The Environmental Protection Division protects our streams, rivers and bays through the implementation of numerous programs by regulating the land application of domestic wastewater residuals (the semi-solid byproduct of the sewage treatment process), maintaining the county's compliance with its state issued National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit which ensures our stormwater systems carry the cleanest water possible, reviewing proposed developments for their water quality impacts and collecting and analyzing water samples and implementing management plans in support of numerous local, regional, state and federal water quality programs, including three National Estuary Programs and the USEPA Clean Water Act Program - Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL). Water resource data collected and evaluated by the department are used to develop
watershed management strategies to ensure compliance with environmental regulations and provide the citizens with healthy, productive water bodies.
The
Groundwater Management program protects groundwater resources through Pollutant Storage Tanks (PST), Small Quantity Hazardous Waste Generators (SQG) and Water Well Construction Permitting activities. PST activities ensure that petroleum storage tanks (such as at gas stations) are properly constructed, installed, maintained and where necessary, removed in order to reduce the incidence of leaks or spills. SQG staff routinely inspect small businesses (such as vehicle repair shops) where small quantities of hazardous wastes are generated to make sure these materials are handled and disposed of safely, thereby reducing environmental impacts and the risks of adverse health, safety and welfare conditions. The Water Well Construction Permitting activities provide groundwater protection by ensuring the proper installation, maintenance and abandonment of water wells and that the work is done only by licensed contractors and well-informed property owners. This oversight is critical to making clean water available to the consumer by protecting groundwater supplies from contamination
caused by improper well drilling practices.
This program also enforces the
Manatee County Fertilizer Ordinance. Training and certification are provided to local landscapers on the proper use of fertilizers to reduce the potential nutrient-laden runoff into Manatee County waterways.
Mining Services administers the county's Phosphate Mining and Reclamation Code and provides oversight on major earth-moving projects with a primary focus on phosphate mining and shell pit, or borrow pit operations. The Phosphate Mining Code provides that mining activities are carried out in the most environmentally sensitive way possible and that reclamation restores the post-mining landscape to productive, beneficial use.
Additionally, the Environmental Protection Division assists other county departments by providing monitoring services for wetland mitigation sites, evaluating compliance of regulated and non-regulated petroleum storage systems and providing assistance in developing and reviewing environmental site assessments.