62-532.400. Permit for Water Well Construction, Repair, or Abandonment

(1) After the effective date upon which a district implements a permit system pursuant to Chapter 373, Part III, F.S., a permit shall be required before beginning construction, repair, or abandonment of any water well within such area. The permit shall be obtained from the permitting authority by making written application on Form Number 62-532.900(1), State of Florida Permit Application to Construct, Repair, Modify, or Abandon A Well, adopted and incorporated herein, and available as described in Rule 62-532.900, F.A.C. The application shall be made and submitted to the permitting authority by the owner or by the water well contractor on behalf of the owner. Any required fee shall be submitted with the permit application.

(2) Permit issuance shall require that:

(a) The application is in the proper form and contains the required information; provided that the proposed construction, repair, or abandonment will not violate applicable laws, rules, or orders of the permitting authority.

(b) Additional information shall be required by the permitting authority if needed to assess site specific conditions. Such information includes geophysical logs, geologic samples and logs, and well pumping tests.

(3) Receipt of the permit by the applicant shall constitute permission to begin well construction, repair, or abandonment.

(4) The permit shall be available for inspection at the site of the well during construction, repair, or abandonment of the well.

(5) Any permittee who desires to change the location of a well before the start of construction or before construction is completed shall apply to the permitting authority for an amendment to the well construction permit. When a permit fee was required to obtain the original permit no additional fee shall be charged to amend the permit. As a condition to approving an amended permit, the permitting authority shall require the sealing or plugging of any incomplete well.

(6) Each permit shall be valid for a period of one year. In the event construction, repair, or abandonment is not completed within that time, the permitting authority shall extend the time limit upon written request by the permittee or require the applicant to obtain a new permit before continuing construction, repair, or abandonment of a water well.

(7) Water wells shall be located to comply with the setback distances in Table I at the end of this chapter.

(8) A drinking water supply well installed by an installation used to serve that installation’s operation is exempt from meeting the 500-foot setback distance from on-site slow rate and rapid rate land application flow systems, domestic wastewater residuals land application, phosphogypsum stack systems, and solid waste disposal facilities if reasonable assurance is provided by the installation owner that the ground water and drinking water source are protected. Reasonable assurance shall be demonstrated if:

(a) The planned withdrawal from the drinking water supply well will not cause the discharge from the operation to be captured by the well, or

(b) The drinking water supply well is withdrawing from a confined aquifer, or

(c) Additional monitoring of the ground water and the drinking water is provided to ensure that contaminants are not reaching the drinking water supply well and a commitment is made to treat the drinking water supply if a contaminant is detected or to provide an alternate drinking water supply, and

(d) The setback distances from sanitary hazards as provided in Table I shall apply.

Rulemaking Authority 373.309 FS. Law Implemented 373.306, 373.308, 373.309, 373.316, 403.862 FS. History–New 8-17-74, Amended 9-10-78, Formerly 17-21.04, 17-21.040, Amended 7-30-89, 3-11-92, Formerly 17-532.400, Amended 3-28-02, 10-7-10.