Florida Senate - 2012                                    SB 1086
       
       
       
       By Senator Garcia
       
       
       
       
       40-00718A-12                                          20121086__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to reclaimed water; amending s.
    3         373.019, F.S.; revising the definition of the term
    4         “water” or “waters in the state” to exclude reclaimed
    5         water; amending s. 373.250, F.S.; providing
    6         legislative findings relating to the use of reclaimed
    7         water; providing that reclaimed water is an
    8         alternative water supply and eligible for such
    9         funding; authorizing specified contract provisions for
   10         the development of reclaimed water as an alternative
   11         water supply; deleting a definition for the term
   12         “uncommitted”; providing for the determination of
   13         uncommitted reclaimed water capacity by certain
   14         utilities; prohibiting water management districts from
   15         requiring permits for the use of reclaimed water;
   16         authorizing permit conditions for certain surface
   17         water and groundwater sources; authorizing water
   18         management districts to require the use of reclaimed
   19         water under certain conditions; prohibiting water
   20         management districts from requiring or restricting
   21         services provided by reuse utilities; providing an
   22         exception; clarifying which permit applicants are
   23         required to submit certain information; requiring the
   24         Department of Environmental Protection and each water
   25         management district to initiate rulemaking to adopt
   26         specified revisions to the water resource
   27         implementation rule; revising applicability; providing
   28         an effective date.
   29  
   30  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   31  
   32         Section 1. Subsection (20) of section 373.019, Florida
   33  Statutes, is amended to read:
   34         373.019 Definitions.—When appearing in this chapter or in
   35  any rule, regulation, or order adopted pursuant thereto, the
   36  term:
   37         (20) “Water” or “waters in the state” means any and all
   38  water on or beneath the surface of the ground or in the
   39  atmosphere, including natural or artificial watercourses, lakes,
   40  ponds, or diffused surface water and water percolating,
   41  standing, or flowing beneath the surface of the ground, as well
   42  as all coastal waters within the jurisdiction of the state.
   43  Reclaimed water, as defined by the department, is not water or
   44  waters in the state until it has been discharged into waters as
   45  defined in s. 403.031(13).
   46         Section 2. Section 373.250, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   47  read:
   48         373.250 Reuse of reclaimed water.—
   49         (1)(a) The encouragement and promotion of water
   50  conservation and reuse of reclaimed water, as defined by the
   51  department and used in this chapter, are state objectives and
   52  considered to be in the public interest. The Legislature finds
   53  that the use of reclaimed water provided by domestic wastewater
   54  treatment plants permitted and operated under a reuse program
   55  approved by the department is environmentally acceptable and not
   56  a threat to public health and safety.
   57         (b) The Legislature recognizes that the interest of the
   58  state to sustain water resources for the future through the use
   59  of reclaimed water must be balanced with the need of reuse
   60  utilities to operate and manage reclaimed water systems in
   61  accordance with a variety and range of circumstances, including
   62  regulatory and financial considerations, which influence the
   63  development and operation of reclaimed water systems across the
   64  state.
   65         (2) Reclaimed water is an alternative water supply as
   66  defined in s. 373.019(1) and is eligible for alternative water
   67  supply funding. A contract for state or district funding
   68  assistance for the development of reclaimed water as an
   69  alternative water supply may include provisions listed under s.
   70  373.707(9).
   71         (3)(2)(a) For purposes of this section, “uncommitted” means
   72  the average amount of reclaimed water produced during the three
   73  lowest-flow months minus the amount of reclaimed water that a
   74  reclaimed water provider is contractually obligated to provide
   75  to a customer or user.
   76         (b) Reclaimed water may be presumed available to a
   77  consumptive use permit applicant when a utility exists which
   78  provides reclaimed water, which has determined that it has
   79  uncommitted reclaimed water capacity, and which has distribution
   80  facilities, which are initially provided by the utility at its
   81  cost, to the site of the affected applicant’s proposed use.
   82         (b) A water management district may not require a permit
   83  for the use of reclaimed water. However, when a use includes
   84  surface water or groundwater, the permit for such sources may
   85  include conditions that govern the use of the permitted sources
   86  in relation to the feasibility or use of reclaimed water.
   87         (c) A water management district may require the use of
   88  reclaimed water in lieu of all or a portion of a proposed use of
   89  surface water or groundwater by an applicant when the use of
   90  uncommitted reclaimed water is available; is environmentally,
   91  economically, and technically feasible; and is of such quality
   92  and reliability as is necessary to the user. However, a water
   93  management district may neither specify any user to whom the
   94  reuse utility must provide reclaimed water nor restrict the use
   95  of reclaimed water provided by a reuse utility to a customer in
   96  a permit, water shortage order, or water shortage emergency
   97  order unless requested by the reuse utility this paragraph does
   98  not authorize a water management district to require a provider
   99  of reclaimed water to redirect reclaimed water from one user to
  100  another or to provide uncommitted water to a specific user if
  101  such water is anticipated to be used by the provider, or a
  102  different user selected by the provider, within a reasonable
  103  amount of time.
  104         (d) The South Florida Water Management District shall
  105  require the use of reclaimed water made available by the
  106  elimination of wastewater ocean outfall discharges as provided
  107  for in s. 403.086(9) in lieu of surface water or groundwater
  108  when the use of uncommitted reclaimed water is available; is
  109  environmentally, economically, and technically feasible; and is
