Welcome to the Team!
The Northwest District has recently welcomed six new employees to our Wastewater Compliance Assurance Program: Austin Discoli, Kevin Grace, Steve Hafner, Mary Jehle, Deneale Miller and Cherilyn Ramsey. We are excited to have them on our team!
Austin Discoli
Pensacola Office
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Kevin Grace
Tallahassee Office
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Steve Hafner
Pensacola Office
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Mary Jehle
Pensacola Office
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Deneale Miller
Pensacola Office
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Cherilyn Ramsey
Pensacola Office
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 ESSA Sanitary Sewer Overflow Reporting Tool is Now Available Online!
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is pleased to announce a new addition to the Online Business Portal. Our new Enterprise Self-Service Authorization (ESSA) Sanitary Sewer Overflow (SSO) Reporting tool is now available! This web-based application now allows for the submission of reports of SSO incidents including the 5-day closeout report. You can also optionally choose to have the system automatically use the entered information to create a Public Notice of Pollution (PNP).
Please note that the PNP and SSO systems use a common identification number, so the DEP Incident Identification number should be used for both PNP and ESSA SSO reporting/updating.
This system allows the submitter to create a new facility in order to submit a report, but does NOT authorize a new facility or issue any permits. If the user indicates that they are with an unpermitted facility, the system will create a facility ID beginning with FLSS.
The report and any associated attachments will be placed in the Oculus Wastewater catalog within the Discovery_Compliance profile attached to the Facility ID.
To submit a report, select Submit followed by either Report or Registration/Notification. Then select Report of a Sanitary Sewer Spill or Overflow Incident.
On submission, the system will send an acknowledgement email to the submitter and notification to appropriate department contacts. Additionally, if the spill location is within one mile of one or more Department of Health (DOH) Healthy Beach Monitoring locations, the DOH contact for that county will also be notified.
Wastewater incidents, which include SSOs, can pose a threat to the environment and public health. Immediate notification and appropriate response are essential factors for minimizing the impact from wastewater incidents. SSOs, which are of 1,000 gallons or greater or which may threaten the environment or public health, are required to be reported as soon as practical, but no later than 24 hours after discovery by a utility to DEP through a toll-free, 24-hour hotline known as the State Watch Office at 1-800-320-0519. Citizens are also encouraged to report any suspected wastewater incidents to the toll-free number. Please note that a utility that experiences an SSO less than 1,000 gallons is only required to report such incident to DEP by notifying their appropriate district office.
Please contact the Northwest District Wastewater Compliance Section at 850-595-8300 with any reporting questions.
For technical assistance, please call DEP's Office of Technology and Information Services at 850-245-7555.
Avoid Delays and Denials
To ensure timely processing of the
Notification/Application for Constructing a Domestic Wastewater Collection/Transmission System (Notification/Application) and Request for Approval to Place a Domestic Wastewater Collection/Transmission System into Operation (clearance), please fill forms out completely and accurately. To facilitate expedited review and issuance of permits, DEP will provide a quick application review in advance of submission. This advance review helps ensure that the application provides all information necessary to process the request, and to prevent delays or potential denial and loss of fee. Please contact our wastewater permitting section at 850-595-8300 for additional information.
Click here to read more about avoiding delays and denials in the processing of Collection/Transmission System permit applications and clearance requests.
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Northwest District Website
Northwest District Contacts
EzDMR
Operator Certification
Wastewater Rules
SSO Fact Sheet
Preventing SSO's Fact Sheet
DEP Quality Assurance SOPs
DEP Information Portal |
To ensure receipt and timely processing of sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) reports, noncompliance reports required by Rule 62-620.610,F.A.C., and other important wastewater compliance reports, please submit these reports to
NWD_WastewaterCompliance@FloridaDEP.gov. This email account is closely monitored and is the most efficient way to submit wastewater compliance reports to our office.
