Title: South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2018
Policy area: Environmental Protection

Summary:
South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2018
This bill addresses harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in the South Florida ecosystem. An algal bloom is a rapid growth of algae that may create toxic or hypoxic (severely low-oxygen) conditions that are harmful to humans, animals, aquatic ecosystems, and the economy.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Harmful Algal Blooms and Hypoxia must assess potential approaches to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in the ecosystem. The task force must also submit a plan, based on the assessment, for reducing, mitigating, and controlling harmful algal blooms and hypoxia in the region.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3374 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3374

  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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            August 23, 2018

 Mr. Rubio (for himself and Mr. Nelson) introduced the following bill; 
    which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, 
                      Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives 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 2018''.

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' has 
the same meaning given the term `South Florida ecosystem' in section 
601(a)(5) of the Water Resources Development Act of 2000 (Public Law 
106-541).
    ``(b) Integrated Assessment.--Not later than 540 days after the 
date of enactment of the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 
2018, the Task Force, in accordance with the authority under section 
603, shall complete and submit to Congress and the President an 
integrated assessment that examines 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, management, prevention, 
response, and control activities that directly affect the region by--
            ``(1) Federal agencies;
            ``(2) State agencies;
            ``(3) regional research consortia;
            ``(4) academia;
            ``(5) private industry; and
            ``(6) nongovernmental organizations.
    ``(c) Action Plan.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        the enactment of the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 
        2018, the Task Force shall develop and submit to Congress 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 identified in 
                the integrated assessment under subsection (b);
                    ``(B) develop a timeline and budgetary requirements 
                for deployment of future assets;
                    ``(C) identify requirements for the development 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 ensure 
                        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 harmful 
                algal bloom risks that may impact human health.
            ``(3) Requirements.--In developing the action plan, the 
        Task Force shall--
                    ``(A) coordinate and consult with the State of 
                Florida, and affected local and tribal governments;
                    ``(B) consult with representatives from regional 
                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 Congress; 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 Authorization 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. Effect on other Federal authority.
``Sec. 608. Definitions.
``Sec. 609. Authorization of appropriations.''.
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