Huge news! My legislation, the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act, is officially the law! The President signed my bill today to require the first-ever federal action plan to combat harmful algal blooms in our community.
For decades, the federal government has played a role in polluting our communities. From manipulating waterways to allowing toxins to be flushed into our estuaries, it had no regard for public health and the safety of our families.
This law will help undo the effects of that abuse. Similar federal action plans have already been completed for regions like the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. It’s past time that Florida and the Everglades got the same attention. Finally, a special interagency task force will assess the causes, consequences and solutions to this public health crisis.
This is a big win, but we cannot let our foot off the gas. I’m going to continue to fight to ensure that our community has every available tool when it comes to cleaning up our water because our environment, our economy and our health depend on it.
