Senate Bill sb1476
CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1476
By Senator Bennett
21-1285A-03 See HB
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to protection of manatees;
3 amending s. 370.12, F.S.; providing that the
4 proceeds of the Save the Manatee Trust Fund
5 shall be used exclusively for funding law
6 enforcement positions within the Fish and
7 Wildlife Conservation Commission for
8 enforcement of laws designed to protect manatee
9 populations in certain counties; requiring an
10 annual report; providing an effective date.
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12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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14 Section 1. Paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4) of
15 section 370.12, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
16 370.12 Marine animals; regulation.--
17 (4) ANNUAL FUNDING OF PROGRAMS FOR MARINE ANIMALS.--
18 (a) Each fiscal year the Save the Manatee Trust Fund
19 shall be available to fund law enforcement positions within
20 the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission for the purpose
21 of enforcing laws designed to protect manatee populations.
22 Persons employed in such positions shall be assigned to
23 perform their law enforcement duties in counties having the
24 highest incidences of manatee deaths and injuries an impartial
25 scientific benchmark census of the manatee population in the
26 state. Weather permitting, the study shall be conducted
27 annually by the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and
28 the results shall be made available to the President of the
29 Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the
30 Governor and Cabinet for use in the evaluation and development
31 of manatee protection measures. In addition, the Save the
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2003 SB 1476
21-1285A-03 See HB
1 Manatee Trust Fund shall be available for annual funding of
2 activities of public and private organizations and those of
3 the commission intended to provide manatee and marine mammal
4 protection and recovery effort; manufacture and erection of
5 informational and regulatory signs; production, publication,
6 and distribution of educational materials; participation in
7 manatee and marine mammal research programs, including carcass
8 salvage and other programs; programs intended to assist the
9 recovery of the manatee as an endangered species, assist the
10 recovery of the endangered or threatened marine mammals, and
11 prevent the endangerment of other species of marine mammals;
12 and other similar programs intended to protect and enhance the
13 recovery of the manatee and other species of marine mammals.
14 The commission shall annually solicit advisory recommendations
15 from the Save the Manatee Committee affiliated with the Save
16 the Manatee Club, as identified and recognized in Executive
17 Order 85-19, on the use of funds from the Save the Manatee
18 Trust Fund.
19 (b) By December 1 each year, the Fish and Wildlife
20 Conservation Commission shall provide the President of the
21 Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a
22 written report, enumerating the amounts and purposes for which
23 all proceeds in the Save the Manatee Trust Fund for the
24 previous fiscal year are expended, in a manner consistent with
25 those recovery tasks enumerated within the manatee recovery
26 plan as required by the Endangered Species Act. Such report
27 shall identify the number of additional law enforcement
28 positions which were funded and shall provide a list of the
29 counties to which the personnel were assigned.
30 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.