[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 102 (Tuesday, June 19, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4056-S4057]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  SA 3000. Mr. RUBIO submitted an amendment intended to be proposed to 
amendment SA 2910 proposed by Mr. Shelby to the bill H.R. 5895, making 
appropriations for energy and water development and related agencies 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes; 
which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

       At the end of title I of division A, add the following:
       Sec. 1__. (a) Congress finds that--
       (1) the restoration of the Everglades, as described in the 
     Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan authorized by title 
     VI of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 
     106-541; 114 Stat. 2680) (referred to in this section as the 
     ``Plan''), is the most ambitious environmental restoration 
     program in history;
       (2) the overarching objectives of the Plan are the 
     restoration, preservation, and protection of the south 
     Florida ecosystem, while providing for other water-related 
     needs of the region, including water supply and flood 
     protection;
       (3) the Plan should continue to be implemented as 
     authorized--
       (A) to ensure--

[[Page S4057]]

       (i) the protection of water quality in the south Florida 
     ecosystem;
       (ii) the reduction of the loss of fresh water from the 
     south Florida ecosystem; and
       (iii) the improvement of the environment of the south 
     Florida ecosystem; and
       (B) to achieve and maintain the benefits to the natural 
     system and human environment described in the Plan; and
       (4) the equal partnership between the Federal Government 
     and the State of Florida remains essential to accomplishing 
     the objectives of the Plan.
       (b) It is the sense of the Congress that--
       (1) the discharge of excess water by the Corps of Engineers 
     from Lake Okeechobee to the Caloosahatchee Estuary and the 
     Indian River Lagoon conflicts with the objectives of the 
     Plan;
       (2) the diversion of those Lake Okeechobee discharges to 
     project features like the Everglades Agricultural Area 
     Storage Reservoir, designed to store and treat water prior to 
     release into the Central Everglades, is an essential source 
     of fresh water for meeting the objectives of the Plan;
       (3) the peer-reviewed Dynamic Model for Everglades 
     Stormwater Treatment Areas developed by the Department of the 
     Interior is wholly satisfactory for demonstrating compliance 
     of congressionally authorized Plan projects with water 
     quality standards; and
       (4) the Plan authorizes a 50/50 Federal-State cost share 
     for all aspects of congressionally authorized restoration 
     projects, including water quality projects.
                                 ______