Florida Senate - 2025 CS for SB 978 By the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources; and Senator Berman 592-02514A-25 2025978c1 1 A bill to be entitled 2 An act relating to advanced wastewater treatment; 3 providing legislative findings; requiring the 4 Department of Environmental Protection, in 5 consultation with water management districts and 6 wastewater facilities, to submit to the Governor and 7 the Legislature specified reports on certain sewage 8 disposal facilities in this state by specified dates; 9 providing requirements for the reports; providing an 10 effective date. 11 12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 13 14 Section 1. (1) The Legislature finds that the discharge of 15 inadequately treated wastewater and aging sewage disposal 16 facilities compromises the quality of the environment, including 17 freshwater, brackish water, and nearshore and offshore salt 18 waters, and threatens the quality of life and local economies in 19 this state which depend on those resources. The Legislature also 20 finds that the only practical and cost-effective way to 21 fundamentally improve wastewater management is to implement 22 advanced wastewater treatment or better at all sewage disposal 23 facilities with a permitted capacity of greater than 1 million 24 gallons per day in the state. 25 (2) In order to prioritize the upgrade of sewage disposal 26 facilities, by December 31, 2025, the Department of 27 Environmental Protection, in consultation with the water 28 management districts and wastewater facilities, shall submit to 29 the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of 30 the House of Representatives a report detailing all of the 31 following for all sewage disposal facilities with a permitted 32 capacity of greater than 1 million gallons per day in this 33 state: 34 (a) Year of construction for the facility and any 35 maintenance or upgrades. 36 (b) Total permitted volume of wastewater treated daily. 37 (c) Actual permitted volume of wastewater treated daily, 38 including the most recent 1-year and 5-year averages. 39 (d) Current level of treatment, including concentrations 40 for all of the following: 41 1. Biochemical oxygen demand. 42 2. Suspended solids. 43 3. Total nitrogen. 44 4. Total phosphorus. 45 5. 1,4-dioxane. 46 6. Perfluorooctanoic acid. 47 7. Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid. 48 8. Molybdenum. 49 9. Other contaminants of emerging concern as determined by 50 the Department of Environmental Protection. 51 (e) Estimated total pollutant load based on permitted 52 volume and concentrations. 53 (f) Disposal methods and the volume discharged to any 54 receiving water bodies, if applicable, pursuant to s. 55 403.064(16), Florida Statutes. 56 (g) Impairment status of any receiving water bodies within 57 the watershed. 58 (h) Implementation status of total maximum daily loads and 59 basin management action plans and recommended reductions for 60 load allocations and wasteload allocations for pollutants of 61 concern. 62 (i) Total volume and concentration of any permitted and 63 nonpermitted wastewater spills since 2010. 64 (j) Elevation of the facility and supporting 65 infrastructure. 66 (k) Location within a floodplain, flood zone, or coastal 67 high-hazard area and, if applicable, the corresponding zone 68 number. 69 (3) By December 31, 2026, the Department of Environmental 70 Protection, in consultation with the water management districts 71 and sewage disposal facilities, shall submit to the Governor, 72 the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 73 Representatives a report outlining a priority ranking process to 74 upgrade all sewage disposal facilities with a permitted capacity 75 of greater than 1 million gallons per day in this state to 76 advanced wastewater treatment by 2036, based on all of the 77 following: 78 (a) Overall environmental benefit of a project based on: 79 1. Water quality in receiving waterbodies, including 80 impairment status; 81 2. Severity and duration of documented algal blooms; 82 3. Loss of submerged vegetation; 83 4. Death of fish and wildlife; 84 5. Public health advisories; 85 6. Quantity and concentration of permitted and nonpermitted 86 spills; and 87 7. Risk of failure. 88 (b) Estimated reduction in nutrient and pollutant loads 89 with advanced wastewater treatment. 90 (c) An explanation of additional projects necessary to meet 91 any adopted total maximum daily loads and basin management 92 action plans if upgrading to advanced wastewater treatment is 93 not sufficient. 94 (d) Cost-effectiveness as determined by a planning-level 95 cost estimate. 96 (e) Potential financial assistance available, including the 97 water quality improvement grant program under s. 403.0673, 98 Florida Statutes, and availability of local matching funds. 99 (f) Project readiness and estimated date of completion. 100 (4) By June 30, 2027, the Department of Environmental 101 Protection, in consultation with the water management districts 102 and sewage disposal facilities, shall submit to the Governor, 103 the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of 104 Representatives a progress report on the status of upgrades 105 established under subsection (3) for each sewage disposal 106 facility with a permitted capacity of greater than 1 million 107 gallons per day in this state. The report must include the 108 priority list identified pursuant to subsection (3), the 109 preliminary cost estimates for the upgrades, a projected 110 timeline of the dates by which the upgrades would begin and be 111 completed, and the date by which operations of the upgraded 112 sewage disposal facilities would begin. 113 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.