HB 693

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to the Florida Springs Protection Act;
3	creating pt. IV of ch. 369, F.S., relating to springs
4	protection; providing a popular name; providing
5	legislative intent; providing definitions; requiring the
6	Department of Environmental Protection and water
7	management districts to delineate springsheds and primary
8	protection zones for first and second magnitude springs;
9	providing requirements and procedures with respect
10	thereto; providing rulemaking authority; requiring the
11	department to establish criteria for impairment of springs
12	and implement total maximum daily loads for such springs;
13	providing requirements and procedures with respect
14	thereto; requiring local governments with jurisdiction
15	over certain springs to review and amend comprehensive
16	plans; prohibiting certain activities within primary
17	protection zones; requiring a special use permit for
18	limited activities within primary protection zones;
19	providing an effective date.
20
21	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
22
23	Section 1.  Part IV of chapter 369, Florida Statutes,
24	consisting of sections 369.401, 369.403, 369.405, 369.407,
25	369.409, 369.411, 369.413, and 369.415, is created to read:
26	PART IV
27	SPRINGS PROTECTION
28	369.401  Part title.--This part may be cited as the
29	"Florida Springs Protection Act."
30	369.403  Legislative intent.--
31	(1)  The Legislature recognizes that Florida's springs are
32	a precious and fragile natural resource that must be protected.
33	Flow and water quality at springs are indicators of local
34	conditions in the Floridan Aquifer and other major aquifers
35	which are also drinking water sources for many citizens of this
36	state. Florida's springs also provide recreational opportunities
37	for swimmers, boaters, wildlife watchers, and cave divers.
38	Because of these recreational opportunities, and accompanying
39	tourism, many of Florida's springs provide great financial
40	benefits to local economies. In addition, springs provide
41	critical habitat for numerous endangered or threatened species
42	of plants and animals and serve as general indicators of the
43	quality of groundwater resources.
44	(2)  The Legislature recognizes that a spring is only as
45	healthy as its springshed. The groundwater that supplies springs
46	is derived from rainfall that recharges aquifer systems in the
47	form of seepage from the land surface and through direct
48	conduits such as sinkholes. As a result, the hydrologic and
49	environmental condition of a spring or spring run is directly
50	influenced by activities and land uses within the springshed.
51	(3)  The Legislature recognizes that a number of the
52	state's springs, including Crystal Springs, De Leon Springs,
53	Fanning Springs, Lithia Springs, Manatee Springs, Ponce De Leon
54	Springs, Rainbow Springs, Silver Springs, Wakulla Springs, Weeki
55	Wachee Springs, and Wekiva Springs, currently have elevated
56	nutrient concentrations, as determined by department
57	bioassessments. Elevated nutrient concentrations may lead to
58	increases in algae growth that decrease water clarity and change
59	both the aesthetic qualities and the natural ecology of springs.
60	(4)  The Legislature recognizes that state standards
61	regulating nutrient concentrations in ground water, including
62	minimum criteria, are intended to protect human health and are
63	not based on protection of the complex biological and ecological
64	systems that contribute to the integrity of the state's springs.
65	(5)  The Legislature recognizes that springshed boundaries
66	and areas of high vulnerability within springsheds often have
67	not been identified and that to adequately protect springs,
68	these areas must be delineated and characterized using the best
69	available data.
70	(6)  The Legislature recognizes that because springsheds
71	cross local government jurisdictional boundaries, a coordinated,
72	statewide springs protection plan is required.
73	(7)  It is the intent of the Legislature that local
74	governments whose jurisdictions are within springsheds emphasize
75	the importance of this state resource in their planning and
76	regulation efforts.
77	(8)  It is the intent of the Legislature that future
78	amendments to comprehensive plans adopted by local governments
79	whose jurisdictions are within the springsheds of first and
80	second magnitude and other locally significant springs include
81	land development regulations that protect the water quantity and
82	quality of those springs.
83	(9)  It is the intent of the Legislature that state
84	agencies and water management districts work together with local
85	governments to provide the data necessary to delineate
86	springsheds and protection zones and to develop comprehensive
87	plans and land development regulations that protect state
88	springs. The Legislature recognizes that urgent action is needed
89	and can be reasonably based on best available data.
