II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1057 

To amend the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control 

Act of 1998 to address harmful algal blooms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 4, 2017 

Mr. NELSON (for himself, Mr. PORTMAN, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To amend the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research 

and Control Act of 1998 to address harmful algal 

blooms, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Harmful Algal Bloom 

5 and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 

6 2017’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REFERENCES TO THE HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM 

2 AND HYPOXIA RESEARCH AND CONTROL ACT 

3 OF 1998. 

4 Except as otherwise expressly provided, wherever in 

5 this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed in terms 

6 of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other provi7 sion, the reference shall be considered to be made to a 

8 section or other provision of the Harmful Algal Bloom and 

9 Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 

10 4001 et seq.). 

11 SEC. 3. INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE. 

12 Section 603(a) (33 U.S.C. 4001(a)) is amended— 

13 (1) in paragraph (12), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

14 end; 

15 (2) by redesignating paragraph (13) as para16 graph (14); and 

17 (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the fol18 lowing: 

19 ‘‘(13) the Army Corps of Engineers; and’’. 

20 SEC. 4. SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS OF FRESHWATER HARM21 FUL ALGAL BLOOMS. 

22 Section 603 (33 U.S.C. 4001) is amended— 

23 (1) by striking subsection (f); 

24 (2) by redesignating subsections (g), (h), (i), 

25 and (j) as subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i), respec26 tively; and 


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1 (3) in subsection (g), as redesignated— 

2 (A) in the heading, by inserting ‘‘MARINE

3 AND FRESHWATER’’ after ‘‘ASSESSMENTS OF’’; 

4 and 

5 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

6 (i) by striking the second sentence; 

7 and 

8 (ii) by amending the third sentence to 

9 read as follows: ‘‘Each assessment shall ex10 amine both marine and freshwater harmful 

11 algal blooms, including those in the Great 

12 Lakes and upper reaches of estuaries and 

13 those that originate in freshwater lakes or 

14 rivers and migrate to coastal waters.’’. 

15 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION REQUIRED. 

16 Section 102 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hy17 poxia Amendments Act of 2004 (33 U.S.C. 4001a) is 

18 amended by striking ‘‘the amendments made by this title’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Re20 search and Control Act of 1998’’. 

21 SEC. 6. HYPOXIA OR HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM OF NA22 TIONAL SIGNIFICANCE. 

23 (a) RELIEF.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Upon a determination under 

25 subsection (b) that there is an event of national sigVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:34 May 10, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1057.IS S1057

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1 nificance, the appropriate Federal official is author2 ized to make sums available to the affected State or 

3 local government for the purposes of assessing and 

4 mitigating the environmental, economic, social, and 

5 public health effects of the event of national signifi6 cance. 

7 (2) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of 

8 the cost of any activity carried out under this sub9 section for the purposes described in paragraph (1) 

10 may not exceed 75 percent of the cost of that activ11 ity. 

12 (3) DONATIONS.—Notwithstanding any other 

13 provision of law, an appropriate Federal official may 

14 accept donations of funds, services, facilities, mate15 rials, or equipment that the appropriate Federal offi16 cial considers necessary for the purposes described 

17 in paragraph (1). Any funds donated to an appro18 priate Federal official under this paragraph may be 

19 expended without further appropriation and without 

20 fiscal year limitation. 

21 (b) DETERMINATIONS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of an ap23 propriate Federal official, or at the request of the 

24 Governor of an affected State, an appropriate Fed25 eral official shall determine whether a hypoxia or 


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1 harmful algal bloom event is an event of national 

2 significance. 

3 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making a determina4 tion under paragraph (1), the appropriate Federal 

5 official shall consider such factors as the toxicity of 

6 the hypoxia or harmful algal bloom, its potential to 

7 spread, the economic impact, and the geographic 

8 scope, including the potential to affect several mu9 nicipalities, to affect more than 1 State, or to cross 

10 an international boundary. 

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

12 (1) APPROPRIATE FEDERAL OFFICIAL.—The 

13 term ‘‘appropriate Federal official’’ means— 

14 (A) in the case of a marine or coastal hy15 poxia or harmful algal bloom event, the Under 

16 Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos17 phere; and 

18 (B) in the case of a freshwater hypoxia or 

19 harmful algal bloom event, the Administrator of 

20 the Environmental Protection Agency. 

21 (2) EVENT OF NATIONAL SIGNIFICANCE.—The 

22 term ‘‘event of national significance’’ means a hy23 poxia or harmful algal bloom event that has had or 

24 will likely have a significant environmental, eco25 nomic, or public health impact on an affected State. 


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1 (3) HYPOXIA OR HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM

2 EVENT.—The term ‘‘hypoxia or harmful algal bloom 

3 event’’ means the occurrence of hypoxia or a harm4 ful algal bloom as a result of a natural, anthropo5 genic, or undetermined cause. 

6 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

7 Section 609(a) (33 U.S.C. 4009(a)) is amended by 

8 inserting ‘‘, and $22,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

9 through 2023’’ before the period at the end. 

Æ 


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