No. CS/CS/CS/SB 1510
Filed under Environment & Water.
Department of Environmental Protection; Deleting provisions creating the Environmental Regulation Commission; requiring that residential properties of a specified size located in a certain area connect to a central sewer system or upgrade to a specified type of nutrient-reducing wastewater treatment system; authorizing remediation plans for certain properties to have certain requirements related to existing conventional onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems; revising legislative findings and intent for the Florida Communities Trust; revising the approval criteria for certain onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems, etc.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDAbolishes the Environmental Regulation Commission, the seven-member citizen board that had to approve state environmental rules. The Department of Environmental Protection's secretary now adopts water, air, and waste standards alone, without that board or Governor and Cabinet sign-off.
Moves the Florida Communities Trust, the state's main conservation-land buying program, out of DEP and under the Acquisition and Restoration Council. The council gains final say over which land purchases and grants the trust funds.
In Indian River Lagoon basins, only residential parcels of 10 acres or less must connect to sewer or upgrade septic systems by 2030; larger residential lots are exempt. Near Outstanding Florida Springs, new remediation plans can force septic upgrades too.
Residential septic operating permits now last for the life of the installation instead of needing periodic renewal. New wastewater and hazardous-waste facilities above set sizes are banned in nutrient-sensitive basins unless they meet strict treatment standards.
AIRepeals the seven-member commission that had to approve Department of Environmental Protection rules on air, water, and waste standards, removing that independent citizen review body entirely.
AIDeletes the requirement that the secretary submit any rule setting environmental standards to the Environmental Regulation Commission, and separately removes Governor-and-Cabinet approval for water standards stricter than federal rules.
AIThe trust's governing body, previously chaired by the DEP secretary with four gubernatorial appointees, is eliminated. The council now holds final approval authority over the trust's land purchases and grant disbursements.
AIThe existing 2030 deadline to connect to sewer or upgrade to a nutrient-reducing septic system, once reaching any residential property in these basins, now only reaches residential parcels of 10 acres or less; commercial property of any size still must comply.
AIBasin management plans near Outstanding Florida Springs may now require existing conventional septic systems on parcels of 10 acres or less outside priority focus areas to upgrade to nutrient-reducing systems, and any size parcel inside a priority focus area.
AIBars new large-capacity domestic wastewater disposal facilities of 100,000 or more gallons per day, and new hazardous waste disposal facilities, inside basin management, reasonable assurance, or pollution reduction plan areas, unless the wastewater facility meets strict nitrogen and phosphorus limits.
AIReplaces the prior renewal cycle -- annual for commercial systems, every two years for aerobic treatment units -- with a residential operating permit valid for the life of the installation; only a change of ownership or a system modification triggers an update.
AIThe trust can no longer adopt its own land-acquisition rules or make loans; it now submits project recommendations and funding priorities to the council for decision, and develops rules jointly with the council instead of independently.