Florida Senate - 2020                             CS for SB 1656
       
       
        
       By the Committee on Innovation, Industry, and Technology; and
       Senator Albritton
       
       
       
       
       580-03001-20                                          20201656c1
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to reclaimed water; amending s.
    3         403.064, F.S.; prohibiting domestic wastewater
    4         treatment facilities from disposing of effluent,
    5         reclaimed water, or reuse water by surface water
    6         discharge beginning on a specified date; providing
    7         exceptions; creating s. 403.8531, F.S.; providing
    8         legislative intent; defining terms; providing that
    9         reclaimed water is a water source for public water
   10         supply systems; providing specified groundwater and
   11         surface water quality protections for potable reuse
   12         projects; providing that potable reuse is an
   13         alternative water supply and that projects relating to
   14         such reuse are eligible for alternative water supply
   15         funding; requiring the Department of Environmental
   16         Protection to adopt specified rules; requiring the
   17         department to review reclaimed water and potable reuse
   18         rules and revise them as necessary; requiring the
   19         department to review aquifer recharge rules and revise
   20         them as necessary; requiring the department to
   21         initiate rulemaking and to submit such rules to the
   22         Legislature for approval by specified dates; requiring
   23         the department and the water management districts to
   24         develop and execute, by a specified date, a memorandum
   25         of agreement for the coordinated review of specified
   26         permits; providing that potable reuse projects are
   27         eligible for certain expedited permitting and tax
   28         credits; providing construction; creating s. 403.892,
   29         F.S.; defining terms; requiring counties,
   30         municipalities, and special districts to authorize
   31         graywater technologies under certain circumstances and
   32         to provide incentives for the implementation of such
   33         technologies; requiring the department to adopt rules
   34         for the implementation of potable reuse projects which
   35         meet certain requirements; requiring the department to
   36         convene at least one technical advisory committee for
   37         specified purposes; providing for the composition of
   38         the technical advisory committee; providing for the
   39         applicability of specified reclaimed water aquifer
   40         storage and recovery well requirements; providing a
   41         directive to the Division of Law Revision; providing a
   42         declaration of important state interest; providing an
   43         effective date.
   44  
   45         WHEREAS, sustainable water supplies are important to this
   46  state’s economy, environment, and quality of life, and
   47         WHEREAS, in 2019, Floridians used nearly 6.5 billion
   48  gallons of water per day and are projected to need an additional
   49  1.1 billion gallons of water per day by 2035, and
   50         WHEREAS, more than 75 percent of this state’s water supply
   51  comes from groundwater, and the availability of additional fresh
   52  groundwater has become limited in many areas of this state, and
   53         WHEREAS, this state’s continued growth and economic success
   54  depend on the implementation of safe and sustainable alternative
   55  water supplies, and
   56         WHEREAS, the use of reclaimed water is an important
   57  component of both wastewater management and water resource
   58  management in this state, and
   59         WHEREAS, in 2018, approximately 48 percent of the total
   60  domestic wastewater flow in this state, 797 million gallons per
   61  day, was reused for beneficial purposes, and
   62         WHEREAS, the reuse of water is a critical component of
   63  meeting this state’s existing and future water supply needs, and
   64         WHEREAS, potable reuse is the augmentation of a drinking
   65  water supply with reclaimed water from a municipal wastewater
   66  source and is an alternative water supply source that can be
   67  harnessed to help meet the additional water needs of this state
   68  while protecting both the public health and the environment, and
   69         WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that through the use of
   70  advanced treatment technology, potable reuse is a safe and
   71  sustainable alternative water supply source that can be used to
   72  support a diverse, resilient, and sustainable water supply
   73  portfolio, and is considered to be in the public interest, and
   74         WHEREAS, potable reuse projects, when implemented in a
   75  properly planned way using current environmental and engineered
   76  treatment processes, have reduced, and will continue to reduce,
