Thursday, April 13, 2023

A bill that would allow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to spend up to 5 million dollars a year to fund restoration efforts in the Apalachicola Bay is moving through the legislature

A bill that would allow the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to spend up to 5 million dollars a year to fund restoration efforts in the Apalachicola Bay is moving through the legislature.

The Apalachicola Bay once produced about 10 percent of the nation’s eastern oyster supply, but the fishery collapsed in 2013.

There is currently a moratorium on oyster harvesting in the bay as various groups work to restore the wild oyster population.

House Bill 407, which was filed by Representative Jason Shoaf, would authorize DEP provide financial assistance to the City of Apalachicola to implement projects that improve surface water and groundwater quality within the Apalachicola Bay Area of Critical State Concern.

Those agreements could include the construction of stormwater management facilities and central sewage collection facilities; the installation of onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems and direct and indirect potable reuse, and other water quality and water supply projects.

If signed into law the bill would take effect this year and continue for 5 years.

The bill this week was approved unanimously by the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee and now moves on to the House Infrastructure Strategies Committee.


https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2023/407/BillText/Filed/PDF



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