S. 66 

One Hundred Seventeenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two 

An Act 

To require the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia 

to develop a plan for reducing, mitigating, and controlling harmful algal blooms 

and hypoxia in South Florida, and for other purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘South Florida Clean Coastal 

Waters Act of 2021’’. 

SEC. 2. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA 

ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLAN. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia 

Research and Control Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383; 33 U.S.C. 

4001 et seq.) is amended— 

(1) by redesignating sections 605 through 609 as sections 

606 through 610, respectively; and 

(2) by inserting after section 604 the following: 

‘‘SEC. 605. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA. 

‘‘(a) SOUTH FLORIDA.—In this section, the term ‘South Florida’ 

means— 

‘‘(1) all lands and waters within the administrative boundaries of the South Florida Water Management District; 

‘‘(2) regional coastal waters, including Biscayne Bay, the 

Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida Bay, Indian River Lagoon, 

and St. Lucie River Estuary; and 

‘‘(3) the Florida Reef Tract. 

‘‘(b) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.— ‘‘(1) INTERIM INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 540 

days after the date of enactment of the South Florida Clean 

Coastal Waters Act of 2021, the Task Force, in accordance 

with the authority under section 603, shall complete and submit 

to Congress and the President an interim integrated assessment. 

‘‘(2) FINALIZED INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 

3 years after the date of enactment of the South Florida Clean 

Coastal Waters Act of 2021, the Task Force shall finalize, 

and submit to Congress and the President, the interim 

integrated assessment required by paragraph (1). 

‘‘(3) CONTENTS OF INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—The 

integrated assessment required by paragraphs (1) and (2) shall 

examine the causes, consequences, and potential approaches 

to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida, 
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and the status of, and gaps within, current harmful algal 

bloom and hypoxia research, monitoring, management, prevention, response, and control activities that directly affect the 

region by— 

‘‘(A) Federal agencies; 

‘‘(B) State agencies; 

‘‘(C) regional research consortia; 

‘‘(D) academia; 

‘‘(E) private industry; 

‘‘(F) nongovernmental organizations; and 

‘‘(G) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the Indian 

Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 

U.S.C. 5304)). 

‘‘(c) ACTION PLAN.— 

‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years and 180 days 

after the date of the enactment of the South Florida Clean 

Coastal Waters Act of 2021, the Task Force shall develop and 

submit to Congress a plan, based on the integrated assessment 

under subsection (b), for reducing, mitigating, and controlling 

harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida. 

‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted under paragraph (1) 

shall— 

‘‘(A) address the monitoring needs identified in the 

integrated assessment under subsection (b); 

‘‘(B) develop a timeline and budgetary requirements 

for deployment of future assets; 

‘‘(C) identify requirements for the development and 

verification of South Florida harmful algal bloom and 

hypoxia models, including— 

‘‘(i) all assumptions built into the models; and 

‘‘(ii) data quality methods used to ensure the best 

available data are utilized; and 

‘‘(D) propose a plan to implement a remote monitoring 

network and early warning system for alerting local 

communities in the region to harmful algal bloom risks 

that may impact human health. 

‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the action plan, the 

Task Force shall— 

‘‘(A) consult with the State of Florida, and affected 

local and tribal governments; 

‘‘(B) consult with representatives from regional academic, agricultural, industry, and other stakeholder groups; 

‘‘(C) ensure that the plan complements and does not 

duplicate activities conducted by other Federal or State 

agencies, including the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force; 

‘‘(D) identify critical research for reducing, mitigating, 

and controlling harmful algal bloom events and their 

effects; 

‘‘(E) evaluate cost-effective, incentive-based partnership 

approaches; 

‘‘(F) ensure that the plan is technically sound and 

cost-effective; 

‘‘(G) utilize existing research, assessments, reports, and 

program activities; 
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‘‘(H) publish a summary of the proposed plan in the 

Federal Register at least 180 days prior to submitting 

the completed plan to Congress; and 

‘‘(I) after submitting the completed plan to Congress, 

provide biennial progress reports on the activities toward 

achieving the objectives of the plan.’’. 

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT AND CORRECTION.—The table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization Act of 1998 

(Public Law 105–383) is amended by striking the items relating 

to title VI and inserting the following new items: 

‘‘TITLE VI—HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA 

‘‘Sec. 601. Short title. 

‘‘Sec. 602. Findings. 

‘‘Sec. 603. Assessments. 

‘‘Sec. 603A. National Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Program. 

‘‘Sec. 603B. Comprehensive research plan and action strategy. 

‘‘Sec. 604. Northern Gulf of Mexico hypoxia. 

‘‘Sec. 605. South Florida harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. 

‘‘Sec. 606. Great Lakes hypoxia and harmful algal blooms. 

‘‘Sec. 607. Protection of States’ rights. 

‘‘Sec. 608. Effect on other Federal authority. 

‘‘Sec. 609. Definitions. 

‘‘Sec. 610. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.