Bill Text: FL S1160 | 2013 | Regular Session | Comm Sub

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

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Bill Title: Onsite Sewage Treatment and Disposal Systems

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (? 3-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-04-24 - Laid on Table, companion bill(s) passed, see CS/CS/CS/HB 375 (Ch. 2013-79), CS/HB 7019 (Ch. 2013-213) [S1160 Detail]

Download: Florida-2013-S1160-Comm_Sub.html

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       Florida Senate - 2013                      CS for CS for SB 1160
       
       
       
       By the Committees on Environmental Preservation and
       Conservation; and Health Policy; and Senator Bullard
       
       
       
       592-04034-13                                          20131160c2
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to onsite sewage treatment and
    3         disposal systems; amending s. 381.0065, F.S.;
    4         requiring onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
    5         to comply with rules of the Department of
    6         Environmental Protection and provide a certain level
    7         of treatment; providing that certain onsite sewage
    8         treatment and disposal systems installed after a
    9         specified date are not required to connect to a sewer
   10         until a specified date; providing for
   11         nonapplicability; deleting a provision that requires a
   12         maintenance entity to obtain a system operating
   13         permit; authorizing the department to approve and
   14         permit a property owner of an owner-occupied, single
   15         family residence as a maintenance entity for the
   16         property owner’s own aerobic treatment unit system
   17         under certain circumstances; requiring the maintenance
   18         entity service agreement to conspicuously disclose
   19         that the property owner has the right to maintain his
   20         or her own system and is exempt from certain
   21         contractor registration requirements; prohibiting a
   22         septic tank contractor from being denied access by the
   23         manufacturer to aerobic treatment unit system training
   24         or spare parts for maintenance entities; providing
   25         that component parts for an aerobic treatment unit
   26         system may be replaced with parts that meet
   27         manufacturer’s specifications; requiring the
   28         maintenance entity to maintain documentation for a
   29         specified period of time and to provide the
   30         documentation to the department upon request;
   31         providing an effective date.
   32  
   33  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   34  
   35         Section 1. Paragraphs (l) and (u) of subsection (4) of
   36  section 381.0065, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
   37         381.0065 Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems;
   38  regulation.—
   39         (4) PERMITS; INSTALLATION; AND CONDITIONS.—A person may not
   40  construct, repair, modify, abandon, or operate an onsite sewage
   41  treatment and disposal system without first obtaining a permit
   42  approved by the department. The department may issue permits to
   43  carry out this section, but shall not make the issuance of such
   44  permits contingent upon prior approval by the Department of
   45  Environmental Protection, except that the issuance of a permit
   46  for work seaward of the coastal construction control line
   47  established under s. 161.053 shall be contingent upon receipt of
   48  any required coastal construction control line permit from the
   49  Department of Environmental Protection. A construction permit is
   50  valid for 18 months from the issuance date and may be extended
   51  by the department for one 90-day period under rules adopted by
   52  the department. A repair permit is valid for 90 days from the
   53  date of issuance. An operating permit must be obtained prior to
   54  the use of any aerobic treatment unit or if the establishment
   55  generates commercial waste. Buildings or establishments that use
   56  an aerobic treatment unit or generate commercial waste shall be
   57  inspected by the department at least annually to assure
   58  compliance with the terms of the operating permit. The operating
   59  permit for a commercial wastewater system is valid for 1 year
   60  from the date of issuance and must be renewed annually. The
   61  operating permit for an aerobic treatment unit is valid for 2
   62  years from the date of issuance and must be renewed every 2
   63  years. If all information pertaining to the siting, location,
   64  and installation conditions or repair of an onsite sewage
   65  treatment and disposal system remains the same, a construction
   66  or repair permit for the onsite sewage treatment and disposal
   67  system may be transferred to another person, if the transferee
   68  files, within 60 days after the transfer of ownership, an
   69  amended application providing all corrected information and
   70  proof of ownership of the property. There is no fee associated
   71  with the processing of this supplemental information. A person
   72  may not contract to construct, modify, alter, repair, service,
   73  abandon, or maintain any portion of an onsite sewage treatment
   74  and disposal system without being registered under part III of
   75  chapter 489. A property owner who personally performs
   76  construction, maintenance, or repairs to a system serving his or
   77  her own owner-occupied single-family residence is exempt from
   78  registration requirements for performing such construction,
   79  maintenance, or repairs on that residence, but is subject to all
   80  permitting requirements. A municipality or political subdivision
   81  of the state may not issue a building or plumbing permit for any
   82  building that requires the use of an onsite sewage treatment and
   83  disposal system unless the owner or builder has received a
   84  construction permit for such system from the department. A
   85  building or structure may not be occupied and a municipality,
   86  political subdivision, or any state or federal agency may not
   87  authorize occupancy until the department approves the final
   88  installation of the onsite sewage treatment and disposal system.
   89  A municipality or political subdivision of the state may not
   90  approve any change in occupancy or tenancy of a building that
   91  uses an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system until the
   92  department has reviewed the use of the system with the proposed
   93  change, approved the change, and amended the operating permit.
   94         (l) For the Florida Keys, the department shall adopt a
