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LTC 280-2007 Beach RenourishmentR~'~°~=~~~t~~'I~ X11 AM 1 BEAC 2001 QEC 17 AM 11 ~ 18 - ~ - ~ ~~ ~ ~~ rY cl_~~~~ ~cL OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER NO. LTC # 280-200' LETTER TO COMMISSION TO: Mayor Matti H. Bower and Members of the City Commission ~''~, FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager tiz DATE: December 1,~; 2007 SUa~ECT: Beach Renourishment The purpose of this LTC is to provide the Mayor and City Commission with an update on the efforts to identify a source of sand for continued renourishment of the City's beaches. Background The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USAGE), Miami-Dade County, and the City of Miami Beach have long discussed the exhaustion of the traditional sand borrow pits used to renourish the Miami-Dade County beach system and the possibility of acquiring compatible sand from a foreign source as a solution. Unfortunately, Congress included language in the 1999 FY Energy and Water Conference Report which states that no federal funds may be provided for the Dade County project to acquire foreign source materials until the Secretary of the Army provides written certification that domestic sources are not available. As a result of this 1999 language, all efforts to locate and acquire sand from a foreign source were halted, and the USAGE began a study to determine the availability of a domestic sand source. Recent Activity The City of Miami Beach attended a meeting with the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works John Paul Woodley and other Army Corps of Engineers officials on June 27, 2007, in the office of Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Also in attendance were Representative Debbie Wasserman-Schultz and staff from other Members of the Florida Delegation. During the meeting, USAGE officials indicated that the Letter Report regarding domestic sand sources was undergoing concurrent review, and would most likely arrive in the Secretary's Office in late October for final approval. On October 31, 2007, I submitted LTC No. 241-2007, transmitting a copy of correspondence from the South Atlantic Division of the USAGE, rejecting the draft Letter Report submitted by the Jacksonville office of the USAGE. That correspondence stated that the Letter Report recommending the acquisition of foreign source sand was incomplete. Subsequently, on November 1, 2007, Congresswomen Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Debbie Wasserman-Schultz sent a follow-up letter to Secretary Woodley expressing their disappointment with the rejection and requesting another meeting between the USAGE and the Florida Congressional delegation. Additionally, the City, through our federal lobbyists, requested that Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz include language in the 2008 Energy and Water Conference Report directing the USAGE to identify a compatible sand source and begin acquisition no later than March 1, 2008. The meeting requested by Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen took place yesterday, December 12, 2007, at the U.S. Capitol. In attendance on behalf of the USACE were Assistant Secretary John Paul Woodley, as well as Colonel Paul Grosskruger and Jerry Scarborough, both from the Jacksonville office of the USACE. Members of Congress in attendance were Representatives Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Mario Diaz-Balart, and Ron Klein, as well as staff from the offices of Senators Martinez and Nelson, and Representatives Wasserman-Schultz, Mahoney, Buchanan, Boyd, Meek, and Crenshaw. Additionally, staff from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, who's ranking Republican Member is Florida Congressman John Mica, were also in attendance. Joining the members and staff were representatives of the City of Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Broward County, and Governor Crist's office. During the meeting, Assistant Secretary Woodley informed the group that on December 10, 2007, he sent the attached letter to the Director of Civil Works, approving the use of all sources, foreign and domestic, for the Miami-Dade County Beach Erosion Control Project; that the requirements of the 1999 Appropriations language had been satisfied; and that the USACE was to proceed as if that language had never existed. The attached memorandum recommends athree-tiered approach: 1. Immediate release of 500,000 cubic yards of sand from the last offshore borrow site in Dade County, which was being held in reserve; 2. Immediately begin all necessary National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) coordination for the identification and acquisition of foreign sand; and 3. Evaluate the remaining Florida coastal domestic sand sources through a comprehensive regional management plan to address the longer term renourishment