Miami-Dade Legislative Item
File Number: 140804
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File Number: 140804 File Type: Resolution Status: Adopted
Version: 0 Reference: R-451-14 Control: County Commission
File Name: SEA LEVEL RISE INFRASTRUCTURE Introduced: 3/31/2014
Requester: NONE Cost: Final Action: 5/6/2014
Agenda Date: 5/6/2014 Agenda Item Number: 11A17
Notes: Title: RESOLUTION SETTING POLICY FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR DESIGNEE TO REQUIRE ALL COUNTY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO CONSIDER POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE DURING ALL PROJECT PHASES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION, AND FURTHER DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR DESIGNEE TO EVALUATE THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FACE OF SEA LEVEL RISE
Indexes: NONE
Sponsors: Rebeca Sosa, Prime Sponsor
  Audrey M. Edmonson, Co-Sponsor
  Sally A. Heyman, Co-Sponsor
  Barbara J. Jordan, Co-Sponsor
Sunset Provision: No Effective Date: Expiration Date:
Registered Lobbyist: None Listed


Legislative History

Acting Body Date Agenda Item Action Sent To Due Date Returned Pass/Fail

Board of County Commissioners 5/6/2014 11A17 Adopted P
REPORT: Commissioner Edmonson asked to be added as a co-sponsor.

Infrastructure & Capital Improvements Committee 4/9/2014 2D Forwarded to BCC with a favorable recommendation P
REPORT: Mr. Harvey Ruvin, Clerk of the Courts, spoke in support of this resolution. He noted the County Commission appointed a Sea Level Rise Task Force months ago; it heard a range of presentations, established a website with all that information and meeting minutes available, and it was working towards submitting its recommendations by the end of May or early June. He noted this resolution was compatible with the forthcoming recommendations. He noted Mr. Jim Murley, Vice Chair of the Task Force and Executive Director of the South Florida Regional Planning Council (SFRPC), and the other Task Force members agreed that the resolution should move forward and not wait until the Task Force completed its recommendations. Chairman Zapata noted this effort regarding sea level rise should also be regional. He pointed out that this issue could create some issues that elicited strong emotional responses in the future, and he believed that the work the Task Force had done with the Seven/Fifty and the SFRPC was important and would complement County staff’s efforts well. He indicated that he wanted to avoid creating a set of standards that increased the County’s costs over those of other counties’, making the County uncompetitive. Mr. Ruvin noted a four-county climate compact existed as a result of the recommendations from the MDC Climate Change Advisory Task Force. Commissioner Moss noted Mr. Ruvin had championed this issue in the past, and asked him for his vision regarding this issue and the work of the Task Force. Mr. Ruvin noted he was hesitant to preempt the deliberations of the Task Force. He said more and more serious reports were being published on sea level rise almost monthly. He said the latest assessment from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a scientific group associated with the United Nations, indicated that the IPCC’s prior assessment understated the impacts of sea level rise. He said the IPCC used words such as “irreversible,” and noted impacts on food and water supplies and economic engines. He explained that as the oceans absorbed more heat, the water expanded and as more of the ice shield was lost, the possibility of disastrous sea level rise increased. Mr. Ruvin noted he believed that with human ingenuity, the community could be more resilient and design itself to adapt to the future. He noted he did not want to make specific statements before the Sunshine law procedures outlined for the Task Force had been exhausted. Mr. Ruvin noted some people did not believe in the scientific facts about climate change. He said he did not regard this issue as political. Mr. Ruvin indicated that four months ago, the Geneva Society, a think tank working exclusively for the re-insurance industry, which bought up all the homeowner policies, issued a report entitled Sea Level Rise and Implications on the Re-Insurance Industry, and concluded that historic data could no longer be relied on to set rates, but predictive data had to be depended upon. He noted that Mr. Mark Way, Director of Sustainability, Swiss Re, made a presentation to the Task Force and noted if the re-insurance industry did not see the County planning for sea level rise, they would not be committed to the County’s future. He said maintaining the County’s insurability may become the major driver for action. Commissioner Moss asked whether part of the Task Force’s charge was to review data and make recommendations based on them. Mr. Ruvin noted that was correct. He said the Task Force heard from all the regional players, including from representatives of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Change Compact. He said the MDC Climate Change Advisory Task Force worked three years and left approximately 80 recommendations, which had mostly not been implemented. He said part of the Sea Level Rise Task Force’s recommendations would be to focus on those recommendations, which involved creating more adaptation pathways in the natural systems and the built environment. Mr. Ruvin said this issue was urgent, but if it was faced head-on, the County could be not just a viable world capital, but a vibrant one. Chairman Zapata indicated he believed that with a plan, the County could exert leadership on this issue. Hearing no further discussion, the Committee proceeded to vote on the foregoing proposed resolution, as presented.