   95  special rule for the construction, installation, modification,
   96  operation, repair, maintenance, and performance of onsite sewage
   97  treatment and disposal systems which considers the unique soil
   98  conditions and water table elevations, densities, and setback
   99  requirements. On lots where a setback distance of 75 feet from
  100  surface waters, saltmarsh, and buttonwood association habitat
  101  areas cannot be met, an injection well, approved and permitted
  102  by the department, may be used for disposal of effluent from
  103  onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems. The following
  104  additional requirements apply to onsite sewage treatment and
  105  disposal systems in Monroe County:
  106         1. The county, each municipality, and those special
  107  districts established for the purpose of the collection,
  108  transmission, treatment, or disposal of sewage shall ensure, in
  109  accordance with the specific schedules adopted by the
  110  Administration Commission under s. 380.0552, the completion of
  111  onsite sewage treatment and disposal system upgrades to meet the
  112  requirements of this paragraph.
  113         2. Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems must cease
  114  discharge by December 31, 2015, or must comply with department
  115  rules and provide the level of treatment which, on a permitted
  116  annual average basis, produces an effluent that contains no more
  117  than the following concentrations:
  118         a. Biochemical Oxygen Demand (CBOD5) of 10 mg/l.
  119         b. Suspended Solids of 10 mg/l.
  120         c. Total Nitrogen, expressed as N, of 10 mg/l, or a
  121  reduction in nitrogen of at least at 70 percent. A system that
  122  has been tested and certified to reduce nitrogen concentrations
  123  by at least 70 percent is deemed to be in compliance with this
  124  standard.
  125         d. Total Phosphorus, expressed as P, of 1 mg/l.
  126  
  127  In addition, onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems
  128  discharging to an injection well must provide basic disinfection
  129  as defined by department rule.
  130         3. In areas not scheduled to be served by a central sewer,
  131  onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems must, by December
  132  31, 2015, comply with department rules and provide the level of
  133  treatment described in subparagraph 2.
  134         4.3. On or after July 1, 2010, all new, modified, and
  135  repaired onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems must
  136  provide the level of treatment described in subparagraph 2.
  137  However, In areas scheduled to be served by central sewer by
  138  December 31, 2015, if the property owner has paid a connection
  139  fee or assessment for connection to the central sewer system,
  140  the property owner may install a holding tank with a high water
  141  alarm, or an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system that
  142  meets may be repaired to the following minimum standards:
  143         a. The existing tanks must be pumped and inspected and
  144  certified as being watertight and free of defects in accordance
  145  with department rule; and
  146         b. A sand-lined drainfield or injection well in accordance
  147  with department rule must be installed.
  148         5.4. Onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems must be
  149  monitored for total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations
  150  as required by department rule.
  151         6.5. The department shall enforce proper installation,
  152  operation, and maintenance of onsite sewage treatment and
  153  disposal systems pursuant to this chapter, including ensuring
  154  that the appropriate level of treatment described in sub
  155  subparagraph b. subparagraph 2. is met.
  156         7.6. The authority of a local government, including a
  157  special district, to mandate connection of an onsite sewage
  158  treatment and disposal system is governed by s. 4, chapter 99
  159  395, Laws of Florida.
  160         8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the
  161  contrary, an onsite sewage treatment and disposal system
  162  installed after July 1, 2010, which meets the standards in
  163  subparagraph 2., is not required to connect to a sewer until
  164  December 31, 2020. This subparagraph does not apply to chapter
  165  28-19.310, F.A.C.
  166         (u)1. The owner of an aerobic treatment unit system shall
  167  maintain a current maintenance service agreement with an aerobic
  168  treatment unit maintenance entity permitted by the department.
  169  The maintenance entity shall obtain a system operating permit
  170  from the department for each aerobic treatment unit under
  171  service contract. The maintenance entity shall inspect each
  172  aerobic treatment unit system at least twice each year and shall
  173  report quarterly to the department on the number of aerobic
  174  treatment unit systems inspected and serviced. The reports may
  175  be submitted electronically.
  176         2. The department may approve and permit a property owner
  177  of an owner-occupied, single-family residence as a maintenance
  178  entity for the property owner’s own aerobic treatment unit
  179  system if the system manufacturer’s approved representative
  180  certifies in writing that the property owner has received
  181  training on the proper installation and service of the system.
  182  The maintenance entity service agreement must conspicuously
  183  disclose that the property owner has the right to maintain his
  184  or her own system and is exempt from contractor registration
  185  requirements for performing construction, maintenance, or
  186  repairs on the system. However, the property owner is subject to
  187  all permitting requirements.
  188         3. A manufacturer may not deny a septic tank contractor
  189  licensed under part III of chapter 489 access to aerobic
  190  treatment unit system training or spare parts for maintenance
  191  entities. After the original warranty period, component parts
  192  for an aerobic treatment unit system may be replaced with parts
  193  that meet manufacturer’s specifications but are manufactured by
  194  others. The maintenance entity shall maintain documentation for
  195  a period of 2 years of the substitute part’s equivalency and
  196  shall provide such documentation to the department upon request.
  197         4. The owner of an aerobic treatment unit system shall
  198  allow the department to inspect during reasonable hours each
  199  aerobic treatment unit system at least annually, and such
  200  inspection may include collection and analysis of system
  201  effluent samples for performance criteria established by rule of
  202  the department.
  203         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2013.