Florida Senate - 2020                                     SB 686
       
       
        
       By Senator Gruters
       
       
       
       
       
       23-00478A-20                                           2020686__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to stormwater management systems;
    3         amending s. 373.4131, F.S.; directing the water
    4         management districts, with Department of Environmental
    5         Protection oversight, to adopt rules for specified
    6         design and performance standards relating to new
    7         development and redevelopment projects; requiring,
    8         rather than authorizing, the department to incorporate
    9         such rules by reference for use within the geographic
   10         jurisdiction of each water management district;
   11         requiring the department and the water management
   12         districts to amend the applicant’s handbook to include
   13         certain revised design criteria by a specified date;
   14         providing a rebuttable presumption that certain
   15         stormwater management systems do not cause or
   16         contribute to violations of applicable state water
   17         quality standards; requiring certain inspection
   18         training for department, water management district,
   19         and local pollution control program staff; directing
   20         the department and water management districts to
   21         initiate certain rulemaking for stormwater management
   22         systems by a specified date; amending s. 403.814,
   23         F.S.; revising permitting requirements for the
   24         construction of certain stormwater management systems;
   25         providing an effective date.
   26          
   27  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   28  
   29         Section 1. Subsections (1), (3), and (5) of section
   30  373.4131, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsection (6) is
   31  added to that section, to read:
   32         373.4131 Statewide environmental resource permitting
   33  rules.—
   34         (1) The department shall initiate rulemaking to adopt, in
   35  coordination with the water management districts, statewide
   36  environmental resource permitting rules governing the
   37  construction, alteration, operation, maintenance, repair,
   38  abandonment, and removal of any stormwater management system,
   39  dam, impoundment, reservoir, appurtenant work, works, or any
   40  combination thereof, under this part.
   41         (a) The rules must provide for statewide, consistent
   42  regulation of activities under this part and must include, at a
   43  minimum:
   44         1. Criteria and thresholds for requiring permits.
   45         2. Types of permits.
   46         3. Procedures governing the review of applications and
   47  notices, duration and modification of permits, operational
   48  requirements, transfers of permits, provisions for emergencies,
   49  and provisions for abandonment and removal of systems.
   50         4. Exemptions and general permits that do not allow
   51  significant adverse impacts to occur individually or
   52  cumulatively.
   53         5. Conditions for issuance.
   54         6. General permit conditions, including monitoring,
   55  inspection, and reporting requirements.
   56         7. Standardized fee categories for activities under this
   57  part to promote consistency. The department and water management
   58  districts may amend fee rules to reflect the standardized fee
   59  categories but are not required to adopt identical fees for
   60  those categories.
   61         8. Application, notice, and reporting forms. To the maximum
   62  extent practicable, the department and water management
   63  districts shall provide for electronic submittal of forms and
   64  notices.
   65         9. An applicant’s handbook that, at a minimum, contains
   66  general program information, application and review procedures,
   67  a specific discussion of how environmental criteria are
   68  evaluated, and discussion of stormwater quality and quantity
   69  criteria.
   70         (b) The rules must provide for a conceptual permit for a
   71  municipality or county that creates a stormwater management
   72  master plan for urban infill and redevelopment areas or
   73  community redevelopment areas created under chapter 163. Upon
   74  approval by the department or water management district, the
   75  master plan must shall become part of the conceptual permit
   76  issued by the department or water management district. The rules
   77  must additionally provide for an associated general permit for
   78  the construction and operation of urban redevelopment projects
   79  that meet the criteria established in the conceptual permit. The
   80  following requirements must also be met:
   81         1. The conceptual permit and associated general permit must
   82  not conflict with the requirements of a federally approved
   83  program pursuant to s. 403.0885 or with the implementation of s.
   84  403.067(7) regarding total maximum daily loads and basin
   85  management action plans.
   86         2. Before a conceptual permit is approved granted, the
   87  municipality or county shall must assert that stormwater
   88  discharges from the urban redevelopment area do not cause or
   89  contribute to violations of water quality standards by
   90  demonstrating a net improvement in the quality of the discharged
   91  water existing on the date the conceptual permit is approved.
   92         3. The conceptual permit may not expire for at least 20
   93  years unless a shorter duration is requested and must include an
   94  option to renew.
   95         4. The conceptual permit must describe the rate and volume
   96  of stormwater discharges from the urban redevelopment area,
   97  including the maximum rate and volume of stormwater discharges
   98  as of the date the conceptual permit is approved.
   99         5. The conceptual permit must contain provisions regarding
  100  the use of stormwater best management practices and must ensure
  101  that stormwater management systems constructed within the urban
  102  redevelopment area are operated and maintained in compliance
  103  with s. 373.416.
  104         (c) The rules must rely primarily on the rules of the
