Florida Department Of Environmental Protection Research Articles

Upland forest community composition and structure by ecoregion in 73 Florida state parks – Insights for ongoing management

Plot based forest/vegetation data is used to establish current conditions and inform natural resources management decisions. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection – Division of Recreation and Parks (DRP) manages 175 state parks. As part of its mission, DRP strives to restore landscapes and natural communities by reintroducing dynamic natural processes such as fire. DRP also uses other methods of active management to achieve desired future conditions (DFCs) in multiple communities including those characterized by longleaf pine (Pinus palustris Mill.) and native groundcover (GC) species. To meet the challenge of managing natural resources across the State, DRP initiated an objective and repeatable forest/vegetation inventory system. The primary objective of this paper was to analyze and summarize the resultant data and compare current community type (ComType) vegetation conditions. Current conditions were quantified using nested plots distributed within sample areas across 73 state parks and 15 ecoregions via the line-plot method. Over 37,000 plots were inventoried; 36% were in pine flatwoods. Ten actively managed and dominant ComTypes were central to this paper and when aggregated by ecoregion, 76 ComType by ecoregion (CTER) groups were examined. Descriptive statistics for various measurements, e.g., diameter at breast height, height, and density, were calculated for overstory, midstory and understory (vegetation layer) separately per CTER. Mean importance value index (IVI) was calculated by species or species-group per vegetation layer and CTER. Community classification was conducted via hierarchical clustering of CTERs per vegetation layer using mean IVI scores. Across CTERs, pine overstory and midstory abundance/stocking levels were generally low, non-pine overstory and midstory stocking levels were high, pine regeneration was sparse, and GC was dominated by leaf litter, pine straw, and non-pine woody seedlings. Results strongly suggest that some ComTypes were similar within certain ecoregions. Various pine species are considered dominant or one of the prominent overstory species for eight of the ten ComTypes. The ability to manage upland pine ComTypes using natural regeneration systems will become increasingly challenging in the near- to medium-term given relatively low overstory pine stocking for most CTERs, and the virtual lack of young pines within midstory and understory layers. Further investigations could help identify potential causal agents concerning low young pine stocking levels, e.g., timing and frequency of prescribed fires, frequency of logging, and/or increased competition from high densities of midstory non-pines and appropriate natural regeneration systems, e.g., seed tree, shelterwood, or group selection, or underplanting longleaf pine, that would accelerate understory pine recruitment.

The largest constructed treatment wetland project in the world: The story of the Everglades stormwater treatment areas

The Everglades Stormwater Treatment Areas (STAs) are the largest complex of constructed treatment wetlands in the world with a current treatment area of over 25,000 ha which will total approximately 25,900 ha by the end of 2025. They are designed to remove phosphorus from agricultural and urban stormwater runoff, and when there is available capacity, they can also receive and treat water from Lake Okeechobee. STA-treated water is then sent south to the Everglades to support restoration and maintenance of this unique ecosystem. The recommendation to build treatment wetlands began in 1988 with the Lake Okeechobee Technical Advisory Committee, and the mandate to operate and maintain the STAs continues today through operating permits and consent orders issued to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The permits and consent orders set forth a stringent phosphorus water quality-based effluent limit (WQBEL) that must be met starting in 2026. SFWMD has conducted extensive research on treatment wetland function and phosphorus removal efficiency to support construction, management, and operation of the STAs to achieve the WQBEL. The most recent work has been conducted under the Restoration Strategies Science Plan. This 11-year research program began in 2013 and will continue through 2024 to address six key scientific questions aimed at assisting the SFWMD in meeting the WQBEL for discharges from the Everglades STAs. What follows in this Special Edition are articles discussing the results and conclusions from several of these studies.

