FROM THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA:
Florida could see up to $1.4 billion from the federal government for Everglades restoration and port improvements under a bipartisan water resources bill that President Barack Obama signed into law Tuesday.
The Water Resources Reform and Development Act, the first since 2007 and the first to be signed by a president in 14 years, authorizes the future spending of federal dollars for eight U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects in the Sunshine State, from the deepening of the Jacksonville harbor to improving the water quality in the Everglades.
“This bipartisan bill will provide the needed funding to ensure the safety of our ports and the competitiveness of our shipping industry,” U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Fla., said in a statement.
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., added in his own statement that the Florida projects are “important for either the environment or the economy.”
For example, port projects in the act include the deepening of the Jacksonville harbor; deepening the Canaveral harbor; and widening and deepening the Lake Worth Inlet. A project’s inclusion in the act does not guarantee federal funding, but it improves the odds of being included in future spending bills.
“Congressional authorization is the first step,” said Col. Alan Dodd, the Army Corps’ Jacksonville District commander, in a release. “It now makes these projects eligible for funding during the appropriations process. After receiving appropriations, we can then finalize designs, partnership agreements and contract actions that will enable us to start construction.”
Still, Doug Wheeler, president of the Florida Ports Council, said in a release that the act will improve the Corps’ approval process and the “long-overdue release” of funds, which will “assist Florida ports’ efforts in creating jobs, growing the economy and continuing to position Florida as a global hub for business.”
Julie Hill-Gabriel, Audubon’s director of Everglades policy, said in a release that “for the first time in seven years, federal and state restoration partners can start work on new Everglades projects” while continuing work to increase wetland habitat, protect the fragile coastal estuaries, and secure the drinking water for more than 7 million Floridians.