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PRESS RELEASE
Keys Wastewater Funding Included in Senate Bill |
Altamonte Springs, FL - Conservation groups and concerned citizens throughout the Florida Keys cheered the good news this week that a Senate committee has set aside $3 million for Keys wastewater projects for next fiscal year. The full Senate Appropriations Committee marked up the federal FY06 Energy and Water Appropriations bill late last week. The $3 million budget request is substantially more than the $1.3 million budgeted this year by the House of Representatives.
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bookmark article"Funding this project will help increase water quality in the Keys and maintain momentum for efforts to restore and protect a national treasure," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.
The Senate bill also includes language urging the Bush administration to budget for this project due to the interrelationship of this work to the Everglades Restoration project, Biscayne Bay and all of south Florida's nearshore waters.
"Our objective with this language is to have funding for the projects included in the administration's budget request in order to remove many of the funding hurdles we face each year," said Jenny Conner, the Conservancy's assistant director for policy and special projects. "Florida's Senate and House delegations fully support this project, but our biggest challenge is that we are not included in the administration's budget."
After the full Senate votes on this funding request, the Senate and House bills will go to conference where a final appropriation will be decided.
Further good news for Keys water quality came last week in separate congressional action. Language was included in the subcommittee's markup of the House Water Resources and Development bill that will allow credit for construction work or land acquisition for wastewater treatment plant construction prior to the signing of the Army Corps of Engineers partnership agreement.
The Nature Conservancy is a leading international, nonprofit organization that preserves plants, animals and natural communities representing the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
Article has been adapted from a news release issued by Nature Conservancy.
Click here for the original news release.