Oyster Death Assemblages as Archives of Historical Information for Studying Long-Term Trends in Oyster Body Size

A lack of location-specific, long-term data is a common obstacle to assessing trends in condition of coastal habitats over time. Without historical monitoring records or other documentation, filling such data gaps can be difficult, but sedimentary records such as death assemblages (DAs; the accumulated, identifiable remains of organisms that lived in or near the habitat in the past) are relatively untapped, location-specific archives of ecological information from the past. In 2018, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Paleontological Research Institution began a collaboration to study the use of oyster reef (Crassostrea virginica) DAs to address monitoring information gaps for oyster size. To-date, our project has sampled DAs from over 30 intertidal oyster reefs around Florida, radiocarbon dated most of the samples, and measured over 26,000 oyster shells. In the process, we found that C. virginica DAs are recent and high-resolution archives, with most samples from 15-35cm burial depth dating to within the last 80 years. We also developed a model to combine the DA data with real-time monitoring data on live oyster sizes from the same reefs to estimate reef- and locality-level size trends from as early as the 1960s to the present. This information is adding temporal context for our overwhelmingly short (~5-10 years) and recent (many post-2010) time series of live C. virginica size data. This case study demonstrates the potential utility of DA data for supplementing real-time monitoring data during the assessment and management of coastal habitats.

The Cost of Alternative Water Supply and Efficiency Options under Uncertainty: An Application of Modern Portfolio Theory and Chebyshev’s Inequality

Sea-level rise, population growth, and changing land-use patterns will further constrain Florida’s already scarce groundwater and surface water supplies in the coming decades. Significant investments in water supply and water demand management are needed to ensure sufficient water availability for human and natural systems. Section 403.928 (1) (b) of the Florida Statutes requires estimating the expenditures needed to meet the future water demand and avoid the adverse effects of competition for water supplies to 2040. This study considers the 2020–2040 planning period and projects (1) future water demand and supplies; and (2) the total expenditures (capital costs) necessary to meet the future water demand in Florida, USA. The uniqueness of this study compared with the previous studies is the introduction of a probabilistic-based approach to quantify the uncertainty of the investment costs to meet future water demand. We compile data from the U.S. Geological Survey, Florida’s Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Florida’s Water Management Districts, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to project the future water demand and supplies, and the expenditures needed to meet the demand considering uncertainty in the costs of alternative water supply options. The results show that the total annual water demand is projected to increase by 1405 million cubic meters (+15.9%) by 2040, driven primarily by urbanization. Using the median capital costs of alternative water supply projects, cumulative expenditures for the additional water supplies are estimated between USD 1.11–1.87 billion. However, when uncertainty in the project costs is accounted for, the projected expenditure range shifts to USD 1.65 and USD 3.21 billion. In addition, we illustrate how using Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT) can increase the efficacy of investment planning to develop alternative water supply options. The results indicate that using MPT in selecting the share of each project type in developing water supply options can reduce the standard deviation of capital costs per one unit of capacity by 74% compared to the equal share allocation. This study highlights the need for developing more flexible funding strategies on local, regional, and state levels to finance additional water supply infrastructure, and more cost-effective combinations of demand management strategies and alternative water supply options to meet the water needed for the state in the future.

2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

This handbook is designed to provide a summary of the principal federal and state (Florida) laws that directly or indirectly relate to agriculture. Because these laws are subject to constant revision, portions of the handbook could become outdated at any time. The reader should use it as a means to determine areas in which to seek more information and as a brief directory of agencies that can help answer more specific questions.

On the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on air quality in Florida

Since early 2020, the world has faced an unprecedented pandemic caused by the novel COVID-19 virus. In this study, we characterize the impact of the lockdown associated with the pandemic on air quality in six major cities across the state of Florida, namely: Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, Tampa, and Miami. Hourly measurements of PM2.5, ozone, NO2, SO2, and CO were provided by the US EPA at thirty sites operated by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection during mid-February to mid-April from 2015 through 2020. To analyze the effect of the pandemic, atmospheric pollutant concentrations in 2020 were compared to historic data at these cities during the same period from 2015 to 2019. Reductions in NO2 and CO levels were observed across the state in most cities and were attributed to restrictions in mobility and the decrease in vehicle usage amid the lockdown. Likewise, decreases in O3 concentrations were observed and were related to the prevailing NOx-limited regime during this time period. Changes in concentrations of SO2 exhibited spatial variations, concentrations decreased in northern cities, however an increase was observed in central and southern cities, likely due to increased power generation at facilities primarily in the central and southern regions of the state. PM2.5 levels varied temporally during the study and were positively correlated with SO2 concentrations during the lockdown. In March, reductions in PM2.5 levels were observed, however elevations in PM2.5 concentrations in April were attributed to long-range transport of pollutants rather than local emissions. This study provides further insight into the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on anthropogenic sources from vehicular emissions and power generation in Florida. This work has implications for policies and regulations of vehicular emissions as well as consequences on the use of sustainable energy sources in the state.

