Florida Senate - 2016                                    SB 1506
       
       
        
       By Senator Brandes
       
       22-01822A-16                                          20161506__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to manatees; amending s. 215.22, F.S.;
    3         exempting, until a specified date, certain revenue
    4         deposited in the Save the Manatee Trust Fund from a
    5         service charge assessed against state trust funds;
    6         amending s. 379.2431, F.S.; authorizing the
    7         expenditure of funds from the Save the Manatee Trust
    8         Fund to conduct a manatee speed zone study and
    9         statewide manatee distribution and abundance surveys
   10         and reports; creating s. 379.2434, F.S.; requiring the
   11         Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to contract
   12         with an independent, qualified party to conduct a
   13         manatee speed zone effectiveness study; requiring the
   14         commission to submit a report detailing the findings
   15         of the study to the Governor and Legislature by a
   16         specified date; requiring the commission to conduct a
   17         statewide manatee distribution and abundance survey
   18         and report; authorizing the commission to conduct
   19         additional surveys and reports as necessary;
   20         authorizing the expenditure of funds from the Save the
   21         Manatee Trust Fund to conduct the manatee speed zone
   22         study and statewide manatee distribution and abundance
   23         surveys and reports; providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Paragraph (w) is added to subsection (1) of
   28  section 215.22, Florida Statutes, to read:
   29         215.22 Certain income and certain trust funds exempt.—
   30         (1) The following income of a revenue nature or the
   31  following trust funds shall be exempt from the appropriation
   32  required by s. 215.20(1):
   33         (w) Until July 1, 2026, the Save the Manatee Trust Fund.
   34         Section 2. Subsection (4) of section 379.2431, Florida
   35  Statutes, is amended to read:
   36         379.2431 Marine animals; regulation.—
   37         (4) ANNUAL FUNDING OF PROGRAMS FOR MARINE ANIMALS.—
   38         (a) Each fiscal year the Save the Manatee Trust Fund shall
   39  be available to fund an impartial scientific benchmark census of
   40  the manatee population in the state. Weather permitting, the
   41  study shall be conducted annually by the Fish and Wildlife
   42  Conservation Commission and the results shall be made available
   43  to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House of
   44  Representatives, and the Governor and Cabinet for use in the
   45  evaluation and development of manatee protection measures. In
   46  addition, the Save the Manatee Trust Fund shall be available for
   47  annual funding of the provisions specified in s. 379.2434;
   48  activities of public and private organizations and those of the
   49  commission intended to provide manatee and marine mammal
   50  protection and recovery effort; manufacture and erection of
   51  informational and regulatory signs; production, publication, and
   52  distribution of educational materials; participation in manatee
   53  and marine mammal research programs, including carcass salvage
   54  and other programs; programs intended to assist the recovery of
   55  the manatee as an endangered species, assist the recovery of the
   56  endangered or threatened marine mammals, and prevent the
   57  endangerment of other species of marine mammals; and other
   58  similar programs intended to protect and enhance the recovery of
   59  the manatee and other species of marine mammals.
   60         (b) By December 1 each year, the Fish and Wildlife
   61  Conservation Commission shall provide the President of the
   62  Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written
   63  report, enumerating the amounts and purposes for which all
   64  proceeds in the Save the Manatee Trust Fund for the previous
   65  fiscal year are expended, in a manner consistent with those
   66  recovery tasks enumerated within the manatee recovery plan as
   67  required by the Endangered Species Act.
   68         (c) When the federal and state governments remove the
   69  manatee from status as an endangered or threatened species, the
   70  annual allocation may be reduced.
   71         (d) Up to 10 percent of the annual use fee deposited in the
   72  Save the Manatee Trust Fund from the sale of the manatee license
   73  plate authorized in s. 320.08058 may be used to promote and
   74  market the license plate issued by the Department of Highway
   75  Safety and Motor Vehicles after June 30, 2007.
   76         Section 3. Section 379.2434, Florida Statutes, is created
   77  to read:
   78         379.2434 Manatee speed zone effectiveness study; manatee
   79  distribution and abundance survey and report.
   80         (1) The commission shall contract with an independent,
   81  qualified party to conduct a study evaluating the effectiveness
   82  of manatee speed zones including if, and to what extent, risks
   83  to manatees are reduced by such zones. The commission shall
   84  submit a report to the Governor, the President of the Senate,
   85  and the Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1,
   86  2019, detailing the findings of the study.
   87         (2)By July 1, 2018, the commission shall conduct a
   88  statewide manatee distribution and abundance survey and report.
   89         (a)The survey and report must achieve a scientifically
   90  reliable population estimate.
   91         (b)The commission may repeat, as necessary to determine
   92  best practices, the statewide manatee distribution and abundance
   93  survey and report until at least July 1, 2026.
   94         (3)To provide additional funding for the speed zone
   95  effectiveness study and the manatee distribution and abundance
   96  surveys and reports, the Save the Manatee Trust Fund is exempted
   97  until July 1, 2026, from the requirement to contribute a service
   98  charge to the General Revenue Fund under s. 215.20. Funds
   99  required to implement the study, surveys, and reports may be
  100  appropriated from the Save the Manatee Trust Fund to the extent
  101  that funding is not available from other sources.
  102         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2016.