that on October 16, 2012, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a Final Order granting a petition for variance to City of Tallahassee (COT). The petition for variance was received on August 27, 2012, seeking a reissuance of a variance ...

 

DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

RULE NO.: RULE TITLE:
62-699.310: Classification and Staffing of Domestic Wastewater or Water Treatment Plants and Water Distribution Systems
62-699.311: Additional Classification and Staffing Requirements

The Department of Environmental Protection hereby gives notice:
That on October 16, 2012, the Department of Environmental Protection issued a Final Order granting a petition for variance to City of Tallahassee (COT). The petition for variance was received on August 27, 2012, seeking a reissuance of a variance from paragraph 62-699.310(2)(e), and subsections 62-699.311(4) and 62-699.311(10), F.A.C., to allow for a reduction in staffing requirements at the COT’s Class B and C water treatment plants and to allow for a lead/chief operator to supervise multiple Class B water treatment plants connected to a single water distribution system. The petition was assigned OGC Case No. 12-1461. Notice of receipt of the petition was published in the Florida Administrative Weekly on September 14, 2012. No public comment was received. The Final Order granted the variance because the petitioner demonstrated that the application of Rule 62-699, F.A.C., would create a substantial hardship and that the purposes of the underlying statutes would be met with the conditions imposed by the Department under the variance. The conditions require that the COT staff its water treatment plants as laid out in the order in terms of operator classes, visits, and hours; that the COT maintain a centralized SCADA system that is staffed every hour of every day by a Class C or higher operator, that continuously monitors the performance of each of the COT’s water treatment plants and affords the operator the capability to immediately shut down any plant; and that the COT shall have two Class B or higher water treatment plant operators serve as lead/chief operators of its 27 existing plants and one proposed plant.
A copy of the Order or additional information may be obtained by contacting: Virginia Harmon, Department of Environmental Protection, Drinking Water Section, 2600 Blair Stone Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32399-2400; telephone: [phone].