SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1394
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 103668
CHAMBER ACTION
Senate House
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11 Senator Brown-Waite moved the following amendment:
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13 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
14 On page 5, between lines 26 and 27,
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16 insert:
17 Section 5. (1) The Citrus/Hernando Waterways
18 Restoration Council.--There is created within the
19 Withlacoochee and Coastal Rivers Basin Boards of the Southwest
20 Florida Water Management District a council to be known as the
21 Citrus/Hernando Waterways Restoration Council. The council
22 shall be coordinated by representatives of the following
23 agencies: the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation
24 Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, and
25 the Southwest Florida Water Management District. The council
26 is subject to the provisions of chapters 119 and 120, Florida
27 Statutes. The lead agency shall be the Fish and Wildlife
28 Conservation Commission.
29 (2) Members of the council shall consist of twelve
30 voting members with six appointed by the President of the
31 Senate and six appointed by the Speaker of the House of
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1394
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1 Representatives. The council shall consist of representatives
2 as follows:
3 a. Waterfront property owners from each county,
4 b. An attorney from each county,
5 c. A member of the Board of Directors of the Chamber
6 of Commerce from each county,
7 d. An environmental engineer from each county,
8 e. An engineer from each county, and
9 f. A person from each county with training in biology
10 or another scientific discipline.
11 (3) The council members from each county are to form
12 two separate county task forces from the council to review and
13 make recommendations on specific waterways. The Hernando
14 County Task Force shall develop plans for the restoration of
15 the Weeki Wachee River and Springs. The Citrus County Task
16 Force shall develop plans for the restoration of the
17 Tsala-Apopka Chain of Lakes.
18 (4) There shall be a technical advisory group to the
19 council and the two county task forces which shall consist of
20 one representative each from the Southwest Florida Water
21 Management District, the Department of Environmental
22 Protection, the Department of Transportation, the Fish and
23 Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Coastal Rivers Basin
24 Board, the Withlacoochee River Basin Board, and the United
25 States Army Corps of Engineers, each of whom shall be
26 appointed by his or her respective agency, and each of whom,
27 with the exception of the representatives from the
28 Withlacoochee River Basin Board and Coastal Rivers Basin
29 Board, shall have had training in biology or another
30 scientific discipline.
31 (5) Immediately after appointment, the council shall
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1394
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1 meet and organize by electing a chair, a vice chair, and a
2 secretary, whose terms shall be for 2 years each. Council
3 officers shall not serve consecutive terms. Each council
4 member shall be a voting member. Additionally, the two county
5 task forces shall elect a chair and a secretary whose terms
6 shall be for 2 years each.
7 (6) The council or the county task forces shall meet
8 at the call of its chair, at the request of six of its
9 members, or at the request of the chair of the governing board
10 of the Southwest Florida Water Management District.
11 (7) The council shall have the powers and duties to:
12 (a) Review audits and all data specifically related to
13 lake and river restoration techniques and sport fish
14 population recovery strategies, including data and strategies
15 for shoreline restoration, sand and other sediment control and
16 removal, exotic species management, floating tussock
17 management or removal, navigation, water quality, and fish and
18 wildlife habitat improvement, particularly as they may apply
19 to the Citrus/Hernando waterways.
20 (b) Evaluate whether additional studies are needed.
21 (c) Explore all possible sources of funding to conduct
22 the restoration activities.
23 (d) Report to the Speaker of the House of
24 Representatives and the President of the Senate before
25 November 25 of each year on the progress of the
26 Citrus/Hernando Waterways restoration program and any
27 recommendations for the next fiscal year.
28 (8) The Southwest Florida Water Management District
29 shall provide staff to assist the council in carrying out the
30 provisions of this act.
31 (9) Members of the council shall receive no
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1 compensation for their services, but are entitled to be
2 reimbursed for per diem and travel expenses incurred during
3 execution of their official duties, as provided in s. 112.061,
4 Florida Statutes. State and federal agencies shall be
5 responsible for the per diem and travel expenses of their
6 respective appointees to the council, and the Southwest
7 Florida Water Management District shall be responsible for per
8 diem and travel expenses of other appointees to the council.
