EMERGENCY GENERATORS INSTEAD OF EQCB

Board of County Commissioners · 2026-07-21 · ordinance

Ordinance amending Miami-Dade County Code sections 24-5, 24-18, and 24-43 to authorize administrative approval of emergency generators for healthcare facilities and food stores within wellfield protection areas, subject to conditions, instead of requiring a public hearing before the Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB). The ordinance was adopted on first reading on 7/21/2026 and set for a public hearing before the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee on 9/9/2026. The scope is countywide. The ordinance revises the definition of health care facilities, adds facilities with emergency generators within a wellfield protection area to the operating permit requirement, and allows fuels for emergency generators for health care facilities and food stores required to maintain an alternate power source under section 8B-17, subject to conditions including: property served by utility water and sanitary sewers, located more than 30 days travel time from any utility potable water supply well, not within the Northwest Wellfield protection area or West Wellfield Interim protection area, located within the Urban Development Boundary, fuels contained in an above-ground storage facility approved pursuant to section 24-15(5) with secondary containment (double-walled tanks and piping), fuel volume not exceeding 1,500 gallons for food stores, a groundwater monitoring plan for tanks exposed to the environment, and an operating permit. The ordinance is sponsored by Juan Carlos Bermudez. The staff recommendation is approval. The ordinance is expected to have no negative fiscal impact and to reduce development costs. A review of EQCB cases from 2020 to 2025 indicated approximately eight variances were granted related to emergency generators for healthcare facilities within wellfield protection areas.