Welcome to the Team!

The Northwest District has recently welcomed three new employees to our Wastewater Compliance Assurance Program. Emily Schaffer and Patrick McElhone are both in our Pensacola office and Larry Couch is in our Panama City office. We are excited to have them on our team!

Emily Schaffer Emily provides wastewater compliance support in the Pensacola office, including complaint response, compliance inspections, sanitary sewer overflow reports, enforcement, and more. Emily is also one of our NPDES Stormwater compliance inspectors.

Patrick McElhone Patrick provides wastewater compliance support in the Pensacola office. His duties include complaint response, compliance inspections, sanitary sewer overflow reports, enforcement, and more.

Larry Couch Larry provides compliance support in the Panama City area (Bay, Calhoun, Gulf, Jackson and Washington counties) for the wastewater program by responding to complaints, performing compliance inspections, responding to sanitary sewer overflow reports, and more.

NPDES Requirements Due at Renewal

We have had a number of domestic NPDES facilities that did not finish their required expanded effluent testing before applying for renewal. Please review your facility permit and application forms for requirements that are due at renewal.

• For NPDES industrial wastewater facilities, please refer to the renewal form instructions regarding completion of Tables VII-A through VII-C.
• For NPDES domestic wastewater facilities with a design flow greater than or equal to 1.0 million gallons per day (MGD) or NPDES domestic wastewater facilities having or requiring a pretreatment program, the department requires effluent testing of parameters listed in Tables 12 and 13 and expanded effluent testing of parameters listed in Table 14 of the application form.
• For minor NPDES domestic wastewater facilities, the department requires effluent testing of parameters listed in Table 12, and, if the facility has a design flow greater than or equal to 0.1 MGD, the department requires Table 13 to be completed.

The NPDES domestic wastewater facility permits contain the following permit condition;

• Effluent testing shall be conducted for each outfall in accordance with the instructions provided in Sections 3.A.12., 13., and 14. of the application form. A minimum of three samples shall be taken within 4 1/2 years prior to the date of the permit application and must be representative of the seasonal variation in the discharge from each outfall. [62-620.335(1) - (4), 62-620.320(6)]  

View the wastewater permit application form with instructions.

Where to Submit Public Notices of Pollution and Receive Notifications

Protecting Florida's pristine environment is the Department of Environmental Protection's top priority. Pursuant to Section 403.077, F.S., the department established a method for regulated entities to submit Public Notices of Pollution for reportable releases.

With any sanitary sewer spill or unauthorized discharge for which you are required to notify the State Watch Office, you are also required to notify the pollution notification website. There is an online form and map that will automatically notify interested parties, elected officials and the media.

Reporting entities should be aware that while submission of a notice through this website complies with the requirements of Section 403.077, F.S., it does not relieve entities of any obligation to report to the State Watch Office.

A GIS map of notices reported in the last 30 days is available. To view the public notices, subscribe to the notification service or view the map, please follow the links below. For best functionality with the sites, we recommend using Google Chrome.

Submit or Update Notice of Pollution
View Public Notice of Pollution Incident Reports
Subscribe to Receive Notifications
Public Notice of Pollution GIS Map
About Public Notice of Pollution

Sanitary Sewer Overflow Resources

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Below you can find fact sheets and resources from DEP, EPA and Florida Rural Water Association that facilities can use for outreach to customers on sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs).

SSOs Fact Sheet
SSOs FAQ Brochure
Preventing SSOs
Communications for an Emergency Event
Flood Brochure
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Plan/Word
Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Plan/PDF
Sewer Tool Kit
SOPs for Flood Prep and Response
Water and Wastewater Planning

Northwest District Website
Northwest District Contacts
EzDMR
Operator Certification
Wastewater Rules
DEP Quality Assurance SOPs (effective 4/16/2018)
DEP Information Portal

Hurricane Michael Recovery and Support for Our Communities

Photo Copyright (C) New York Times

Hurricane Michael made landfall on Oct. 10, 2018, devastating portions of the Florida Panhandle. Many of the water and wastewater systems suffered damage during the storm leaving communities without water. Restoring operations quickly was critical to these communities. DEP staff from across that state quickly stepped in to assist, deploying in to impacted counties providing guidance and assistance to public waster systems as they worked to restore services.

After returning from an early deployment into Bay County, Northwest District Director Shawn Hamilton remarked on the damage he saw, "I saw so much damage and so much destruction, but I also saw so many people helping each other, and communities coming together to clean up, make repairs and begin the rebuilding process. I am proud that DEP is a a part of that process. Hurricane Michael did a lot of damage, and recovery will take time. DEP will continue to offer support where and whenever we can."

Hurricane Michael Amended Emergency Final Orders

For facilities affected by Hurricane Michael, the Emergency Final Order (EFO) is still in effect until April 2, 2019.

18-1335 - Third Amended Hurricane Michael EFO for Repairs

Collection System Operation and Maintenance Requirements

Operation and Maintenance (O&M) requirements for domestic wastewater collection systems are included in Chapter 62-604.500, F.A.C. Specifically, all systems shall be operated and maintained so as to provide uninterrupted service. All equipment shall be maintained to function as intended. All systems shall have a complete O&M manual for the collection system consistent with the complexity of the system.

The O&M manual should educate staff on how to perform O&M on your particular lift stations. This could include the pump manufacturer manuals, an inspection and cleaning schedule, checklists, and forms for regular lift station and manhole checks.

The Florida Rural Water Association has a Sewer Tool Kit available for you that provides many great tips as well as a model sanitary sewer maintenance policy.

How to Search DEP Records using the DEP Information Portal

DEP's tool for the retrieval of permitting and compliance records can be found online.

Searches can be conducted multiple ways by using the facility information. Searches work best with minimal information. For example, a project is entered into the database as “Smith, Jim”. If you search for “Jim Smith,” you will get no result. If you search for “Smith” and narrow the search by selecting the county and perhaps the city as well, you will be successful in your search. 

The search results will include the DEP Facility/Site ID number, Facility Name, District, County, Address, City, Program and the Facility Type. The Facilities Search Results organize the data by Facility/Site ID unless you specified otherwise. Use the Find tool in your browser to find a key word or phrase if the list of results is very long.

On the far right of the screen you will find the Data Hyper Links in blue.

“D” provides a list of documents related to your search that have been saved into the department’s online database, called OCULUS, where you will be able to view and download PDF format documents.

“F” provides a facility summary report of general information about the site.

“P” provides facility-related permit information.

“M” will take you to Map Direct, the department’s online GIS mapping system where you can see the location of the project site.

“Q” link allows you to provide feedback and submit questions to the department.

If you ever have questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to your local DEP office, and we will be happy to assist you!