(LATE FILED)	Amendment
Bill No. 1069

Amendment No. 524891

CHAMBER ACTION
Senate		House
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1	Representative Kendrick offered the following:
2
3	Amendment (with title amendment)
4	Between lines 88 and 89 insert:
5	Section 3.  Pilot program for the restoration of seagrass
6	beds.--
7	(1)  As used in this section, the term:
8	(a)  "Damages" means money damages paid by any person,
9	whether voluntarily or as a result of administrative or judicial
10	action, to the state as compensation, restitution, or punitive
11	damages for causing injury to, or the destruction of, the
12	seagrass beds within designated aquatic preserves adjacent to
13	Brevard County, Lee County, Manatee County, Monroe County, or
14	Pinellas County.
15	(b)  "Fund" means the Ecosystem Management and Restoration
16	Trust Fund.
17	(c)  "Seagrass bed" means a community of flowering
18	underwater plants as defined in s. 253.04(4)(a)2., Florida
19	Statutes, that are located within a designated aquatic preserve.
20	(2)  The Legislature finds that:
21	(a)  The preservation of seagrass beds is critical to
22	protecting the marine life, water quality, and ocean-based
23	economy of this state. Seagrass beds maintain water quality and
24	provide food, habitat, and nursery areas for numerous species of
25	marine life. This state's multimillion-dollar fishing and diving
26	industries depend on the health and productivity of the seagrass
27	beds. Estimates indicate that thousands of acres of seagrass
28	beds in this state have been scarred from boat propellers.
29	Impacts from boat groundings fragment the grass bed, restricting
30	the movement of the marine life that depends upon the habitat.
31	Seagrass beds can take up to a decade to recover from propeller
32	scars.
33	(b)  Seagrass beds are subject to instantaneous injury or
34	loss from a variety of negligent and willful acts in ways that
35	cannot be foreseen and provided for in the normal budget
36	process. Due to the unforseeability of such incidents, funds
37	have not been available for reimbursement of extraordinary
38	expenses incurred by the Department of Environmental Protection
39	in seeking compensation, on behalf of the residents of the
40	state, for the injury to, or destruction of, seagrass beds. As a
41	result, a significant amount of monetary damages recovered by
42	the state for injury to, or destruction of, its seagrass beds
43	are deposited into the general accounts of the State Treasury
44	and are not specifically set aside for the restoration or
45	rehabilitation of the injured or destroyed natural resources in
46	areas of the state where the injury or loss occurred.
47	(3)  The purpose of this section is to establish a pilot
48	program that provides for the immediate stabilization and
49	restoration of seagrass beds within an aquatic preserve adjacent
50	to Brevard, Lee, Manatee, Monroe, and Pinellas Counties where
51	damage has occurred.
52	(4)(a)  All damages recovered by or on behalf of the state
53	for injury to, or destruction of, the seagrass beds located
54	within an aquatic preserve adjacent to Brevard, Lee, Manatee,
55	Monroe, and Pinellas Counties, which would otherwise be
56	deposited into the general revenue accounts of the State
57	Treasury or into the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, shall be
58	deposited into the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Trust
59	Fund and shall remain in that fund until expended by the
60	Department of Environmental Protection under the pilot program
61	established in this section.
62	(b)  Moneys in the fund shall be expended only for
63	restoration, assessment, or rehabilitation of such injured or
64	destroyed seagrass beds through a contract with a qualified
65	person. In order to prevent further erosion, turbidity, and
66	potential loss of natural resources, each contract must require
67	assessment and stabilization of the seagrass bed within 30 days
68	after an incident that damages the seagrass bed occurs, must use
69	a stabilization protocol following the guidelines in the Final
70	Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Seagrass
71	Restoration in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, and
72	must use only those stabilization techniques that are
73	scientifically proven and published in peer-reviewed literature.
74	(5)(a)  Each recipient of disbursements from the fund must
75	agree in advance that its accounts and records of expenditures
76	of such moneys are subject to audit at any time by appropriate
77	state officials and shall submit a final written report
78	describing its expenditures within 90 days after the moneys are
79	expended.
80	(b)  When payments are made to a state agency from the fund
81	under paragraph (4)(a), such payments shall be considered as
82	payments for extraordinary expenses, and other appropriations to
83	that agency may not be reduced by any amount as a result of such
84	payments.
85	(6)  The Department of Environmental Protection shall
86	evaluate the pilot program and report to the President of the
87	Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on
88	whether the pilot program should be expanded in order to restore
89	additional areas of the state's seagrass beds located within an
90	aquatic preserve. The report on the pilot program is due by
91	January 1, 2009.
92	(7)  The Department of Environmental Protection may adopt
93	rules under ss. 120.536(1) and 120.54, Florida Statutes, to
94	administer this section.
95	Section 4.  The Office of Program Policy Analysis and
96	Government Accountability shall evaluate the overall impact of
97	the recreational marine industry in this state and report its
98	findings to the Legislature by January 1, 2008. The evaluation
99	must:
100	(1)  Include a review of the incentives that are currently
101	available to retain or expand businesses associated with
102	recreational marine industry in this state and a comparison of
103	such incentives to incentives available to retain or expand such
104	businesses in states having a notable recreational marine-
105	industry presence, including North Carolina, Maryland, and
106	Washington.
107	(2)  Examine how many recreational marine-industry
108	businesses have left this state and relocated out of state and
109	identify potential policies to retain and expand recreational
110	marine businesses in this state.
111	(3)  Examine the economic impact of the recreational marine
112	industry in total dollars and jobs and review efforts related to
113	workforce retention and attraction, slip shortages, ramp
114	accessibility and shortages, and the impacts of boaters who are
115	residents in comparison to boaters who are transients.
116
117	======= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T =======
118	Remove line 12 and insert:
119	F.S.; providing civil penalties; creating a pilot program
120	for the restoration of seagrass beds within specified
121	counties; providing definitions; providing legislative
122	findings and purposes; requiring that damages recovered
123	for injury to, and the destruction of, seagrass beds in
124	certain counties and related natural resources be
125	deposited into the Ecosystem Management and Restoration
126	Trust Fund; requiring the Department of Environmental
127	Protection to expend the funds for restoration,
128	assessment, or rehabilitation of seagrass beds; providing
129	criteria governing such expenditures by the department;
130	providing for auditing and reporting by a private
131	recipient of funds; prohibiting any reduction of certain
132	appropriations to a state agency that receives funds under
133	the act; requiring that the department report to the
134	Legislature whether the pilot program should be expanded;
135	authorizing rulemaking by the department; requiring the
136	Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government
137	Accountability to evaluate the recreational marine
138	industry and report to the Legislature; providing an
139	effective

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.