Okaloosa Island, Florida (CNN) -- If you live in Okaloosa County, Florida, or Destin on Florida's Emerald Coast and are wondering who's going to be calling the shots if black crude oil comes ashore -- wonder no more. It won't be the federal government. "I think there's a fundamental flaw in the federal response," said Dino Villani, the county's public safety director. "When you're down in the trenches trying to respond like we are, it doesn't work," he said. The Okaloosa County Commission voted unanimously this week to allow their emergency managers to override and overrule federal emergency managers and take on the responsibility of saving the sand and beaches that provide about 50 percent of their economy. Tourist bookings are down about 30 percent this summer, according to local officials.
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Okaloosa County commissioners say they are responsibly for their county
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Commissioners voted to allow county managers to overrule feds
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Commissioners know they could go to jail
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Adm. Thad Allen: "There is an overriding federal interest in those waterways"
So far, the area on Florida's panhandle has seen only weathered oil in the form of tar balls and tar mousse, but Okaloosa County, along with the city of @placeholder, have agreed to move forward with a unified plan to protect their beaches and waterways.