TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Jonathan R. Lewis, ICMA-CM, City Manager
TITLE: Ordinance No. 2017-05, First Reading, Petition No. TXT-17-009, Amending the City of North Port Unified Land Development Code to prohibit oil or natural gas exploration or production that uses well stimulation within the boundaries of the City of North Port.
Recommended Action
Approve and continue Ordinance No. 2017-05, Petition No. TXT-17-009 for second reading on March 28, 2017.
Background Information
The petition was advertised in a newspaper of general circulation within the City of North Port on January 31, 2017, pursuant to the provisions of Section 166.041(3)(a), Florida Statutes and Section 9.01(b) of the Charter of the City of North Port, and Chapter 1, Article II, Section 1-12 of the City's Unified Land Development Code (ULDC) as amended.
Staff received direction from the City Commission to draft an amendment to the ULDC to prohibit well stimulation for oil and natural gas excavation throughout the City of North Port. Florida's oil and gas regulations do not preempt the City from regulating hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation techniques. Well stimulation involves a well intervention, exploration, operation, or maintenance procedure performed by injecting fluid into a rock formation in order to increase production at an oil or gas well. This includes but is not limited to, hydraulic fracturing, acidizing, and acid fracturing of oil or gas wells.
Oil and gas well stimulations involve many potential risks for public health and safety and the environment, including but not limited to tainting of the water supply and gross amounts of water usage. In addition, well stimulation through hydraulic fracturing is exempt from many important regulations, including the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, and National Environmental Protection Act.
This amendment adds language to Chapter 14 Earthmoving to prohibit "any oil or natural gas...
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