The State designated Areas of Critical State Concern are given in 

 Figure 12. The two in Southwest Florida are the Big Cypress area in Collier 

 and Monroe Counties and the Florida Keys in southern Monroe County. 



Outstanding Florida Waters 



The Florida State Department of Environmental Regulation, under its water 

 quality designation authority, has set aside certain bodies of water and seg- 

 ments of other water bodies for special protection. Selected bodies of water 

 are designated "Outstanding Florida Resource Waters" because of their unique 

 ecological characteristics and value, and are protected to retain their essen- 

 tially pristine state (Florida Administrative Code Ch. 17-3). No further 

 degradation of these bodies of water is authorized. Southwest Florida has a 

 large number of these classified water bodies. The complete list is available 

 in Ch. 17-3, FAC. 



ENVIRONMENTAL ACTS AND REGULATIONS 



Throughout this report specific references have been made to existing 

 State, Federal and local regulatory standards in appropriate natural resource 

 categories. A discussion of the Federal and State water quality standards 

 classification scheme was outlined under the water resource issues, and a sim- 

 ilar examination of State and Federal standards was undertaken in the air 

 quality segment of this report. These discussions, however, fail to provide a 

 sufficient broad-based review of the existing Federal, State and local regula- 

 tory framework within which reviewers and users of this report can be guided. 

 The following analysis is a brief review of major environmental acts and regu- 

 lations. 



FEDERAL 



Federal Aid and Wildlife Federation Act, 1937 



The purpose of this act is to inaugurate a program of Federal aid to the 

 states for the restoration and management of wildlife. Through this Act, 

 about $350 million have been allotted to state fish and game department wild- 

 life restoration projects. 



Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 



The purpose of this bill is to provide a framework in which the problems 

 of the commercial fishing industry can be resolved, and give recognition to 

 the importance of outdoor recreation. This Act established the United States 

 Fish and Wildlife Service in the Department of Interior. 



Fish Restoration and Management Projects Act 



This act is designed to provide Federal aid to the states for restoration 

 in the management of their fisheries resources, financed through a special 

 fund from a tax on fishing rods, reels, bait, flies, and other fishing related 

 expenditures. 



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