Purpose
The Southwest Florida Water Management District’s Water Use Permit (WUP) Rules are being revised in association with the District’s ongoing development, implementation and refinement of its comprehensive electronic permitting and information system know as the Water Management Information Systems or WMIS. As part of this overall effort, the District is seeking to streamline WUP application processes where appropriate. Amendments are being proposed to several rules in Chapter 40D-2, F.A.C., and to the District’s Water Use Permit Information Manual Part B, Basis of Review (BOR), to refine the permit category now informally known as “Small General” WUPs and to incorporate the term “Small General,” into existing rules. Additional related amendments are also proposed for Chapter 40D-1, F.A.C. The overall purpose of this rulemaking is to re-define the Small General WUP category based upon minimal risk to the water resource for most water demands of less than 100,000 gallons per day, and to reduce where appropriate the level of information required to be submitted in support of applications for and compliance monitoring of Small General WUPs. The effect of this rulemaking package will be to limit the types of permits appropriate for the Small General permit category to those water uses that do not require significant evaluation or monitoring due to little-to-no risk of adverse impacts. Specifically, Rule 40D-2.041, F.A.C., is amended to re-define the Individual, General and Small General WUP categories, as the General WUP category will now include some water uses that previously would have been considered as Small General WUPs. Rule 40D-2.621, F.A.C., is amended to limit water-conserving credits to General and Individual WUPs. Rule 40D-2.091, F.A.C., is amended to adopt an updated version of the District’s BOR, which is revised to reduce the permit application submittal and compliance monitoring requirements for Small General WUPs. The BOR and Rule 40D-2.321, F.A.C., are also amended to delete provisions relating to the District’s one-time permit renewal redistribution process for Small General and General WUPs, as this process has been completed and is no longer needed.
Some additional amendments not necessarily limited to Small General WUPs are also proposed at this time for clarification purposes. Rule 40D-2.021, F.A.C., is revised to identify more correctly those definitions that apply only in the Southern Water Use Caution Area. Rule 40D-2.091, F.A.C., is amended to move the list of irrigation water use forms used for monitoring purposes to Rule 40D-1.659, F.A.C. Rule 40D-2.501, F.A.C., is amended to use the term “permit use types” instead of “permit classification” when referring to the types of water uses authorized in WUPs. The effect of these clarifying amendments will be to make existing WUP rules, practices and forms more consistent.