90	369.405  Definitions.--As used in this part:
91	(1)  "Department" means the Department of Environmental
92	Protection, which includes the Florida Geological Survey.
93	(2)  "First and second magnitude springs" means those
94	springs identified as first or second magnitude by the Florida
95	Geological Survey in Florida Geological Survey Bulletin No. 66
96	(2004), "Springs of Florida."
97	(3)  "Karst" means landforms that have been modified by
98	dissolution of soluble rock such as limestone or dolostone.
99	(4)  "Karst terrain" means a terrain, generally underlain
100	by limestone or dolostone, in which the topography is chiefly
101	formed by the dissolution of rock and which may be characterized
102	by sinkholes, sinking streams, closed depressions, subterranean
103	drainage, and caves.
104	(5)  "Local comprehensive plan" means a comprehensive plan
105	adopted pursuant to ss. 163.3164-163.3215.
106	(6)  "Local government" means a local government whose
107	jurisdiction includes a first or second magnitude spring or any
108	part of a primary or secondary protection zone for a first or
109	second magnitude spring.
110	(7)  "Primary protection zone" means the geographic area
111	within a springshed identified by the department under s.
112	369.407 that, because of its proximity or connectivity to the
113	spring or its karst features, or both, contributes directly to a
114	spring's flow and water quality.
115	(8)  "Reclaimed water" means wastewater that has received
116	at least secondary treatment and basic disinfection and is
117	reused after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment
118	facility.
119	(9)  "Reuse" means the deliberate application of reclaimed
120	water, in compliance with department and water management
121	district rules, for a beneficial purpose.
122	(10)  "Secondary protection zone" means the geographic area
123	within a springshed identified by the department under s.
124	369.407 that is located within the springshed but outside the
125	primary protection zone.
126	(11)  "Spring" means a point at which groundwater emerges
127	onto the earth's surface, including under any surface water of
128	the state, excluding seeps. The term "spring" includes karst
129	windows, which are depression openings that reveal portions of a
130	subterranean flow or the unroofed portion of a cave. The term
131	also includes spring runs, the flow of which is predominantly
132	composed of spring discharge.
133	(12)  "Springshed" or "spring recharge basin" means those
134	areas within groundwater and surface water basins that
135	contribute to the discharge of a spring. The position of the
136	divide is orthogonal to isopotential lines.
137	(13)  "Travel time" means the time required for water to
138	travel horizontally, vertically, or a combination thereof from
139	any point in the springshed to the point at which it emerges
140	from the ground and contributes to the flow of a spring or
141	spring run.
142	369.407  Delineation of springsheds and primary protection
143	zones.--
144	(1)  The department, in cooperation with water management
145	districts, shall delineate springsheds and primary protection
146	zones for all first and second magnitude springs.
147	(2)  The delineation of springsheds and primary protection
148	zones shall be accomplished using best available data from water
149	management districts, the Florida Geological Survey, and other
150	credible sources. The delineation of protection zones shall be
151	based on a consideration of the following:
152	(a)  Proximity or connectivity to the spring.
153	(b)  Travel time.
154	(c)  Proximity to karst features.
155	(d)  Hydrogeologic characteristics of the springshed such
156	as the nature and extent of confining units within the
157	groundwater flow system and the location of areas delineated as
158	recharge areas.
159	(e)  Areas that contribute surface water drainage or
160	overland flow to the spring and its springshed.
161	(f)  Data from Florida Geological Survey's Florida Aquifer
162	Vulnerability Assessment.
163	(g)  Other objective and credible data.
164	(3)  Because of the urgent need for a consistent mapping
165	effort that can be used by state agencies and local governments,
166	the delineation of springsheds and primary protection zones
167	shall begin immediately upon passage of this act. A statewide
168	springshed delineation map shall be proposed for adoption by the
169	department no later than 3 years after this act takes effect.
170	The department is authorized to adopt interim primary protection
171	zones using simple distance criteria from a spring, spring run,
172	sinkhole, conduit, or other feature significant to spring
173	discharge.
174	(4)  The department shall adopt rules, pursuant to ss.
