I 
115TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3665 
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 the Greater Everglades region, and 
for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 25, 2017 
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 hy-
poxia in the Greater Everglades region, and for other 
purposes. 
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 2017’’. 
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SEC. 2. GREATER EVERGLADES 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; 16 U.S.C. 1451 note) 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. 
GREATER 
EVERGLADES 
HARMFUL 
ALGAL 
BLOOMS AND HYPOXIA. 
‘‘(a) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not later than 18 
months after the date of enactment of South Florida 
Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2017, the Task Force, in ac-
cordance with the authority under section 603, shall com-
plete and submit to Congress and the President an inte-
grated assessment that examines the causes, con-
sequences, and potential approaches to reduce harmful 
algal blooms and hypoxia in the Greater Everglades re-
gion, 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 impact the region by— 
‘‘(1) Federal agencies; 
‘‘(2) State agencies; 
‘‘(3) regional research consortia; 
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‘‘(4) academia; 
‘‘(5) private industry; and 
‘‘(6) nongovernmental organizations. 
‘‘(b) PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 
after the date of enactment of the South Florida 
Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2017, the Task Force 
shall develop and submit to Congress a plan, based 
on the integrated assessment under subsection (a), 
for reducing, mitigating, and controlling harmful 
algal blooms and hypoxia in the Greater Everglades 
region. 
‘‘(2) CONTENTS.—The plan shall— 
‘‘(A) address the monitoring needs identi-
fied in the integrated assessment under sub-
section (a); 
‘‘(B) develop a timeline and budgetary re-
quirements for deployment of future assets; 
‘‘(C) comprehensively analyze how South 
Florida Ecosystem Restoration efforts may af-
fect the distribution, magnitude, duration, and 
frequency of harmful algal blooms and hypoxia 
events within the region; 
‘‘(D) assess the effect of the Lake Okee-
chobee Regulation Schedule and the Army 
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Corps of Engineers’ management of lake levels, 
including release timing, duration, and flow 
rates, on the distribution, magnitude, duration, 
and frequency of harmful algal blooms and hy-
poxia events within the region; 
‘‘(E) identify requirements for the develop-
ment and verification of Greater Everglades 
harmful algal bloom and hypoxia models, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(i) all assumptions built into the 
models; and 
‘‘(ii) data quality methods used to en-
sure the best available data are utilized; 
and 
‘‘(F) 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 plan, 
the Task Force shall— 
‘‘(A) coordinate and consult with the State 
of Florida, and affected local and tribal govern-
ments; 
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‘‘(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 
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. 
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‘‘(c) GREATER EVERGLADES.—In this section, the 
term ‘Greater Everglades’ means— 
‘‘(1) all lands and waters within the administra-
tive boundaries of the South Florida Water Manage-
ment District; 
‘‘(2) regional coastal waters including, but not 
limited to, Biscayne Bay, the Caloosahatchee Estu-
ary, Florida Bay, and the Indian River Lagoon; and 
‘‘(3) the Florida Reef Tract.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT AND CORRECTION.—The 
table of contents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Author-
ization 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. Greater Everglades harmful algal blooms and hypoxia. 
‘‘Sec. 606. Great Lakes hypoxia and harmful algal blooms. 
‘‘Sec. 607. Effect on other Federal authority. 
‘‘Sec. 608. Definitions. 
‘‘Sec. 609. Authorization of appropriations.’’. 
Æ 
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