H.R. 335 — what changed

“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 administrative boundaries of the South Florida Water Management District;

“(2) regional coastal waters, including Biscayne Bay, the Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida Bay, and Indian River Lagoon; and

“(3) the Florida Reef Tract.

“(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 enactment, 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 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;

“(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

changed “(1) In general—Not later than 2 3 years and 6 months after the date of the enactment of the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act of 2019, 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) 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.”