President signs Mast’s bill to fight Florida’s toxic algal blooms into law

Bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL) to combat toxic algal blooms in the south Florida ecosystem became law on June 16 with the president’s signature.

“For far too long, the east and west coasts of Florida have been treated like Florida’s septic tank,” said Rep. Mast, who authored the bill. “This law is an important step in undoing the harm our government caused when it manipulated our waterways to flush toxins into our community with no regard for public health. We must build on this momentum to permanently end harmful discharges and send the water south.”

President Joe Biden signed into law the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act, S. 66, which will require the first-ever federal assessment and action plan to combat harmful algal blooms in Florida. Rep. Mast sponsored the House of Representatives version, H.R. 565, in January 2021 with lead original cosponsor U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-FL). S. 66 was sponsored by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rick Scott (R-FL) in January 2021.

The new law amends the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act, reauthorized in late 2018 by legislation written by Rep. Mast and former U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), to include a Florida-specific report by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, which has developed reports over the last 20 years researching harmful algal blooms in the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River, and nationally, although never for Florida, according to information provided by Rep. Mast.

The bill directs a task force to complete an assessment examining the causes, consequences and potential approaches to reduce harmful algal blooms in the Greater Everglades region, the information says, and then submit a plan to Congress for reducing, mitigating and controlling the blooms.