A bill to reauthorize the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998, and for other purposes.

Summary: Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003 - Amends the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (Harmful Algal Act) to repeal the President's authority to disestablish the Interagency Task Force (thus retaining it).Requires the Task Force to: (1) work with the appropriate State, Indian tribe, and local governments to ensure that the assessment and research plans fulfill the requirements of the Harmful Algal Act; and (2) complete and submit to specified congressional committees not less than once every five years scientific assessments of harmful algal blooms and of hypoxia. Specifies amended assessment requirements.Requires the Task Force to: (1) make a specified scientific assessment of freshwater algal blooms; and (2) develop and submit to specified congressional committees a research plan providing for a comprehensive and coordinated national research program to develop prevention, control, and mitigation methods to reduce the impacts of harmful algal blooms on coastal ecosystems, public health, and the economy. Specifies research program requirements.Requires the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Task Force and appropriate State, Indian tribe, and local governments, to provide for local and regional scientific assessments of hypoxia or harmful algal blooms, as requested by State, Indian tribe, and local governments. Specifies assessment requirements.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia 
Research Amendments Act of 2003''.

SEC. 2. RETENTION OF TASK FORCE.

    Section 603 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and 
Control Act of 1998 (16 U.S.C. 1451 note) is amended by striking 
subsection (e).

SEC. 3. SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS AND RESEARCH PLANS.

    Such section 603 is further amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by adding at the end the following:
``In developing the assessments and research plans described in 
subsections (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f), the Task Force shall work with 
appropriate State, Indian tribe, and local governments to ensure that 
the assessments and research plans fulfill the requirements of 
subsections (b)(2), (c)(2), (d)(2), (e)(2), and (f)(2). Additionally, 
the Task Force shall consult with appropriate industry, academic 
institutions, and non-governmental organizations throughout the 
development of the assessments and research plans.''; and
            (2) by striking subsections (b) and (c) and inserting the 
        following:
    ``(b) Scientific Assessments of Harmful Algal Blooms.--(1) Not less 
than once every 5 years the Task Force shall complete and submit to the 
Committee on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee 
on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a scientific 
assessment of harmful algal blooms in United States coastal waters. The 
first such assessment shall be completed not later than 24 months after 
the date of enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research 
Amendments Act of 2003 and should consider only marine harmful algal 
blooms. All subsequent assessments shall examine both marine and 
freshwater harmful algal blooms, including those in the Great Lakes and 
upper reaches of estuaries.
    ``(2) The assessments under this subsection shall--
            ``(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and 
        economic costs, of harmful algal blooms;
            ``(B) describe the potential ecological and economic costs 
        and benefits of possible policy and management actions for 
        preventing, controlling, and mitigating harmful algal blooms;
            ``(C) evaluate progress made by, and the needs of, Federal 
        research programs on the causes, characteristics, and impacts 
        of harmful algal blooms; and
            ``(D) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent 
        unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and 
        departments with respect to research on harmful algal blooms.
    ``(c) Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms.--
(1) Not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of the Harmful 
Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003 the Task Force 
shall complete and submit to the Committee on Science of the House of 
Representatives and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 
Transportation of the Senate a scientific assessment of current 
knowledge about harmful algal blooms in freshwater locations such as 
the Great Lakes and upper reaches of estuaries, including a research 
plan for coordinating Federal efforts to better understand freshwater 
harmful algal blooms.
    ``(2) The freshwater harmful algal bloom scientific assessment 
shall--
            ``(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and 
        the economic costs, of harmful algal blooms with significant 
        effects on freshwater locations, including estimations of the 
        frequency and occurrence of significant events;
            ``(B) establish priorities and guidelines for a 
        competitive, peer-reviewed, merit-based interagency research 
        program, as part of the Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful 
        Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) project, to better understand the causes, 
        characteristics, and impacts of harmful algal blooms in 
        freshwater locations; and
            ``(C) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent 
        unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and 
        departments with respect to research on harmful algal blooms in 
        freshwater locations.
    ``(d) National Scientific Research Plan Into Reducing Impacts From 
Harmful Algal Blooms.--(1) Not later than 12 months after the date of 
enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research Amendments 
Act of 2003, the Task Force shall develop and submit to the Committee 
on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a research plan 
providing for a comprehensive and coordinated national research program 
to develop prevention, control, and mitigation methods to reduce the 
impacts of harmful algal blooms on coastal ecosystems (including the 
Great Lakes), public health, and the economy.
    ``(2) The research plan shall--
            ``(A) establish priorities and guidelines for a 
        competitive, peer-reviewed, merit-based interagency research 
        program on methods for the prevention, control, and mitigation 
        of harmful algal blooms;
            ``(B) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent 
        unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and 
        departments with respect to the actions described in paragraph 
        (1); and
            ``(C) ensure, through consultation with Sea Grant Programs, 
        that the results and findings of the research program are 
        communicated to State, Indian tribe, and local governments, and 
        to the general public.
    ``(e) Scientific Assessments of Hypoxia.--(1) Not less than once 
every 5 years the Task Force shall complete and submit to the Committee 
on Science of the House of Representatives and the Committee on 
Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate a scientific 
assessment of hypoxia in United States coastal waters including the 
Great Lakes. The first such assessment shall be completed not less than 
24 months after the date of enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and 
Hypoxia Research Amendments Act of 2003.
    ``(2) The assessments under this subsection shall--
            ``(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and 
        the economic costs, of hypoxia;
            ``(B) describe the potential ecological and economic costs 
        and benefits of possible policy and management actions for 
        preventing, controlling, and mitigating hypoxia;
            ``(C) evaluate progress made by, and the needs of, Federal 
        research programs on the causes, characteristics, and impacts 
        of hypoxia, including recommendations of how to eliminate 
        significant gaps in hypoxia modeling and monitoring data; and
            ``(D) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent 
        unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and 
        departments with respect to research on hypoxia.
    ``(f) Local and Regional Scientific Assessments.--(1) The Secretary 
of Commerce, in coordination with the Task Force and appropriate State, 
Indian tribe, and local governments, shall provide for local and 
regional scientific assessments of hypoxia or harmful algal blooms, as 
requested by State, Indian tribe, or local governments, or for affected 
areas as identified by the Secretary. If the Secretary receives 
multiple requests, the Secretary shall ensure, to the extent 
practicable, that assessments under this subsection cover 
geographically and ecologically diverse locations with significant 
ecological and economic impacts from hypoxia or harmful algal blooms. 
The Secretary shall establish a procedure for reviewing requests for 
local and regional assessments. The Secretary shall ensure, through 
consultation with Sea Grant Programs, that the findings of the 
assessments are communicated to the appropriate State, Indian tribe, 
and local governments, and to the general public.
    ``(2) The scientific assessments under this subsection shall 
examine--
            ``(A) the causes and ecological consequences, and the 
        economic costs, of hypoxia or harmful algal blooms in that 
        area;
            ``(B) methods to prevent, control, and mitigate hypoxia or 
        harmful algal blooms in that area and the potential ecological 
        and economic costs and benefits of such methods; and
            ``(C) other topics the Task Force consider appropriate.''.

SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 605 of such Act is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and $19,000,000 for fiscal year 2001'' 
        and inserting ``$19,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, $27,200,000 
        for fiscal year 2004, $28,700,000 for fiscal year 2005, and 
        $29,200,000 for fiscal year 2006'';
            (2) in paragraph (1) by striking ``and'' after ``2000,'' 
        and by inserting ``, and $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2004, 2005, and 2006'' after ``2001'';
            (3) in paragraph (2) by striking ``and'' after ``2000,'' 
        and by inserting ``, and $10,200,000, of which $2,000,000 shall 
        be used for the research program described in section 
        603(c)(2)(B), for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 2006'' 
        after ``2001'';
            (4) in paragraph (3) by striking ``and'' after ``2000,'' 
        and by inserting ``, $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, 
        $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2005, and $3,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2006'' after ``2001'';
            (5) in paragraph (4) by striking ``2001'' and inserting 
        ``2001, and $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 
        2006,'';
            (6) in paragraph (4) by inserting ``the Monitoring and 
        Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) project 
        under'' after ``administered by'';
            (7) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon at the end of 
        paragraph (4);
            (8) in paragraph (5) by striking ``and'' after ``2000,'' 
        and by inserting ``, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, 
        $5,500,000 for fiscal year 2005, and $6,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2006'' after ``2001'';
            (9) in paragraph (5) by striking ``Administration.'' and 
        inserting ``Administration; and''; and
            (10) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004, 2005, and 
        2006 to carry out the activities described in section 
        603(f).''.