FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday morning signed legislation aimed at protecting Florida’s natural resources.
SB 1638 appropriates $535 million for environmental resource management and requires the Department of Revenue to deposit into the Indian Gaming Revenue Trust Fund within the Department of Financial Services a specified percentage of the revenue share payments received under the gaming compact between the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the State of Florida. The legislation will create the Local Trail Management Grant Program within the Department of Environmental Protection for a specified purpose and authorize the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to enter into voluntary agreements with private landowners for environmental services within the Florida wildlife corridor.
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The bill will give $150 million for repairs and upgrades to both the Central and South Florida water management systems. It will affect 9 million Floridians.
The money will also go toward studying Lake Okeechobee.
DeSantis said the state is expecting to get $750 million a year from the Seminole gaming compact and it plans to use that money for environmental conservation efforts:
- $100 million for the Resilient Flordia Grant Program
- $100 million for the Florida wildlife corridor
- $100 million for the management of uplands and the removal of invasive species