   77  this state’s dependence on increased withdrawals from
   78  groundwater and surface water sources, pollutant loadings to
   79  waters of the state, and the nonbeneficial use of reclaimed
   80  water, thus improving water quality and benefitting the
   81  environment and local economies that depend on this state’s
   82  natural resources, NOW, THEREFORE,
   83  
   84  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   85  
   86         Section 1. Subsection (17) is added to section 403.064,
   87  Florida Statutes, to read:
   88         403.064 Reuse of reclaimed water.—
   89         (17)Notwithstanding any other provisions in this section
   90  to the contrary, beginning January 1, 2026, domestic wastewater
   91  treatment facilities may not dispose of effluent, reclaimed
   92  water, or reuse water by surface water discharge, except that
   93  this prohibition does not apply to indirect potable reuse
   94  projects; domestic wastewater treatment facility discharges
   95  during wet weather which occur in accordance with the applicable
   96  department permit; discharges into a stormwater management
   97  system which are subsequently withdrawn by a user for irrigation
   98  purposes; domestic wastewater treatment facilities located in
   99  fiscally constrained counties as defined in s. 218.67(1);
  100  projects where reclaimed water is recovered from an aquifer
  101  recharge system and subsequently discharged into a surface water
  102  for potable reuse; wetlands creation, restoration, and
  103  enhancement projects; minimum flows and levels recovery or
  104  prevention strategy plan projects; domestic wastewater treatment
  105  facilities with reuse systems that provide a minimum of 90
  106  percent of a facility’s annual average flow, as determined by
  107  the department using monitoring data for the prior 5 consecutive
  108  years, for reuse purposes authorized by the department; domestic
  109  wastewater treatment facilities located in municipalities that
  110  have less than $10 million in total revenue, as determined by
  111  the most recent annual financial report submitted to the
  112  Department of Financial Services in accordance with s. 218.32;
  113  or domestic wastewater treatment facilities located in
  114  municipalities that are entirely within a rural area of
  115  opportunity designated under s. 288.0656.
  116         Section 2. Section 403.8531, Florida Statutes, is created
  117  to read:
  118         403.8531Potable reuse.—
  119         (1)Recognizing that sufficient water supply is imperative
  120  to the future of this state and that potable reuse is one source
  121  of water which may assist in meeting future demands, the
  122  Legislature intends for the department to adopt rules for
  123  potable reuse which:
  124         (a)Protect the public health and environment by ensuring
  125  that the potable reuse rules meet federal and state drinking
  126  water and water quality standards, including, but not limited
  127  to, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and water
  128  quality standards pursuant to chapter 403, and, when possible,
  129  implement such rules through existing regulatory programs.
  130         (b)Support reclaimed water being used for potable reuse
  131  purposes.
  132         (c)Implement the recommendations set forth in the Potable
  133  Reuse Commission’s 2020 report “Advancing Potable Reuse in
  134  Florida: Framework for the Implementation of Potable Reuse in
  135  Florida.”
  136         (d)Require that the point of compliance with drinking
  137  water standards for potable reuse projects is the final
  138  discharge point for finished water from the water treatment
  139  facility.
  140         (e)Protect the aquifer and Florida’s springs and surface
  141  waters by ensuring that potable reuse projects do not cause or
  142  contribute to violations of water quality standards in surface
  143  waters, including groundwater discharges that flow by interflow
  144  and affect water quality in surface waters, and that potable
  145  reuse projects shall be designed and operated to ensure
  146  compliance with groundwater quality standards.
  147         (2)As used in this section, the term:
  148         (a)“Advanced treated reclaimed water” means the water
  149  produced from an advanced water treatment process for potable
  150  reuse applications.
  151         (b)“Advanced treatment technology” means the treatment
  152  technology selected by a utility to address emerging
  153  constituents and pathogens in reclaimed water as part of a
  154  potable reuse project.
  155         (c)“Direct potable reuse” means the introduction of
  156  advanced treated reclaimed water into a raw water supply
  157  immediately upstream from a drinking water treatment facility or
  158  directly into a potable water supply distribution system.
  159         (d)“Emerging constituents” means pharmaceuticals, personal
  160  care products, and other chemicals not regulated as part of
  161  drinking water quality standards.
