HB 0193

CS

CHAMBER ACTION

1	The Committee on Natural Resources recommends the following:
2
3	Committee Substitute
4	Remove the entire bill and insert:
5	House Memorial
6	A memorial to the United States Army Corps of Engineers
7	and the United States Congress, urging prompt action to
8	complete the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan on
9	schedule.
10
11	WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon is the most biologically
12	diverse estuary in North America and is recognized for national
13	significance in the National Estuary Program, and
14	WHEREAS, the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon have
15	been and continue to be severely degraded by excessive
16	freshwater discharges, nutrients, and sediments from drainage
17	canals constructed by the Central and Southern Florida Flood
18	Control Project, and
19	WHEREAS, the State of Florida has a long history of
20	supporting local, state, and federal programs to improve the
21	environmental health of the St. Lucie Estuary and Indian River
22	Lagoon, which health is critical to the economic and social
23	environment of Florida and the nation, and
24	WHEREAS, state support includes forming and funding the St.
25	Lucie River Issues Team, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration
26	Task Force, and 50 percent of the costs of related Comprehensive
27	Everglades Restoration Plan projects, and
28	WHEREAS, local government partners, including the Nine
29	County Coalition for the Responsible Management of Lake
30	Okeechobee and St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries, are
31	implementing urban stormwater quality retrofit projects,
32	budgeted at over $100 million, dedicated to cleaning up the St.
33	Lucie Estuary and Indian River Lagoon, and
34	WHEREAS, local voters voluntarily approved a special sales
35	tax referendum for healthy rivers that raised over $50 million
36	to help buy the land necessary to implement the Indian River
37	Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
38	WHEREAS, the State of Florida has enthusiastically endorsed
39	the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, and
40	WHEREAS, the Indian River Lagoon Restoration Plan, after
41	numerous bureaucratic delays, is ready for Congressional
42	authorization and construction, and
43	WHEREAS, the citizens of the United States deserve the
44	prompt authorization and construction of the Indian River Lagoon
45	Restoration Plan, the first major component of the Comprehensive
46	Everglades Restoration Plan, NOW, THEREFORE,
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48	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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50	That the State of Florida urges the United States Army
51	Corps of Engineers to complete work on the Indian River Lagoon
52	Restoration Plan and forward it to Congress for authorization
53	and urges federal officials to keep the Indian River Lagoon
54	Restoration Plan on schedule and present it without further
55	delay for Congressional authorization in 2004.
56	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
57	dispatched to the United States Army Corps of Engineers, to the
58	President of the United States, to the President of the United
59	States Senate, to the Speaker of the United States House of
60	Representatives, and to each member of the Florida delegation to
61	the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.