Florida Senate - 2026 SB 1386
By Senator Smith
17-00181-26 20261386__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to implementation of the
3 recommendations of the Blue-Green Algae Task Force;
4 amending s. 381.0065, F.S.; requiring owners of
5 certain onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
6 to have the systems periodically inspected beginning
7 on a specified date; requiring the Department of
8 Environmental Protection to administer the inspection
9 program and implement program standards, procedures,
10 and requirements; providing for rulemaking; amending
11 s. 403.067, F.S.; requiring that estimated pollutant
12 load reductions in basin management action plans meet
13 or exceed certain total maximum daily load
14 requirements; revising requirements for the allocation
15 of pollutant load reductions in such plans; requiring
16 that the plans provide strategies for mitigating or
17 eliminating pollutant load increases; requiring that
18 the strategies be reevaluated during plan updates;
19 requiring the department to assess certain projects;
20 requiring that the written assessments be included in
21 plan updates; deleting obsolete provisions; providing
22 an effective date.
23
24 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
25
26 Section 1. Present subsections (8) and (9) of section
27 381.0065, Florida Statutes, are redesignated as subsections (9)
28 and (10), respectively, and a new subsection (8) is added to
29 that section, to read:
30 381.0065 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems;
31 regulation.—
32 (8) PERIODIC INSPECTIONS.—Effective July 1, 2026, the owner
33 of an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system, excluding a
34 system required to have an operating permit, must have the
35 system inspected at least once every 5 years to assess the
36 fundamental operational condition of the system, prolong the
37 life of the system, and identify any failure within the system.
38 The department shall administer an onsite sewage treatment and
39 disposal system inspection program for such periodic
40 inspections. The department shall implement the program
41 standards, procedures, and requirements and adopt rules that
42 must include, at a minimum, all of the following:
43 (a) A schedule for a 5-year inspection cycle.
44 (b) A county-by-county implementation plan phased in over a
45 10-year period, with first priority given to those areas within
46 a priority focus area for springs identified by the department.
47 (c) Minimum standards for a functioning system.
48 (d) Requirements for the pumpout or repair of a failing
49 system.
50 (e) Enforcement procedures for failure of a system owner to
51 obtain an inspection of the system and for failure of a
52 contractor to timely report inspection results to the department
53 and the system owner.
54 Section 2. Paragraph (a) of subsection (7) of section
55 403.067, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
56 403.067 Establishment and implementation of total maximum
57 daily loads.—
58 (7) DEVELOPMENT OF BASIN MANAGEMENT PLANS AND
59 IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOADS.—
60 (a) Basin management action plans.—
61 1. In developing and implementing the total maximum daily
62 load for a waterbody, the department, or the department in
63 conjunction with a water management district, may develop a
64 basin management action plan that addresses some or all of the
65 watersheds and basins tributary to the waterbody. Such plan must
66 integrate the appropriate management strategies available to the
67 state through existing water quality protection programs to
68 achieve the total maximum daily loads and may provide for phased
69 implementation of these management strategies to promote timely,
70 cost-effective actions as provided for in s. 403.151. Estimated
71 pollutant load reductions in a basin management action plan must
72 meet or exceed the total amount of pollutant load reductions
73 needed to meet the total maximum daily load requirements under
74 the plan. The plan must establish a schedule implementing the
75 management strategies, establish a basis for evaluating the
76 plan’s effectiveness, and identify feasible funding strategies
77 for implementing the plan’s management strategies. The
78 management strategies may include regional treatment systems or
79 other public works, when appropriate, and voluntary trading of
80 water quality credits to achieve the needed pollutant load
81 reductions.
82 2. A basin management action plan must equitably allocate,
83 pursuant to paragraph (6)(b), pollutant load reductions to
84 individual basins, as a whole to all basins, or to each
85 identified point source or category of nonpoint sources, as
86 appropriate. For nonpoint sources for which best management
87 practices have been adopted, the initial requirement specified
88 by the plan must be those practices developed pursuant to
89 paragraph (c). When appropriate, the plan may consider take into
90 account the benefits of pollutant load reduction achieved by
91 point or nonpoint sources that have implemented management
92 strategies to reduce pollutant loads, including best management
93 practices, before the development of the basin management action
94 plan. The allocation must consider projected increases in
95 pollutant loading related to population growth as estimated by
96 the University of Florida Bureau of Economic and Business
97 Research and projected increases in pollutant loading related to
98 agricultural growth based on agricultural water use estimates by
99 the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The plan
100 must provide strategies for mitigating or eliminating the
101 pollutant load increases for the life of the plan. The
102 strategies must be reevaluated during each plan update The plan
103 must also identify the mechanisms that will address potential
104 future increases in pollutant loading.
