Senate Bill 2296

AN ACT TO RECOMMEND THE ASSESSMENT OF THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF THE NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE STATE; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Mississippi is blessed with a wealth of breathtaking and highly valuable natural resources. The state's beaches, forests, wetlands and other natural resources provide countless benefits to the public. In order to make wise policy planning, and regulatory decisions, it is important to understand the worth of these resources. The benefits provided by natural capital include both goods and services. Goods are commodities like timber and fish that can be weighted and transported. In contrast, ecosystem services or ecoservices include such things as temporary storage of floodwaters by wetlands, long-term storage of climate-altering greenhouse gases in forests and numerous others. It is the intent of the Legislature that the value of these resources be quantified and its economic value be expressed in dollars.

SECTION 2. (1) The Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, and Department of Marine Resources are urged to conduct a two-year study to quantify the value of the state's natural resources.

(2) The study of the value of Mississippi's ecosystem services shall include, but not be limited to: marine ecosystems, forests cover, urban green space, beaches, agricultural land and open freshwater and riparian buffers.

(3) The study of the value of Mississippi's ecosystem goods shall include, but not be limited to: water resources, mineral resources, agricultural products, wildlife, commercial fish harvest, recreational fish harvest, nonfarm plants, commercially marketable timber and fuel wood.

(4) The study shall be filed with the Legislature no later than July 1, 2018.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.