Judge reviews $1.6 billion sewer upgrade plan for Miami

A judge in the U.S. District Court in Miami, Florida, is considering whether to approve a consent decree between Miami-Dade County and the federal government under which the county government will undertake $1.6 billion in upgrades to eliminate overflows from its sanitary sewer system. The federal government and the county announced the settlement in June 2013, but it has been challenged by a local environmental group, which claims that the plan does not consider the effects of climate change and sea-level rise. Officials of the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department say they plan to take such considerations into account, but the environmental group wants to see those considerations incorporated into the consent decree. During a hearing in Miami on February 10, U.S. District Court Judge Federico Moreno expressed concerns that the penalties that would be charged to the county in the event it failed to make the required repairs are far too lenient. The court cannot rewrite the consent decree, but it is responsible for overseeing its implementation. Judge Moreno said that he plans to rule quickly on the issue.