HB14INTRODUCED
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HB14
NVE5J8T-1
By Representative Lipscomb
RFD: State Government
First Read: 05-Feb-24
2024 Regular Session
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6 ZAK 11/07/2023 NVE5J8T-1 (L) 2023-3415 tgw
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2024 Regular Session
SYNOPSIS:
This bill would require the State Health
Officer to issue an advisory regarding the consumption
of fishes when deemed appropriate.
This bill would require the State Health
Officer to establish a panel to provide
recommendations on fish consumption advisories.
This bill would require the Alabama Department
of Environmental Management to periodically evaluate
fishes for pollutants.
This bill would require the Alabama Department
of Environmental Management to post signage at public
boat ramps adjacent to waters with an active fish
consumption advisory.
This bill would also require the Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources to provide access
to a website for fish consumption advisories with each
issuance of an electronic fishing license.
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 provide recommendations on such
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and to establish a panel to provide recommendations on such
advisories; to require the Alabama Department of Environmental
Management to test fishes for pollutants and post signage at
relevant boat ramps notifying of active fish consumption
advisories; to require the Department of Conservation and
Natural Resources to provide access to a website for fish
consumption advisories with the issuance of an electronic
fishing license.
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.
Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares all of
the following:
(1) Outdoor recreation, including catching, cooking,
and eating fish is a fundamental way of life for countless
residents of this state.
(2) All residents of this state should have the right
to know whether it is safe to consume the fish they catch.
(3) Outdoor recreation-related illnesses stemming from
contact with polluted waters and contaminated fish pose a
severe public health risk to the residents of this state.
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.
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provide information related to the advisory.
(b)(1) The State Health Officer shall establish an
advisory panel to provide recommendations on how best to
analyze, develop, and implement the issuance of fish
consumption advisories.
(2) 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 to be necessary.
(3) 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 issuance of fish consumption
advisories.
Section 4. The Alabama Department of Environmental
Management, in consultation with the Alabama Department of
Public Health, shall conduct periodic fish tissue monitoring
to evaluate safe consumption levels of fishes. 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 adjacent
to state waters with an active fish consumption advisory
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to state waters with an active fish consumption advisory
providing notice of all active fish consumption advisories in
that body of water. The signage shall include a telephone
number for the department and 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 any other state agency, political
subdivision of this state, nongovernmental organization,
private corporation, or other entity to implement this
subsection.
Section 6. The Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources shall provide an Internet address from which all
active fish consumption advisories may be accessed with each
issuance of an electronic fishing license.
Section 7. This act shall become effective June 1,
2024.
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