HM 0575 2003
1	CHAMBER ACTION
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6	The Committee on Procedures recommends the following:
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8	Committee Substitute
9	Remove the entire bill and insert:
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11	House Memorial
12	A memorial to the Congress of the United States, urging
13	Congress to enact legislation to halt dredging on the
14	Apalachicola River, to continue authority of the United
15	States Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of
16	the river's navigation channel markings and lock system
17	for recreational boating, and to provide for the
18	restoration and maintenance of fish and wildlife resources
19	and habitats of the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola
20	Bay.
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22	WHEREAS, Florida's Apalachicola River has been designated
23	by the State of Florida as an outstanding Florida Water, and
24	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola Bay has been designated by the
25	United States as a National Estuarine Research Reserve and by
26	the United Nations as an International Biosphere Reserve, and
27	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay are
28	the cornerstones to the economy of six Florida counties and
29	provide thousands of jobs in commercial fishing, recreational
30	fishing, and ecotourism to Floridians, and
31	WHEREAS, Apalachicola Bay provides nearly 90 percent of
32	Florida's oysters and over 10 percent of the nation's oysters,
33	and
34	WHEREAS, the health and productivity of the Apalachicola
35	River and the bay into which it flows are dependent upon the
36	amount and quality of water that flows into and out of the
37	river, and
38	WHEREAS, the Apalachicola River has been subject to
39	navigational dredging performed by the United States Army Corps
40	of Engineers that has resulted in environmental harm, including
41	degraded water quality, loss of productive bottomland, hardwood
42	habitat, and damaged fish habitat, and
43	WHEREAS, the dredging of the Apalachicola River is not
44	economically efficient in that the Federal Government spends an
45	estimated $20 million a year to maintain the river for barge
46	traffic, which amounts to an expenditure of approximately
47	$30,000 per barge, and
48	WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the State of
49	Florida finds that the cessation of dredging on the Apalachicola
50	River, the continuation of the authority of the United States
51	Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of the river's
52	navigation channel markings and lock system for recreational
53	boating, and the restoration and maintenance of fish and
54	wildlife resources and habitats of the Apalachicola River and
55	Apalachicola Bay are essential to the continued ecological and
56	economic health and well-being of the region, NOW, THEREFORE,
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58	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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60	That the Legislature of the State of Florida hereby urges
61	Congress to enact legislation to halt dredging on the
62	Apalachicola River, to continue the authority of the United
63	States Army Corps of Engineers to perform maintenance of the
64	river's navigation channel markings and lock system for
65	recreational boating, and to provide for the restoration and
66	maintenance of fish and wildlife resources and habitats of the
67	Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay.
68	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
69	transmitted to the President of the United States, the President
70	of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States
71	House of Representatives, and to each member of the Florida
72	delegation to the United States Congress.