TALLAHASSEE, Fla — Lawmakers on Wednesday passed a series of bills that call on Florida to invest $100 million per year into mitigating sea-level rise and flooding.
Florida senators voted unanimously to approve the two bills (HB 7019 / SB 1954) that would not only have the state commit millions to tackle these issues, but also create a grant program to aid local municipalities in combatting their own risks and vulnerabilities.
The Department of Environmental Protection would also be required to collect data assessing which areas are most at risk and create a statewide sea level rise projection that would be updated every five years.
A "flood-hub" for research and innovation would also be established at the University of South Florida's St. Petersburg campus.
Florida is home to seven of the ten cities that stand to have the largest property losses at risk from flooding. A study from the First Street Foundation found that almost one million residential properties in Florida were at risk of flooding, creating a collective loss of $8 billion this year.
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