Florida Senate - 2011                       CS for CS for SB 796
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Community Affairs; and Environmental
       Preservation and Conservation; and Senators Diaz de la Portilla
       and Sobel
       
       
       578-04255-11                                           2011796c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to domestic wastewater discharged
    3         through ocean outfalls; amending s. 403.086, F.S.;
    4         postponing the dates by which domestic wastewater
    5         facilities must meet more stringent treatment and
    6         management requirements; providing exceptions;
    7         revising the definition of the term “functioning reuse
    8         system”; changing the term “facility’s actual flow on
    9         an annual basis” to “baseline flow”; revising plan
   10         requirements for the elimination of ocean outfalls;
   11         providing that certain utilities that shared a common
   12         ocean outfall on a specified date are individually
   13         responsible for meeting the reuse requirement;
   14         authorizing those utilities to enter into binding
   15         agreements to share or transfer responsibility for
   16         meeting reuse requirements; revising provisions on the
   17         discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean
   18         outfalls; requiring a holder of a department permit
   19         authorizing the discharge of domestic wastewater
   20         through an ocean outfall to submit certain
   21         information; requiring the Department of Environmental
   22         Protection, the South Florida Water Management
   23         District, and affected utilities to consider certain
   24         information for the purpose of adjusting reuse
   25         requirements; requiring the department to submit a
   26         report to the Legislature; providing an effective
   27         date.
   28  
   29  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   30  
   31         Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 403.086, Florida
   32  Statutes, is amended to read:
   33         403.086 Sewage disposal facilities; advanced and secondary
   34  waste treatment.—
   35         (9) The Legislature finds that the discharge of domestic
   36  wastewater through ocean outfalls wastes valuable water supplies
   37  that should be reclaimed for beneficial purposes to meet public
   38  and natural systems demands. The Legislature also finds that
   39  discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean outfalls
   40  compromises the coastal environment, quality of life, and local
   41  economies that depend on those resources. The Legislature
   42  declares that more stringent treatment and management
   43  requirements for such domestic wastewater and the subsequent,
   44  timely elimination of ocean outfalls as a primary means of
   45  domestic wastewater discharge are in the public interest.
   46         (a) The construction of new ocean outfalls for domestic
   47  wastewater discharge and the expansion of existing ocean
   48  outfalls for this purpose, along with associated pumping and
   49  piping systems, are prohibited. Each domestic wastewater ocean
   50  outfall shall be limited to the discharge capacity specified in
   51  the department permit authorizing the outfall in effect on July
   52  1, 2008, which discharge capacity shall not be increased.
   53  Maintenance of existing, department-authorized domestic
   54  wastewater ocean outfalls and associated pumping and piping
   55  systems is allowed, subject to the requirements of this section.
   56  The department is directed to work with the United States
   57  Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the requirements
   58  of this subsection are implemented consistently for all domestic
   59  wastewater facilities in Florida which discharge through ocean
   60  outfalls.
   61         (b) The discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean
   62  outfalls must shall meet advanced wastewater treatment and
   63  management requirements by December 31, 2023 no later than
   64  December 31, 2018. For purposes of this subsection, the term
   65  “advanced wastewater treatment and management requirements”
   66  means the advanced waste treatment requirements set forth in
   67  subsection (4), a reduction in outfall baseline loadings of
   68  total nitrogen and total phosphorus which is equivalent to that
   69  which would be achieved by the advanced waste treatment
   70  requirements in subsection (4), or a reduction in cumulative
   71  outfall loadings of total nitrogen and total phosphorus
   72  occurring between December 31, 2008, and December 31, 2025,
   73  which is equivalent to that which would be achieved if the
   74  advanced waste treatment requirements in subsection (4) were
   75  fully implemented beginning December 31, 2020 2018, and
   76  continued through December 31, 2025. The department shall
   77  establish the average baseline loadings of total nitrogen and
   78  total phosphorus for each outfall using monitoring data
   79  available for calendar years 2003 through 2007 and shall
   80  establish required loading reductions based on this baseline.
