[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 105 (Tuesday, July 14, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1752-E1754]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          EARMARK DECLARATION

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MARIO DIAZ-BALART

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, July 14, 2009

  Mr. MARIO DIAZ-BALART of Florida.  Madam Speaker, I submit the 
following:
  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3183
  Account: Construction
  Name of Requesting Entity: South Florida Water Management District
  Address of Requesting Entity: 3301 Gun Club Road, West Palm Beach, FL 
33406
  Description of Request: I have secured $210,239,000 for the South 
Florida Everglades Ecosystem restoration, FL: Central and Southern FL 
(C&SF) Project: Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, FL. This 
funding will be used for the South Florida Everglades Ecostem 
Restoration: Six projects which are vital to ongoing Everglades 
Restoration efforts: Picayune Strand--The project involves the 
restoration of natural water flows across 85-square miles in western 
Collier County that were previously cleared for a residential 
community. The project includes construction of three pump stations 
with spreader canals, the plugging of 40-miles of canals and the 
removal of 227-miles of roads. Levees will be installed, as required, 
to provide flood protection for adjacent private properties that would 
be impacted by the project. ($56 million) Indian River Lagoon--The 
project will include a 3,400-acres above-ground reservoir to capture 
local basin runoff with 6,300-acres of storm water Treatment Areas. The 
project will decrease the excessive water flows into the St. Lucie 
Estuary, improve the water quality by treating the water entering the 
Estuary and provide water supplies for the environmental and human 
needs of the area. ($75 million) Site 1 Impoundment--This project 
involves construction of an approximately 1,600-acre impoundment where 
water will be pumped from the Hillsboro Canal. The project will capture 
and store the excess surface water runoff from the Hillsboro Watershed 
as well as releases from the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge and 
Lake Okeechobee. The project will allow more natural, desirable and 
consistent water levels within the Refuge as well as benefit estuaries 
downstream ($27 million) C-111 Spreader Canal--This project is located 
adjacent to Everglades National Park and is part of the South Dade 
County portion of the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF). The project 
goal is to create a hydrologic ridge between Everglades National Park 
and areas east that are mostly in agricultural production. The project 
is intended to maintain existing

[[Page E1753]]

