IB 
Union Calendar No. 159 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 335 
[Report No. 116–202, Part I] 
To require the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms and 
Hypoxia to develop a plan for reducing, mitigating, and controlling harm-
ful 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 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 
Additional sponsors: Mr. SOTO, Mr. ROONEY of Florida, Mr. POSEY, and Mr. 
WALTZ 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 
Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology with an 
amendment 
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 
Committee on Natural Resources discharged; committed to the Committee of 
the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on January 8, 2019] 
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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 hy-
poxia in South Florida, and for other purposes. 
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives 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 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. SOUTH FLORIDA HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS AND HY-
POXIA ASSESSMENT AND ACTION PLAN. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hy-
poxia 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 administra-
tive boundaries of the South Florida Water Manage-
ment District; 
‘‘(2) regional coastal waters, including Biscayne 
Bay, the Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida Bay, and 
Indian River Lagoon; and 
‘‘(3) the Florida Reef Tract. 
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‘‘(b) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 540 
days after the date of enactment of the South Florida Clean 
Coastal Waters Act of 2019, the Task Force, in accordance 
with the authority under section 603, shall complete and 
submit to Congress and the President an interim integrated 
assessment. Not later than 3 years after such date of enact-
ment, the Task Force shall finalize, and submit to Congress 
and the President, such assessment. Such assessment shall 
examine the causes, consequences, and potential approaches 
to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Flor-
ida, and the status of, and gaps within, current harmful 
algal bloom and hypoxia research, monitoring, manage-
ment, prevention, response, and control activities that di-
rectly affect the region by— 
‘‘(1) Federal agencies; 
‘‘(2) State agencies; 
‘‘(3) regional research consortia; 
‘‘(4) academia; 
‘‘(5) private industry; 
‘‘(6) nongovernmental organizations; and 
‘‘(7) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 
‘‘(c) ACTION PLAN.— 
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‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 
the date of the enactment of the South Florida Clean 
Coastal Waters Act of 2019, the Task Force shall de-
velop and submit to Congress a plan, based on the in-
tegrated 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 identi-
fied in the integrated assessment under sub-
section (b); 
‘‘(B) develop a timeline and budgetary re-
quirements for deployment of future assets; 
‘‘(C) identify requirements for the develop-
ment 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 en-
sure 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 
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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 re-
gional 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; 
‘‘(H) publish a summary of the proposed 
plan in the Federal Register at least 180 days 
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prior to submitting the completed plan to Con-
gress; 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 Authoriza-
tion Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383) is amended by 
striking the items relating to title VI and inserting the fol-
lowing 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.’’. 
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Union Calendar No. 159 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 335 
[Report No. 116–202, Part I] 
A BILL 
To require the Inter-Agency Task Force on Harm-
ful 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. 
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019 
Reported from the Committee on Science, Space, and 
Technology with an amendment 
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