   81  The baseline loadings and required loading reductions of total
   82  nitrogen and total phosphorus shall be expressed as an average
   83  annual daily loading value. The advanced wastewater treatment
   84  and management requirements of this paragraph shall be deemed to
   85  be met for any domestic wastewater facility discharging through
   86  an ocean outfall on July 1, 2008, which has installed by no
   87  later than December 31, 2018, a fully operational reuse system
   88  comprising 100 percent of the facility’s annual average daily
   89  flow for reuse activities authorized by the department.
   90         (c)1. Each utility that had a permit for a domestic
   91  wastewater facility that discharged discharges through an ocean
   92  outfall on July 1, 2008, must shall install a functioning reuse
   93  system by no later than December 31, 2025. For purposes of this
   94  subsection, a “functioning reuse system” means an
   95  environmentally, economically, and technically feasible system
   96  that provides a minimum of 60 percent of a the facility’s
   97  baseline actual flow or, for utilities operating more than one
   98  facility, 60 percent of the utility’s entire wastewater system
   99  flow on an annual basis on December 31, 2025. Reuse may be on an
  100  annual basis for irrigation of public access areas, residential
  101  properties, or agricultural crops; aquifer recharge of the
  102  Biscayne or Upper Floridan Aquifers; groundwater recharge;
  103  industrial cooling; or other acceptable reuse purposes
  104  authorized by the department. For purposes of this subsection,
  105  the term “baseline flow” “facility’s actual flow on an annual
  106  basis” means the annual average flow of domestic wastewater
  107  discharging through the facility’s ocean outfall, as determined
  108  by the department, using monitoring data available for calendar
  109  years 2003 through 2007.
  110         2. Flows diverted from facilities to other facilities that
  111  provide 100 percent reuse of the diverted flows before prior to
  112  December 31, 2025, shall be considered to contribute to meeting
  113  the 60 percent reuse requirement. For utilities operating more
  114  than one outfall, the reuse requirement may can be apportioned
  115  between the met if the combined actual reuse flows from
  116  facilities served by the outfalls is at least 60 percent of the
  117  sum of the total actual flows from the facilities, including
  118  flows diverted to other facilities for 100 percent reuse before
  119  prior to December 31, 2025. Utilities that shared a common ocean
  120  outfall for the discharge of domestic wastewater on July 1,
  121  2008, regardless of which utility operates the ocean outfall,
  122  are individually responsible for meeting the reuse requirement
  123  and may enter into binding agreements to share or transfer such
  124  responsibility among the utilities. In the event treatment in
  125  addition to the advanced wastewater treatment and management
  126  requirements described in paragraph (b) is needed in order to
  127  support a functioning reuse system, such treatment must shall be
  128  fully operational by no later than December 31, 2025.
  129         (d) The discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean
  130  outfalls is prohibited after December 31, 2025, except as a
  131  backup discharge that is part of a functioning reuse system or
  132  other wastewater management system authorized by the department
  133  as provided for in paragraph (c). Except as otherwise provided
  134  in this subsection, a backup discharge may occur only during
  135  periods of reduced demand for reclaimed water in the reuse
  136  system, such as periods of wet weather, or as the result of peak
  137  flows from other wastewater management systems, and must shall
  138  comply with the advanced wastewater treatment and management
  139  requirements of paragraph (b). Peak flow backup discharges from
  140  other wastewater management systems may not cumulatively exceed
  141  5 percent of a facility’s baseline flow, measured as a 5-year
  142  rolling average; are subject to applicable secondary waste
  143  treatment and water-quality-based effluent limitations specified
  144  in department rules; and, when in compliance with the effluent
  145  limitations, are deemed to meet the advanced wastewater
  146  treatment requirements of this subsection.