9 Section 6. The Citrus/Hernando Waterways restoration
10 program.--
11 (1) The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and
12 the Southwest Florida Water Management District, in
13 conjunction with the Department of Environmental Protection,
14 pertinent local governments, and the Citrus/Hernando Waterways
15 Restoration Council, shall review existing restoration
16 proposals to determine which ones are the most environmentally
17 sound and economically feasible methods of improving the fish
18 and wildlife habitat and natural systems of the
19 Citrus/Hernando waterways.
20 (2) To initiate the Citrus/Hernando Waterways
21 restoration program recommended by the Citrus/Hernando
22 Waterways Restoration Council, the Fish and Wildlife
23 Conservation Commission, with assistance from the Southwest
24 Florida Water Management District and in consultation and by
25 agreement with the Department of Environmental Protection and
26 pertinent local governments, shall develop tasks to be
27 undertaken by those entities for the enhancement of fish and
28 wildlife habitat. These agencies shall:
29 (a) Evaluate different methodologies for removing the
30 extensive tussocks and buildup of organic matter along the
31 shoreline and of the aquatic vegetation in the lake.
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1 (b) Conduct any additional studies as recommended by
2 the Citrus/Hernando Waterways Restoration Council.
3 (3) Contingent on the Legislature's appropriating
4 funds for the Citrus/Hernando Waterways restoration program
5 and in conjunction with financial participation by federal,
6 other state, and local governments, the appropriate agencies
7 shall, through competitive bid, award contracts to implement
8 the activities of the Citrus/Hernando Waterways restoration
9 program.
10 Section 7. The sum of $45,000 is appropriated from the
11 General Revenue Fund to the Southwest Florida Water Management
12 District for the purpose of paying administrative, per diem,
13 and travel expenses of the Citrus/Hernando Waterways
14 Restoration Council.
15 Section 8. The Fish and Wildlife Conservation
16 Commission is authorized to conduct a demonstration
17 restoration project on the Tsala-Apopka Chain of Lakes for the
18 purpose of removing, with proper permits, overlying
19 undesirable vegetation and associated organic material down to
20 mineralized soils, thus allowing for the establishment of a
21 more desirable aquatic plant community on hard, sandy
22 substrate and creating better habitat for fish and wildlife.
23 The sum of $100,000 is appropriated from the General Revenue
24 Fund to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the
25 purpose of conducting the demonstration restoration project.
26 Section 9. The Southwest Florida Water Management
27 District is authorized to conduct a demonstration restoration
28 project on the Weeki Wachee River, with proper permits, to
29 improve the water flow by a sand containment and erosion
30 control project, including other restoration activities
31 related to this problem.
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1394
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 103668
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2 (Redesignate subsequent sections.)
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5 ================ T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ===============
6 And the title is amended as follows:
7 On page 1, lines 13 and 14, delete those lines
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9 and insert:
10 creating the Citrus/Hernando Waterways
11 Restoration Council; providing for membership,
12 powers, and duties; providing for separate
13 county task forces; providing for a report to
14 the Legislature; providing for an advisory
15 group to the council; requiring the Southwest
16 Florida Water Management District to provide
17 staff for the council; providing for award of
18 contracts subject to an appropriation of funds;
19 providing for a Citrus/Hernando Waterways
20 restoration program; providing for
21 demonstration restoration projects; providing
22 appropriations; providing an effective date.
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24 WHEREAS, the waterways of Citrus and Hernando Counties
25 are of historic, hydrological, and ecological significance,
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27 WHEREAS, most of these Citrus/Hernando waterways are
28 Outstanding Florida Waterways or in the application process,
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30 WHEREAS, the Citrus/Hernando waterways are plagued by
31 fluctuating water levels and sedimentation increasing nitrate
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SENATE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1394
Amendment No. ___ Barcode 103668
1 levels and sand movement causing blockage of natural springs
2 and excessive growth of aquatic plants, which are degrading
3 their water quality and recreational value, and
4 WHEREAS, despite their current problems, the
5 Citrus/Hernando waterways continue to provide wildlife habitat
6 for fish, birds, and game and offer recreational opportunities
7 for the residents of Citrus and Hernando Counties and visitors
8 to the area, and
9 WHEREAS, the renewable economic potential of the
10 Citrus/Hernando waterways is significant, and
11 WHEREAS, the Southwest Florida Water Management
12 District and the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission,
13 along with other state, regional, and local entities, have
14 developed proposals to restore portions of the Citrus/Hernando
15 waterways, and
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