  105  department and water management districts in effect immediately
  106  before prior to the effective date of this section, except that
  107  the department may:
  108         1. Reconcile differences and conflicts to achieve a
  109  consistent statewide approach.
  110         2. Account for different physical or natural
  111  characteristics, including special basin considerations, of
  112  individual water management districts.
  113         3. Implement additional permit streamlining measures.
  114         (d) The application of the rules must continue to be
  115  governed by the first sentence of s. 70.001(12).
  116         (3)(a) The water management districts, with department
  117  oversight, shall may continue to adopt rules governing design
  118  and performance standards for stormwater quality and quantity,
  119  including design and performance standards that increase the
  120  removal of nutrients from stormwater discharges from all new
  121  development and redevelopment projects. and The department shall
  122  may incorporate the design and performance standards by
  123  reference for use within the geographic jurisdiction of each
  124  district to ensure that new pollutant loadings are not
  125  discharged into impaired water bodies. By December 1, 2020, the
  126  department and water management districts shall amend the
  127  applicant’s handbook to include revised best management
  128  practices design criteria and low-impact design best management
  129  practices and design criteria that increase the removal of
  130  nutrients from stormwater discharges from all new development
  131  and redevelopment projects and measure for consistent
  132  application of the net improvement performance standard to
  133  ensure that new pollutant loadings are not discharged into
  134  impaired water bodies.
  135         (b) If a stormwater management system is designed in
  136  accordance with the stormwater treatment requirements and best
  137  management practices design and performance criteria adopted by
  138  the department or a water management district under this part,
  139  there is a rebuttable presumption that the system does design is
  140  presumed not to cause or contribute to violations of applicable
  141  state water quality standards.
  142         (c) If a stormwater management system is constructed,
  143  operated, and maintained for stormwater treatment in accordance
  144  with a valid permit or exemption under this part, there is a
  145  rebuttable presumption that the stormwater discharged from the
  146  system does is presumed not to cause or contribute to violations
  147  of applicable state water quality standards.
  148         (5) To ensure consistent implementation and interpretation
  149  of the rules adopted pursuant to this section, the department
  150  shall conduct or oversee regular assessment and training of its
  151  staff and the staffs of the water management districts and local
  152  governments delegated local pollution control program authority
  153  under s. 373.441. The training must include coordinating field
  154  inspections of public and privately owned stormwater structural
  155  controls, including, but not limited to, stormwater retention
  156  and detention ponds.
  157         (6)By July 1, 2021, the department and water management
  158  districts shall initiate rulemaking to update the rules
  159  governing the construction, operation, and maintenance of
  160  stormwater management systems based on the most recent
  161  scientific information.
  162         Section 2. Subsection (12) of section 403.814, Florida
  163  Statutes, is amended to read:
  164         403.814 General permits; delegation.—
  165         (12) A general permit is granted for the construction,
  166  alteration, and maintenance of a stormwater management system
  167  serving a total project area of up to 10 acres or less meeting
  168  the criteria of this subsection. Such stormwater management
  169  systems must be designed, operated, and maintained in accordance
  170  with applicable rules adopted pursuant to part IV of chapter
  171  373. There is a rebuttable presumption that the discharge from
  172  such systems complies with state water quality standards. The
  173  construction of such a system may proceed without any further
  174  agency action by the department or water management district if,
  175  before construction begins, an electronic self-certification is
  176  submitted to the department or water management district which
  177  certifies that the proposed system was designed by a Florida
  178  registered professional and that the registered professional has
  179  certified that the proposed system will meet the following
  180  additional requirements:
  181         (a) The total project area involves less than 10 acres and
  182  less than 2 acres of impervious surface;
  183         (b) Activities will not impact wetlands or other surface
  184  waters;
  185         (c) Activities are not conducted in, on, or over wetlands
  186  or other surface waters;
  187         (d) Drainage facilities will not include pipes having
  188  diameters greater than 24 inches, or the hydraulic equivalent,
  189  and will not use pumps in any manner;
  190         (e) The project is not part of a larger common plan,
  191  development, or sale; and
  192         (f) The project does not:
  193         1. Cause adverse water quantity or flooding impacts to
  194  receiving water and adjacent lands;
  195         2. Cause adverse impacts to existing surface water storage
  196  and conveyance capabilities;
  197         3. Cause a violation of state water quality standards; or
  198         4. Cause an adverse impact to the maintenance of surface or
  199  ground water levels or surface water flows established pursuant
  200  to s. 373.042 or a work of the district established pursuant to
  201  s. 373.086; or
  202         5.Cause the discharge of additional stormwater pollutants
  203  into a water body that has been identified as impaired or into a
  204  water body that has an adopted total maximum daily load.
  205  Documentation of the predevelopment and postdevelopment
  206  stormwater pollutant loadings for the project must be submitted
  207  to the department or water management district to qualify for
  208  the self-certification general permit.
  209         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.