The Springs Coast compliance hub
The Citrus and Hernando Springs BMAP Septic Mandate, Explained
Regulatory content verified against primary sources as of 2026-07-18.
The short version: since December 15, 2025, a permit application to repair or modify an existing septic system, on any size lot, inside a spring Priority Focus Area in Citrus or Hernando County must include an enhanced nitrogen-reducing (ENR-OSTDS) design. The trigger is the permit application, not a property sale, and applications submitted before that date are not subject to it. Sources: Florida Department of Health in Citrus County notice, 2025-10-09; Florida Department of Health in Hernando County notice, 2025-10-10.
Why a septic rule exists here at all
Citrus and Hernando counties sit on the Springs Coast, where first-magnitude springs vent water from the Floridan Aquifer through karst limestone: Crystal River and Kings Bay, the Homosassa and Chassahowitzka group, and Weeki Wachee. The sandy soil over that limestone percolates quickly but filters little, so nitrogen from conventional septic drainfields moves into groundwater and surfaces at the spring vents. Each of these systems is designated an Outstanding Florida Spring, each is impaired for nitrogen, and each has a Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) under Florida's springs-protection framework (Florida DEP, Springs Protection and BMAPs).
The load numbers explain the focus on septic. In the Crystal River / Kings Bay springshed, septic tanks are the largest single nitrogen source: Florida DEP's plan documents attribute about 42 percent of springshed pollutant loading, and about 39 percent inside the Priority Focus Area, to onsite systems (Crystal River / Kings Bay BMAP, 2018 adoption). In the Weeki Wachee springshed, septic accounts for roughly 30 percent of nitrogen loading to groundwater, about 44 percent inside the Priority Focus Area, with over 30,000 septic tanks in the springshed (Weeki Wachee BMAP, 2018). Figures carry their BMAP adoption year; check the current milestone documents for updates.
What exactly is required, and where
Two statutes carry the framework. Section 373.807, Florida Statutes requires each BMAP with a significant septic contribution to include an onsite sewage remediation plan, and section 373.811 prohibits new conventional systems on lots under one acre inside an Outstanding Florida Springs Priority Focus Area. The December 2025 change that matters for existing homes is the remediation-plan milestone the county health departments announced: repairs and modifications now require ENR on all lot sizes inside the Priority Focus Areas. That all-lot-sizes scope comes from the DOH-Citrus and DOH-Hernando notices themselves, which is why this guide cites the notices for it rather than the statute text alone.
- Covered zones, Citrus County: the Crystal River / Kings Bay PFA and the Homosassa / Chassahowitzka PFA. Coastal and western communities such as Crystal River and Homosassa lean inside; the eastern Tsala Apopka and Withlacoochee side, including much of Inverness and Floral City, leans outside. Detail on the county page: Citrus County septic.
- Covered zone, Hernando County: the Weeki Wachee PFA, which reaches into Spring Hill. Brooksville, up on the ridge, leans outside for most parcels. Detail: Hernando County septic.
"Leans" is the honest verb. Priority Focus Area membership is decided parcel by parcel, not by town name, and this site never tells you a whole city is in or out. Check your address against the Florida DEP map and your county health department; the PFA self-check guide walks through it.
What counts as an ENR system
An enhanced nitrogen-reducing OSTDS is one approved as capable of at least 50 percent total nitrogen reduction before the drainfield, or at least 65 percent total nitrogen reduction combined from the tank and drainfield. "At least 65 percent total nitrogen reduction" is the plain-language standard, defined in section 381.0065, Florida Statutes. Three technology families qualify, per the Florida DEP's Enhanced Nitrogen-Reducing OSTDS permitting guidance (floridadep.gov/water/onsite-sewage):
- In-ground nitrogen-reducing biofilters (INRBs)
- Nitrogen-reducing aerobic treatment units certified to NSF/ANSI 245
- Florida-approved nitrogen-reducing performance-based treatment systems (PBTS)
Which family fits your parcel is an engineering call: lot size, soil, water table, and budget all weigh in. The ENR upgrade service page covers the decision in depth, and the contractor you are matched with designs to your site.
