Senate Bill sb1504c1
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SM 1504
By the Committee on Natural Resources; and Senator Pruitt
312-1962-04
1 Senate Memorial No. ____
2 A memorial to the United States Army Corps of
3 Engineers and the United States Congress,
4 urging prompt action to complete the Indian
5 River Lagoon Restoration Plan on schedule.
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7 WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon is the most
8 biologically diverse estuary in North America and is
9 recognized for national significance in the National Estuary
10 Program, and
11 WHEREAS, the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon
12 have been and continue to be severely degraded by excessive
13 freshwater discharges, nutrients, and sediments from drainage
14 canals constructed by the Central and Southern Florida Flood
15 Control Project, and
16 WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a long history of
17 supporting local, state, and federal programs to improve the
18 environmental health of the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River
19 Lagoon, which health is critical to the economic and social
20 environment of Florida and the nation, and
21 WHEREAS, state support includes forming and funding the
22 St. Lucie River Issues Team, the Indian River Lagoon
23 Restoration Task Force, and 50 percent of the costs of related
24 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan projects, and
25 WHEREAS, local government partners, including the Nine
26 County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake
27 Okeechobee and St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, are
28 implementing urban stormwater quality retrofit projects,
29 budgeted at over $100 million, dedicated to cleaning up the
30 St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, and
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SM 1504
312-1962-04
1 WHEREAS, local voters voluntarily approved a special
2 sales tax referendum for healthy rivers that raised over $50
3 million to help buy the land necessary to implement the Indian
4 River Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
5 WHEREAS, the State of Florida has enthusiastically
6 endorsed the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
7 WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan,
8 after numerous bureaucratic delays, is ready for Congressional
9 authorization and construction, and
10 WHEREAS, the citizens of the United States deserve the
11 prompt authorization and construction of the Indian River
12 Lagoon Restoration Plan, the first major component of the
13 Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, NOW, THEREFORE,
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15 Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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17 That the State of Florida urges the United States Army
18 Corps of Engineers to complete work on the Indian River Lagoon
19 Restoration Plan and forward it to Congress for authorization
20 and urges federal officials to keep the Indian River Lagoon
21 Restoration Plan on schedule and present it without further
22 delay for Congressional authorization in 2004.
23 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
24 dispatched to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, to
25 the President of the United States, to the President of the
26 United States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States
27 House of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida
28 delegation to the United States Congress.
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Florida Senate - 2004 CS for SM 1504
312-1962-04
1 STATEMENT OF SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES CONTAINED IN
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR
2 SM 1504
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4 This committee substitute clarifies that this is a memorial to
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Congress.
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