  162         (e)“Indirect potable reuse” means the planned delivery or
  163  discharge of reclaimed water to groundwater or surface waters
  164  for the development of, or to supplement, the potable water
  165  supply.
  166         (f)“Off-spec reclaimed water” means reclaimed water that
  167  does not meet the standards for potable reuse.
  168         (g)“Potable reuse” means the augmentation of a drinking
  169  water supply with advanced treated reclaimed water from a
  170  domestic wastewater treatment facility, and consists of direct
  171  potable reuse and indirect potable reuse.
  172         (h)“Reclaimed water” means water that has received at
  173  least secondary treatment and basic disinfection and is reused
  174  after flowing out of a domestic wastewater treatment facility.
  175         (3)To comply with drinking water quality standards,
  176  reclaimed water is deemed a water source for public water supply
  177  systems.
  178         (4)Existing water quality protections that prohibit
  179  discharges from causing or contributing to violations of water
  180  quality standards in groundwater and surface waters apply to
  181  potable reuse projects. In addition, when reclaimed water is
  182  released or discharged into groundwater or surface water for
  183  potable reuse purposes, there shall be a consideration of
  184  emerging constituents and impacts to other users of such
  185  groundwater or surface water.
  186         (5)Potable reuse is an alternative water supply as defined
  187  in s. 373.019, and potable reuse projects are eligible for
  188  alternative water supply funding. The use of potable reuse water
  189  may not be excluded from regional water supply planning under s.
  190  373.709.
  191         (6)The department shall:
  192         (a)Adopt rules that authorize potable reuse projects that
  193  are consistent with this section.
  194         (b)Review existing rules governing reclaimed water and
  195  potable reuse to identify obsolete and inconsistent requirements
  196  and adopt rules that revise existing potable reuse rules to
  197  eliminate such inconsistencies, while maintaining existing
  198  public health and environmental protections.
  199         (c)Review aquifer recharge rules and, if revisions are
  200  necessary to ensure continued compliance with existing public
  201  health and environmental protection rules when reclaimed water
  202  is used for aquifer recharge, adopt such rules.
  203         (d)Initiate rulemaking by December 31, 2020, and submit
  204  the adopted rules to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
  205  of the House of Representatives by December 12, 2021, for
  206  approval and incorporation into chapter 403 by the Legislature.
  207  Such rules may not be published as administrative rules by the
  208  department.
  209         (7)The department and the water management districts shall
  210  develop and execute a memorandum of agreement providing for the
  211  procedural requirements of a coordinated review of all permits
  212  associated with the construction and operation of an indirect
  213  potable reuse project. The memorandum of agreement must provide
  214  that the coordinated review will occur only if requested by a
  215  permittee. The purpose of the coordinated review is to share
  216  information, to avoid the redundancy of information requested
  217  from the permittee, and to ensure consistency in the permit for
  218  the protection of the public health and the environment. The
  219  department and the water management districts shall develop and
  220  execute the memorandum of agreement by December 31, 2022.
  221         (8)To encourage investment in the development of potable
  222  reuse projects by private entities, a potable reuse project
  223  developed as a qualifying project pursuant to s. 255.065 is:
  224         (a)Beginning January 1, 2025, eligible for expedited
  225  permitting under s. 403.973.
  226         (b)Granted an annual credit against the tax imposed by
  227  chapter 220 in an amount equal to 5 percent of the eligible
  228  capital costs generated by a qualifying project for a period not
  229  to exceed 20 years after the date that project operations begin.
  230  The tax credit applies only to the corporate income tax
  231  liability or the premium tax liability generated by or arising
  232  out of the qualifying project, and the sum of all tax credits
  233  provided pursuant to this section may not exceed 100 percent of
  234  the eligible capital costs as defined in s. 220.191(1)(c). Any
  235  credit granted pursuant to this paragraph may not be carried
  236  forward or backward.
  237         (c)Granted a 3-year extension of any deadlines imposed
  238  under s. 403.064(17).
