Bill Text: FL S0444 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft

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Bill Title: Domestic Wastewater Discharged Through Ocean Outfalls

Spectrum:

Status: (Passed) 2013-04-25 - Chapter No. 2013-31 [S0444 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S0444-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2013                                     SB 444
       
       
       
       By Senator Diaz de la Portilla
       
       
       
       
       40-00534-13                                            2013444__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to domestic wastewater discharged
    3         through ocean outfalls; amending s. 403.086, F.S.;
    4         revising the measurement standard for the wastewater
    5         flow; revising the requirements for installation of a
    6         functioning reuse system by a utility that had a
    7         permit for a domestic wastewater facility on a
    8         specified date to discharge through ocean outfall;
    9         revising the definition of the term “functioning reuse
   10         system”; changing the term “facility’s actual flow on
   11         an annual basis” to “baseline flow”; revising plan
   12         requirements for the elimination of ocean outfalls;
   13         providing that certain utilities that shared a common
   14         ocean outfall on a specified date are individually
   15         responsible for meeting the reuse requirement;
   16         requiring that the Department of Environmental
   17         Protection approve certain apportionment of reuse if a
   18         facility contracts with another facility to install a
   19         functioning reuse system; revising provisions
   20         authorizing the backup discharge of domestic
   21         wastewater through ocean outfalls; requiring a holder
   22         of a department permit authorizing the discharge of
   23         domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall to submit
   24         certain information; requiring the Department of
   25         Environmental Protection, the South Florida Water
   26         Management District, and affected utilities to
   27         consider certain information for the purpose of
   28         adjusting reuse requirements; requiring the department
   29         to submit a report to the Legislature; providing an
   30         effective date.
   31  
   32  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   33  
   34         Section 1. Subsection (9) of section 403.086, Florida
   35  Statutes, is amended to read:
   36         403.086 Sewage disposal facilities; advanced and secondary
   37  waste treatment.—
   38         (9) The Legislature finds that the discharge of domestic
   39  wastewater through ocean outfalls wastes valuable water supplies
   40  that should be reclaimed for beneficial purposes to meet public
   41  and natural systems demands. The Legislature also finds that
   42  discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean outfalls
   43  compromises the coastal environment, quality of life, and local
   44  economies that depend on those resources. The Legislature
   45  declares that more stringent treatment and management
   46  requirements for such domestic wastewater and the subsequent,
   47  timely elimination of ocean outfalls as a primary means of
   48  domestic wastewater discharge are in the public interest.
   49         (a) The construction of new ocean outfalls for domestic
   50  wastewater discharge and the expansion of existing ocean
   51  outfalls for this purpose, along with associated pumping and
   52  piping systems, are prohibited. Each domestic wastewater ocean
   53  outfall shall be limited to the discharge capacity specified in
   54  the department permit authorizing the outfall in effect on July
   55  1, 2008, which discharge capacity shall not be increased.
   56  Maintenance of existing, department-authorized domestic
   57  wastewater ocean outfalls and associated pumping and piping
   58  systems is allowed, subject to the requirements of this section.
   59  The department is directed to work with the United States
   60  Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the requirements
   61  of this subsection are implemented consistently for all domestic
   62  wastewater facilities in the state Florida which discharge
   63  through ocean outfalls.
   64         (b) The discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean
   65  outfalls must shall meet advanced wastewater treatment and
   66  management requirements by no later than December 31, 2018. For
   67  purposes of this subsection, the term “advanced wastewater
   68  treatment and management requirements” means the advanced waste
   69  treatment requirements set forth in subsection (4), a reduction
   70  in outfall baseline loadings of total nitrogen and total
   71  phosphorus which is equivalent to that which would be achieved
   72  by the advanced waste treatment requirements in subsection (4),
   73  or a reduction in cumulative outfall loadings of total nitrogen
   74  and total phosphorus occurring between December 31, 2008, and
   75  December 31, 2025, which is equivalent to that which would be
   76  achieved if the advanced waste treatment requirements in
   77  subsection (4) were fully implemented beginning December 31,
