I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 565 
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 28, 2021 
Mr. MAST (for himself, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. POSEY) introduced the following 
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Tech-
nology, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a pe-
riod to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for con-
sideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee 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 South Florida, 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 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. SOUTH FLORIDA 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; 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, In-
dian River Lagoon, and St. Lucie River Estuary; 
and 
‘‘(3) the Florida Reef Tract. 
‘‘(b) INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.— 
‘‘(1) INTERIM INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.—Not 
later than 540 days after the date of enactment of 
the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 
2021, the Task Force, in accordance with the au-
thority under section 603, shall complete and submit 
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to Congress and the President an interim integrated 
assessment. 
‘‘(2) FINALIZED INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT.— 
Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 
2021, the Task Force shall finalize, and submit to 
Congress and the President, the interim integrated 
assessment required by paragraph (1). 
‘‘(3) CONTENTS
OF
INTEGRATED
ASSESS-
MENT.—The integrated assessment required by 
paragraphs (1) and (2) shall examine the causes, 
consequences, and potential approaches to reduce 
harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in South Florida, 
and the status of, and gaps within, current harmful 
algal bloom and hypoxia research, monitoring, man-
agement, prevention, response, and control activities 
that directly affect the region by— 
‘‘(A) Federal agencies; 
‘‘(B) State agencies; 
‘‘(C) regional research consortia; 
‘‘(D) academia; 
‘‘(E) private industry; 
‘‘(F) nongovernmental organizations; and 
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‘‘(G) Indian tribes (as defined in section 4 
of the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304)). 
‘‘(c) ACTION PLAN.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years and 
180 days after the date of the enactment of the 
South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2021, 
the Task Force shall develop and submit to Con-
gress a plan, based on the integrated 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 
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‘‘(ii) data quality methods used to en-
sure the best available data are utilized; 
and 
‘‘(D) propose a plan to implement a re-
mote monitoring network and early warning 
system for alerting local communities in the re-
gion to harmful algal bloom risks that may im-
pact 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; 
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‘‘(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.’’. 
(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. 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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