The Alabama House on Thursday concurred on final passage of legislation sponsored by State Representative Chip Brown, R-Hollinger’s Island, that would create the Alabama Seagrass Restoration Task Force in state law and outline its membership and duties.
“Seagrass anchors numerous aquatic ecosystems throughout the Gulf Coast area, and its loss is resulting in a domino effect of negative environmental impacts,” Brown said. “This task force will bring experts and stakeholders together to ensure they are all rowing in the same direction as we work to preserve the beautiful coastal and bay environments that Alabama has been blessed to enjoy.”
House Bill 38 would charge the newly formed task force with “formulating, testing, and developing innovative, effective, cost-efficient, and environmentally sustainable technologies to restore coastal seagrass ecosystems.”
The task force would hold its initial organizational meeting before January 1, 2027. It would then develop a 10-year Alabama Seagrass and Sea Oats Restoration Plan. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab would provide staff support.
No later than the first day of each legislative session, the task force would provide lawmakers an update on its progress creating, implementing and administering the plan.
The task force would be co-chaired by the executive director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab and the president of the University of South Alabama. Members also would include the chairman of the House Ports, Waterways, and Intermodal Transit Committee, the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, the director of the Mobile Bay National Estuary Program and seven appointees split among the governor, the lieutenant governor, the Senate president pro tempore, the speaker of the Alabama House, the Mobile County Commission and the Baldwin County Commission.
Brown’s legislation is being transmitted to Governor Kay Ivey for review, signature and enactment.
