House Bill 1829
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1829
By Representative Bradley
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to red tide research and
3 mitigation; establishing a Task Force on
4 Harmful Algal Blooms; providing for task force
5 membership and duties; requiring the Florida
6 Marine Research Institute to implement a
7 program; providing legislative intent;
8 providing program goals; providing an
9 appropriation; providing an effective date.
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11 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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13 Section 1. (1) There is established a Task Force on
14 Harmful Algal Blooms for the purpose of determining research,
15 monitoring, control, and mitigation strategies for red tide
16 and other harmful algal blooms in state waters. The Secretary
17 of Environmental Protection shall appoint to the task force
18 scientists, engineers, economists, members of citizen groups,
19 and members of government. The task force shall determine
20 research and monitoring priorities and control and mitigation
21 strategies and make recommendations to the Department of
22 Environmental Protection by October 1, 1999, for using funds
23 as provided in this act.
24 (2) The task force shall:
25 (a) Review the status and adequacy of information for
26 monitoring physical, chemical, biological, economic, and
27 public health factors affecting harmful algal blooms in the
28 state;
29 (b) Develop research and monitoring priorities for
30 harmful algal blooms in the state, including detection,
31 prediction, mitigation, and control;
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1829
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1 (c) Develop recommendations that can be implemented by
2 state and local governments to develop a response plan and to
3 predict, mitigate, and control the effects of harmful algal
4 blooms; and
5 (d) Make recommendations to the department by October
6 1, 1999, for research, detection, monitoring, prediction,
7 mitigation, and control of harmful algal blooms in the state.
8 (3) After the completion of the tasks specified in
9 subsection (2), the task force may be continued at the
10 pleasure of the secretary.
11 Section 2. (1)(a) The Florida Marine Research
12 Institute shall implement a program designed to increase the
13 knowledge of factors that control harmful algal blooms,
14 including red tide, and to gain knowledge to be used for the
15 early detection of factors precipitating harmful algal blooms,
16 for accurate prediction of the extent and seriousness of
17 harmful algal blooms, and for undertaking successful efforts
18 to control and mitigate the effects of harmful algal blooms.
19 (b) The Legislature intends that this program enhance
20 and address areas that are not adequately covered in the
21 cooperative federal-state program known as Ecology and
22 Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB-Florida), which
23 includes the University of South Florida, Mote Marine
24 Laboratory, and the Department of Environmental Protection.
25 (c) The goal of this program is to enable resource
26 managers to assess the potential for public health damage and
27 economic damage from a given bloom and to undertake control
28 and mitigation efforts through the development and application
29 of an integrated detection and prediction network for
30 monitoring and responding to the development and movement of
31 harmful algal blooms in state marine and estuarine waters.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1829
547-136A-99
1 (2) A financial disbursement program is created within
2 the Florida Marine Research Institute to implement the
3 provisions of this act. Under the program, the institute shall
4 provide funding and technical assistance to government
5 agencies, research universities, coastal local governments,
6 and organizations with scientific and technical expertise, for
7 the purposes of harmful-algal-bloom research, economic impact
8 study, monitoring, detection, control, and mitigation. The
9 program may be funded from state, federal, and private
10 contributions.
11 Section 3. There is hereby appropriated from the
12 General Revenue Fund to the Florida Marine Research Institute
13 for fiscal year 1999-2000 the sum of $3 million to carry out
14 the purposes of this act.
15 (a) From these funds, the sum of $1 million shall be
16 used for continuation of the contracts for the study of
17 harmful algal blooms let to Manatee Community College, the
18 University of Florida, the University of Miami, the National
19 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Food
20 and Drug Administration, the St. Johns River Water Management
21 District, the Florida Department of Health, the Mote Marine
22 Laboratory, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and the
23 citizens group Solutions to Avoid Red Tide, in fiscal year
24 1998-1999, in order to bring these 10 studies to completion.
25 These contracts should promote state, federal, and private
26 partnerships. No more than $75,000 shall be used by the
27 Florida Marine Research Institute for technical administration
28 of these contracts. Up to $50,000 shall be used by the
29 institute to support the travel and document-production costs
30 of the Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms.
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Florida House of Representatives - 1999 HB 1829
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1 (b) Of the remaining $2 million, $1 million shall be
2 provided to the Mote Marine Laboratory and $1 million shall be
3 provided to the Florida Marine Research Institute, to be used
4 for a cooperative study of harmful algal blooms to address
5 areas of critical need.
6 (c) Contractual services procured under this section
7 are not subject to the provisions of s. 287.057, Florida
8 Statutes.
9 Section 4. No rules shall be required to implement
10 this act.
11 Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 1999.
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14 HOUSE SUMMARY
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Establishes a Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms to
16 determine research and monitoring priorities and control
and mitigation strategies for harmful algal blooms in
17 state marine and estuarine waters. Requires
recommendations to the Department of Environmental
18 Protection by October 1, 1999. Provides for a program
within the Florida Marine Research Institute to fund the
19 task force's priorities and provide funding and technical
assistance to governmental agencies and research
20 universities and organizations. Provides an
appropriation.
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