DeSantis Veto Blocks Limits on Sewage Sludge Dumping Across Northeast Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis has vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have regulated the dumping of treated sewage sludge on farmland across Florida, including throughout the St. Johns River watershed that drains much of Northeast Florida. House Bill 1245 passed both chambers of the Legislature this spring without a single opposing vote, but the governor rejected it in one of his final acts before leaving office in January.

The veto leaves Class AA biosolids — the treated, concentrated waste from sewage treatment plants — unregulated statewide. Environmental advocates who have worked nearly a decade on the issue say the lack of oversight allows haulers to dump far more nutrient-laden material on farms than the land can absorb, with the excess washing into rivers, tributaries, and eventually the St. Johns River during storms.

What the vetoed bill would have done

House Bill 1245 aimed to close what legislators and environmental groups described as a major gap in Florida's water-quality regulations. The bill would have limited the amount of Class AA biosolids applied to agricultural fields to the amount those fields actually need for crop production — a standard known as "beneficial reuse." Currently, no state regulations govern how much Class AA biosolids can be spread on farmland.

Class AA biosolids are sewage sludge that has been dried and pasteurized, resulting in pellet-like material with lower pathogen levels than lower-grade Class B sludge. Florida wastewater treatment plants generate biosolids from the waste of the state's 23 million residents. After treatment, plants contract with hauling companies to dispose of the concentrated byproduct, which contains high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and — according to a 2018 Environmental Protection Agency report — up to 352 other pollutants, potentially including PFAS "forever chemicals."

The bill would have required record-keeping on where and how much Class AA biosolids are applied, a practice the state eliminated in 2013 under then-Gov. Rick Scott. A separate measure passed by the Legislature this spring will ban Class B biosolids dumping statewide beginning in 2028; Class B has a mud-like consistency and stronger odor than Class AA.

Both the House and Senate versions of the Class AA bill passed through every committee by unanimous votes. On the floor, the House and Senate each approved the measure without a single dissenting vote. Sen. Jennifer Bradley, R-Fleming Island, sponsored the Senate version. "Florida spends billions of dollars on water quality," Bradley said during committee hearings. "That is what makes our state special and beautiful and wonderful. But we can't maintain that if we have a big loophole in our biosolids regulations."

In his veto letter, DeSantis argued the bill "creates unnecessary regulations" and "subjects landowners to onerous record-keeping requirements." He stated that the bill's goal "can be achieved through the existing oversight" of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The governor also wrote that his "administration's commitment to improving water quality is clear."

Impact on the St. Johns River and tributaries

The St. Johns River and its tributaries — including Julington Creek, the Ocklawaha River, and numerous smaller creeks draining Northeast Florida's seven counties — are already stressed by nutrient pollution. Blue-green algae blooms, fed by excess nitrogen and phosphorus, have become increasingly common in the river system over the past two decades. The unregulated dumping of Class AA biosolids on farms within the watershed adds to that nutrient load.

Lisa Rinaman, executive director of St. Johns Riverkeeper, said her organization has been working on biosolids regulation for nearly a decade. "There are no current protective guardrails for Class AA," Rinaman said. "It's not regulated." The St. Johns Riverkeeper and other environmental groups pushed for the bill after sewage sludge hauling shifted northward following a 2007 state law that banned dumping Class B biosolids near Lake Okeechobee, the Kissimmee River, and the Everglades. By 2019, Central Florida — which includes parts of the St. Johns basin — was being called "sludge central" by regional media.

The problem is structural. Wastewater treatment plants pay hauling companies to remove biosolids; the company charging the least typically wins the contract. That creates an incentive to find the cheapest disposal method, which often means dumping as much as possible on the nearest available farmland, regardless of whether the soil and crops can absorb the nutrients. "The decision on how much to dump is driven by the amount the hauler is carrying, not the amount the field needs," according to environmental consultant Gary Roderick, a former bureau chief at the Florida DEP.

Excess nutrients not taken up by crops wash off fields during rainstorms, flowing into ditches, creeks, and ultimately the St. Johns River. Nitrogen and phosphorus fuel algae blooms that can deplete oxygen in the water, killing fish and making the river unsafe for recreation. The algae blooms also threaten property values along the river and the tourism economy that depends on clean water for boating, fishing, and waterfront appeal.

Without the regulatory framework the bill would have provided, residents and local governments in Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Putnam, and Flagler counties — all of which drain into the St. Johns — have no way to track how much biosolids are being applied to farms in their watersheds or to limit application rates. The St. Johns River Water Management District, which issues consumptive-use permits and regulates some pollution sources, does not currently have authority over Class AA biosolids under state law.

## What developers and property owners should know

The continued lack of regulation on Class AA biosolids has implications beyond water quality. Developers and real-estate professionals marketing properties near the St. Johns River and its tributaries face questions from buyers about algae blooms and water safety. Uncontrolled nutrient pollution from biosolids contributes to the perception — and sometimes the reality — that the river is unhealthy, which can affect both residential and commercial property values along the waterfront.

