The health of Biscayne Bay is critical to the environmental, recreational, cultural, and economic well-being of the community. Although the challenges facing the Bay are complex and regional in nature, the City of Miami Beach plays an important role in its protection and preservation.
In 2019, Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners created the Biscayne Bay Task Force (BBTF) to study the causes of the degradation of the bay and develop recommendations on how to address these issues. In August 2020, BBTF released Report and Recommendations: A Unified Approach to Recovery for a Healthy & Resilient Biscayne Bay. Of the 62 recommendations, 44 are applicable to Miami Beach. On December 10, 2020, Miami-Dade County released the first Report on Development and Implementation of and Annual Report Card Program on the Health of Biscayne Bay. It found that the areas adjacent to Miami Beach, Southern North Bay (SNB) A and B, ranked poor. Miami-Dade County released its second Annual Report Card on the Health of Biscayne Bay on this year’s Earth Day, April 22, 2021. It revealed the same trend of poor health in Northern Biscayne Bay and concludes that the health of the Bay is largely driven by water quality.
The City’s stormwater management strategy is founded on the requirements of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit program, which was created in 1972 by the Clean Water Act. The NPDES permit program addresses water pollution by regulating point sources that discharge pollutants to waters of the United States. Miami Beach is one of 32 municipal co-permittees with Miami-Dade County for NPDES Permit No. FLS000003, that own and operate Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s). As an MS4 operator and NPDES co-permittee, the City should utilize its legal authority to control the quality of stormwater discharge into Biscayne Bay and surrounding waterways, which are critical to environment, economy, and recreational property of the City of Miami Beach.
The City’s Environment and Sustainability Department reviews building permits when land disturbing activities are proposed, including demolition. During this review, staff require that plans include sediment and erosion control notes to ensure that construction site operators use best management practices to reduce the erosion of soils. Soil erosion exposes sediment, allowing it to enter the right-of-way, our stormwater system, and eventually Biscayne Bay. The Environment and Sustainability Department has an environmental inspector who inspects construction sites to ensure sediment and erosion controls are properly employed and works closely with Building Department officials to ensure compliance. Building Department Officials are able to enforce the absence of sediment and erosion controls when such notes are included in plans. However, as City Code does not explicitly address construction site requirements for sediment and erosion controls or illicit discharges, enforcement of such has proven difficult when Building Department Plan review does not trigger the need for sediment and erosion control notes or when un-permitted activities are occurring.
Similarly, private properties including construction sites are capable of discharging construction materials, such as paint and concrete, into the right-of-way or directly into Biscayne Bay. This activity can occur even in the absence of land-disturbing activities, such as through “wash-out” areas for interior construction work. Illicit discharge is also not exclusive to construction related activities. Restaurants, businesses, and homes can be responsible for the introduction of hazardous materials into the City’s stormwater system and Biscayne Bay. Strengthening the City Code to explicitly address these abundant issues will close the many gaps that facilitate the degradation of water quality in Biscayne Bay.
The City Attorney’s Office, in collaboration with staff from the Environment and Sustainability Department, Building Department, and the Code Compliance Department developed the attached draft ordinance for the Committee’s consideration. The draft ordinance was developed using language provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as well as existing ordinances that are in place in municipalities throughout Florida, including City of Destin, City of Fort Pierce, City of Doral, Village of Key Biscayne, and City of Miami. The ordinance requires the use of best management practices on construction sites and prohibits certain activities that contribute to the degradation of water quality in Biscayne Bay. The Ordinance regulates the following:
- Establishes activities that constitute an illicit discharge and those discharges that are exempt.
- Establishes the required use of sediment and erosion controls and other best management practices on construction sites and during other land-disturbing activities.
- Establishes prohibited activities that contribute sediment and other pollutants to Biscayne Bay and surrounding waterways.
- Requires submission of a Sediment and Erosion Control Plan (SECP) with Building permit application for significant land-disturbing activities.
- Establishes investigation, monitoring, and enforcement procedures and penalties.
- Establishes the following penalty pay schedule:
o First violation within a 12-month period: $500.00
o Second violation within a 12-month period: $1,000.00
o Third or subsequent violation within a 12-month period: $5,000.00
Fines collected shall be deposited into the Miami Beach Biscayne Bay Protection Trust Fund dedicated to further water conservation, nonpoint pollution prevention activities, water quality improvements, and marine and coastal ecosystems enhancements. Contribution to this Fund, established by the City’s historic Fertilizer Ordinance, is an important step in projecting Biscayne Bay.