  239         (d)Consistent with s. 373.707, eligible for priority
  240  funding in the same manner as other alternative water supply
  241  projects from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, under the
  242  Water Protection and Sustainability Program, and for water
  243  management district cooperative funding.
  244         (9)This section is not intended and may not be construed
  245  to supersede s. 373.250(3).
  246         Section 3. Section 403.892, Florida Statutes, is created to
  247  read:
  248         403.892 Incentives for the use of graywater technologies.—
  249         (1)As used in this section, the term:
  250         (a)“Developer” has the same meaning as in s. 380.031.
  251         (b)“Graywater” has the same meaning as in s.
  252  381.0065(2)(e).
  253         (2)To promote the beneficial reuse of water in this state,
  254  a county, municipality, or special district shall do all of the
  255  following:
  256         (a)Authorize the use of residential graywater technologies
  257  in their respective jurisdictions which comply with the Florida
  258  Building Code; and
  259         (b)Provide incentives to developers to fully offset the
  260  costs of their beneficial reuse of water contribution through
  261  graywater technology. Such incentives may include, but are not
  262  limited to:
  263         1.Allowing the developer density or intensity bonus
  264  incentives or more floor space than allowed under the current or
  265  proposed future land use designation or zoning;
  266         2.Reducing or waiving fees, such as impact fees or water
  267  and sewer charges; or
  268         3.Granting other incentives.
  269         (3)If the local government has already applied one of the
  270  incentives identified in paragraph (2)(b) to the development,
  271  the local government must provide the developer with an
  272  additional incentive identified in paragraph (2)(b) to meet the
  273  requirements of this section.
  274         Section 4. (1)In implementing s. 403.8531, Florida
  275  Statutes, as created by this act, the Department of
  276  Environmental Protection, in coordination with one or more
  277  technical working groups pursuant to subsection (2), shall adopt
  278  rules for the implementation of potable reuse projects. The
  279  department shall:
  280         (a)Revise the appropriate chapters in the Florida
  281  Administrative Code, including chapter 62-610, Florida
  282  Administrative Code, to ensure that all rules implementing
  283  potable reuse are in the Florida Administrative Code division 62
  284  governing drinking water regulation.
  285         (b)Revise existing drinking water rules to include
  286  reclaimed water as a source water for the public water supply
  287  and require such treatment of the water as is necessary to meet
  288  existing drinking water rules, including rules for pathogens.
  289  The potable reuse rules must include the implementation of a log
  290  reduction credit system using advanced treatment technology to
  291  meet pathogen treatment requirements, and must require a public
  292  water supplier to provide an approach to meet the required
  293  pathogen treatment requirements in an engineering report as part
  294  of its public water supply permit application for authorization
  295  of potable reuse. To ensure protection of the public health, as
  296  part of the public water supply permit application to authorize
  297  potable reuse, a public water supplier shall provide a
  298  department-specified level of treatment or propose an approach
  299  to achieving the log reduction targets based on source water
  300  characterization that is sufficient for a pathogen risk of
  301  infection which meets the national drinking water criteria of
  302  less than 1 x 10-4 annually.
  303         (c)Prescribe the means for using appropriate treatment
  304  technology to address emerging constituents in potable reuse
  305  projects. The advanced treatment technology must be technically
  306  and economically feasible and must provide for flexibility in
  307  the specific treatment processes employed to recognize different
  308  project scenarios, emerging constituent concentrations, desired
  309  finished water quality, and the treatment capability of the
  310  facility. The advanced treatment technology may also be used for
  311  pathogen removal or reduction.
  312         1.The rules must require appropriate monitoring to
  313  evaluate advanced treatment technology treatment performance,
  314  including the monitoring of surrogate parameters and controls,
  315  which monitoring must occur either before or after the advanced
  316  treatment technologies treatment process, or both, as
  317  appropriate.
  318         2.For direct potable reuse projects, the rules must
  319  require reclaimed water to be included in the source water
  320  characterization for a drinking water treatment facility and, if
  321  that source water characterization indicates the presence of
  322  emerging constituents at levels of public health interest, must
  323  specify how appropriate treatment technology will be used to
  324  address those emerging constituents.