Farmers who accept biosolids are also caught in the middle. Many use treated sewage sludge as fertilizer because it is cheaper than commercial products and can improve soil. But under the current system, they often receive far more material than their fields need, with no regulatory mechanism to refuse excess loads or to ensure proper application rates. The vetoed bill would have given farmers clearer guidelines and legal backing to insist on agronomically sound application rates.

The lack of record-keeping compounds the issue. Before 2013, Florida required reporting on where and how much biosolids were disposed of statewide. That requirement was repealed during the Scott administration as part of a broader shift toward "helping" businesses comply with environmental rules rather than enforcing them. Without those records, neither state agencies, local governments, nor the public can say with certainty how much sewage sludge is being applied in any given area or track pollution back to its source.

The biosolids industry's perspective

Not all biosolids haulers opposed the bill. Blake Merrill, whose family's Indiana-based company, Merrill Brothers, has hauled biosolids in Florida since 2011, said his firm supported the legislation. Merrill Brothers operates a 3-acre greenhouse drying facility in Pasco County that produces Class AA biosolids in pellet form, a more expensive process than the minimum treatment required by law.

"The thing to remember is that you and I and everyone else in Florida is generating this waste every day," Merrill said. "So you can't just say, 'Oh, this is not my problem.'" Merrill explained that properly managed Class AA biosolids, applied at agronomic rates, can be beneficial for crops and less harmful to the environment than excess application. The key is matching the amount applied to what the land can handle — the core principle of the vetoed bill.

However, DeSantis's veto message suggested he viewed even baseline record-keeping as a burden. He wrote that the bill's requirements might be "used to file dubious legal actions," though he did not elaborate on why lawsuits over pollution would be dubious. Roderick, the former DEP official, responded that farmers already keep detailed records of fertilizer and pesticide application as standard agricultural practice. "Does he think [a farmer] doesn't know how much fertilizer he is applying to their land?" Roderick asked. "Or does he think ag people can't read or write?"

## What happens next

The veto does not prevent the Legislature from trying again. Environmental advocates including St. Johns Riverkeeper and the Public Trust for Conservation — which has worked on biosolids regulation since 2013 — say they will push for similar legislation in the 2027 session. By then, Florida will have a new governor; DeSantis is term-limited and will leave office in January.

The separate measure banning Class B biosolids statewide starting in 2028 remains law, part of a national trend toward ending the use of the lower-grade, higher-odor sludge. But the lack of regulation on Class AA means the material that passes through the most treatment — and that the industry prefers to use — will continue to be applied to farmland with no state-level limits on quantity or location.

For residents concerned about water quality, the St. Johns River Water Management District and local county commissions are the primary venues for weighing in on watershed protection. The SJRWMD issues permits for major projects that affect wetlands, stormwater, and surface water, though biosolids are not currently part of that regulatory framework. County health departments regulate septic systems and some aspects of agricultural runoff, but have limited authority over contracted biosolids hauling.

John November of the Public Trust for Conservation said DeSantis's veto message demonstrated "a lack of understanding of what the legislation was going to do." The bill's unanimous passage in both chambers suggests that when the issue returns in 2027, the legislative appetite for regulation remains strong. Whether the next governor will sign such a bill is an open question — and one that Northeast Florida residents who care about the health of the St. Johns River will be watching closely.

The broader context of Florida's water quality struggles

The biosolids veto is the latest chapter in Florida's long struggle to balance rapid population growth with environmental protection. The state's population has more than doubled since 1980, and the Jacksonville metropolitan area has grown from roughly 700,000 people in 1980 to over 1.6 million today. Every one of those new residents generates wastewater, and the infrastructure to treat and dispose of it has not always kept pace.

DeSantis was elected in 2018 in part on a promise to address toxic algae blooms in Florida waterways. He appointed a blue-ribbon panel of scientists to advise him, but environmental groups have criticized him for failing to implement many of their recommendations, particularly those that would have required stricter controls on agricultural and urban runoff. Instead, the state has relied heavily on a contract with an Israeli company to apply a hydrogen peroxide mixture to suppress blooms after they occur — a reactive approach rather than a preventive one.

The St. Johns River is Florida's longest river, running more than 300 miles north from its headwaters near Vero Beach through the heart of Northeast Florida to the Atlantic Ocean at Mayport. It drains a basin covering parts of seven counties in the First Coast Observer coverage area and is a defining feature of the region's ecology, economy, and quality of life. Keeping it clean requires managing not just point-source pollution from pipes, but also diffuse nutrient loads from septic systems, stormwater runoff, agricultural operations — and biosolids.

With Florida adding an estimated 900 new residents per day, the challenge of managing waste will only grow. The question facing the 2027 Legislature will be whether the state is willing to treat that waste — and the waterways it affects — with the seriousness the problem demands, or whether the next sewage sludge bill will meet the same fate as this one.