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ministration, shall integrate Federal, State, regional, and 
local observing capabilities to establish a national network 
of harmful algal bloom observing systems for the moni-
toring, detection, and forecasting of harmful algal blooms 
by leveraging the capacity of IOOS regional associations, 
including through the incorporation of emerging tech-
nologies and new data integration methods, such as artifi-
cial intelligence. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION.— In carrying out subsection 
(a), the IOOS Program Office shall— 
‘‘(1) coordinate with NCCOS regarding obser-
vations, data integration, and information dissemi-
nation; and 
‘‘(2) establish a Harmful Algal Bloom Data As-
sembly Center to integrate, disseminate, and provide 
a central architecture to support ecological fore-
casting.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization 
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383) is amended by 
amending the item relating to section 606 to read as 
follows: 
‘‘Sec. 606. National harmful algal bloom observing network.’’. 
(g) DEFINITIONS.—Section 609 of the Harmful Algal 
Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 
(33 U.S.C. 4008) is amended— 
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(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘means the 
comprehensive research plan and action strategy es-
tablished under section 603B’’ and inserting ‘‘means 
the action strategy, including scientific assessment, 
for marine and freshwater harmful algal blooms es-
tablished under section 603(c)’’; 
(2) in paragraph (3), to read as follows: 
‘‘(3) APPROPRIATE
FEDERAL
OFFICIAL.—The 
term ‘appropriate Federal official’ means— 
‘‘(A) in the case of marine systems or 
Great Lakes hypoxia or harmful algal bloom 
event, including those in estuarine areas, the 
Under Secretary; and 
‘‘(B) in the case of a freshwater hypoxia or 
harmful algal bloom event, the Administrator, 
in consultation with the Under Secretary.’’; 
(3) by striking paragraph (9); 
(4) by redesignating paragraphs (4), (5), (6), 
(7), and (8) as paragraphs (6), (7), (8), (10), and 
(11); 
(5) by inserting after paragraph (3) the fol-
lowing new paragraphs: 
‘‘(4) HARMFUL
ALGAL
BLOOM; 
HARMFUL 
ALGAL BLOOM AND HYPOXIA EVENT.— 
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‘‘(A) HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM.—The term 
‘harmful algal bloom’ means marine or fresh-
water 
algae 
or 
macroalgae, 
including 
Sargassum, that proliferate to high concentra-
tions, resulting in nuisance conditions or harm-
ful impacts on marine and freshwater eco-
systems, communities, or human health through 
the production of toxic compounds or other bio-
logical, chemical, or physical impacts of the 
algae outbreak. 
‘‘(B) HARMFUL
ALGAL
BLOOM
AND
HY-
POXIA EVENT.—The term ‘harmful algal bloom 
and hypoxia event’ means the occurrence of a 
harmful algal bloom or hypoxia as a result of 
a natural, anthropogenic, or undetermined 
cause. 
‘‘(5) HARMFUL
ALGAL
BLOOM
OR
HYPOXIA 
EVENT OF SIGNIFICANCE.—The term ‘harmful algal 
bloom or hypoxia event of significance’ means a 
harmful algal bloom or hypoxia event that has had 
or will likely have significant detrimental environ-
mental, economic, social, subsistence use, or public 
health impacts.’’; 
(6) in paragraph (6), as so redesignated— 
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(A) by striking ‘‘aquatic’’ and inserting 
‘‘marine or freshwater’’; and 
(B) by striking ‘‘resident’’ and inserting 
‘‘marine or freshwater’’; and 
(7) by inserting after paragraph (8), as so re-
designated, the following new paragraph: 
‘‘(9) SUBSISTENCE
USE.—The term ‘subsist-
ence use’ means the customary and traditional use 
of fish, wildlife, or other freshwater, coastal, or ma-
rine resources by any individual or community to 
meet personal or family needs, including essential 
economic, nutritional, or cultural applications.’’. 
(h) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 
610 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research 
and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4009) is amended— 
(1) in subsection (a), to read as follows: 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro-
priated to the Under Secretary to carry out this title 
$27,500,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following new sub-
section: 
‘‘(c) TRANSFER AUTHORITY.—The Under Secretary 
is authorized to make a direct non-expenditure transfer 
of funds authorized to be appropriated pursuant to sub-
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section (a) to the head of any Federal department or agen-
cy, with the concurrence of such head, to carry out, as 
appropriate, relevant provisions of this title.’’. 
(i) NATIONAL LEVEL INCUBATOR PROGRAM; HARM-
FUL ALGAL BLOOM OR HYPOXIA EVENT OF SIGNIFI-
CANCE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Harmful Algal Bloom 
and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 
U.S.C. 4001 et seq.) is amended by adding at the 
end the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 611. NATIONAL LEVEL INCUBATOR PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary, in collabo-
ration with research universities and institutions, shall es-
tablish a national level incubator program to increase the 
number of available control strategies and technologies re-
lating to harmful algal blooms. Such incubator shall estab-
lish a framework for preliminary assessments of novel 
harmful algal bloom prevention, mitigation, and control 
technologies in order to determine the potential for effec-
tiveness and scalability. 