  147         (e) The holder of a department permit authorizing the
  148  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall as of
  149  July 1, 2008, shall submit the following to the secretary of the
  150  department the following:
  151         1. A detailed plan to meet the requirements of this
  152  subsection, including the identification of the technical,
  153  environmental, and economic feasibility of various reuse
  154  options; the an identification of all land acquisition and
  155  facilities necessary to provide for reuse of the domestic
  156  wastewater; an analysis of the costs to meet the requirements,
  157  including the level of treatment necessary to satisfy state
  158  water quality requirements and local water quality
  159  considerations, and a comparative cost of reuse using flows from
  160  ocean outfalls and flows from other domestic wastewater sources;
  161  and a financing plan for meeting the requirements, including
  162  identifying any actions necessary to implement the financing
  163  plan, such as bond issuance or other borrowing, assessments,
  164  rate increases, fees, other charges, or other financing
  165  mechanisms. The plan must evaluate reuse demand in the context
  166  of future regional water supply demands, the availability of
  167  traditional water supplies, the need for development of
  168  alternative water supplies, the degree to which various reuse
  169  options offset potable water supplies, and other factors
  170  considered in the South Florida Water Management District’s
  171  Lower East Coast Regional Water Supply Plan. The plan must shall
  172  include a detailed schedule for the completion of all necessary
  173  actions and shall be accompanied by supporting data and other
  174  documentation. The plan must shall be submitted by October 1,
  175  2014 no later than July 1, 2013.
  176         2. By July 1, 2018 No later than July 1, 2016, an update of
  177  the plan required in subparagraph 1. documenting any refinements
  178  or changes in the costs, actions, or financing necessary to
  179  eliminate the ocean outfall discharge in accordance with this
  180  subsection or a written statement that the plan is current and
  181  accurate.
  182         (f) By December 31, 2009, and by December 31 every 5 years
  183  thereafter, the holder of a department permit authorizing the
  184  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall shall
  185  submit to the secretary of the department a report summarizing
  186  the actions accomplished to date and the actions remaining and
  187  proposed to meet the requirements of this subsection, including
  188  progress toward meeting the specific deadlines set forth in
  189  paragraphs (b) through (e). The report shall include the
  190  detailed schedule for and status of the evaluation of reuse and
  191  disposal options, preparation of preliminary design reports,
  192  preparation and submittal of permit applications, construction
  193  initiation, construction progress milestones, construction
  194  completion, initiation of operation, and continuing operation
  195  and maintenance.
  196         (g) No later than July 1, 2010, and by July 1 every 5 years
  197  thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the
  198  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
  199  House of Representatives on the implementation of this
  200  subsection. The report shall summarize progress to date,
  201  including the increased amount of reclaimed water provided and
  202  potable water offsets achieved, and identify any obstacles to
  203  continued progress, including all instances of substantial
  204  noncompliance.
  205         (h) By February 1, 2012, the department shall submit a
  206  report to the Governor and Legislature detailing the results and
  207  recommendations from phases 1 through 3 of its ongoing study on
  208  reclaimed water use.
  209         (i) The renewal of each permit that authorizes the
  210  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall as of
  211  July 1, 2008, shall be accompanied by an order in accordance
  212  with s. 403.088(2)(e) and (f) which establishes an enforceable
  213  compliance schedule consistent with the requirements of this
  214  subsection.
  215         (j) An entity that diverts wastewater flow from a receiving
  216  facility that discharges domestic wastewater through an ocean
  217  outfall must meet the 60 percent reuse requirement of paragraph
  218  (c). Reuse by the diverting entity of the diverted flows shall
  219  be credited to the diverting entity. The diverted flow shall
  220  also be correspondingly deducted from the receiving facility’s
  221  baseline actual flow on an annual basis from which the required
  222  reuse is calculated pursuant to paragraph (c), and the receiving
  223  facility’s reuse requirement shall be recalculated accordingly.
  224  
  225  The department, the South Florida Water Management District, and
  226  the affected utilities must consider the information in the
  227  detailed plan under paragraph (e) for the purpose of adjusting,
  228  as necessary, the reuse requirements of this subsection. The
  229  department shall submit a report to the Legislature by February
  230  15, 2015, containing recommendations for any changes necessary
  231  to the requirements of this subsection.
  232         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.