needs of Florida's Atlantic Coast. USACE officials informed the group that funding is already in place for steps 1 and 2, and that they expect the NEPA process for a foreign source to take place within two years. In the meantime, they will initiate the process for placement of the 500,000 cubic yards of offshore sand. This directive by the Assistant Secretary is the culmination of a nine-year effort and represents the removal of the most significant obstacle to renourishing the City's beaches. This could not have been accomplished without the support and effort of the Florida Congressional delegation, especially Congresswomen Ros-Lehtinen and Wasserman- Schultz. The Administration will continue to work with Miami-Dade County and USACE officials as this project proceeds, and provide the Mayor and City Commission with updates as they become available. In the meantime, if you have any questions of need additional information, please do t hesitate to contact me. JMG Attachment C: Bob Middaugh, Assistant City Manager Fred Beckmann, Public Works Kevin Crowder, Economic Development F:\ECON\$ALL\KEVIN\Legislative Priorities\Federal\LetterReportApproval.doc • ~°~'"~~j~, ~~ DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY ~~ } j ~ OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY CIVIL WORKS ~ / 108 ARMY PENTAGON / WASHINGTON DC 20310-0108 DEC 10 2007 MEMORANDUM FOR THE DIRECTOR OF CIVIL WORKS SUBJECT: Dade County, Florida Beach Erosion Control and Hurricane Protection Project Letter Report This is in response to the December 7, 2007 memorandum frorr~ CECW-SAD regarding the long term renourishment needs for Dade County, Florida. The subject report was prepared in response to Section 935 of the Water Resources Development Act (W RDA) of 1986 and the Conference Report accompanying the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999. This action was initiated to investigate sand resources to provide for periodic nourishment and em rgency replenishment at the Dade County Beach Erosion Control and Hurrica a Protection Project. Section 935 of WRDA 1986 authorized the Secretary to acqui a by purchase, or exchange, non-domestic sources of sand to be utilized for beach re lenishment, if viable materials were not available from domestic sources for environ ental or economic reasons. The letter report was prepared to evaluate whether domestic sources were available in adequate volumes. My staff participated in concurrent review of the letter report with the HQUSACE policy compliance review team. ~, The report documented that Dade County's offshore borrow are~s have been nearly depleted because more material has been required for renouris ment than originally estimated in the General Design Memorandum. Currently, ore borrow area containing about 500,000 cubic yards of material is available offshore ~f Dade County. The report has identified that a total of about 4 million cubic yards of s nd may be available from various domestic sites. These combined volumes, how ver, are not adequate to supply the approximately 12 million cubic yards of materia needed over the next 25 years. Additional nearby domestic sand sources, located in other coun~ies were presented as unusable because of potential negative hydrologic and a vlronmental impacts. However, the resource agency letters accompanying the pac~Cage indicated that specific studies would be needed to conclusively document these mpacts. Given the shortage of available domestic sand sources, the Jacksonville Dist ict concluded that non-domestic sand sources would be needed to provide enough sand for long term renourishment. 'fhe CECW-SAD RIT recommended athree-tiered approach to esolve Dade County's immediate need for sand and to propose alonger-term plan f r future sand replenishment needs. First, the 500,000 cubic yards of material in SG -Ext 1 would be IRimeJ nr~ Rrt yd~•~1 I'a(Mr considered for placement at the project to begin to restore the project nearby material from the smaller borrow sources should also be utilize is appropriate and meets standards for the project. Second, the study incorporate an examination of the viability of non-domestic sand sourc intermediate and longer-term renourishment needs. This examination necessary National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) coordination anc appropriate NEPA document. Finally, in addition to non-domestic san remaining Florida coastal domestic sand sources should be evaluated comprehensive regional management plan to address the longer term needs along the Atlantic coast of Florida. rofile. Additional if the material hould s for vould include all completion of an sources, the hrough a enourishment I concur that the three-tiered approach, as outlined above, be ir~{iplemented to resolve Dade County's long term sand replenishment issues. John Paul Woodley, Jr. ~~, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) I, -2-