Florida Senate - 2018 SB 1118
By Senator Perry
8-01583-18 20181118__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to the Florida LAKEWATCH Program;
3 amending s. 1004.49, F.S.; specifying that the Florida
4 LAKEWATCH Program resides within the School of Forest
5 Resources and Conservation’s Fisheries and Aquatic
6 Sciences Program at the University of Florida;
7 revising the duties of the Fisheries and Aquatic
8 Sciences Program; authorizing the Department of
9 Environmental Protection to use program data under
10 certain circumstances; providing an effective date.
11
12 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
13
14 Section 1. Section 1004.49, Florida Statutes, is amended to
15 read:
16 1004.49 Florida LAKEWATCH Program.—The Florida LAKEWATCH
17 Program is hereby created within the School of Forest Resources
18 and Conservation’s Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program
19 Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture of the Institute of Food
20 and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida. The
21 purpose of the program is to provide public education and
22 training with respect to the water quality of Florida’s lakes.
23 The Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences Program Department of
24 Fisheries and Aquaculture may, in implementing the LAKEWATCH
25 Program:
26 (1) Train, supervise, and coordinate volunteers to collect
27 water quality data from Florida’s lakes, streams, and estuaries.
28 (2) Compile the data collected by volunteers.
29 (3) Disseminate information to the public about the
30 LAKEWATCH Program.
31 (4) Provide or loan equipment to volunteers in the program.
32 (5) Perform other functions as may be necessary or
33 beneficial in coordinating the LAKEWATCH Program.
34
35 Data collected and compiled shall be used to establish trends
36 and provide general background information and may shall in no
37 instance be used by the Department of Environmental Protection
38 if the data collection methods meet sufficient quality assurance
39 and quality control requirements in a regulatory proceeding.
40 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.