Florida reservoir leak puts ecosystems at risk

Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency April 3 as wastewater from Piney Point, an old phosphate-processing plant, threatened to breach one of its three holding ponds. The state began pumping water out of the pond to reduce the risk of flooding should the reservoir’s leaking lining cause the pond walls to fail. The reservoir’s levels are now low enough that the risk of catastrophic flooding has passed. According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), workers continue to pump more than 35 million gal (about 132 million L) of the water per day into Tampa Bay. This large discharge has raised concerns among many scientists that conditions are ripe for harmful algal blooms and long-term ecological damage to the bay. The three wastewater ponds at Piney Point are filled with a combination of stormwater runoff, water used to process phosphate at the now-defunct plant, and seawater

Restoration of Lake Okeechobee, Florida: mission impossible?

Canfield DE Jr, Bachmann RW, Hoyer MV. 2020. Restoration of Lake Okeechobee, Florida: mission impossible? Lake Reserv Manage. XX:XXX–XXX. Legally mandated eutrophication restoration goals for Lake Okeechobee (FL) are unachievable, therefore assigning managers a “mission impossible.” Since the 1970s, restoration efforts have focused on reducing pelagic total phosphorus (TP) to ∼40 µg/L. A total daily maximum load (TMDL) of 140 metric tons (t)/yr was adopted by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 1999 (effective date 2015) to restore the lake’s balance of flora and fauna. Phosphorus (P) loads (1975–2018) averaged 516 t/yr with no significant change over time, yet average TP significantly increased from 51 µg/L (1974–1977) to 146 µg/L (2015–2019). Greater TP values in 2019 were due to Hurricane Irma and an early June storm event. Annual P-loads and pelagic TP were not significantly correlated. Instead, TP was strongly correlated with turbidity (R 2 = 0.85), which is generated by wave-driven resuspension of P-rich unconsolidated sediments. Since 1973, >13,000 t of TP has been added to Okeechobee’s sediments that have accumulated over the past century due to the lowering of water levels and the construction of the Herbert Hoover Dike. Prior to settlement, high water levels allowed turbid lake waters to flood large areas of adjacent wetlands, where suspended sediments were removed from the lake. With the minimization of this self-cleansing mechanism after construction of the Herbert Hoover Dike, P-rich fine sediments accumulated, and periodic hurricanes disrupted consolidated sediments. Unconsolidated sediments are easily resuspended into the water column, raising TP. Efforts to reduce Okeechobee’s pelagic TP through reductions of P-loads alone will not work due to sediment accumulation and resuspension.

Florida’s efforts to assume section 404 permitting

Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act prohibits disposing of dredged and fill materials into the waters of the United States (WOTUS) absent a permit or statutory exception. Often, development in wetlands requires a dredge and fill permit under the Clean Water Act. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is the agency authorized to grant such permits unless a state assumes this responsibility as provided under the same statute. In 2005, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) explored assumption of §404 permitting resulting in a report to the Florida legislature finding the department could not assume this responsibility due to inadequate state staff and funds. Despite significant reductions in staff and funding since then, FDEP’s current position is that the department can assume this responsibility without adding to its budget due to duplicative permitting of wetlands development under state statutes. The State of Florida submitted its assumption package to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on 20 August 2020. If approved by the EPA, Florida will be only the third state to assume §404 permitting authority from the Corps of Engineers. The action is not without controversy and is mostly opposed by those in the environmental protection community. A new federal rule defining WOTUS effective 22 June 2020, further complicates §404 assumption for any state.

