[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 66 Enrolled Bill (ENR)]

        S.66

                    One Hundred Seventeenth Congress

                                 of the

                        United States of America


                          AT THE SECOND SESSION

           Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday,
          the third day of January, two thousand and twenty two


                                 An Act


 
   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 2021''.
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 administrative boundaries 
    of the South Florida Water Management District;
        ``(2) regional coastal waters, including Biscayne Bay, the 
    Caloosahatchee Estuary, Florida Bay, Indian 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 
    authority under section 603, shall complete and submit 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 assessment.--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, management, 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
            ``(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 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.''.
    (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. Protection of States' rights.
``Sec. 608. Effect on other Federal authority.
``Sec. 609. Definitions.
``Sec. 610. Authorization of appropriations.''.


                               Speaker of the House of Representatives.

                            Vice President of the United States and    
                                               President of the Senate.