Committee approves 10-year seagrass plan bill after amendment removing department implementation role

Chairman Representative Brown introduced House Bill 92, which would establish a task force to develop a 10-year seagrass restoration plan intended to guide restoration and protection of submerged aquatic vegetation that provides habitat, water filtration and shoreline stabilization.

Brown noted studies estimating seagrass decline of up to 30% since the late 19th century and cited local groups involved in restoration work, including Mobile Baykeeper, Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program.

Representative Marcus offered an amendment that removes the Department of Conservation as the implementing agency for the plan; Marcus and the chairman said funding and implementation could involve federal grants, private entities and state funds and that requiring the department to administer the effort could be impractical. Representative Simpson moved to adopt the amendment and Representative Givens seconded; the committee approved the amendment by voice vote.

After adopting the amendment the committee then approved the bill as amended. The motion to approve as amended was recorded as coming from Representative Marcus with a second from Representative Simpson. The committee chair announced that HB 92, as amended, received a favorable report and will proceed in the legislative process.

The bill directs the creation of a multi-stakeholder task force (membership and reporting timelines to be established in the bill text) charged with producing a 10-year plan to guide seagrass restoration across affected estuaries and bays. Committee discussion emphasized coordination among existing local organizations and the utility of multiple funding sources rather than assigning sole implementation responsibility to the Department of Conservation.

The committee did not record a roll-call vote for the amendment or the final favorable report; both measures passed by voice vote and chair announcement.