THE PORT EVERGLADES DEPARTMENT AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT RECOMMEND APPROVAL.
This item supports the Board’s value of encouraging investments in renewable energy, sustainable practices and environmental protection, and the related goal to support and seek local, state, and federal funds for coastal management of coral reefs through collaboration with other governmental jurisdictions.
The Environmental Planning and Community Resilience Division (EPCRD) has been coordinating with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to remove waste tires that were deposited offshore of Broward County in a failed attempt to create an artificial reef. During the early 1970s through the early 1980s, approximately 700,000 tires were placed in an area that now covers 36 acres between the reef tracts. The coral reefs of southeast Florida are experiencing a continuing threat of damage from marine debris, and this project will aid in continued efforts to reduce this adverse impact to our coral reef ecosystem.
Broward County has been partnering with a number of agencies since 2007 to remove the waste tires, and the Board approved waivers of Port Everglades Tariff fees in 2007, 2008, and 2009 totaling $109,000 to support these efforts. In 2012, Broward County was awarded a $120,000 grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Fisheries Habitat Conservation Program for removal of marine debris, after which the funds were transferred to FDEP for additional removal efforts. To leverage the grant funds, in addition to the $1,500,000 FDEP initially received from the Florida Legislature for the project, EPCRD requested the Port Everglades Department join the partnership with additional waivers of all associated Port Everglades Tariff fees. Port Everglades staff proposed a waiver of Port Everglades Tariff fees up to $275,000, which was approved by the Board on September 9, 2014 (Item No. 52). With the State and grant funding, along with the Port waiver, over 200,000 tires have been removed from the offshore area. Using an FDEP-average cost per tire of $17.50, the waiver amount has allowed the removal of an additional 15,700 tires during the project. As of the end of June 2018, the value of Port Everglades Tariff fee waivers approved under this most recent authorization totaled $229,614.
The FDEP has appropriated $1,000,000 to continue removal efforts in Fiscal Year 2018 and has requested an additional $2,500,000 from the Legislature for Fiscal Year 2019 through Fiscal Year 2020. The EPCRD, assisting FDEP as local project manager, has requested that the Port Everglades Department continue as a partner in the tire removal effort by supporting another waiver of an additional $275,000 in Port Everglades Tariff fees associated with the project. These Tariff fees include dockage, cargo wharfage, and other marine services fees applicable to the project. In addition to waiving Tariff fees associated with the project, Port Everglades would continue to furnish dockside land sufficient for the placement of recycling dumpsters where the waste tires are placed upon discharge from the recovery ship prior to hauling from the Port for disposal. Based on the historical recovery rate for tires, Port Everglades staff estimate that the additional waiver amount will support operations for an additional three to four years. |