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Washington, DC -- U.S. Rep. Ron Klein (FL-22) Monday spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives in support of the National Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2007, which provides a number of provisions that will strengthen protections that are currently in place of nation’s our coral reefs. The House will vote for the legislation, which Klein co-sponsors, under suspension Monday evening.
“Our coral reefs in South Florida are among the largest in the world, and contribute over $2 billion annually to our local economy. However, because of a variety of threats, our beautiful coral reefs are deteriorating and over 60% are in grave danger of disappearing by 2050.
“The Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2007 will help reverse this trend by reauthorizing the Coral Reef Conservation Act of 2000 while making some key improvements that will help streamline federal management of coral reef ecosystems. I was also proud to work with my colleague and other Florida cosponsor, Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, to make sure that the National Coral Reef Institute receives the necessary authorizing language for future appropriations. NCRI is one of the leading coral reef research institutes in the world and will host the 11th Annual International Symposium next year. While there’s still a way to go before consistent appropriations happen, passage of this bill in the House is an important step forward. .
“Finally, the Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act of 2007 will give NOAA the much-needed ability to respond and to vessel groundings. It is critically important that we adopt better prevention strategies, such as closing anchorage sites in shallow waters that are close to coral reefs. But we also need to respond faster when a vessel runs aground because the sooner the corals can be restored, the better chances it has for survival.”
The Coral Reef Conservation Amendments Act will improve the current Act in a number of important ways:
• It provides authorizing language that will allow the federal government to enter in cooperative agreements with any university, local academic institution, or research center that supports coral reef research and conservation. Specifically, this language also authorizes NOAA to extend the current agreements with all three existing coral reef institutes and would open the door for regular funding to the National Coral Reef Institute at Nova Southeastern University.
• It increases community-based conservation. The most successful conservation efforts involve all the stakeholders found in a community. This bill will create community-based planning grants to enable local communities to prepare and implement plans for increased protection of coral reefs in their communities.
• It allows NOAA to respond to vessel groundings. As hard as it is to believe, if a vessel runs aground on a coral reef outside of a National Marine Sanctuary, NOAA does not have the authority to respond to the event to minimize the damage. This bill would give NOAA that authorization.
• It codifies the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force, which was created by Executive Order in 1998. The goal of the Task Force is to lead, coordinate and strengthen Federal government actions to preserve and protect coral reef ecosystems. This bill also instructs the federal agencies to assist in the implementation of the National Action Plan to Conserve Coral Reefs and to assist the states and territories in the implementation of local action strategies to conserve coral reefs.
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