County Attorney 3/31/2014 Referred Infrastructure & Capital Improvements Committee 4/9/2014

County Attorney 3/31/2014 Assigned Christopher A. Angell 4/1/2014

Legislative Text


TITLE
RESOLUTION SETTING POLICY FOR MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR DESIGNEE TO REQUIRE ALL COUNTY INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS TO CONSIDER POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF SEA LEVEL RISE DURING ALL PROJECT PHASES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO PLANNING, DESIGN, AND CONSTRUCTION, AND FURTHER DIRECTING THE MAYOR OR DESIGNEE TO EVALUATE THE EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE FACE OF SEA LEVEL RISE

BODY
WHEREAS, Southeast Florida is considered one of the most vulnerable areas of the country to the consequences of sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County is composed of a large section of waterfront property and is a low-lying coastal community at the frontline to experience the impacts of sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has various vital facilities and infrastructure that could be adversely affected by sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, local and regional tide data show a trend of rising sea levels and more recent data and factors suggest this trend may accelerate in the future; and
WHEREAS, climate scientists and other groups such as the Southeast Environmental Research Center and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration�s Costal Services Center have predicted the potential erosion of dry land and loss of waterfront property in Miami-Dade County as a result of sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Wildlife Federation and the Florida Wildlife Federation a mid-range sea level rise of fifteen (15) inches in Biscayne Bay would result in an 85% loss of cypress swamp, a 33% loss of inland fresh marsh, a 79% loss of tidal flats, and a 54% loss of salt marsh; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County has been in the forefront of these issues for many years; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade County Comprehensive Development Master Plan (hereinafter �the CDMP�) was recently amended to address sea level rise and climate change, through policies which call for the consideration of sea level rise and climate change as an integral component of all planning processes, including incorporation into public investment processes and decisions; and
WHEREAS, Miami-Dade County is a member of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact; and
WHEREAS, a �Unified Sea Level Rise Projection for Southeast Florida� was developed by a Sea Level Rise Technical Ad Hoc Work Group of the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact; and
WHEREAS, the Board of County Commissioners (hereinafter �the Board�) had previously created the Miami-Dade Climate Change Advisory Task Force, established in July 2006 for a period of five years, through the adoption of Ordinance 06-113, which served as an advisory board to the Board on the issue of global warming climate change and was charged with identifying potential future climate change impacts to Miami-Dade County, while providing recommendations regarding mitigation and adaptation measures to respond to climate change; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade Climate Change Advisory Task Force co-chaired the Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force with the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, and released its interagency report in October of 2010 outlining recommendations to the President of the United States for how Federal Agency policies and programs can better prepare the United States to respond to the impacts of climate change; and
WHEREAS, in 2010, Miami-Dade County was featured as a best practice case study � Adapting to Sea Level Rise in Miami-Dade County, Florida - as part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Digital Coast Initiative and Inundation Toolkit; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade Climate Change Advisory Task Force, sunset and dissolved in 2011, pursuant to Ordinance 06-113; and
WHEREAS, in 2012 the City of Miami Beach has developed a Stormwater Master Plan with estimated costs of over $206,000,000 in infrastructure needs for its drainage system, which is being increasingly compromised by sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, in 2012 through Resolution No. R-240-13, the Board accepted the Regional Climate Action Plan, with recommendations for regionally coordinated climate change mitigation, adaptation strategies, and efforts in building community resilience; and
WHEREAS, local, regional, and national news media outlets have recently featured numerous stories with varied predictions on Southeast Florida�s vulnerability to sea level rise; and
WHEREAS, in July of 2013 the Board created the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force through the adoption of Resolution No. R-599-13; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force is currently reviewing the relevant data and prior studies, assessments, reports, and evaluations of the potential impact of sea level rise on vital public services and facilities, real estate, water and other ecological resources, water front property, and infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force will provide a comprehensive and realistic assessment of the likely and potential impacts to sea level rise and storm surge over time, which shall be used to help develop a set of recommendations relative to amendments to the CDMP, capital facilities planning, budgetary priorities and other County programs as necessary to ensure that Miami�Dade County is taking all appropriate actions to reduce its contributions to climate-induced sea level rise and to ensure its resiliency to the increase in sea level rise, storm surge and related impacts which are expected to occur,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, FLORIDA, that:
Section 1. It is the policy of Miami-Dade County that all County infrastructure projects, including but not limited to County building elevation projects, County installation of mechanical and electrical systems, County infrastructure modifications, and County infrastructure renovations, initiated from the effective date of this resolution shall consider sea level rise projections and potential impacts as best estimated at the time of the project, using the regionally consistent unified sea level rise projections, during all project phases including but not limited to planning, design, and construction, in order to ensure that infrastructure projects will function properly for fifty (50) years or the design life of the project, whichever is greater.
Section 2. This Board directs the Mayor or designee to establish recommended priorities for adapting existing County infrastructure located in areas at increased risk of flooding and tidal inundation with increases in sea level to the degree opportunity and resources allow, and shall present such recommended priorities to the Board for approval, including committee review, within one-hundred-twenty (120) days of the effective date of this resolution.



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