The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) regulates public water and wastewater systems in Florida through the authority of Florida statutes and by delegation of the federal program from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Public Utilities permitting staff manages the county’s compliance activities with all local, state and federal permitting policies and ordinances, including FDEP, Department of Health (DOH), the Unified Development Code, Utility Code, and the Utility Manual.

Permitting staff follow all utility protocols and regulations for implementing, monitoring and reporting on permitting activities for the following processes:

• Development services pre-submittal plans.
• Utility site and development construction plans for compliance with the Unified Development Code, Utility Code, Utility Manual, and FDEP and DOH regulations.
• Review and recording of drawings for compliance with the Utility Manual.

The permitting section also:

• Reviews FDEP water and wastewater construction permit applications and certifications.
• Issues county utility construction permits, inspects the projects and witnesses testing of the utilities.
• Manages the granting of public utility easements to Sarasota County.
• Documents the contribution of developer installed utilities, including but not limited to, bill of sale and affidavit of no liens and warranty.
• Maintains the Utility Code, Utility Manual, and standard utility construction details.
• Manages Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) projects from design through construction.