105 3. The basin management action planning process is intended
106 to involve the broadest possible range of interested parties,
107 with the objective of encouraging the greatest amount of
108 cooperation and consensus possible. In developing a basin
109 management action plan, the department shall assure that key
110 stakeholders, including, but not limited to, applicable local
111 governments, water management districts, the Department of
112 Agriculture and Consumer Services, other appropriate state
113 agencies, local soil and water conservation districts,
114 environmental groups, regulated interests, and affected
115 pollution sources, are invited to participate in the process.
116 The department shall hold at least one public meeting in the
117 vicinity of the watershed or basin to discuss and receive
118 comments during the planning process and shall otherwise
119 encourage public participation to the greatest practicable
120 extent. Notice of the public meeting must be published in a
121 newspaper of general circulation in each county in which the
122 watershed or basin lies at least 5 days, but not more than 15
123 days, before the public meeting. A basin management action plan
124 does not supplant or otherwise alter any assessment made under
125 subsection (3) or subsection (4) or any calculation or initial
126 allocation.
127 4.a. Each new or revised basin management action plan must
128 include all of the following:
129 (I)a. The appropriate management strategies available
130 through existing water quality protection programs to achieve
131 total maximum daily loads, which may provide for phased
132 implementation to promote timely, cost-effective actions as
133 provided for in s. 403.151.
134 (II)b. A description of best management practices adopted
135 by rule.
136 (III)c. For the applicable 5-year implementation milestone,
137 a list of projects that will achieve the pollutant load
138 reductions needed to meet the total maximum daily load or the
139 load allocations established pursuant to subsection (6). Each
140 project must include a planning-level cost estimate and an
141 estimated date of completion.
142 (IV)d. A list of projects developed pursuant to paragraph
143 (e), if applicable.
144 (V)e. The source and amount of financial assistance to be
145 made available by the department, a water management district,
146 or other entity for each listed project, if applicable.
147 (VI)f. A planning-level estimate of each listed project’s
148 expected load reduction, if applicable.
149 b. For each project listed pursuant to this subparagraph
150 which has a total cost that exceeds $1 million, the department
151 shall, through integrated and comprehensive monitoring, assess
152 whether the project is working to reduce nutrient pollution or
153 water use, or both, as intended. The written assessments must be
154 completed expeditiously and included in each plan update.
155 5. The department shall adopt all or any part of a basin
156 management action plan and any amendment to such plan by
157 secretarial order pursuant to chapter 120 to implement this
158 section.
159 6. The basin management action plan must include 5-year
160 milestones for implementation and water quality improvement, and
161 an associated water quality monitoring component sufficient to
162 evaluate whether reasonable progress in pollutant load
163 reductions is being achieved over time. An assessment of
164 progress toward these milestones must shall be conducted every 5
165 years, and revisions to the plan shall be made as appropriate.
166 Any entity with a specific pollutant load reduction requirement
167 established in a basin management action plan shall identify the
168 projects or strategies that such entity will undertake to meet
169 current 5-year pollution reduction milestones, beginning with
170 the first 5-year milestone for new basin management action
171 plans, and submit such projects to the department for inclusion
172 in the appropriate basin management action plan. Each project
173 identified must include an estimated amount of nutrient
174 reduction that is reasonably expected to be achieved based on
175 the best scientific information available. Revisions to the
176 basin management action plan must shall be made by the
177 department in cooperation with basin stakeholders. Revisions to
178 the management strategies required for nonpoint sources must
179 follow the procedures in subparagraph (c)4. Revised basin
180 management action plans must be adopted pursuant to subparagraph
181 5.
182 7. In accordance with procedures adopted by rule under
183 paragraph (9)(c), basin management action plans, and other
184 pollution control programs under local, state, or federal
185 authority as provided in subsection (4), may allow point or
186 nonpoint sources that will achieve greater pollutant reductions
187 than required by an adopted total maximum daily load or
188 wasteload allocation to generate, register, and trade water
189 quality credits for the excess reductions to enable other
190 sources to achieve their allocation; however, the generation of
191 water quality credits does not remove the obligation of a source
192 or activity to meet applicable technology requirements or
193 adopted best management practices. Such plans must allow trading
194 between NPDES permittees, and trading that may or may not
195 involve NPDES permittees, where the generation or use of the
196 credits involve an entity or activity not subject to department
197 water discharge permits whose owner voluntarily elects to obtain
198 department authorization for the generation and sale of credits.
199 8. The department’s rule relating to the equitable
200 abatement of pollutants into surface waters does do not apply to
201 water bodies or waterbody segments for which a basin management
202 plan that considers takes into account future new or expanded
203 activities or discharges has been adopted under this section.
