Florida Power & Light Company's (FPL) Everglades Mitigation Bank (EMB) Site, previously known as the South Dade Mitigation Bank, is a 13249.10 acre site located approximately 5 miles south of Florida City, just southwest of the Turkey Point Power Generation Facility and east of U.S. Highway One. The physical and biological characteristics of the site have been greatly altered as a result of the Everglades Drainage District Projects (1907) and the Central and South Florida (C&SF) Flood Control Project (1948). Changes in the regional hydrology and on-site dikes and roads have altered the salinity balance of this ecosystem, resulting in hypersaline conditions and the shift of historically freshwater marsh to brackish high marsh flats and tidal marsh.
FPL purchased the site in early 1970 for the purpose of developing future power generation. Since purchasing the site, other generation options became available to serve the system's needs. In reviewing this site for future generations, FPL became aware of regional plans to restore and enhance the Everglades system, southeast Florida marshes, Biscayne Bay and the critical role that the restoration efforts play in the economic and environmental future of south Florida. When the state of Florida passed the Mitigation Banking Rule in 1993 and the Environmental Protection Agency adopted Mitigation Banking Guidance in 1995, the Company revisited the best use for the site and determined that the site could be used in a manner that achieved both the goals of the corporation, its rate payers and the citizens of the state of Florida by developing the site as a private Mitigation Bank consistent with the public goals of Everglades Restoration. This approach provided an unprecedented opportunity for private-public partnerships supporting long-term regional restoration efforts in the state.
The EMB consists of two major phases. Phase I of the EMB contains 4223.18 acres located between U. S. Highway One and Card Sound Road. Phase II contains 9025.93 acres located east of Card Sound Road extending to Card Sound and then north along the L-31E Canal.