§ 33-436. Legislative findings.

The health, safety, welfare, comfort, and convenience of the present and future residents of Miami-Dade County are dependent upon the orderly development and compatibility of uses on lands in Miami-Dade County. Ensuring compatibility of land uses within Miami-Dade County is of paramount importance in protecting private property rights of landowners, avoiding interference with other lawful land uses, and avoiding adverse impacts to parks, preservation lands, and other areas that enjoy unique protections for the benefit of all residents of Miami-Dade County.

The use of land for oil and gas exploration or production through "well stimulation," as defined in this Article, (including the use of techniques commonly known as "fracking"), and efforts to engage in well stimulation, have increased around the United States in recent years. Well stimulation, and its associated or ancillary activities, have been shown to have negative impacts to surrounding lands, including lands beyond the immediate vicinity of a well site, that are incompatible with residential, commercial, agricultural, and other land uses and that are not easily reversible. In addition to impacts such as odor, noise, light, and heavy truck traffic, potential impacts associated with well stimulation, which may also affect properties far beyond the well site, include: structural damage to buildings, foundations, or underground infrastructure resulting from induced seismic activity; increased demand on infrastructure such as roads and wastewater treatment facilities; increased demand on water resources; impacts to public and private drinking water supplies; and leaking or leaching of chemicals or natural gas resulting in environmental contamination to air, water, or soils. In addition, the specific chemicals used in well stimulation are neither disclosed nor strictly regulated by any federal or state agency, and therefore the full extent of the incompatibility of well stimulation with surrounding land uses cannot be assessed at this time. The impacts from well stimulation could also negatively affect the economy of Miami-Dade County, including but not limited to certain large industries such as tourism and agriculture.

For all of these reasons, it is necessary to protect the health, safety, welfare, comfort, and convenience of the present and future residents of Miami-Dade County by enacting the land use regulations in this article to specifically regulate and prohibit the use of lands in Miami-Dade County for oil and gas exploration or production through the use of well stimulation.

(Ord. No. 16-106, § 1, 10-5-16)