Rubio, Gimenez seek boost in federal funding for South Florida environmental projects
Florida Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Carlos Gimenez introduced legislation Thursday to exponentially increase federal grant funding for environmental projects in South Florida.
The pair’s South Florida Ecosystem Enhancement Act would allocate $50 million every year for the Environmental Protection Agency’s South Florida Geographic Program, starting in the current fiscal year and through 2026. The grant program provides funding to improve water quality and restore wetlands in South Florida.
For comparison, the program received $6 million in the 2021 fiscal year, which itself was an increase from past years. From 2016 through 2021, the program received roughly $19 million cumulatively, a fraction of what Rubio and Gimenez are proposing as the annual funding level.
Rubio, the state’s senior senator, introduced the legislation in the U.S. Senate, while Gimenez, a first-term representative and former Miami-Dade County mayor, introduced an identical bill in the House.
Gimenez said in a statement that the legislation will help “get much needed money to South Florida ecological restoration projects. These projects will help preserve South Florida’s precious ecosystems for generations to come.”
In addition to the proposed funding boost, the legislation seeks to expand both the geographic scope and the approved uses for the grant program. The bill would expand the program’s boundaries, which begin at the southern end of Florida’s coral reefs, up to the Indian River Lagoon on the east coast and the Charlotte Harbor on the west coast.
“Restoring South Florida’s ecosystems is incredibly important. These aquatic habitats are the beating heart of Florida’s culture and economy, and our communities rely heavily on their vitality,” Rubio said in a statement. “Reauthorizing the South Florida Geographic Program is an important step to restoring these unique habitats.”
In addition to the restoration projects, the bill would enable the grant money to go toward educational grants for organizations seeking to educate the public on Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and other ecosystems in South Florida.
The proposal, which would commit the Biden administration to increased funding for South Florida projects, comes after Rubio, Gimenez and every other Florida Republican voted against President Joe Biden’s infrastructure law last year.
Under that law, the Biden administration announced last month $1.1 billion for Everglades restoration for the 2022 fiscal year. Despite voting against the law, Rubio criticized the funding level as insufficient because it was less than the $1.5 billion requested by the Florida delegation and because it did not include funding for the Everglades Agricultural Area Reservoir.
Rubio sent a letter Thursday to Biden requesting that the president include an additional $725 million for Everglades restoration in his 2023 fiscal year budget proposal, which will be unveiled in the coming weeks.
This story was originally published February 17, 2022 at 4:04 PM.
