EMERGENCY GENERATORS INSTEAD OF EQCB

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

This is a legislative item, an ordinance amending the Miami-Dade County Code to allow administrative approval of emergency generators for healthcare facilities and food stores within wellfield protection areas, 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 is set for a public hearing before the Recreation, Tourism, and Resiliency Committee on 9/9/2026. The scope is countywide. The ordinance amends sections 24-5, 24-18, and 24-43 of the Code. It revises the definition of health care facilities, adds facilities with emergency generators within a wellfield protection area to the list of facilities requiring an operating permit, and allows fuels for emergency generators for health care facilities or food stores (required to maintain an alternate source of power per section 8B-17) within the basic wellfield protection area, 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, within the Urban Development Boundary, fuels contained in an approved above-ground storage facility with double-walled tanks and piping, fuel volume limits (1,500 gallons for food stores, volume required for compliance for health care facilities), a groundwater monitoring plan for certain tanks, and an operating permit. The staff recommendation is approval. The applicant/developer/owner is not stated. The case/file number is 261214. The decision is adopted on first reading, with a public hearing scheduled. Key dates: Introduced 6/30/2026, Agenda Date 7/21/2026, Adopted on first reading 7/21/2026, Public hearing 9/9/2026. The business opportunity is for contractors and trades to perform work related to the installation of emergency generators for healthcare facilities and food stores within wellfield protection areas, as these projects can now be approved administratively rather than through a public hearing process. The document does not state any public comment or stakeholder sentiment.