   78  2018, and continued through December 31, 2025. The department
   79  shall establish the average baseline loadings of total nitrogen
   80  and total phosphorus for each outfall using monitoring data
   81  available for calendar years 2003 through 2007 and shall
   82  establish required loading reductions based on this baseline.
   83  The baseline loadings and required loading reductions of total
   84  nitrogen and total phosphorus shall be expressed as an average
   85  annual daily loading value. The advanced wastewater treatment
   86  and management requirements of this paragraph are shall be
   87  deemed to be met for any domestic wastewater facility
   88  discharging through an ocean outfall on July 1, 2008, which has
   89  installed by no later than December 31, 2018, a fully
   90  operational reuse system comprising 100 percent of the
   91  facility’s baseline flow on an annual basis average daily flow
   92  for reuse activities authorized by the department.
   93         (c)1. Each utility that had a permit for a domestic
   94  wastewater facility that discharged discharges through an ocean
   95  outfall on July 1, 2008, must shall install, or cause to be
   96  installed, a functioning reuse system within the utility’s
   97  service area or, by contract with another utility, within Miami
   98  Dade, Broward, or Palm Beach Counties by no later than December
   99  31, 2025. For purposes of this subsection, a “functioning reuse
  100  system” means an environmentally, economically, and technically
  101  feasible system that provides a minimum of 60 percent of a the
  102  facility’s baseline actual flow on an annual basis for
  103  irrigation of public access areas, residential properties, or
  104  agricultural crops; aquifer recharge; groundwater recharge;
  105  industrial cooling; or other acceptable reuse purposes
  106  authorized by the department. For purposes of this subsection,
  107  the term “baseline flow” “facility’s actual flow on an annual
  108  basis” means the annual average flow of domestic wastewater
  109  discharging through the facility’s ocean outfall, as determined
  110  by the department, using monitoring data available for calendar
  111  years 2003 through 2007.
  112         2. Flows diverted from facilities to other facilities that
  113  provide 100 percent reuse of the diverted flows before prior to
  114  December 31, 2025, are shall be considered to contribute to
  115  meeting the 60 percent reuse requirement. For utilities
  116  operating more than one outfall, the reuse requirement may can
  117  be apportioned between the met if the combined actual reuse
  118  flows from facilities served by the outfalls is at least 60
  119  percent of the sum of the total actual flows from the
  120  facilities, including flows diverted to other facilities for 100
  121  percent reuse before prior to December 31, 2025. Utilities that
  122  shared a common ocean outfall for the discharge of domestic
  123  wastewater on July 1, 2008, regardless of which utility operates
  124  the ocean outfall, are individually responsible for meeting the
  125  reuse requirement and may enter into binding agreements to share
  126  or transfer such responsibility among the utilities. If In the
  127  event treatment in addition to the advanced wastewater treatment
  128  and management requirements described in paragraph (b) is needed
  129  in order to support a functioning reuse system, the such
  130  treatment must shall be fully operational by no later than
  131  December 31, 2025.
  132         3. If a facility that discharges through an ocean outfall
  133  contracts with another utility to install a functioning reuse
  134  system, the department must approve any apportionment of the
  135  reuse generated from the new or expanded reuse system that is
  136  intended to satisfy all or a portion of the reuse requirements
  137  pursuant to subparagraph 1. If a contract is between two
  138  utilities that have reuse requirements pursuant to subparagraph
  139  1., the reuse apportioned to each utility’s requirement may not
  140  exceed the total reuse generated by the new or expanded reuse
  141  system.
  142         (d) The discharge of domestic wastewater through ocean
  143  outfalls is prohibited after December 31, 2025, except as a
  144  backup discharge that is part of a functioning reuse system or
  145  other wastewater management system authorized by the department
  146  as provided for in paragraph (c). Except as otherwise provided
  147  in this subsection, a backup discharge may occur only during
  148  periods of reduced demand for reclaimed water in the reuse
  149  system, such as periods of wet weather, or as the result of peak
  150  flows from other wastewater management systems, and must shall
  151  comply with the advanced wastewater treatment and management
  152  requirements of paragraph (b). Peak flow backup discharges from
  153  other wastewater management systems may not cumulatively exceed
  154  5 percent of a facility’s baseline flow, measured as a 5-year
  155  rolling average, and are subject to applicable secondary waste
  156  treatment and water-quality-based effluent limitations specified
  157  in department rules. If peak flow backup discharges are in
  158  compliance with the effluent limitations, the discharges are
  159  deemed to meet the advanced wastewater treatment and management
  160  requirements of this subsection.
