HB 1319 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Natural Resources recommends the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
10	A bill to be entitled
11	An act relating to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation
12	Commission; amending s. 370.12, F.S.; providing that a
13	portion of the proceeds of the Save the Manatee Trust Fund
14	shall be used for funding additional marine field law
15	enforcement positions within the commission for
16	enforcement of laws designed to protect manatee
17	populations in certain counties; deleting requirement that
18	the commission solicit advisory recommendations from the
19	Save the Manatee Committee; requiring additional
20	information to be included in an annual report regarding
21	expenditure of the funds in the trust fund; amending s.
22	20.331, F.S.; creating an Office of Boating and Waterways
23	within the commission; authorizing the commission to
24	assign duties to such office; amending s. 206.606, F.S.;
25	providing for transfer of moneys from the Fuel Tax
26	Collection Trust Fund to the Marine Resources Conservation
27	Trust Fund; amending s. 370.0603, F.S.; including boating
28	and boating-related activities, programs, and law
29	enforcement under purposes of the Marine Resources
30	Conservation Trust Fund; providing for the uses of the
31	funds transferred from the Fuel Tax Collection Trust Fund;
32	creating s. 327.47, F.S.; providing for competitive grant
33	programs developed and administered by the commission;
34	authorizing the commission to adopt rules; providing an
35	effective date.
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37	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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39	Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4) of
40	section 370.12, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
41	370.12 Marine animals; regulation.--
42	(4) ANNUAL FUNDING OF PROGRAMS FOR MARINE ANIMALS.--
43	(a) Each fiscal year the first $2 million of funds
44	deposited into the Save the Manatee Trust Fund shall be used
45	available to fund additional marine field law enforcement
46	positions within the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
47	for the purpose of enforcing laws designed to protect manatee
48	populations. Persons employed in such positions shall be
49	assigned to perform their law enforcement duties in counties
50	having the highest incidences of manatee deaths and injuries.
51	The remainder shall be available to fundan impartial scientific
52	benchmark census of the manatee population in the state. Weather
53	permitting, the study shall be conducted annually by the Fish
54	and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the results shall be
55	made available to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of
56	the House of Representatives, and the Governor and Cabinet for
57	use in the evaluation and development of manatee protection
58	measures. In addition, the Save the Manatee Trust Fund shall be
59	available for annual funding of activities of public and private
60	organizations and those of the commission intended to provide
61	manatee and marine mammal protection and recovery effort;
62	manufacture and erection of informational and regulatory signs;
63	production, publication, and distribution of educational
64	materials; participation in manatee and marine mammal research
65	programs, including carcass salvage and other programs; programs
66	intended to assist the recovery of the manatee as an endangered
67	species, assist the recovery of the endangered or threatened
68	marine mammals, and prevent the endangerment of other species of
69	marine mammals; and other similar programs intended to protect
70	and enhance the recovery of the manatee and other species of
71	marine mammals. The commission shall annually solicit advisory
72	recommendations from the Save the Manatee Committee affiliated
73	with the Save the Manatee Club, as identified and recognized in
74	Executive Order 85-19, on the use of funds from the Save the
75	Manatee Trust Fund.
76	(b) By December 1 each year, the Fish and Wildlife
77	Conservation Commission shall provide the President of the
78	Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written
79	report, enumerating the amounts and purposes for which all
80	proceeds in the Save the Manatee Trust Fund for the previous
81	fiscal year are expended, in a manner consistent with those
82	recovery tasks enumerated within the manatee recovery plan as
83	required by the Endangered Species Act. Such report shall
84	identify the number of additional law enforcement positions
85	which were funded and shall provide a list of the counties to
86	which the personnel were assigned.
87	Section 2. Subsection (3) of section 20.331, Florida
88	Statutes, is amended, and paragraph (e) is added to subsection
89	(5) of said section, to read:
90	20.331 Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.--
91	(3) The following administrative units are established
92	within the commission:
93	(a) Division of Administrative Services.
94	(b) Division of Law Enforcement.
95	(c) Division of Freshwater Fisheries.
96	(d) Division of Marine Fisheries.
97	(e) Division of Wildlife.
98	(f) Florida Marine Research Institute.
99	(g) Office of Boating and Waterways.
