Regulations of Wastewater Discharge to Florida Wetlands

The Warren S. Henderson Wetlands Protection Act of 1984 is Florida's first law dealing specifically with protecting the state's remaining wetland resources. Among other things, the Act expresses a legislative intent "to provide for the use of certain waters that are dominated by [specified] plant species... to receive and treat domestic wastewater that at a minimum has been treated to secondary standards," Fla. Stat, §403.918(4) (1985). The Florida Department of Environmental Regulation is directed to issue a rule establishing criteria "for this activity, which criteria protect the type, nature, and function of the wetlands receiving the wastewater." The Department promulgated such a wastewater to wetlands rule, which went into effect in April 1986.