175	120.536(1) and 120.54, to implement the provisions of this
176	chapter.
177	(5)  The springsheds and primary zones delineated pursuant
178	to subsection (1) and the rules adopted pursuant to subsection
179	(4) shall be periodically reviewed and amended as necessary.
180	369.409  Establishment and implementation of total maximum
181	daily loads for impaired first and second magnitude springs.--
182	(1)  Within 2 years after this act becomes law, the
183	department shall establish criteria for impairment of first and
184	second magnitude springs. In determining impairment, the
185	department shall consider without limitation all of the
186	following:
187	(a)  Existing water quality and water quality trends,
188	especially nutrient and chlorophyll-a concentrations.
189	(b)  The presence of algae that diminish clarity and may
190	affect contact recreation.
191	(c)  Imbalance in flora and fauna.
192	(d)  Aesthetics as they affect economic value of a
193	particular spring.
194
195	Following the establishment of such criteria, the department
196	shall create a list of impaired first and second magnitude
197	springs to be added to the existing list of impaired waters
198	subject to s. 403.067. A spring may be designated as impaired
199	if, in the judgment of the department, it is likely to become
200	impaired.
201	(2)  The department shall, pursuant to s. 403.067,
202	establish and implement total maximum daily loads for all
203	impaired first and second magnitude springs in the state as
204	determined under subsection (1).
205	(3)  In establishing and implementing the total maximum
206	daily loads of nutrients for springs, the department, or the
207	department in conjunction with appropriate water management
208	districts, shall develop a watershed or basin management plan,
209	as specified in s. 403.067(7), that addresses protection of
210	springshed water quantity and quality.
211	(4)  The establishment and implementation of total maximum
212	daily loads of nutrients shall include the reasonable and
213	equitable allocation of the total maximum daily loads to each
214	local government.
215	(5)  The department shall, within the period mandated in
216	subsection (1), set the schedule for establishing and
217	implementing total maximum daily loads for springs.
218	369.411  Review and amendment of local comprehensive plans
219	to protect spring water recharge and quality.--
220	(1)  Within 1 year after the department's completion of
221	springshed and protection zone delineations as required under s.
222	369.407, each local government shall review its local
223	comprehensive plan and recommend amendments to the comprehensive
224	plan to ensure that it contains goals, objectives, and policies
225	that result in the protection of the quantity and quality of
226	water discharged from any first or second magnitude spring whose
227	springshed is located wholly or partly within the jurisdiction
228	of the local government. Guidance during this review shall be
229	provided by the Department of Community Affairs, water
230	management districts, and the department.
231	(2)  Within 1 year after completion of the review specified
232	in subsection (1), each local government shall consider the
233	recommended amendments and adopt measures to ensure that land
234	use activities within its jurisdiction:
235	(a)  Do not diminish the quality of groundwater recharge
236	within the springshed.
237	(b)  Do not reduce groundwater recharge capability within
238	the springshed.
239	369.413  Prohibited activities within primary protection
240	zones.--The following activities shall be prohibited within
241	primary protection zones:
242	(1)  New industrial wastewater disposal systems.
243	(2)  New landfills, including lined landfills.
244	(3)  New rapid infiltration basins.
245	369.415  Limited or conditional uses within primary
246	protection zones.--
247	(1)  The following shall be permitted in a primary
248	protection zone only by special use permit in accordance with
249	local ordinances:
250	(a)  New slow-rate land application systems, excluding the
251	reuse of reclaimed water.
252	(b)  New onsite sewage disposal systems at a density of
253	greater than 1 per 5 acres, except those that make use of
254	advanced, low nutrient output designs approved by the Department
255	of Health.
256	(c)  New facilities for the transfer, storage, or disposal
257	of hazardous materials or waste, including SARA 302 facilities.
258
259	Other land uses may be prohibited in the local comprehensive
260	plan at the discretion of a local government, after considering
261	existing land use patterns and the potential for damage to a
262	particular spring.
263	(2)  Local governments shall ensure that their
264	comprehensive plan reflects these limited uses and is
265	implemented through passage of a local ordinance.
266	Section 2.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2006.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.