[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 33, Volume 3]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 33CFR385.8]

[Page 622-623]
 
                TITLE 33--NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
 
 CHAPTER II--CORPS OF ENGINEERS, DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                 DEFENSE
 
PART 385_PROGRAMMATIC REGULATIONS FOR THE COMPREHENSIVE EVERGLADES RESTORATION 
 
              Subpart B_Program Goals and Responsibilities
 
Sec.  385.8  Goals and purposes of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration 


Plan.

    (a) The Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP) is a 
framework for modifications and operational changes to the Central and 
Southern Florida Project. The overarching objective of the Plan is the 
restoration, preservation, and protection of the South Florida ecosystem 
while providing for other water-related needs of the region, including 
water supply and flood protection.
    (b) The Corps of Engineers, the South Florida Water Management 
District, and other non-Federal sponsors shall, in consultation with the 
Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
Department of Commerce, the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, the 
Seminole Tribe of Florida, the Florida Department of Environmental 
Protection, and other Federal, State, and local agencies, implement the 
Plan, as authorized by Congress, to ensure the protection of water 
quality in, the reduction of the loss of fresh water from, and the 
improvement of the environment of the South Florida ecosystem and to 
achieve and maintain the benefits to the natural system and human 
environment described in the Plan, and required pursuant to section 601 
of WRDA 2000, for as long as the project is authorized.
    (c) The goal of the Plan is to restore, preserve, and protect the 
South Florida ecosystem while providing for other water-related needs of 
the region. The Plan is designed to accomplish this by providing the 
quantity, quality, timing, and distribution of water necessary to 
achieve and sustain those essential hydrological and biological 
characteristics that defined the undisturbed South Florida ecosystem. As 
authorized by Congress, the restored South Florida ecosystem will be 
significantly healthier than the current system; however it will not 
completely replicate the undisturbed South Florida ecosystem and some 
areas may more closely replicate the undisturbed ecosystem than others. 
Initial modeling showed that most of the water

[[Page 623]]

generated by the Plan would go to the natural system in order to attain 
restoration goals, and the remainder of the water would go for use in 
the human environment. The Corps of Engineers, the South Florida Water 
Management District, and other non-Federal sponsors shall ensure that 
Project Implementation Reports identify the appropriate quantity, 
timing, and distribution of water to be dedicated and managed for the 
natural system that is necessary to meet the restoration goals of the 
Plan. In accordance with the ``Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan 
Assurance of Project Benefits Agreement,'' dated January 9, 2002 
pursuant to section 601(h)(2) of WRDA 2000, the South Florida Water 
Management District or the Florida Department of Environmental 
Protection shall make sufficient reservations of water for the natural 
system under State law in accordance with the Project Implementation 
Report for that project and consistent with the Plan before water made 
available by a project is permitted for a consumptive use or otherwise 
made unavailable.
    (d) The Corps of Engineers and non-Federal sponsors shall implement 
the Plan in a manner to continuously improve the expected performance 
level of the Plan based upon new information resulting from changed or 
unforeseen circumstances, new scientific and technical information, new 
or updated modeling; information developed through the adaptive 
assessment principles contained in the Plan; and future authorized 
changes to the Plan integrated into the implementation of the Plan.