Reports that should be submitted to this email address include:
- Reports of sanitary sewer overflows
- Reports required by an administrative order
*frequency determined by the schedule in the
administrative order
- Annual reclaimed water/effluent analysis reports or
certification statement of no new non-domestic
dischargers
- Annual reuse reports
- Annual wetland summary and annual wetlands
monitoring summary reports
- Bypass notifications required under permit condition
IX.22. and/or Rule 62-620.610(22) F.A.C.
- Reports required by consent orders
*frequency determined by the schedule in the
consent order
- Pathogen monitoring reports (cryptosporidium and
giardia)
- Reports required under permit condition IX.20.
and/or Rule 62-620.610(20) F.A.C.
- Treatment facility biosolids annual summary
- Upset incidents covered by permit condition IX.23.
and/or Rule 62-620.610(23) F.A.C.
- Any other permit specified compliance reporting in
the facility permit (non-DMR/GMR, which should be
submitted through EzDMR)
Please do not submit these reports and notices to individual DEP employee email accounts. This can create unnecessary delays in the receipt and processing of these items.
Happy Retirement, Josie Penton!
We bid a fond farewell and happy retirement to Josie Penton. Josie dedicated 26 years to the State Of Florida and has been a mainstay of knowledge and expertise in all things wastewater and drinking water. She has worked closely with our facilities in the Panama City area and we will miss her greatly. Please see the updated contact list below for new contacts.
New Guidance on How Sanitary Sewer Overflows are Addressed Statewide
The Department has developed new guidance on how Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSO) are addressed statewide, which was implemented July 1. According to the guidance, each SSO incident is evaluated and rated and the appropriate document is filed/issued. Either a memo to file, a Compliance Assistance Offer, or Warning Letter is sent for each incident.
The template documents to address SSOs can be found on our Enforcement Manual Website under “Compliance Documents” for Sanitary Sewage Overflow Documents.
StormTracker Guidance
 Hurricane season officially began on June 1. Potable and Wastewater facilities need to be ready if or when disaster strikes. The department has included important information on the WRM-Current Hurricanes and Tropical Storms webpage. We would like to ensure that you are familiar with StormTracker,
Pollution Notice, and DOH Boil Water Notice
procedures. Please re-familiarize yourself with these reporting procedures, required immediately after an event impacts our area.
In the event of an emergency, StormTracker will be activated for all the affected counties. Please use all means available to secure your facility to weather a storm and ensure that:
- Someone in your facility is designated to input facility information into the StormTracker System after the storm passes your area; and
- Facility status is entered promptly and correctly into the StormTracker System.
Please remember that the StormTracker System is not only a reporting mechanism, but also a means of obtaining assistance through FlaWARN and other entities. In addition to information to help you respond before, during and after a storm hits, this StormTracker Guidance document will provide information that needs to be entered into the Storm Tracker System.
Remember to post the toll-free line, 1-866-742-0481 as a hard copy in your office in case the power is down and you cannot access the computer. You will need your Facility ID number.
Florida Rural Water Association members please utilize the following:
http://www.frwa.net/emergency-response.html
http://www.frwa.net/wastewater-services.html
http://www.frwa.net/wastewater-equipment.html
Biosolids Information:
Please review your facility plans for storing, transferring or disposing of biosolids following a severe weather event. Biosolids usually cannot be applied for days or weeks following a severe weather event because of saturated fields or water tables within two feet of the soil surface. Facilities that land apply biosolids may have to shift to other management options if they or their hauler do not have a permitted site outside of the affected areas. Facilities that dewater biosolids will sometimes landfill their biosolids during this period following the storm, if landfills are willing to accept the biosolids.
If facilities decide to transfer their biosolids to a biosolids treatment facility, emergency approval may be considered if the option to transfer biosolids is not in the facility permit. Also, if facilities need to use an alternate biosolids treatment facility, approval to transfer immediately may be considered. However, please note that several years ago, a biosolids treatment facility ended up having significant odor issues after deciding to accept additional quantities of biosolids following a series of severe storms.
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