  325         3.For indirect potable reuse projects, the department
  326  shall amend the existing monitoring requirements contained
  327  within part V of chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code, to
  328  require monitoring for one or more representative emerging
  329  constituents. The utility responsible for the indirect potable
  330  reuse project shall develop an emerging constituent monitoring
  331  protocol consisting of the selection of one or more
  332  representative emerging constituents for monitoring and the
  333  identification of action levels associated with such emerging
  334  constituents. The monitoring protocol must provide that, if
  335  elevated levels of the representative emerging constituent are
  336  detected, the utility must report the elevated detection to the
  337  department and investigate the source and cause of such elevated
  338  emerging constituent. The utility shall submit the monitoring
  339  protocol to the department for review and approval and shall
  340  implement the monitoring protocol as approved by the department.
  341  If the monitoring protocol detects an elevated emerging
  342  constituent, and if the utility’s investigation indicates that
  343  the use of the reclaimed water is the cause of such elevated
  344  emerging constituent, the utility must develop a plan to address
  345  or remedy that cause. The utility’s monitoring results,
  346  investigation of any detected elevated emerging constituent
  347  levels, determination of cause, and any plan developed to
  348  address or remedy the cause must be submitted to the department
  349  for review and approval.
  350         (d)Specify industrial pretreatment requirements for
  351  potable reuse projects. These industrial pretreatment
  352  requirements must match the industrial pretreatment requirements
  353  contained in chapter 62-625, Florida Administrative Code, as of
  354  the effective date of this act. If necessary, the department
  355  also must require the utility operating a potable reuse project
  356  to implement a source control program, and the utility shall
  357  identify the sources that need to be addressed.
  358         (e)Provide off-spec reclaimed water requirements for
  359  potable reuse projects which include the immediate disposal,
  360  temporary storage, alternative nonpotable reuse, or retreatment
  361  or disposal of off-spec reclaimed water based on operating
  362  protocols established by the public water supplier and approved
  363  by the department.
  364         (f)Revise existing rules to specify the point of
  365  compliance with drinking water standards for potable reuse
  366  projects as the point where the finished water is finally
  367  discharged from the drinking water treatment facility to the
  368  water distribution system.
  369         (g)Ensure that, as rules for potable reuse projects are
  370  implemented, chapter 62-610.850, Florida Administrative Code, is
  371  applicable.
  372         (h)Revise the definition of the term “indirect potable
  373  reuse” provided in chapter 62-610, Florida Administrative Code,
  374  to match the definition provided in s. 403.8531, Florida
  375  Statutes.
  376         (2)The department shall convene and lead one or more
  377  technical advisory committees to coordinate the rulemaking and
  378  review of rules required by s. 403.8531, Florida Statutes. The
  379  technical advisory committees, which shall assist in the
  380  development of such rules, must be composed of knowledgeable
  381  representatives of a broad group of interested stakeholders,
  382  including, but not limited to, representatives from the water
  383  management districts, the wastewater utility industry, the water
  384  utility industry, the environmental community, the business
  385  community, the public health community, and the agricultural
  386  community, and consumers.
  387         Section 5. To further promote the reuse of reclaimed water
  388  for irrigation purposes, the rules that apply when reclaimed
  389  water is injected into a receiving groundwater having 1,000 to
  390  3,000 mg/L total dissolved solids are applicable to reclaimed
  391  water aquifer storage and recovery wells injecting into a
  392  receiving groundwater of less than 1,000 mg/L total dissolved
  393  solids if the applicant demonstrates that there are no public
  394  supply wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and
  395  recovery wells and that it has implemented institutional
  396  controls to prevent the future construction of public supply
  397  wells within 3,500 feet of the aquifer storage and recovery
  398  wells.
  399         Section 6. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
  400  replace the phrase “the effective date of this act” wherever it
  401  occurs in this act with the date the act becomes a law.
  402         Section 7. The Legislature determines and declares that
  403  this act fulfills an important state interest.
  404         Section 8. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.