Classification of Urban Area Using Multispectral Indices for Urban Planning

An accelerating trend of global urbanization accompanying population growth makes frequently updated land use and land cover (LULC) maps critical. LULC maps have been widely created through the classification of remotely sensed imagery. Maps of urban areas have been both dichotomous (urban or non-urban) and entailing of discrete urban types. This study incorporated multispectral built-up indices, designed to enhance satellite imagery, for introducing new urban classification schemes. The indices examined are the new built-up index (NBI), the built-up area extraction index (BAEI), and the normalized difference concrete condition index (NDCCI). Landsat Level-2 data covering the city of Miami, FL, USA was leveraged with geographic data from the Florida Geospatial Data Library and Florida Department of Environmental Protection to develop and validate new methods of supervised and unsupervised classification of urban area. NBI was used to extract discrete urban features through object-oriented image analysis. BAEI was found to possess properties for visualizing and tracking urban development as a low-high gradient. NDCCI was composited with NBI and BAEI as the basis for a robust urban intensity classification scheme superior to that of the United States Geological Survey National Land Cover Database 2016. BAEI, implemented as a shadow index, was incorporated in a novel infill geosimulation of high-rise construction. The findings suggest that the proposed classification schemes are advantageous to the process of creating more detailed cartography in response to the increasing global demand.

Hydraulic Fracturing in Southern Florida: A Critical Analysis of Potential Environmental Impacts

Use of hydraulic fracturing in the completion of oil and gas wells in tight geologic formations has revolutionized the petroleum industry by increasing production and the quantity of available reserves. The practice has been controversial because of real and perceived environmental impacts, particularly groundwater contamination. A detailed scientific analysis of the potential environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing of the Sunniland Formation in southern Florida was performed to assess the potential for environmental harm. The Sunniland Formation is located more than 3000 m below land surface and is confined by a series of low-permeability geologic units, which protect the shallower fresh groundwater resources from contamination. Freshwater aquifers occur primarily between land surface and a depth of 100 meters. Multiple well casings separated by cement grout also add a high degree of aquifer protection as required by Florida laws and rules for both oil and Class I and II injection wells. Collection, containment, and treatment of flowback fluids and produced water (saltwater containing residual hydrocarbons) are required by law and are monitored by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Produced water has been disposed of successfully in Class II injection wells for the past 60 years without recorded groundwater contamination. Based on a rigorous scientific assessment, the risk of groundwater contaminant and other environmental impacts is minimal. In southern Florida, there is no scientific basis for banning the hydraulic fracturing process on geologic units that contain oil and gas.

Drinking Water Treatment Residuals to Control Phosphorus in Soils

Soils in Florida may contain excess soil phosphorus (P) resulting from fertilizer, manure or biosolids applications. Excess P in soil does not damage soil fertility but can be transported from agricultural and urban areas either dissolved in water that drains away or as particulate matter (attached to soil particles) that travels with eroding soil. Increased P in water bodies is recognized as one of the major factors responsible for eutrophication-related decrease in water quality. Most soils have the capacity to retain excess P. However, soils with low capacity to retain excess P are abundant in Florida. The use of drinking-water treatment residuals (WTR) to control excess phosphorus (P) in soils with limited P adsorption capacity has been explored as a potential low-cost method by which to reduce phosphorus losses to surface waters and a discussion of these explorations is presented here. The target audience for this publication includes state agencies, like the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FLDEP), and water management districts trying to control P pollution, and those interested in nutrient management for agricultural and environmental purposes. This 6-page fact sheet is a minor revision written by Jonathan D. Judy, Maria L. Silveira, Sampson Agyin-Birikorang, and George A. O’Connor, and published by the UF/IFAS Department of Soil and Water Sciences, June 2019. SL 300/SS513: Drinking-Water Treatment Residuals to Control Phosphorus in Soils (ufl.edu)

Using Object-Oriented Classification for Coastal Management in the East Central Coast of Florida: A Quantitative Comparison between UAV, Satellite, and Aerial Data

