FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1, 2002
Clean
Boating Partnership to Support Governor's Water Protection
Program with $250,000 Grant
TALLAHASSEE - The
Florida Clean Boating Partnership recently announced its
recommendation to designate $250,000 in support of
Governor Bush's five-year Florida Keys Water Protection
Plan. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection's
(DEP) Division of Law Enforcement today accepted the
Partnership's recommendation, saying that those funds
would be dedicated specifically for the purchase of pump
out stations and pump out vessels in the Florida Keys. The
$250,000 will come from federal Clean Vessel Act (CVA)
grant funds. The CVA of 1992 authorizes a competitive
grant program for states to construct pump out and dump
stations to dispose of vessel sewage from recreational
boaters.
The Clean Boating
Partnership was created in 2000 to administer a clean
marina program under the CVA. This partnership is
comprised of members representing DEP, marina and boatyard
owners and operators throughout the state, International
Marina Institute, the U.S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard
Auxiliary, Marine Industries Association of Florida, and
Florida Sea Grant. The goal of this partnership is to
foster cooperative approaches with the marine industry on
issues that affect Florida aquatic ecosystems, and to
create a liaison between the industry and governmental
agencies on those approaches.
DEP’s mission of
providing more environmental protection with less process
is proving successful for the marine industry through this
partnership. Since its designation as a "no discharge
zone" by the Environmental Protection Agency on June
19, 2002, the Florida Keys have been given highest
priority status by DEP’s Division of Law Enforcement for
additional federal funding. This additional grant, and the
continued assistance of the Clean Boating Partnership,
will go a long way toward enhancing and preserving the
water quality within the Florida Keys National Marine
Sanctuary.
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Press Office
