Miscellaneous

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENT TRUST FUND
Departmental

NOTICE OF PUBLIC REVIEW AND COMMENT PERIOD

The Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas, Southeast Florida Coral Reef Initiative (SEFCRI) announces a public review and comment period for the Maritime Industry and Coastal Construction Impacts (MICCI) focus team’s “Project 2: Guidelines for rapid response to, and restoration of, coral reef injuries in southeast Florida.”

This project involves the development of a guidelines document designed for agency coordination for rapid response to, and restoration of, coral reef injuries. The document is intended to provide guidance for agency policies concerning injuries to coral reef ecosystems, including technical guidelines for triage and restoration of such injuries. This document was created as a result of a two-day workshop involving agencies with relevant emergency response processes. The focus of the workshop was to: 1) Research the existing agency emergency response processes of agencies to identify current procedures, and 2) Compile existing technologies and procedures for triage and restoration of damaged coral habitats.

The draft will be available beginning December 1, 2006. The comment period is from Friday, December 1, 2006 through Monday, January 1, 2007. The draft will be posted to the FDEP – SEFCRI website for public review and comment. A copy of the MICCI Project 2 draft document can be obtained from the website at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/programs/coral or by contacting Nikki Poulos, MICCI Program Coordinator, via email to Nikki.Poulos@dep.state.fl.us or by writing to: Nikki Poulos, MICCI Program Coordinator, Biscayne Bay Environmental Center, 1277 N. E. 79th Street Causeway, Miami, FL 33139, or calling (305)795-2111.

Please send your comment via e-mail to Lisa Gregg at lisa.gregg@myfwc.com or by writing to: Lisa Gregg, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries, 620 South Meridian Street, Mailbox 4B3, Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600. Appropriate public comments will be incorporated into a final document. The final document will be carefully prepared, produced, and distributed (as possible under funding constraints) to appropriate agencies, NGOs, and the public.