High resolution mapping of coastal habitats is invaluable for resource inventory, change detection, and inventory of aquaculture applications. However, coastal areas, especially the interior of mangroves, are often difficult to access. An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), equipped with a multispectral sensor, affords an opportunity to improve upon satellite imagery for coastal management because of the very high spatial resolution, multispectral capability, and opportunity to collect real-time observations. Despite the recent and rapid development of UAV mapping applications, few articles have quantitatively compared how much improvement there is of UAV multispectral mapping methods compared to more conventional remote sensing data such as satellite imagery. The objective of this paper is to quantitatively demonstrate the improvements of a multispectral UAV mapping technique for higher resolution images used for advanced mapping and assessing coastal land cover. We performed multispectral UAV mapping fieldwork trials over Indian River Lagoon along the central Atlantic coast of Florida. Ground Control Points (GCPs) were collected to generate a rigorous geo-referenced dataset of UAV imagery and support comparison to geo-referenced satellite and aerial imagery. Multi-spectral satellite imagery (Sentinel-2) was also acquired to map land cover for the same region. NDVI and object-oriented classification methods were used for comparison between UAV and satellite mapping capabilities. Compared with aerial images acquired from Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the UAV multi-spectral mapping method used in this study provided advanced information of the physical conditions of the study area, an improved land feature delineation, and a significantly better mapping product than satellite imagery with coarser resolution. The study demonstrates a replicable UAV multi-spectral mapping method useful for study sites that lack high quality data.

Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

This handbook is designed to provide an accurate, current, and authoritative summary of the principle Federal and Florida laws that directly or indirectly relate to agriculture. This handbook should provide a basic overview of the many rights and responsibilities that farmers and farmland owners have under both Federal and Florida laws as well as the appropriate contact information to obtain more detailed information. However, the reader should be aware that because the laws, administrative rulings, and court decisions on which this handbook is based are subject to constant revision, portions of this publication could become outdated at anytime. Several details of cited laws are also left out due to space limitations. This document is FE593, one of a series of the Food and Resource Economics Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Published December 2005.
 FE593/FE593: 2021 Handbook of Florida Water Regulation: Florida Department of Environmental Protection (ufl.edu)

A Homeowner’s Guide to the Living Shoreline Permit Exemption Part 1: Florida Department of Environmental Protection

“Living shoreline” is a term that describes coastal shoreline stabilization interventions that rely on natural elements such as native vegetation and oyster reefs to protect property. Living shorelines typically involve construction or placement of materials within state waters (public lands that occur waterward of the mean high tide line). The Florida Department of Environmental Protection and other entities regulate the placement of living shorelines through a permitting process to ensure project activities do not conflict with the public interest. To streamline the approval process for environmentally beneficial projects such as living shorelines, the DEP has defined an exemption for small-scale living shoreline projects that meet certain criteria. This 17-page fact sheet written by Savanna Barry, Sara Martin, and Eric Sparks and published by the UF/IFAS Florida Sea Grant College Program provides a guide to completing the exemption forms. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg187
 Updated August 2020 to include information about updated Department of Environmental Protection form.

Executive Actors and Environmental Enforcement: Examining the “Rick Scott Effect” in the U.S. State of Florida

AbstractExecutive actors wield power within a principal–agent structure, where they compete with multiple political actors and administrative agencies to influence environmental enforcement outcomes. While the U.S. states make for an excellent laboratory to explore this phenomenon, a lack of quality enforcement data and the multifaceted dynamics of control makes it difficult to study these relationships. Using data on the number of environmental cases opened, sanctioned, and penalized by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, 2005–15, this article takes advantage of a natural experiment in the U.S. state of Florida to explore the influence of an anti‐environmental governor on environmental enforcement outcomes. While we make no claims that Governor Rick Scott caused the precipitous decline in enforcement outcomes we witness pre‐ and post‐Scott, results demonstrate, descriptively, the influence executive actors can have on environmental enforcement outcomes in the state.

Analysis and Extent of Santa Fe River Flooding in North Florida Attributed to Rainfall and Wind Damage Associated with Hurricane Irma

