Compared to House, Florida Senate offers wider-ranging water bill

The Senate on Friday filed its version of a water bill that also deals with Amendment 1, the water and land conservation funding initiative approved by voters last November.

Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli both have said they expect water to be a major issue in the legislative session, which begins March 3. Last year, a bill that would tighten regulations on pollution around springs passed the Senate didn’t get a vote in the House.

SB 918, filed on Friday by Sen. Charlie Dean, R-Inverness, appears to be wider-ranging legislation than an industry-backed House water bill that was filed this week. HB 7003 is on the Appropriations Committee agenda for next Thursday.

The Senate bill doesn’t create or eliminate any programs and doesn’t allocate funding. The bill does identify the 33 largest springs, along with five others, for protection by the state Department of Environmental Protection — similar to last year’s bill.

SB 918 requires DEP to begin water quality assessments to complete springs assessments by July 1, 2018.

The bill also requires the state to identify septic tanks within springs protection zones and develop remediation plans for those causing pollution. Owners are not required to pay the cost of system inspection, upgrade or connection to sewage treatment plants.

And the bill creates the Florida Water Resources Advisory Council to annually evaluate and recommend to the Legislature water projects which have been prioritized by state agencies, water management districts or local governments. The five-member council would consist of the DEP secretary, the agriculture commissioner, the head of the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and two scientist members appointed by the Senate president and House speaker.

Business and industry groups supporting the House bill  could not be reached late Friday for a response on the Senate bill.

Audubon Florida’s Eric Draper said the Senate bill lacks controversial language dealing with Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades permitting that are in the House bill. But he thinks that issue could come into play in the Senate bill later.

While the House bill doesn’t directly deal with Amendment 1, Draper said the Senate bill seems to be placing an emphasis on springs and bicycling trails for the funding initiative.

Draper said the Senate bill also has good criteria for evaluating local water projects. Spending on those projects has ballooned in recent years to $88 million in the current state budget.

“Anything that creates a transparent system that has people nominating and getting projects approved based on criteria rather than just based on political influence is an improvement over what we have now,” Draper said.

Meanwhile on Friday, the Florida Clean Water Network issued a report calling for a moratorium on new septic tank permits in areas with elevated nitrogen levels in groundwater. The report also calls for the establishment of a statewide septic tank inspections program and for requiring homeowners to hook up to central sewer system when connections become available.

And on Thursday, the Florida Springs Council sent a letter to House and Senate leaders calling for $300 million for springs restoration in the 2015-16 state budget. The council was created by regional springs groups in 2014 to advocate for statewide springs protection.

The council says restoration funding could come from an “aquifer protection fee” charged on all groundwater uses and nitrogen fertilizers or Amendment 1 revenue, said Robert L. Knight, director of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute. He also said funding for other water infrastructure projects should come from state general revenue and local governments.

Bruce Ritchie (@bruceritchie) is an independent journalist covering environment, energy and growth management in Tallahassee.