1.4 Improve FDEP public reporting of wastewater discharges

Policy Solutions
Chapter 1. Central Wastewater
Policy Solutions
Activities to Reduce Nutrient Inputs

Key Message: Notification and access to information about wastewater spills, emergency discharges, and overflows should be timely, standardized, and clearly conveyed so citizens and non-government organizations can evaluate short-term impacts and identify long-term chronic issues for remediation.

Importance

Wastewater spills, releases, and overflows pose risks to both environmental and public health (see Chapter 1.3). Timely public notification is essential for health protection and supports transparent governance. Notifications should be accessible, standardized, and sufficient for citizens and organizations to evaluate the immediate threat of a spill and understand the cumulative effects of repeated incidents. Currently, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) provides timely spill data, but the format is not user-friendly or conducive to analysis.

Overview

FDEP requires utilities to report any unauthorized release of wastewater to surface or groundwater, and any spill exceeding 1,000 gallons, within 24 hours (Chapter 62-620, F.A.C.). After two major incidents in 2016 were not made public until weeks later, the Public Notice of Pollution Act (F.S. 403.077) was passed in 2017. It requires FDEP to post spill reports on a public website within 24 hours of receipt and allows users to subscribe for automatic email notifications. FDEP’s Pollution Notice website includes a GIS map showing spills reported within the past 30 days. Previously, these incidents were only discoverable through public records requests.

Public notice of spills is important for public health. Source: Nick Rose

FDEP requires reports to include details such as date, time, location, volume, source and cause of the spill, and the affected area or water body. However, much of this information is reported in unstructured narrative form, making it difficult to summarize or analyze (Table 1.4.1). Key elements—such as what water body was affected, whether the discharge was treated or untreated, the volume recovered, or whether cleanup was completed—are inconsistently reported. Narratives differ in clarity and completeness, limiting their usefulness for analysis.

Table 1.4.1. Crosswalk of the types of reporting information required by FDEP regulation (F.A.C. 62-620.610(20)(b)1)(a–j) and the type and format of information required by the Public Notice of Pollution Report form. Items d–e and g–j are reported to the public in a narrative format that is inconsistent and difficult to summarize.

Approach

FDEP currently posts reports exactly as submitted by utilities or contractors through its online Business Portal. Making this information clearer and more useful to the public could be achieved by modifying the reporting form. Specifically, the form should break out required elements into distinct fields rather than aggregating them in a narrative.

The updated form should include fields for discharge characteristics (treated or untreated, industrial or domestic), estimated volume released, estimated volume recovered, whether the spill was contained, and the name of any affected water body. This would allow for consistent tracking of total volumes, spill types, and affected facilities, enabling better analysis and even rough nutrient load estimates.

Although not currently required, the form should also include nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations of the discharged material. While treated effluent concentrations are reported monthly in Discharge Monitoring Reports (DMRs), untreated wastewater values can vary and should be tested and reported when spills occur (see Chapter 1.1).

Improvements could be implemented through internal policy changes within FDEP’s Water Compliance Enforcement Program. To initiate action, a coalition of community organizations could submit a formal request to the Office of Environmental Accountability and Transparency, with a copy to the Water Compliance Enforcement Program. Updating regulatory requirements (F.A.C. 62-620) to include nutrient concentrations would require public notice, a 21-day comment period, and potentially a public hearing.

Resources

Status

FDEP Spill Reports available to the public — Ongoing
Standardization and other improvements to Spill Reports to facilitate analyses — No Activity

Performance Measure

Update of the spill reporting form and public notice report

Experts or Leads

Jennifer Shafer, Science and Environment Council (lead for local coalition)

Cost Estimate

< $10,000

Related Activities

Chapter 1.1, Chapter 1.3

 

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