HB297ENGROSSED
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EZR49C-2
By Representative Lipscomb
RFD: Ports, Waterways & Intermodal Transit
First Read: 12-Apr-23
2023 Regular Session
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A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to consumption of fishes; to require the State
Health Officer to issue advisories concerning fish consumption
and to establish a panel to advise on and discuss this issue;
to require the Department of Environmental Management to test
fishes for pollutants and post signage at water bodies
notifying of an active fish consumption advisory; to require
the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to notify
fish license purchasers of all active advisories.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as
the Safe and Healthy Outdoor Recreation Act of 2023.
Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares the
following:
(1) That outdoor recreation, including catching,
cooking, and eating fish is a fundamental way of life for
countless residents of this state.
(2) That all Alabamians should have the right to know
whether it is safe to consume the fish they catch.
(3) That outdoor recreation-related illnesses stemming
from contact with polluted waters and contaminated fish pose a
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severe public health risk to the people of Alabama.
(4) That persons who legally discharge pollutants into
state waters owe a duty to the public to provide a clear and
concise notification of where such discharge points are
located.
Section 3. (a) The State Health Officer, in
consultation with the Director of the Alabama Department of
Environmental Management, shall issue a fish consumption
advisory when it is reasonable and necessary to protect public
health and well-being. The Alabama Department of Public Health
shall publish the advisory on its website in a clear and
concise manner and maintain a dedicated telephone number to
provide information related to the advisory.
(b) The State Health Officer shall establish an
advisory panel to analyze, develop, and implement the fish
consumption advisory program. The panel shall consist of, in a
number to be determined by the State Health Officer,
representatives from the Alabama Department of Public Health,
the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and any
other agency, business, nongovernmental organization, or
individual the State Health Officer determines appropriate.
The panel shall meet at least annually and consider tissue
sampling methodologies, water bodies, and fish species to be
sampled, pollutant toxicity limits, strategies for
communicating consumption advisories to the public, and any
other subjects relevant to the program.
Section 4. The Alabama Department of Environmental
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Management, in consultation with the Alabama Department of
Public Health, shall conduct regular fish tissue monitoring to
evaluate safe consumption levels of fish species. The Alabama
Department of Environmental Management shall annually publish
a report on its website, which shall be made available for
public comment, detailing and identifying the methodology and
reasoning for evaluating the species and pollutants chosen.
Section 5. The Alabama Department of Environmental
Management shall post signage at any public boat ramp or
fishing area adjacent to state waters with an active fish
consumption advisory notifying the public of this fact. The
signage shall include a picture and the common name of each
fish species with an active advisory, the recommended
consumption levels for humans of these species, a specific
warning for pregnant or nursing women, and an Internet address
and telephone number from which to obtain additional
information a telephone number for the department, an Internet
address, and quick responses code for a website from which to
obtain information about fish consumption advisories, water
quality, and water discharge permits. The Alabama Department
of Environmental Management may work with other state
agencies, political subdivisions of the state, nongovernmental
organizations, private corporations, or any other organization
to implement this subsection.
Section 6. The Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources shall, with each issuance of an electronic fishing
license, notify the licensee of current fish consumption
advisories by providing an Internet address to access all
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active advisories online.
Section 7. This act shall become effective immediately
following its passage and approval by the Governor, or its
otherwise becoming law.
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House of Representatives
Read for the first time and referred
to the House of Representatives
committee on Ports, Waterways &
Intermodal Transit
................12-Apr-23
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
1 amendment
................20-Apr-23
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 104
Nays 0
Abstains 0
................02-May-23
John Treadwell
Clerk
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