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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 1995-11• • RESOLUTION NO. 95 -11 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF CAPE CANAVERAL REQUESTING THAT THE FLORIDA LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION OPPOSE THE ADMINISTRATION'S PROPOSAL TO REMOVE FROM THE CORPS OF ENGINEERS CIVIL WORKS MISSION FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN BEACH RESTORATION PROJECTS AND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECTS WHICH ARE NOT CONSIDERED NATIONALLY SIGNIFICANT WHEREAS, the Administration's 1996 budget request contains proposals to introduce legislation which will eliminate federal financial participation in water projects, including shore erosion control, hurricane and storm damage reduction, and flood control projects which re not considered to be of "national significance ", and including all beach nourishment projects nationwide; and, WHEREAS, for those projects which can demonstrate "national significance," the Administration proposes to increase the minimum qualifying benefit/cost ration to 2:1 from 1:1, and to increase the minimum qualifying benefit/cost ration to 2 :1 from 1:1, and to increase the non - federal share of cost from 25 % to 75 % and, WHEREAS, the aforementioned Administration's proposal would single out Florida to suffer the greatest loss owing to its extensive shoreline and vulnerability to storm damage; and, WHEREAS, the beaches of Florida are a national asset comparable to the national park system, that is the No. 1 attraction for approximately 22 million tourists annually who spend $8 billion supporting 360,000 jobs; and WHEREAS, the majority of Floridians live in the coastal areas and a healthy, well- maintained beach system affords the major protection against storm damage and flooding; and, WHEREAS, the United States, excluding Alaska, has 37,000 miles of ocean, estuarine and Great Lakes shoreline with 2,700 miles experiencing critical erosion; and • • • WHEREAS, beaches are America's greatest "national park" ... our most important outdoors recreational facility; and WHEREAS, beaches are used annually by more people than all our national parks together; and WHEREAS, the federal government spends $1.5 billion annually to support our fine national park system but less than $50 million annually on beach preservation; and, WHEREAS, the Administration wants to eliminate funding for the nation's largest and most - utilized public "park: -- our beaches; and, WHEREAS, the consequence of the Administration's proposal will be a further decline in the health of the nation's beach system; and, WHEREAS, the 1994 report by the Corps of Engineers on the anticipated long -term spending on authorized beach preservation projects in Florida shows: • Projects authorized/ awaiting start of construction $ 180 million • Projects in Preconstruction Engineering Design Phase $ 560 million • Total $ 740 million • Federal share of Total (65 %) $ 481 million; and, WHEREAS, the sudden liability transfer of approximately $481 million to the State of Florida for beach restoration would create additional hardship for Floridians as compared to the impact on other states; and, WHEREAS, the continued funding of beach restoration projects should not be considered a "budget- buster" in that, according the Corps of Engineers data, expenditures for • • all major Corps shore protection projects during the period 1950 to 1993 have averaged $16 million per annum in 1993 Dollars; and, WHEREAS, beach erosion is truly an interstate problem. The beach system, like rivers, know no political boundaries; and WHEREAS, much of the sand that makes up Florida's beaches today came from the Appalachian Mountains and the coastal lowlands; and, WHEREAS, federal navigation projects in Georgia have an impact on beach restoration in Florida, making it essential that the federal government be directly involved in beach preservation projects on a nationwide basis; and, WHEREAS, beaches are critical to the U.S. economy, creation of jobs, and American competitiveness in a world economy. Travel and tourism is the largest industry in the U.S. and world, the largest employer in the U.S., accounts for the greatest job growth in the U.S., is the leading component of a growing service - industry international trade surplus for the U.S., and is an industry in which the U.S. dominate world -wide in revenues and profits. Foreign tourists alone spend $80 billion annually in the U.S., and this spending is increasing rapidly. Beaches are the leading tourist destination in the U.S. with 85 % of tourist revenues spent in coastal states; and, WHEREAS, countries such as Japan, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands are spending more on shore protection and restoration that the U.S. despite having much less shoreline to protect. WHEREAS, the beaches of Brevard County have suffered severe erosion due to the federal navigation inlet, lack of a sand bypass system, storm damage and sea level rise; and, • • WHEREAS, Brevard County has committed over $500,000 in a feasibility study for which the Corps of Engineers has agreed to use the principles of Section 1 -11 to increase federal participation due to the erosional impacts of the federal inlet; and, WHEREAS, the feasibility study is expected to culminate in a $50 million beach restoration project which is scheduled for construction in 1997; and, WHEREAS, if the Administration's proposal is accepted, the full burden of Brevard beach restoration will be unfairly imposed on the state and local governments with no mitigating participation by the federal government. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Brevard County, Florida, as follows: SECTION 1. That the Florida legislative delegation oppose the Administration' s proposal to eliminate Corps of Engineers participation in shore erosion control, hurricane storm damage reduction, flood control projects and beach restoration projects not considered to be nationally significant. SECTION 2. That the Florida legislative delegation use their good offices to obtain support in opposing the Administration's proposal from other coastal states likewise effected. ADOPTED BY the City Council of the City of Cape Canaveral, Florida, this 4th day of Agri 1 , 1995.