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101	The bureaus and offices of the Game and Fresh Water Fish
102	Commission existing on February 1, 1999, are established within
103	the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
104	(5) In further exercise of its duties, the Fish and
105	Wildlife Conservation Commission:
106	(e) Shall assign to the Office of Boating and Waterways
107	such powers, duties, responsibilities, and functions as are
108	necessary to manage and promote the use of state waterways for
109	safe and enjoyable boating, including oversight and coordination
110	of waterway markers on state waters, providing programs for
111	boating education and boating safety, improving boating access,
112	coordinating the removal of derelict vessels from state waters,
113	economic development initiatives to promote boating in this
114	state, and coordinating the submission of state comments on
115	marine events.
116	Section 3. Paragraph (d) is added to subsection (1) of
117	section 206.606, Florida Statutes, to read:
118	206.606 Distribution of certain proceeds.--
119	(1) Moneys collected pursuant to ss. 206.41(1)(g) and
120	206.87(1)(e) shall be deposited in the Fuel Tax Collection Trust
121	Fund. Such moneys, after deducting the service charges imposed
122	by s. 215.20, the refunds granted pursuant to s. 206.41, and the
123	administrative costs incurred by the department in collecting,
124	administering, enforcing, and distributing the tax, which
125	administrative costs may not exceed 2 percent of collections,
126	shall be distributed monthly to the State Transportation Trust
127	Fund, except that:
128	(d) Moneys collected from sales at marinas shall be
129	transferred to the Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund in
130	the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as follows:
131	1. $5 million in fiscal year 2003-2004.
132	2. $8.5 million in fiscal year 2004-2005.
133	3. $10.9 million in fiscal year 2005-2006.
134	4. $13.4 million in fiscal year 2006-2007 and each fiscal
135	year thereafter.
136	Section 4. Subsection (1) of section 370.0603, Florida
137	Statutes, is amended, and subsection (4) is added to said
138	section, to read:
139	370.0603 Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund;
140	purposes.--
141	(1) The Marine Resources Conservation Trust Fund within
142	the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission shall serve as a
143	broad-based depository for funds from various marine-related and
144	boating-relatedactivities and shall be administered by the
145	commission for the purposes of:
146	(a) Funding for marine and boatingresearch.
147	(b) Funding for fishery enhancement, including, but not
148	limited to, fishery statistics development, artificial reefs,
149	and fish hatcheries.
150	(c) Funding for marine law enforcement.
151	(d) Funding for administration of licensing programs for
152	recreational fishing, saltwater products sales, and related
153	information and education activities.
154	(e) Funding for the operations of the Fish and Wildlife
155	Conservation Commission.
156	(f) Funding for titling and registration of vessels.
157	(g) Funding for marine turtle protection, research, and
158	recovery activities from revenues that are specifically credited
159	to the trust fund for these purposes.
160	(h) Funding activities for rehabilitation of oyster
161	harvesting areas from which special oyster surcharge fees are
162	collected, including relaying and transplanting live oysters.
163	(i) Funding for boating-related activities, boating-
164	related programs, and law enforcement on all waters of this
165	state.
166	(4) Funds provided to the Marine Resources Conservation
167	Trust Fund from taxes distributed under s. 206.606 shall be used
168	for the following purposes:
169	(a) To provide additional water-related law enforcement,
170	including enforcement of laws and regulations related to the
171	protection of manatees.
172	(b) Placement of uniform waterway markers on state waters.
173	(c) To provide funding for construction and maintenance of
174	publicly owned boat ramps, piers, and docks, directly and
175	through grants to counties and municipalities.
176	(d) Implementation and administration of programs,
177	including competitive grant programs, related to boating safety,
178	boating education, manatee avoidance technology, and economic
179	development initiatives to promote boating in the state.
180	(e) Other activities of the Office of Boating and
181	Waterways.
182	Section 5. Section 327.47, Florida Statutes, is created to
183	read:
184	327.47 Competitive grant program.--The commission shall
185	develop and administer competitive grant programs to use funds
186	transferred pursuant to s. 206.606(1)(d) for the construction
187	and maintenance of publicly owned boat ramps, piers, and docks,
188	boater education, deployment of manatee avoidance technology,
189	and economic development initiatives to promote boating in the
190	state. The commission may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 120 to
191	administer this section.
192	Section 6. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.