S.Amdt. 3652

SA 3652. Mr. NELSON (for himself and Mr. Portman) submitted an
amendment intended to be proposed to amendment SA 3399 proposed by Mr.
Shelby to the bill H.R. 6147, making appropriations for the Department
of the Interior, environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year
ending September 30, 2019, and for other purposes; which was ordered to
lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title IV of division A, insert
the following:

harmful algal bloom and hypoxia research and control act of 1998
amendments

Sec. 4__.  (a) Except as otherwise expressly provided,
wherever in this section an amendment or repeal is expressed
in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or other
provision, the reference shall be considered to be made to a
section or other provision of the Harmful Algal Bloom and
Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (33 U.S.C. 4001 et
seq.).
(b) Section 603(a) (33 U.S.C. 4001(a)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (12), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(2) by redesignating paragraph (13) as paragraph (14); and
(3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following:
``(13) the Army Corps of Engineers; and''.
(c) Section 603 (33 U.S.C. 4001) is amended--
(1) by striking subsection (f);
(2) by redesignating subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j) as
subsections (f), (g), (h), and (i), respectively; and
(3) by amending subsection (g) (as so redesignated) to read
as follows:
``(g) Scientific Assessments of Marine and Freshwater
Harmful Algal Blooms.--
``(1) In general.--Not less than once every 5 years the
Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress a scientific
assessment of harmful algal blooms in United States coastal
waters and freshwater systems.
``(2) Requirement.--Each assessment under paragraph (1)
shall examine both marine and freshwater harmful algal
blooms, including those in the Great Lakes and upper reaches
of estuaries, those in freshwater lakes and rivers, and those
that originate in freshwater lakes or rivers and migrate to
coastal waters.''.
(d)(1) Section 603A(e) (33 U.S.C. 4002(e)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``, including to local
and regional stakeholders through the establishment and
maintenance of a publicly accessible Internet website that
provides information as to Program activities completed under
this section'' after ``Program'';
(B) in paragraph (3)--
(i) in subparagraph (B), by striking ``; and'' and
inserting a semicolon;
(ii) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ``and'' after the
semicolon at the end; and
(iii) by adding at the end the following:
``(D) to accelerate the utilization of effective methods of
intervention and mitigation to reduce the frequency,
severity, and impacts of harmful algal bloom and hypoxia
events;'';
(iv) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and work cooperatively
with'' and inserting ``, and work cooperatively to provide
technical assistance to,''; and
(v) in paragraph (7)--
(I) by inserting ``and extension'' after ``existing
education''; and
(II) by inserting ``intervention,'' after ``awareness of
the causes, impacts,''.
(2) Section 603A(f) (33 U.S.C. 4002(f)) is amended--
(A) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``, which shall include
unmanned systems,'' after ``infrastructure'';
(B) in paragraph (5), by striking ``and'' at the end;
(C) in paragraph (6)(C), by striking the period at the end
and inserting a semicolon; and
(D) by adding at the end the following:
``(7) use cost effective methods in carrying out this Act;
and
``(8) develop contingency plans for the long-term
monitoring of hypoxia.''.
(e) Section 102 of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia
Amendments Act of 2004 (33 U.S.C. 4001a) is amended by
striking ``the amendments made by this title'' and inserting
``the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control
Act of 1998''.
(f)(1) In this subsection:
(A) The term ``appropriate Federal official'' means--
(i) in the case of a marine or coastal hypoxia or harmful
algal bloom event, the Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans
and Atmosphere; and

[[Page S5435]]

(ii) in the case of a freshwater hypoxia or harmful algal
bloom event, the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency.
(B) The term ``event of national significance'' means a
hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event that has had or will
likely have a significant detrimental environmental,
economic, subsistence use, or public health impact on an
affected State.
(C) The term ``hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event'' means
the occurrence of hypoxia or a harmful algal bloom as a
result of a natural, anthropogenic, or undetermined cause.
(2)(A) On a determination under paragraph (3) that there is
an event of national significance, the appropriate Federal
official is authorized to make sums available to the affected
State or local government for the purposes of assessing and
mitigating the detrimental environmental, economic,
subsistence use, and public health effects of the event of
national significance.
(B) The Federal share of the cost of any activity carried
out under this subsection for the purposes described in
subparagraph (A) may not exceed 50 percent of the cost of
that activity.
(C)(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an
appropriate Federal official may accept donations of funds,
services, facilities, materials, or equipment that the
appropriate Federal official considers necessary for the
purposes described in subparagraph (A).
(ii) Any funds donated to an appropriate Federal official
under this paragraph may be expended without further
appropriation and without fiscal year limitation.
(3)(A) At the discretion of an appropriate Federal
official, or at the request of the Governor of an affected
State, an appropriate Federal official shall determine
whether a hypoxia or harmful algal bloom event is an event of
national significance.
(B) In making a determination under subparagraph (A), the
appropriate Federal official shall consider the toxicity of
the harmful algal bloom, the severity of the hypoxia, its
potential to spread, the economic impact, the relative size
in relation to the past 5 occurrences of harmful algal blooms
or hypoxia events that occur on a recurrent or annual basis,
and the geographic scope, including the potential to affect
several municipalities, to affect more than 1 State, or to
cross an international boundary.
(g) Section 609(a) (33 U.S.C. 4009(a)) is amended--
(1) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``;
and'';
(2) by striking ``603B $20,500,000'' and inserting the
following: ``603B--
``(1) $20,500,000''; and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(2) $22,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through
2023.''.
______