204 9. In order to promote resilient wastewater utilities, if
205 the department identifies domestic wastewater treatment
206 facilities or onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems as
207 contributors of at least 20 percent of point source or nonpoint
208 source nutrient pollution or if the department determines
209 remediation is necessary to achieve the total maximum daily
210 load, a basin management action plan for a nutrient total
211 maximum daily load must include the following:
212 a. A domestic wastewater treatment plan developed by each
213 local government, in cooperation with the department, the water
214 management district, and the public and private domestic
215 wastewater treatment facilities providing services or located
216 within the jurisdiction of the local government, which addresses
217 domestic wastewater. Private domestic wastewater facilities and
218 special districts providing domestic wastewater services must
219 provide the required wastewater facility information to the
220 applicable local governments. The domestic wastewater treatment
221 plan must:
222 (I) Provide for construction, expansion, or upgrades
223 necessary to achieve the total maximum daily load requirements
224 applicable to the domestic wastewater treatment facility.
225 (II) Include the permitted capacity in average annual
226 gallons per day for the domestic wastewater treatment facility;
227 the average nutrient concentration and the estimated average
228 nutrient load of the domestic wastewater; a projected timeline
229 of the dates by which the construction of any facility
230 improvements will begin and be completed and the date by which
231 operations of the improved facility will begin; the estimated
232 cost of the improvements; and the identity of responsible
233 parties.
234
235 The domestic wastewater treatment plan must be adopted as part
236 of the basin management action plan no later than July 1, 2025.
237 A local government that does not have a domestic wastewater
238 treatment facility in its jurisdiction is not required to
239 develop a domestic wastewater treatment plan unless there is a
240 demonstrated need to establish a domestic wastewater treatment
241 facility within its jurisdiction to improve water quality
242 necessary to achieve a total maximum daily load. A local
243 government is not responsible for a private domestic wastewater
244 facility’s compliance with a basin management action plan unless
245 such facility is operated through a public-private partnership
246 to which the local government is a party.
247 b. An onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
248 remediation plan developed by each local government in
249 cooperation with the department, the Department of Health, water
250 management districts, and public and private domestic wastewater
251 treatment facilities.
252 (I) The onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
253 remediation plan must identify cost-effective and financially
254 feasible projects necessary to achieve the nutrient load
255 reductions required for onsite sewage treatment and disposal
256 systems. To identify cost-effective and financially feasible
257 projects for remediation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal
258 systems, the local government shall:
259 (A) Include an inventory of onsite sewage treatment and
260 disposal systems based on the best information available;
261 (B) Identify onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
262 that would be eliminated through connection to existing or
263 future central domestic wastewater infrastructure in the
264 jurisdiction or domestic wastewater service area of the local
265 government, that would be replaced with or upgraded to enhanced
266 nutrient-reducing onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems,
267 or that would remain on conventional onsite sewage treatment and
268 disposal systems;
269 (C) Estimate the costs of potential onsite sewage treatment
270 and disposal system connections, upgrades, or replacements; and
271 (D) Identify deadlines and interim milestones for the
272 planning, design, and construction of projects.
273 (II) The department shall adopt the onsite sewage treatment
274 and disposal system remediation plan as part of the basin
275 management action plan no later than July 1, 2025, or as
276 required for Outstanding Florida Springs under s. 373.807.
277 10. The installation of new onsite sewage treatment and
278 disposal systems constructed within a basin management action
279 plan area adopted under this section, a reasonable assurance
280 plan, or a pollution reduction plan is prohibited where
281 connection to a publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system
282 is available as defined in s. 381.0065(2)(a). On lots of 1 acre
283 or less within a basin management action plan adopted under this
284 section, a reasonable assurance plan, or a pollution reduction
285 plan where a publicly owned or investor-owned sewerage system is
286 not available, the installation of enhanced nutrient-reducing
287 onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems or other wastewater
288 treatment systems that achieve at least 65 percent nitrogen
289 reduction is required.
290 11. When identifying wastewater projects in a basin
291 management action plan, the department may not require the
292 higher cost option if it achieves the same nutrient load
293 reduction as a lower cost option. A regulated entity may choose
294 a different cost option if it complies with the pollutant
295 reduction requirements of an adopted total maximum daily load
296 and meets or exceeds the pollution reduction requirement of the
297 original project.
298 12. Annually, local governments subject to a basin
299 management action plan or located within the basin of a
300 waterbody not attaining nutrient or nutrient-related standards
301 must provide to the department an update on the status of
302 construction of sanitary sewers to serve such areas, in a manner
303 prescribed by the department.
304 Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.