| 1 | Representative Greenstein offered the following: |
| 2 |
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| 3 | Amendment |
| 4 | On page 4, line 8, through page 5, line 5, |
| 5 | remove: all of said lines |
| 6 |
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| 7 | and insert: |
| 8 | in the waters of the state. The enhanced study shall include an |
| 9 | assessment of factors that the commission may use when seeking |
| 10 | to provide manatees with the maximum protection possible while |
| 11 | considering recreational uses of the state's waterways. An |
| 12 | additional goal of the enhanced study is to collect data that |
| 13 | will enable resource managers and state and local policymakers, |
| 14 | in consultation with the public, to develop and implement sound |
| 15 | science-based policies to improve manatee habitat, establish |
| 16 | manatee protection zones, and enhance safe boating opportunities |
| 17 | without endangering the manatees. |
| 18 | (2)(a) As part of the enhanced manatee protection study, |
| 19 | the Legislature intends that the commission shall contract with |
| 20 | Mote Marine Laboratory to conduct a "Manatee Habitat and |
| 21 | Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Assessment" that specifically |
| 22 | considers, at a minimum, the following: |
| 23 | 1. The manatee populations that congregate in the warm |
| 24 | water discharge sites at power plants in the state, including |
| 25 | potential risks to manatees at these sites from disease or the |
| 26 | loss of the warm water habitat; and |
| 27 | 2. How the loss of warm water habitat may affect the size |
| 28 | and health of both the manatee population and the health of |
| 29 | submerged aquatic vegetation. The study shall also consider |
| 30 | other factors that may affect the optimum productivity of |
| 31 | submerged aquatic vegetation within the rest of the manatees' |
| 32 | habitat range in the waters of this state. |