§ 13-18. Limitations and conditions.

(a)

The Director of the Public Works Department shall impose in each County user permit issued by him or her such limitations and conditions as to:

(1)

Days and hours when blasting may be performed.

(2)

The period of time for which it is valid.

(3)

The amount and type of explosive which may be employed at any one (1) time, whether fired or detonated instantaneously as a single charge or by a delay series charge, as may be deemed by him or her reasonable under the conditions existing in the locale for which the County user permit is issued. The Director may impose conditions concerning borehole stemming.

(4)

Vibration limits within the urban development boundary (UDB). Vibration limits measured within the UDB may be reduced to a peak particle velocity as low as 0.1 inch per second, after first considering recognized standards and references, and any relevant historical data, studies, and results obtained during the regulation of blasting operations in Miami-Dade County. The Director may conduct a series of tests witnessed by neighborhood property owners to determine acceptable limits of vibration, after first considering recognized standards and references, and any relevant historical data, studies, and results obtained during the regulation of blasting operations in Miami-Dade County.

(b)

In determining and imposing such reasonable conditions and limitations the Director, with the assistance of the Fire Chief, shall be governed by preventing damage to property, preventing personal injury or loss of life, protecting the public health, welfare and safety and the reduction of nuisance.

(c)

The Director is authorized from time to time to change, amend or modify the imposed conditions and limitations regarding any County user permit in order to meet the purpose for which they were imposed if changing conditions or circumstances so dictate. It is intended here that the Director may impose more restrictive conditions and limitations if circumstances and conditions in the area concerned so warrant or prove to be necessary in order to carry out the purpose for which the conditions and limitations were imposed. If such conditions and limitations are found by the Director to be too restrictive, he or she may modify them accordingly within the bounds of the purposes for which they were imposed. However, the imposed limitations and conditions as to the amount of explosives authorized in any County user permit shall not be increased by the Director until and unless the user shall first demonstrate to the Director by good and sufficient evidence that the desired increase would not in any event provoke or result in adverse effects as prescribed by Section 13-14 hereof. The Director will require, in order to protect the public health, welfare or safety, the user to submit a recognized instrument test for any blasting operations to ascertain that the above described limits are not exceeded at the nearest building, or structure not owned by the user. In the event that the Director determines that measurements from more than one (1) location are necessary, the user shall be responsible for supplying any and all additional instrument testing. The Director may specify the location at which measurements are taken and the degree of detail necessary in the measurement. Any actions taken by the Director under authority granted by this subsection shall only be taken after the Director has first considered recognized standards and references, the guidelines enumerated above in subsections (a) and (b), and any relevant historical data, studies, and results obtained during the regulation of blasting operations in Miami-Dade County.

(d)

The blaster shall provide, at his or her cost, a seismic instrument at each site. Such instrument may be removed from a site, after written notice has been given to the Director of Public Works, when the blasting at the site has been completed or indefinitely suspended.

(e)

The Director shall be notified of any scheduled blast. The user shall call the Director at least two (2) hours prior to scheduled blasting to indicate the location, pattern, quantities of explosives being used, and the time of detonation as can best be determined. Should any blast be more than thirty (30) minutes from the proposed time set, renotification to the Director will be required. The user shall call and notify the Director immediately after each blast to give the exact time of detonation in order for the Director to identify a particular blast with any complaints which may be received.

(f)

Any user who exceeds in a single blasting event the maximum peak particle velocity (PPV) limit established by the user permit by .05 inch per second as measured at any occupied residential unit located within the adopted (2005) UDB and within two (2) miles of a specific blasting site shall be subject to a civil fine of five hundred dollars ($500.00) to one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). Any subsequent blast at the same blast site within a calendar year of the first violation which exceeds the PPV limit as provided herein shall be subject to a civil penalty of three thousand dollars ($3,000.00) to ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00). A third violation at the same site during the same calendar year of the second violation shall result in a fine of ten thousand dollars ($10,000.00) and blasting at that site will be suspended pending an expedited hearing before the Construction Trades Qualifying Board. A finding by that Board that a violation has occurred shall result in a revocation of the permit or non-issuance of any subsequent permit for the remainder of that calendar year or a period of six (6) months, whichever period of time is greater. After revocation or non-issuance, a permit for the remainder of the calendar year can only be reinstated or issued by action of the Board of County Commissioners at a public hearing. All fines collected hereunder shall be placed in a separate fund and expended solely for the purposes of offsetting the costs of regulation under this chapter.

(Ord. No. 98-15, § 1, 2-3-98)