The Santa Fe River (SFR) is within the north Florida area of the regional Floridan aquifer system. The extent of recent flood damage in the SFR and tributaries in Bradford County has been attributed to rainfall and wind damage to trees associated with Hurricane Irma, September 2017. Implications of the determined cause of a disaster can include the allocation of disaster relief funds. Bradford County, Florida obtained approximately $2.5 million from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for emergency flood abatement assistance and $255,875 from the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD), combined with $13,750 in-kind match provided by the county, based on the attributed cause of that damage to rainfall and winds from Hurricane Irma. On January 2, 2018, Bradford County commissioners also approved grant applications to the SRWMD for $2.2 million for Alligator Creek Flood Mitigation and for $90,250 for Hampton Lake Canal to Santa Fe River Flood Mitigation, requiring in-kind matches from the county of $110,000 and $4750, respectively. Our study analyzed historical precipitation data for the SFR Basin and headwaters from 1895 through 2017 and recorded discharge and gage heights from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to evaluate that presumed cause of flood damage in that basin and to provide a better understanding of historical relationships between precipitation, gage data and flooding in that basin. Recorded USGS peak gage height and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) also were used to illustrate the lateral extent and relative depth of flooding associated with an extreme precipitation event in the lower SFR vicinity of O’Leno State Park. Finally, we evaluated the condition of the trees in the SFR Basin as an indicator of long-term anthropogenic groundwater alterations. Those data and analyses did not support the conclusion that Hurricane Irma was the only cause of the magnitude and extent of SFR flooding and tree damage in Bradford County and adjacent counties. Other contributors to stream flow in the SFR basin include heavy mineral mining wastewater discharges that have exceeded the maximum discharge volume of “40 million gallons a day” (MGD) under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to the Chemours Company TT LLC (Chemours, formerly DuPont) for Trail Ridge mining operations. The magnitude of those discharges suggests that those discharges and extensive Trail Ridge mining in Baker, Bradford, Clay, and Duval Counties contributed to the flooding and were a factor in the tree destruction in the SFR Basin.

Value of irrigation water usage in South Florida agriculture

This study estimates economic loss from South Florida croplands when usage of agricultural irrigation water is altered. In South Florida, 78% of the total value of farm products sold is comprised of cropland products. The majority of Florida citrus and sugarcane are produced in the area, and agricultural irrigation was the largest sector of water use in 2010, followed by public water supply. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced in December 2012 that traditional sources of fresh groundwater will have difficulty meeting all of the additional demands by 2030. A shortage of water will impose significant damage to the rural and agriculture economy in Florida, which may lead to higher prices and costs for consumers to purchase citrus or other Florida agriculture products. This paper presents a methodology for estimating economic loss when usage of irrigation water is altered, and examines economic values of irrigation water use for South Florida cropland. The efficient allocation of irrigation water across South Florida cropland is also investigated in order to reduce economic cost to the South Florida agricultural sector.

Mercury and methylmercury distribution in the intertidal surface sediment of a heavily anthrophogenically impacted saltwater-mangrove-sediment interplay zone

Total mercury (THg) and methylmercury (MeHg) concentrations were determined from sediment samples collected from thirty sampling stations in Port Klang, Malaysia. Three stations had THg concentrations exceeding the threshold effect level of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Canadian interim sediment quality guidelines. THg and MeHg concentrations were found to be concentrated in the Lumut Strait where inputs from the two most urbanized rivers in the state converged (i.e. Klang River and Langat River). This suggests that Hg in the study area likely originated from the catchments of these rivers. MeHg made up 0.06–94.96% of the sediment's THg. There is significant positive correlation (p < 0.01) between THg and MeHg concentrations. Significant positive correlation (p < 0.05) was also observed between fine sediment particles (i.e. clay and silt) with MeHg concentrations. Sediment particle size, however, was not found to have any influence on THg concentrations in the sediment in the study area.

Florida Biosolids: Management and Land Application Rules

Biosolids are the liquid, semisolid, and solid fractions of the treated waste stream from a domestic wastewater treatment facility (WWTF). On August 29, 2010, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) formally adopted its rule for the management of wastewater biosolids, Chapter 62-640, Florida Administrative Code (F.A.C. 2010). This 6-page fact sheet from the Florida Biosolids series covers applicability of the rule, the intent of Chapter 62-640, F.A.C., land application requirements, biosolids storage, cumulative application limits, setback distances, pH, soil depth, runoff prevention, additional application site restrictions for Class B biosolids, NMPs, and special geographic areas. Written by John Hallas, Cheryl L. Mackowiak, and Ann C. Wilkie, and published by the UF Department of Soil and Water Science, October 2015. SL421/SS634: Florida Biosolids: Management and Land Application Rules (ufl.edu)