  161         (e) The holder of a department permit authorizing the
  162  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall as of
  163  July 1, 2008, shall submit the following to the secretary of the
  164  department the following:
  165         1. A detailed plan to meet the requirements of this
  166  subsection, including the identification of the technical,
  167  environmental, and economic feasibility of various reuse
  168  options; the an identification of each all land acquisition and
  169  facility facilities necessary to provide for reuse of the
  170  domestic wastewater; an analysis of the costs to meet the
  171  requirements, including the level of treatment necessary to
  172  satisfy state water quality requirements and local water quality
  173  considerations and a cost comparison of reuse using flows from
  174  ocean outfalls and flows from other domestic wastewater sources;
  175  and a financing plan for meeting the requirements, including
  176  identifying any actions necessary to implement the financing
  177  plan, such as bond issuance or other borrowing, assessments,
  178  rate increases, fees, other charges, or other financing
  179  mechanisms. The plan must evaluate reuse demand in the context
  180  of future regional water supply demands, the availability of
  181  traditional water supplies, the need for development of
  182  alternative water supplies, the degree to which various reuse
  183  options offset potable water supplies, and other factors
  184  considered in the Lower East Coast Regional Water Supply Plan of
  185  the South Florida Water Management District. The plan must shall
  186  include a detailed schedule for the completion of all necessary
  187  actions and shall be accompanied by supporting data and other
  188  documentation. The plan must shall be submitted by no later than
  189  July 1, 2013.
  190         2. By No later than July 1, 2016, an update of the plan
  191  required in subparagraph 1. documenting any refinements or
  192  changes in the costs, actions, or financing necessary to
  193  eliminate the ocean outfall discharge in accordance with this
  194  subsection or a written statement that the plan is current and
  195  accurate.
  196         (f) By December 31, 2009, and by December 31 every 5 years
  197  thereafter, the holder of a department permit authorizing the
  198  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall shall
  199  submit to the secretary of the department a report summarizing
  200  the actions accomplished to date and the actions remaining and
  201  proposed to meet the requirements of this subsection, including
  202  progress toward meeting the specific deadlines set forth in
  203  paragraphs (b) through (e). The report shall include the
  204  detailed schedule for and status of the evaluation of reuse and
  205  disposal options, preparation of preliminary design reports,
  206  preparation and submittal of permit applications, construction
  207  initiation, construction progress milestones, construction
  208  completion, initiation of operation, and continuing operation
  209  and maintenance.
  210         (g) By No later than July 1, 2010, and by July 1 every 5
  211  years thereafter, the department shall submit a report to the
  212  Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the
  213  House of Representatives on the implementation of this
  214  subsection. In the report, the department shall summarize
  215  progress to date, including the increased amount of reclaimed
  216  water provided and potable water offsets achieved, and identify
  217  any obstacles to continued progress, including all instances of
  218  substantial noncompliance.
  219         (h) By February 1, 2012, the department shall submit a
  220  report to the Governor and Legislature detailing the results and
  221  recommendations from phases 1 through 3 of its ongoing study on
  222  reclaimed water use.
  223         (i) The renewal of each permit that authorizes the
  224  discharge of domestic wastewater through an ocean outfall as of
  225  July 1, 2008, must shall be accompanied by an order in
  226  accordance with s. 403.088(2)(e) and (f) which establishes an
  227  enforceable compliance schedule consistent with the requirements
  228  of this subsection.
  229         (j) An entity that diverts wastewater flow from a receiving
  230  facility that discharges domestic wastewater through an ocean
  231  outfall must meet the 60 percent reuse requirement of paragraph
  232  (c). Reuse by the diverting entity of the diverted flows shall
  233  be credited to the diverting entity. The diverted flow shall
  234  also be correspondingly deducted from the receiving facility’s
  235  baseline actual flow on an annual basis from which the required
  236  reuse is calculated pursuant to paragraph (c), and the receiving
  237  facility’s reuse requirement shall be recalculated accordingly.
  238  
  239  The department, the South Florida Water Management District, and
  240  the affected utilities must consider the information in the
  241  detailed plan in paragraph (e) for the purpose of adjusting, as
  242  necessary, the reuse requirements of this subsection. The
  243  department shall submit a report to the Legislature by February
  244  15, 2015, containing recommendations for any changes necessary
  245  to the requirements of this subsection.
  246         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.