Sludge Report for 01/10/2012
SB 820 PASSES SENATE ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITTEE
January 9, 2012 -
The Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee met
on Monday, the day before the opening of 2012 Legislative Session to
consider a strike-all amendment to Senate Bill 820 which was filed
by Senator Dean several weeks ago.
The strike all amendment repealed the septic system
inspection mandate put in place when SB 550 was passed in 2010.
The amendment also changed SB 820’s proposed inspection
program so that it more closely matched the program outlined in HB
999. Several of the
Senators on the EP Committee commented that the amended version of
SB820 demonstrated that fair and balanced legislation can be reached
through deliberation and debate.
One amendment to the new bill was presented and passed.
The bill originally said counties with a First Magnitude
Spring would be able to opt-out of the inspection with a simple
majority vote of the county’s governing body.
With the amendment, counties can opt-out only if the vote is
a majority plus one. In
other words, a county cannot vote to opt-out of the inspection
program unless they can muster a “super” majority.
There are six privately owned First Magnitude Springs in
Florida. The remaining
springs are in government control,
either state or federal, or a combination of
government/private ownership.
The bill now moves to the Senate Health Regulation Committee and
then to the Senate Budget Committee.
We will be monitoring the progress of this bill, which is now
identified as CS SB 820 (Committee Substitute Senate Bill
820). Go to
www.flsenate.gov
and click on “Bills” to access the actual text of the bill,
committee hearing dates, etc.
NOTE 1:
If you e-mailed the Environmental Committee members asking
for their support of the amended SB 820, please take a minute to
send each Senator on the committee a note of thanks for their
positive vote.
NOTE 2:
Click here to read TRI-County
Association’s letter to all the Committee Members supporting the
“strike-all” amendment to Senator Dean’s SB 820. This letter was
included in the Committee Packet.
Florida Association of Realtors, Florida Homebuilders Association,
and Associated Industries of Florida also spoke in support of
passage of CS SB 820.
Thanks to all.
CPR Coalition for Property Rights helps septic owners breathe
easier!
Just a little pun, of course.
But, all septic owners across the state need to say ‘THANK
YOU” to this organization and to Dan Peterson, Executive Director of
CPR for taking on our issue as one of the organization’s top
legislative priorities for this session.
Yesterday, at the Senate Environmental Committee meeting, the
CPR gave their full supports to Senator Dean’s CS SB 820, and
presented a message of support for the bill on behalf of TRI-County
Association H.E.L.P.
Dan is a member of TRI-County’s Board of Advisors.
Coalition for Property Rights
www.proprights.com
is a nationally recognized
and respected property rights advocate involving itself in eminent
domain issues and other causes that compromise or threaten one of
the cornerstones of the Constitution.
The organization counts many state-wide individuals,
business, and organizations as members and supporters.
CPR has followed the septic system issue for several years
and has provided valuable guidance to TRI-County Association as the
homeowner group works toward their goals of protecting homeowner
property rights and simultaneously promoting sound environmental
policy and legislation.
THANKS, DAN!!
OUR SYMPATHIES TO THE FLORIDA KEYS’ SEPTIC OWNERS.
Because of its unique geology and sensitive
ecology, the Keys were designated as an area of special concern.
One of the steps taken to protect the Keys environment was to
convert septic owners to either sewers or performance based
treatment systems.
The Research Review and Advisory Committee
(RRAC) got a fresh report from the Bureau of On-Site Sewage.
The subject was the “performance” of Performance Based
Treatment Systems (PBTS) in the Keys.
This is the same type of septic system that was almost
mandated by the Bureau’s rulemaking for the Wekiva Study Area, and
the same type of system that four years ago sparked the homeowner
revolt against PBTS.
A few years ago, the Bureau published a report
that said, PBTS would be necessary in the Wekiva Area for a couple
of reasons:
1.
They could be
easily tested for compliance in meeting nutrient and bacteria
standards.
2.
They would be the only solution if nutrient standards were
very stringent.
Well, the results of this new report presented
to RRAC don’t seem to live up to the advertisement.
50% of the systems are presenting major maintenance issues
regarding chlorination to prevent bacterial pollution.
There are major issues determining the level of maintenance
required for the systems to properly treat effluent.
As far as nitrogen removal is concerned, 50% are either
failing to perform at all or performing inconsistently.
RRAC heard from the bureau that there was real
difficulty determining effectiveness with mere grab samples, and
wants to conduct a much bigger, broader study. So much for ease of
testing for compliance.
Maybe, this this one of those times that testing is repeated and
repeated until the results are acceptable.
Ironic, that the bureau considers grab samples
insufficient to get reliable tests for nitrogen in the Keys, but
considers three grab
samples in the Wekiva Area sufficient to blame septic systems for
nitrogen in the Wekiva River. Just saying.
It’s unfortunate residents in the Keys had to
be the lab rats. In our
opinon, there was already enough evidence and research to show PBTS
would not work as advertised, and National Science lab certification
was not the same as real world certification.
It doesn’t feel good to be right when people in the Keys are
living with and paying handsomely for such dismal results.