flood protection while restoring natural hydrologic conditions in the 
eastern panhandle of Everglades National Park ($20 million) C-51 
design--The project will provide water quality benefits to the 
surrounding areas along with Storm water Treatment Area lE ($16 
million) CERP design--Includes design project agreements, Project 
Implementation Reports, detailed project design and RECOVER which are 
all essential to ongoing Everglades Restoration efforts ($64 million) 
The funding would be used for six projects which are vital to ongoing 
efforts to restore the historic South Florida ecosystem including the 
Florida Everglades. The Florida Everglades are a unique ecosystem that 
must be preserved for future generations.
  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FC-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3183
  Account: Science
  Name of Requesting Entity: Florida International University
  Address of Requesting Entity: 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33199
  Description of Request: I have secured $1,000,000 for the state-of-
the-Art Large-Scale Testing for Wind to Enhance Infrastructure 
Resiliency and Develop Energy-Efficient Buildings. This funding will be 
used for a full-scale testing in the WoW facility, supported by the 
enhanced capabilities, will lead to major improvements in the 
performance of infrastructure and life-line elements, including 
electrical utility and power distribution systems, safer nuclear power 
plants in hurricane-prone regions, and increased community resilience 
under Category 3 and 4 hurricanes. In addition, by virtue of its 
unprecedented capabilities to simulate natural, turbulent winds, the 
FIU full-scale testing facility will test innovative building envelopes 
capable of massively reducing energy consumption in buildings, reducing 
GHGs, and improving IEQ. The impact of the facility would be enormous. 
Losses that may remain inadequately insured because of the excessively 
large risks they entail could be massively reduced by further 
developing the requisite scientific knowledge through full-scale 
experiments conducted in the more powerful and equipt WOW. Thus the 
requested funding would transform WoW the only facility in the world 
capable of testing a wide variety of types of structure to promote 
significant mitigation of the vast losses due to hurricanes and 
contribute massively to improving energy performance of buildings and 
reducing GHGs. The new capabilities would be a breakthrough in enabling 
quick results and affordable solutions, thereby making major scientific 
advancements beneficial to the State and the Nation. The research 
activities will significantly enhance the economic and societal well-
being of the general population and businesses--thus promoting 
hurricane resilient sustainable communities. Hurricanes caused more 
than $100 billion in losses in 2005 alone and caused more than 1,400 
fatalities in 2004-05. Infrastructure damage and lifeline disruption 
are severe problems to hurricane prone coastal communities. In 2004 and 
2005, seven hurricanes struck the coast of Florida causing severe 
damage to electrical infrastructure. A record 3.2 million FPL customers 
were left without electric service as Hurricane Wilma's (2005) winds 
damaged street lighting, transformers, transmission lines, and 
substations. Wind is also a significant factor affecting building 
energy consumption through air leakage, while wind accompanied by rain 
can affect indoor environment quality (IEQ). Buildings use about one-
third of the world's energy. In the United States today, the buildings 
sector accounts for 40% of the primary energy use. The use of electric 
power and heat in the buildings sector also accounts for about 40% of 
the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Buildings present one of the 
best opportunities to reduce energy consumption and limit GHGs. Florida 
International University (FIU) has developed a one-of-a-kind large-
scale Wall of Wind (WoW) facility simulating atmospheric turbulent 
flows and hurricane force winds. Currently the focus of WoW research is 
mitigation of damage to residential buildings. However, the WoW design 
allows its use for multiple testing of other infrastructural and life-
line elements. Unfortunately such variety of testing is not feasible 
owing to the lack of the instrumentation for measuring aerodynamic, 
aeroelastic, and thermal effects. For this reason this large, 
expensive, and unique facility is severely under-used. The proposed 
funding would allow such WoW instrumentation to achieve a 
transformative testing capability not available anywhere else in the 
world.
  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3183
  Account: EERE-Building Technologies
  Name of Requesting Entity: City of Homestead, FL
  Address of Requesting Entity: 790 N. Homestead Blvd, Homestead, FL, 
33030
  Description of Request: I have secured $500,000 for the City Hall 
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification. 
This funding will be used for the City of Homestead is in the process 
of replacing its aging and inadequate City Hall building with a new 
structurally hardened, energy efficient, low carbon emission, and 
environmentally friendly building. This new building, in addition to 
housing all City departments, will also encompass Homestead's new 
Emergency Operations Center. The City has requested that the designers 
include features in the design that will result in a LEED Silver 
Certificate. The design is complete and procurement for construction 
will start by the end of February 2009. The total cost of the City Hall 
project, which will employ approximately 60 persons, is $30 million of 
which $1 million is estimated for the improvements needed to meet the 
requirements for LEED Silver Certification. Without this funding 
assistance, Homestead's LEED certification efforts may not be fully 
realized. This project follows Congress' and the Administration's 
stated goals in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in areas 
such as: providing immediate job creation, utilization of green 
construction technologies, and providing energy efficiency cost 
savings. Designed to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design 
(LEED) silver standards, the new City Hall will serve as a premier 
example of green construction and energy efficiency technology in the 
community.
  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3183
  Account: Construction
  Name of Requesting Entity: Miami-Dade County, FL
  Address of Requesting Entity: 111 NW 1st St., Suite 1032, Miami, FL 
33128
  Description of Request: I have secured $600,000 for the Miami Harbor 
Channel Dredging. This funding will be used for the General 
Reevaluation Report Implementation, Preconstruction, Engineering, and 
Design for the dredging of Miami Harbor. This funding was authorized 
via WRDA 2007 (H.R. 1495) for preconstruction, engineering, and design 
of the recommended project. This will address the federal share at 100% 
of the anticipated costs for plans and specifications preparation. The 
Army Corps of Engineers Chief of Engineers has recommended the 
deepening project to 50-52 feet and Congress has authorized the project 
(Title I, Water Resources Development Act of 2007). It is essential 
that the Planning, Engineering, and Design (PED) begin as soon as 
possible. Extended delay in the proposed dredging improvements could be 
detrimental to the economy of South Florida and the nation. Cargo 
growth at the Port of Miami has been phenomenally strong. However, the 
industry standard container ship is becoming larger, and the Port 
cannot handle the newer ships without deeper channels. In addition, the 
Port has been facing increasing competition from foreign ports with 
existing significantly deeper channels and faces the real threat of 
losing business to foreign ports (such as Freeport). The targeted 
population includes the ships/commerce currently utilizing the Port of 
Miami and future business which will be generated as a consequence of 
larger vessels being able to utilize the Port of Miami. Port of Miami 
growth will benefit the citizens of Miami-Dade County, South Florida 
and the nation. Miami Harbor is a major economic force for the County, 
South Florida and the nation. The Port of Miami is one of the nation's 
strongest economic engines, accounting for over 98,000 jobs and $12 
billion in annual economic impact. It is the State of Florida's top 
container port and one of the largest in the nation
  Requesting Member: Representative Mario Diaz-Balart (FL-25)
  Bill Number: H.R. 3183
  Account: O&M
  Name of Requesting Entity: Miami-Dade County, FL
  Address of Requesting Entity: 111 NW 1st St., Suite 1032, Miami, FL 
33128
  Description of Request: I have secured $777,000 for the Miami River 
Dredging. This funding will be used for the final phase of the Miami 
River Dredging Project to restore authorized depth and width to the 
navigation channel. This project, funded by the US Army Corps of 
Engineers with a coalition of local sponsors led by Miami-Dade County, 
removes contaminated sediments from the Miami River, Florida's 4th 
largest port with an economic value of $4 billion. Since it was 
improved for navigation in the 1930s, the river has never received 
comprehensive maintenance dredging. Sediments have accumulated in the 
federal channel making it narrower and shallower, thereby limiting 
activities of freighters that utilize ship terminals along the river. 
The sediments do not meet federal criteria for ocean disposal, so they 
must be disposed of at an upland site. Dredging and disposal of the 
contaminated dredged materials improve navigation and enhance the 
environmental quality of the river and downstream portions of Biscayne 
Bay, an outstanding Florida water body. Sediments have accumulated in 
the margins of the federal channel making it narrower and

[[Page E1754]]

shallower, thereby limiting activities of freighters that utilize ship 
terminals along the river. Dredging and disposal of the contaminated 
sediments is expected to improve navigation and enhance the 
environmental quality of the Miami River and downstream portions of 
Biscayne Bay. The target population includes those who use the Miami 
River for navigational purposes. Additionally, the positive 
environmental effects from the dredging will be beneficial to all of 
Miami-Dade County's residents. This project benefits the environment of 
South Florida because it removes contaminated sediment from the Miami 
River before those contaminates enter the Bay. Completion of the 
project will also permit larger commercial vessels to call on the 
River, thus increasing commerce. Completion of the project will also 
allow the marine related industry to expand along the River. For 
example, Merrill Stevens, a local boat yard, is planning on adding over 
100 new skilled jobs and a training center to teach local people the 
skills required to work on large ocean going vessels. This project has 
the support of the Miami-Dade County Board of County Commissioners, the 
Mayor of Miami-Dade County, and the Director of the County's Department 
of Environmental Resources Management.

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