Florida Administrative Code › 62 - DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION › 62 - Departmental › Chapter 62-303 - IDENTIFICATION OF IMPAIRED SURFACE WATERS › Part IV - THE VERIFIED LIST › Section 62-303.460 - Primary Contact and Recreation Use Support

Current through Reg. 50, No. 138; July 16, 2024
(1) The Department shall review the data used
				  by the DOH as the basis for bathing area closures, advisories or warnings and
				  verify that the values exceeded the applicable DOH thresholds and the data meet
				  the requirements of Chapter 62-160, F.A.C. If the segment is listed on the
				  Planning List based on bathing area closures, advisories, or warnings issued by
				  a local health department or county government, the closures, advisories, or
				  warnings based on red tides, rip tides, sewage spills, sewer line breaks,
				  dangerous aquatic life, medical wastes, hurricanes, or other factors not
				  related to chronic discharges of pollutants shall not be included when
				  verifying primary contact and recreation use support. The Department shall then
				  re-evaluate the remaining data using the methodology in subsection
				   62-303.360(2),
				  F.A.C. Water segments that meet the criteria in subsection
				   62-303.360(2),
				  F.A.C., shall be included on the Verified List as impaired.
(2) If the water segment was listed on the
				  Planning or Study List due to samples that do not meet water quality criteria
				  for bacteriological quality, the Department shall, to the extent practical,
				  evaluate the source of bacteriological contamination and shall verify that the
				  impairment is due to chronic sources of human-induced bacteriological
				  pollutants before verifying the water segment is impaired. The Department shall
				  take into account the proximity of municipal stormwater outfalls, septic tanks,
				  domestic wastewater facilities, and other anthropogenic discharges when
				  evaluating potential sources of bacteriological pollutants. For water segments
				  that contain municipal stormwater outfalls, the impairment documented for the
				  segment shall be presumed to be due, at least in part, to chronic discharges of
				  bacteriological pollutants. The Department shall then re-evaluate the data
				  using the methodology in subsection
				   62-303.320(1),
				  F.A.C., excluding any values that have been demonstrated to be elevated solely
				  due to non-anthropogenic sources. If information is provided to the Department
				  indicating that the exceedances may be due to natural sources but there is
				  uncertainty whether anthropogenic sources contributed to the exceedances, the
				  water segment shall be placed on the Study List pursuant to paragraph
				   62-303.390(2)(g),
				  F.A.C.
(3) Water segments shall be
				  included on the Verified List if:
(a) The
				  number of samples that exceed the applicable bacteriological water quality
				  criteria expressed as a TPTV meets the requirements in subsection
				   62-303.420(6),
				  F.A.C. Data must meet the data requirements of subsections
				   62-303.320(2), (3),
				  (4)(e)  -(4)(g), (8), and (9), F.A.C. Samples
				  collected on different days will be assessed as individual samples and samples
				  collected on the same day shall be averaged, or
(b) There are one or more exceedances of a
				  bacteriological water quality criterion expressed as a monthly geometric mean
				  during the verified period. Data must meet the requirements of subsections
				   62-303.320(2), (3),
				  (4)(e)  -(4)(g), (8), and (9), F.A.C. Samples
				  collected on different days will be assessed as individual samples and samples
				  collected on the same day shall be averaged. To assess the monthly data for a
				  sampling location, there shall be at least ten samples collected within that
				  month, with at least one sample from each full week of the
				  month.