‘‘(b) OPERATION.—The incubator established under 
subsection (a) shall provide merit-based funding for harm-
ful algal bloom control strategies and technologies that 
eliminate or reduce through biological, chemical, or phys-
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ical means the levels of harmful algae and associated tox-
ins. 
‘‘(c) DATABASE.—The incubator established under 
subsection (a) shall include a database to catalog the li-
censing and permitting requirements, economic costs, fea-
sibility, effectiveness, and scalability of both novel and es-
tablished prevention, control, and mitigation measures. 
‘‘(d) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out the incubator 
established under subsection (a), the Under Secretary 
shall prioritize proposed activities that would, to the max-
imum extent practicable— 
‘‘(1) protect key habitats for fish and wildlife; 
‘‘(2) maintain biodiversity; 
‘‘(3) protect public health; 
‘‘(4) protect coastal resources of national, his-
torical, and cultural significance; or 
‘‘(5) seek to partially or fully benefit commu-
nities of color, low-income communities, Indian 
Tribes or Indigenous communities, and rural com-
munities.’’. 
(2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of con-
tents in section 2 of the Coast Guard Authorization 
Act of 1998 (Public Law 105–383) is amended by 
inserting after the item relating to section 610 the 
following new item: 
‘‘Sec. 611. National level incubator program.’’. 
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(j) HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM OR HYPOXIA EVENT OF 
SIGNIFICANCE.—Section 9(g) of the National Integrated 
Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 
(33 U.S.C. 4010(g)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) in subparagraph (B), by adding at the 
end the following new sentence: ‘‘The appro-
priate Federal official may waive the non-Fed-
eral share requirements of this subsection if 
such official determines no reasonable means 
are available through which the recipient of the 
Federal share can meet the non-Federal share 
requirement.’’; and 
(B) by adding at the end the following new 
subparagraph: 
‘‘(D) CONTRACT, GRANT, AND
COOPERA-
TIVE
AGREEMENT
AUTHORITY.—The Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmos-
phere may enter into agreements and grants 
with States, Indian Tribes, local governments, 
or other entities to pay for or reimburse costs 
incurred for the purposes of supporting the de-
termination of and assessing the environmental, 
economic, social, subsistence use, and public 
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health effects of a harmful algal bloom or hy-
poxia event of significance.’’; 
(2) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ‘‘, leader-
ship official of an affected Indian Tribe, the execu-
tive official of the District of Columbia, or a terri-
tory or possession of the United States, including 
Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, the Com-
monwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the 
Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands, and Amer-
ican Samoa, if affected’’ after ‘‘State’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following new 
paragraph: 
‘‘(4) FUNDING AUTHORITY.—To carry out this 
subsection, notwithstanding any other provision of 
law, there is authorized to be appropriated from the 
amounts made available to the Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere $2,000,000, 
to remain available until expended.’’. 
(k) PROTECT
FAMILIES
FROM
TOXIC
ALGAL 
BLOOMS.—Section 128 of the Water Resources Develop-
ment Act of 2020 (33 U.S.C. 610 note) is amended— 
(1) by redesignating subsection (e) as sub-
section (f); and 
(2) by inserting after subsection (d) the fol-
lowing new subsection: 
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‘‘(e) HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM TECHNOLOGIES.—In 
carrying out the demonstration program under subsection 
(a), the Secretary may enter into agreements with water 
and irrigation districts located in the focus areas described 
in subsections (c) and (d) for the use or sale of any new 
technologies developed under the program to expedite the 
removal of harmful algal blooms in such areas.’’. 
TITLE II—ENHANCING FEDERAL 
WEATHER FORECASTING AND 
INNOVATION 
SEC. 201. WEATHER INNOVATION FOR THE NEXT GENERA-
TION. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 
date of the enactment of this Act, the Under Secretary 
shall establish a Research, Development, Test, and Eval-
uation Program (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Pro-
gram’’) to ensure the continued performance of weather 
radar capabilities, including systems currently being devel-
oped, with interferences in the line of sight of such radar. 
(b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the Program, 
the Under Secretary, in consultation with the Interagency 
Council for Advancing Meteorological Services, shall— 
(1) partner with the private sector, academia, 
Federal, State, and local government entities, and 
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any other entity the Under Secretary considers ap-
propriate; 
(2) identify, evaluate, and test existing or near- 
commercial technologies and solutions that improve 
radar coverage and performance, including by miti-
gating the potential impact of interferences on 
weather radar; 
(3) to the maximum extent practicable, research 
additional solutions that could mitigate the effects of 
interferences on weather radar, such as— 
(A) signal processing algorithms; 
(B) short-term forecasting algorithms to 
replace contaminated data; 
(C) the use of dual polarization character-
istics in mitigating the effects of wind turbines 
on weather radar; and 
(D) gap filling radars to provide supple-
mental or replacement observations in impacted 
areas; and 
(4) develop, support, or partner with developers 
to provide commercially viable technical mitigation 
solutions for interferences to weather radar capabili-
ties that are compatible with the operational require-
ments of the weather radar systems. 
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