  110  of such quality and reliability as is necessary to the user.
  111  Such reclaimed water may also be required in lieu of other
  112  alternative sources. In determining whether or not to require
  113  such reclaimed water in lieu of other alternative sources, the
  114  water management district shall consider existing infrastructure
  115  investments in place or obligated to be constructed by an
  116  executed contract or similar binding agreement as of July 1,
  117  2011, for the development of other alternative sources.
  118         (4)(3) The water management district shall, in consultation
  119  with the department, adopt rules to implement this section. Such
  120  rules shall include, but not be limited to:
  121         (a) Provisions to permit use of water from other sources in
  122  emergency situations or if reclaimed water becomes unavailable,
  123  for the duration of the emergency or the unavailability of
  124  reclaimed water. These provisions shall also specify the method
  125  for establishing the quantity of water to be set aside for use
  126  in emergencies or when reclaimed water becomes unavailable. The
  127  amount set aside is subject to periodic review and revision. The
  128  methodology shall take into account the risk that reclaimed
  129  water may not be available in the future, the risk that other
  130  sources may be fully allocated to other uses in the future, the
  131  nature of the uses served with reclaimed water, the extent to
  132  which the applicant intends to rely upon reclaimed water, and
  133  the extent of economic harm which may result if other sources
  134  are not available to replace the reclaimed water. It is the
  135  intent of this paragraph to ensure that users of reclaimed water
  136  have the same access to ground or surface water and will
  137  otherwise be treated in the same manner as other users of the
  138  same class not relying on reclaimed water.
  139         (b) A water management district shall not adopt any rule
  140  which gives preference to users within any class of use
  141  established under s. 373.246 who do not use reclaimed water over
  142  users within the same class who use reclaimed water.
  143         (b)(c) Provisions to require permit applicants that are not
  144  reuse utilities to provide, as part of their reclaimed water
  145  feasibility evaluation for a nonpotable use, written
  146  documentation from a reuse utility addressing the availability
  147  of reclaimed water. This requirement shall apply when the
  148  applicant’s proposed use is within an area that is or may be
  149  served with reclaimed water by a reuse utility within a 5-year
  150  horizon, as established by the reuse utility and provided to the
  151  district. If the applicable reuse utility fails to respond or
  152  does not provide the information required under paragraph (c)
  153  (d) within 30 days after receipt of the request, the applicant
  154  shall provide to the district a copy of the written request and
  155  a statement that the utility failed to provide the requested
  156  information. The district is not required to adopt, by rule, the
  157  area where written documentation from a reuse utility is
  158  required, but the district shall publish the area, and any
  159  updates thereto, on the district’s website. This paragraph may
  160  not be construed to limit the ability of a district to require
  161  the use of reclaimed water or to limit a utility’s ability to
  162  plan reclaimed water infrastructure.
  163         (c)(d) Provisions specifying the content of the
  164  documentation required in paragraph (b) (c), including
  165  sufficient information regarding the availability and costs
  166  associated with the connection to and the use of reclaimed
  167  water, to facilitate the permit applicant’s reclaimed water
  168  feasibility evaluation.
  169  
  170  A water management district may not adopt any rule that gives
  171  preference to users within any class of use established under s.
  172  373.246 who do not use reclaimed water over users within the
  173  same class who use reclaimed water.
  174         (5)(a) No later than October 1, 2012, the department shall
  175  initiate rulemaking to adopt revisions to the water resource
  176  implementation rule, as defined in s. 373.019(23), which shall
  177  include:
  178         1. Criteria for the use of a proposed impact offset derived
  179  from the use of reclaimed water when a water management district
  180  evaluates an application for a consumptive use permit. As used
  181  in this subparagraph, the term “impact offset” means the use of
  182  reclaimed water to reduce or eliminate a harmful impact that has
  183  occurred or would otherwise occur as a result of other surface
  184  water or groundwater withdrawals.
  185         2. Criteria for the use of substitution credits where a
  186  water management district has adopted rules establishing
  187  withdrawal limits from a specified water resource within a
  188  defined geographic area. As used in this subparagraph, the term
  189  “substitution credit” means the use of reclaimed water to
  190  replace all or a portion of an existing permitted use of
  191  resource-limited surface water or groundwater, allowing a
  192  different user or use to initiate a withdrawal or increase its
  193  withdrawal from the same resource-limited surface water or
  194  groundwater source provided that the withdrawal creates no net
  195  adverse impact on the limited water resource or creates a net
  196  positive impact if required by water management district rule as
  197  part of a strategy to protect or recover a water resource.
  198         (b) Within 60 days after the final adoption by the
  199  department of the revisions to the water resource implementation
  200  rule required under paragraph (a), each water management
  201  district shall initiate rulemaking to incorporate those
  202  revisions by reference into the rules of the district.
  203         (6)(4) Reuse utilities and the applicable water management
  204  district or districts are encouraged to periodically coordinate
  205  and share information concerning the status of reclaimed water
  206  distribution system construction, the availability of reclaimed
  207  water supplies, and existing consumptive use permits in areas
  208  served by the reuse utility.
  209         (7)(5)Nothing in This section does not impair or limit the
  210  authority of shall impair a water management district district’s
  211  authority to plan for and regulate consumptive uses of water
  212  under this chapter or regulate the use of surface water or
  213  groundwater to supplement a reclaimed water system.
  214         (8)(6) This section applies to applications for new
  215  consumptive use permits and renewals and modifications of
  216  existing consumptive use permits.
  217         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.