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 Amendments Act of 2003 - Amends the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 to reauthorize and revise its provisions.

(Sec. 2) Makes permanent the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia (Task Force) (by repealing a provision which authorizes the President to disestablish it after it submits a specified plan).

(Sec. 3) Requires the President, in conjunction with State Governors, to develop and submit to Congress a Prediction and Response Plan to protect environmental and public health from impacts of harmful algal blooms. Requires the plan to be submitted to Congress within 12 months after enactment of this Act. Specifies plan, publication and Federal assistance requirements. (Sec. 4) Requires the Secretary of Commerce, in coordination with the Task Force, to provide for local and regional assessments of hypoxia and harmful algal blooms, as requested by coastal States, Indian tribes, and local governments. Provides guidelines for such assessments. Directs the Task Force to complete and submit to Congress scientific assessments of: (1) Great Lakes harmful algal blooms; and (2) hypoxia in U.S. coastal waters including the Great Lakes. Requires such hypoxia assessments to continue to be completed by the Task Force and submitted to Congress at least once every five years after the first one. (Sec. 5) Extends the authorization of appropriations under the Act to the Secretary of Commerce for research, education, and monitoring activities related to the prevention, reduction, and control of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. Allocates such funding among the following programs: (1) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) research and assessment activities at the research laboratories of the National Ocean Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service; (2) Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) project under the Coastal Ocean Program, with a certain portion to conduct the scientific assessment of Great Lakes harmful algal blooms; (3) NOAA's National Ocean Service to conduct peer-reviewed research on management measures that can be taken to prevent, reduce, control, and mitigate harmful algal blooms; (4) Federal and State annual monitoring and analysis activities for harmful algal blooms administered by the National Ocean Service; (5) activities related to research and monitoring on hypoxia by the National Ocean Service and NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research; and (6) conducting of the Local and Regional Assessments (by the Secretary, in coordination with the Task Force).

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia 
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 nt) is amended by striking 
subsection (e).

SEC. 3. PREDICTION AND RESPONSE PLAN.

    Section 603 of such Act, as amended by section 2, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(e) Prediction and Response Plan.--
            ``(1) Development of plan.--Not later then 12 months after 
        the date of enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia 
        Amendments Act of 2003, the President, in consultation with the 
        chief executive officers of the States, shall develop and 
        submit to the Congress a plan to protect environmental and 
        public health from impacts of harmful algal blooms. In 
        developing the plan, the President shall consult with the Task 
        Force, the coastal States, Indian tribes, local governments, 
        industry, academic institutions, and non-governmental 
        organizations with expertise in coastal zone science and 
        management.
            ``(2) Plan requirements.--The plan shall--
                    ``(A) review techniques for prediction of the 
                onset, course, and impacts of harmful algal blooms 
                including evaluation of their accuracy and utility in 
                protecting environmental and public health and 
                provisions for implementation;
                    ``(B) identify innovative response measures for the 
                prevention, control, and mitigation of harmful algal 
                blooms and provisions for their development and 
                implementation; and
                    ``(C) include incentive-based partnership 
                approaches where practicable.
            ``(3) Publication and opportunity for comment.--At least 90 
        days before submitting the plan to the Congress, the President 
        shall cause a summary of the proposed plan to be published in 
        the Federal Register for a public comment period of not less 
        than 60 days.
            ``(4) Federal assistance.--The Secretary of Commerce, in 
        coordination with the Task Force and to the extent of funds 
        available, shall provide for Federal cooperation with and 
        assistance to the coastal States, Indian tribes, and local 
        governments in implementing measures in paragraph (2), as 
        requested.''.

SEC. 4. LOCAL AND REGIONAL ASSESSMENTS.

    Section 603 of such Act, as amended by section 3, is further 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Local and Regional Assessments.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary of Commerce, in 
        coordination with the Task Force and to the extent of funds 
        available, shall provide for local and regional assessments of 
        hypoxia and harmful algal blooms, as requested by coastal 
        States, Indian tribes, and local governments.
            ``(2) Purpose.--Local and regional assessments may 
        examine--
                    ``(A) the causes of hypoxia or harmful algal blooms 
                in that area;
                    ``(B) the ecological and economic impacts of 
                hypoxia or harmful algal blooms;
                    ``(C) alternatives to reduce, mitigate, and control 
                hypoxia and harmful algal blooms; and
                    ``(D) the social and economic costs and benefits of 
                such alternatives.'.
    ``(g) Scientific Assessment of Great Lakes 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 Congress a 
        scientific assessment of current knowledge about harmful algal 
        blooms in the Great Lakes, including a research plan for 
        coordinating Federal efforts to better understand Great Lakes 
        harmful algal blooms.
            ``(2) The Great Lakes 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 Great Lakes 
                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 Great Lakes 
                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 Great Lakes locations.
    ``(h) Scientific Assessments of Hypoxia.--
            ``(1) Not less than once every 5 years the Task Force shall 
        complete and submit to the Congress 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.''.

SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 605 of such Act is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' after ``2000,'' in the first 
        sentence and in the paragraphs (1), (2), (3), and (5);
            (2) by inserting ``$26,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, 
        $26,500,000 for fiscal year 2005, $27,000,000 for fiscal year 
        2006, $27,500,000 for fiscal year 2007, and $28,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2008'' after ``2001,'' in the first sentence;
            (3) by inserting ``and $2,500,000 for each of fiscal years 
        2004 through 2008'' after ``2001'' in paragraph (1);
            (4) by inserting ``and $8,200,000, of which $2,000,000 
        shall be used for the research program described in section 
        603(g)(2)(B), for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008'' 
        after ``2001'' in paragraph (2);
            (5) by striking ``2001'' in paragraph (3) and inserting 
        ``2001, $2,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, $3,000,000 for fiscal 
        year 2005, $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2006, $3,000,000 for 
        fiscal year 2007, and $3,000,000 for fiscal year 2008'';
            (6) by striking ``blooms;'' in paragraph (3) and inserting 
        ``blooms and to implement section 603(e);'';
            (7) by striking ``2001'' in paragraph (4) and inserting 
        ``2001, and $6,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 
        2008'';
            (8) by striking ``and'' after the semicolon in paragraph 
        (4);
            (9) by striking ``2001'' in paragraph (5) and inserting 
        ``2001, $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2004, $5,500,000 for fiscal 
        year 2005, $6,600,000 for fiscal year 2006, $7,100,000 for 
        fiscal year 2007, and $7,600,000 for fiscal year 2008'';
            (10) by striking ``Administration.'' in paragraph (5) and 
        inserting ``Administration; and''; and
            (11) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008 
        to carry out section 603(f).''.

            Passed the Senate October 28, 2003.

            Attest:

                                                             Secretary.
108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               S. 247.es

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 AN ACT

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