I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 335 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 8, 2019 

Mr. MAST introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Science, Space, and Technology, and in addition to the Committee on 

Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

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. 

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 ‘‘South Florida Clean 

5 Coastal Waters Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND 

2 HYPOXIA ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLAN. 

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

4 Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (Public Law 

5 105–383; 33 U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) is amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating sections 605 through 609 

7 as sections 606 through 610, respectively; and 

8 (2) by inserting after section 604 the following: 

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

10 HYPOXIA. 

11 ‘‘(a) SOUTH FLORIDA.—In this section, the term 

12 ‘South Florida’ has the same meaning given the term 

13 ‘South Florida ecosystem’ in section 601(a)(5) of the 

14 Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 

15 106–541). 

16 ‘‘(b) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 

17 540 days after the date of enactment of the South Florida 

18 Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2019, the Task Force, in ac19 cordance with the authority under section 603, shall com20 plete and submit to Congress and the President an inte21 grated assessment that examines the causes, con22 sequences, and potential approaches to reduce harmful 

23 algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida, and the status 

24 of, and gaps within, current harmful algal bloom and hy25 poxia research, monitoring, management, prevention, reVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:37 Jan 23, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H335.IH H335

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1 sponse, and control activities that directly affect the region 

2 by— 

3 ‘‘(1) Federal agencies; 

4 ‘‘(2) State agencies; 

5 ‘‘(3) regional research consortia; 

6 ‘‘(4) academia; 

7 ‘‘(5) private industry; and 

8 ‘‘(6) nongovernmental organizations. 

9 ‘‘(c) ACTION PLAN.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

11 after the date of the enactment of the South Florida 

12 Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2019, the Task Force 

13 shall develop and submit to Congress a plan, based 

14 on the integrated assessment under subsection (b), 

15 for reducing, mitigating, and controlling harmful 

16 algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida. 

17 ‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan submitted under 

18 paragraph (1) shall— 

19 ‘‘(A) address the monitoring needs identi20 fied in the integrated assessment under sub21 section (b); 

22 ‘‘(B) develop a timeline and budgetary re23 quirements for deployment of future assets; 


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1 ‘‘(C) identify requirements for the develop2 ment and verification of South Florida harmful 

3 algal bloom and hypoxia models, including— 

4 ‘‘(i) all assumptions built into the 

5 models; and 

6 ‘‘(ii) data quality methods used to en7 sure the best available data are utilized; 

8 and 

9 ‘‘(D) propose a plan to implement a re10 mote monitoring network and early warning 

11 system for alerting local communities in the re12 gion to harmful algal bloom risks that may im13 pact human health. 

14 ‘‘(3) REQUIREMENTS.—In developing the action 

15 plan, the Task Force shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) coordinate and consult with the State 

17 of Florida, and affected local and tribal govern18 ments; 

19 ‘‘(B) consult with representatives from re20 gional academic, agricultural, industry, and 

21 other stakeholder groups; 

22 ‘‘(C) ensure that the plan complements 

23 and does not duplicate activities conducted by 

24 other Federal or State agencies, including the 


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1 South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task 

2 Force; 

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

4 mitigating, and controlling harmful algal bloom 

5 events and their effects; 

6 ‘‘(E) evaluate cost-effective, incentive7 based partnership approaches; 

8 ‘‘(F) ensure that the plan is technically 

9 sound and cost-effective; 

10 ‘‘(G) utilize existing research, assessments, 

11 reports, and program activities; 

12 ‘‘(H) publish a summary of the proposed 

13 plan in the Federal Register at least 180 days 

14 prior to submitting the completed plan to Con15 gress; and 

16 ‘‘(I) after submitting the completed plan to 

17 Congress, provide biennial progress reports on 

18 the activities toward achieving the objectives of 

19 the plan.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT AND CORRECTION.—The 

21 table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Author22 ization Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383) is amended by 

23 striking the items relating to title VI and inserting the 

24 following new items: 

‘‘TITLE VI—HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA 

‘‘Sec. 601. Short title. 


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‘‘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.’’. 

Æ 


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