What triggers the requirement (and what does not)
- Triggers it: a permit application filed on or after 2025-12-15 to repair or modify an existing system on a PFA parcel, and new construction inside a PFA (where lots under one acre were already barred from conventional systems by FS 373.811). A drainfield replacement is the classic example of a modification: drainfield replacement explains when the rule attaches.
- Does not trigger it: selling or buying the home. Florida has no statewide point-of-sale septic inspection mandate; in fact section 381.00651, Florida Statutes bars a governmental entity from mandating an evaluation at the point of sale in a real estate transaction. Inspections in a home sale are buyer due diligence and lender practice, covered on the septic inspection page.
- Routine pumping: pumping a tank is maintenance, not a modification, and does not by itself trigger an ENR design. Schedule guidance lives on the pumping page.
One escape hatch exists: the ENR requirement is waived if the applicant demonstrates central sewer will be available for connection within five years, per FS 373.807 and the Florida DEP's requirements for existing systems. In practice that matters most near active septic-to-sewer project areas, such as parts of Spring Hill.
How the permit works in these two counties
The Onsite Sewage Program transferred from the Florida Department of Health to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on July 1, 2021 under the Clean Waterways Act (SB 712, Ch. 2020-150; Florida DEP program page). Unlike some counties that moved to DEP-direct permitting, Citrus and Hernando kept the county health department as the local permitting office: it takes the application, performs the site and soil evaluation, issues the construction permit, and inspects the installation.
- Citrus County: Florida Department of Health in Citrus County, Environmental Public Health, (352) 513-6100 (DOH-Citrus onsite sewage page). The county's current construction-permit fee schedule was not published where we could verify it; confirm the dollar figure with the office directly.
- Hernando County: Florida Department of Health in Hernando County, Environmental Health, Brooksville office, (352) 540-6800. Verified fees from the county's permit instructions (form DH 4015): $350.00 for a new-construction OSTDS permit, $100.00 application and plan review, and a $10 fee for an unmarked lot.
The full sequence, county by county, with timelines: the septic permit process in Citrus and Hernando. Process support, including the soil evaluation and the permit-before-build order of operations: permitting and soil evaluation.
What it costs, and the incentive reality
Reported Florida ranges, labeled as estimates and not quotes: a conventional new install runs roughly $5,000 to $12,000; a drainfield replacement roughly $3,000 to $15,000, more where karst soil or a high water table forces an engineered system; an ENR or aerobic system installed in a BMAP springs zone roughly $15,000 to $35,000 or more, a premium of roughly $8,000 to $20,000 over conventional. An ENR system also carries an operating permit and a maintenance contract for the life of the system. The full breakdown, sourced and banded: ENR septic system cost in Florida.
Both county incentive programs are exhausted, and this guide will not pretend otherwise. The Citrus County Septic Upgrade Incentive Program reimbursed up to $7,000 toward approved nitrogen-reducing systems and is closed to new applicants as of 2026-07-18, funding exhausted (county program page). The Hernando County Septic Upgrade Incentive Program offered up to $7,500 inside the Weeki Wachee Springs PFA, opened 2026-03-11, capped at 132 systems, and is reported funding-expended as of 2026-07-18 (county SUIP page). There is also no federal income-tax credit or rebate for a residential septic system, per IRS residential-energy guidance. Budget at full price; treat any future funding round as upside.
If you are starting a project now
Work the question in this order. First, place your parcel: do I need a nitrogen-reducing septic system in Citrus or Hernando County? maps each town to its likely PFA status and teaches the parcel-level check. Second, scope the work: new installation for new construction, drainfield replacement for a field at end of life, repair for tanks, lines, and baffles, or the ENR upgrade where the mandate attaches. Third, if a home sale is in the picture, read buying or selling a home with septic in Florida before the inspection period starts, and if you will own an advanced system, owning an ENR septic system explains the operating permit and maintenance contract that come with it.
When you are ready for a contractor, we connect you with an independent licensed local septic contractor working in your county. That is the whole service, and it is free.