITERIA FOR AQUIFER STORAGE
6 AND RECOVERY WELLS.--A moratorium is imposed on the issuance
7 of permits by the Department of Environmental Protection for
8 aquifer storage and recovery wells that do not meet the
9 following criteria:
10 (a) Compliance with all primary and secondary drinking
11 water standards.
12 (b) Determination of no adverse effect to human or
13 ecological health from contaminants in the source water, with
14 such contaminants evaluated through the following measures:
15 1. Priority pollutant scan.
16 2. Comparison of contaminants in the source water to
17 those listed on the United States Environmental Protection
18 Agency's "Chemical Hazard Data Availability Study."
19 3. Assessment of the source water to determine the
20 levels of human and veterinary pharmaceutical agents.
21 4. Assessment of the source water to determine the
22 levels of toxins produced by harmful algal blooms.
23 5. Assessment of the source water to determine the
24 levels of reproductive and steroidal hormones and endocrine
25 disrupters.
26 6. Assessment of the source water to determine the
27 levels of industrial and household wastewater products, such
28 as flame retardants and personal care products.
29 7. Analysis of the surface water planned for injection
30 pursuant to the total maximum daily load program.
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1 (c) Determination that the operator of the aquifer
2 storage and recovery wells and all public water supply systems
3 that may withdraw water impacted by the aquifer storage and
4 recovery wells own and operate a monitoring system that can
5 detect the presence of any biological or chemical contaminant
6 with a 99.9999-percent degree of accuracy in the source water,
7 injected water, and recovered water. This system must possess
8 the capability to perform analytical methods that are
9 proficient in detecting contaminants at environmentally
10 relevant concentrations, including measurements of emerging
11 contaminants at trace levels of 1 part per billion.
12 (d) Determination that the receiving waters of the
13 aquifer storage and recovery well have a total dissolved
14 solids concentration of 3,000 milligrams per liter or greater,
15 and there is no possibility of upward seepage of the source
16 water into aquifers with a total dissolved solids
17 concentration of less than 3,000 milligrams per liter.
18 (e) Determination prior to injection of zero tolerance
19 for all microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, and
20 protozoa, in the recovered water.
21 (f) Determination that the uptake and re-release of
22 microbial contaminants in the subsurface will achieve zero
23 tolerance for all microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses,
24 and protozoa, in the recovered water.
25 (g) Determination prior to injection that recovery of
26 source water injected through aquifer storage and recovery
27 wells will achieve 95 percent of the total volume injected.
28 (4) STATEWIDE DRINKING WATER RECONNAISSANCE.--In order
29 to ensure a system of accountability for prevention of
30 contamination of the state's drinking water, the Florida
31 Geological Survey shall establish a statewide drinking water
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1 reconnaissance which shall provide baseline information on the
2 environmental occurrence of biological and chemical
3 contaminants in water resources. This reconnaissance shall
4 have a special focus on emerging contaminants from animal or
5 human wastewater and shall provide:
6 (a) The first statewide assessment of the occurrence
7 of contaminants in surface water and groundwater.
8 (b) A focal point for the development and testing of
9 new laboratory analytical methods for measuring compounds in
10 environmental samples.
11 (c) A basis for the designing research investigations
12 that focus on root causes of water contamination and
13 depletion.
14 (5) COORDINATED RESPONSE TO HEALTH THREATS; WATERBORNE
15 DISEASE TRACKING NETWORK.--In order to ensure a rapid and
16 coordinated response to detect and respond effectively to
17 waterborne disease clusters, emerging threats, emergencies,
18 and environmental outbreaks, the Department of Health, in
19 collaboration with local health officials, shall establish
20 capacities to ensure a coordinated response to health threats
21 potentially linked to contaminants in drinking water. This
22 capacity shall include the following:
23 (a) Creation and operation of a waterborne disease
24 tracking network that will:
25 1. Collect data by county concerning the prevalence
26 and incidence of waterborne diseases.
27 2. Collect data through biomonitoring and other
28 methods concerning the existence of relevant environmental
29 factors and exposures.
30 3. Analyze data collected under subparagraphs 1. and
31 2. to identify populations at high risk, examine health
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1 concerns, recognize related environmental factors, assess the
2 efficacy of medical and intervention efforts, and establish
3 prevention strategies.
4 (b) Annually reporting such data and analysis in a
5 manner that makes this information widely available in a
6 timely fashion and in an easily accessible form, to allow
7 public health officials and members of the public to respond
8 with appropriate public health activities, while at the same
9 time protecting individual privacy.
10 (c) Such other activities as the Secretary of Health
11 may prescribe.
12 Section 2. (1) There is hereby appropriated from the
13 _______________ Trust Fund to the Florida Geological Survey
14 for fiscal year 2002-2003 the sum of $0.75 million to fund the
15 statewide drinking water reconnaissance and related activities
16 as necessary to carry out the provisions of s. 403.065,
17 Florida Statutes.
18 (2) There is hereby appropriated from the
19 _______________ Trust Fund to the Department of Health for
20 fiscal year 2002-2003 the sum of $0.75 million to fund the
21 waterborne disease tracking network and related activities as
22 necessary to carry out the provisions of s. 403.065, Florida
23 Statutes.
24 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2002.
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2 HOUSE SUMMARY
3 Provides legislative findings regarding the
protection of the state's drinking water sources from
4 contamination and the provision of drinking water
supplies through aquifer storage and recovery wells.
5 Provides definitions. Provides for a moratorium on
permitting of aquifer storage and recovery wells that do
6 not meet specified criteria for permitting. Requires the
Florida Geological Survey to establish a statewide
7 drinking water reconnaissance to provide information on
water resource contamination. Requires the Department of
8 Health and local health officials to provide for a
coordinated response to health threats that may be linked
9 to drinking water contaminants. Provides for creation and
operation of a waterborne disease tracking network and
10 provides for collection, analysis, and reporting of data.
Provides appropriations.
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