Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 118.djvu/3662

 118 STAT. 3632 PUBLIC LAW 108–456—DEC. 10, 2004 the Task Force shall complete and submit to Congress a scientific assessment of current knowledge about harmful algal blooms in freshwater, such as the Great Lakes and upper reaches of estuaries, including a research plan for coordinating Federal efforts to better understand freshwater harmful algal blooms. ‘‘(2) The freshwater harmful algal bloom scientific assessment shall— ‘‘(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and the economic costs, of harmful algal blooms with significant effects on freshwater, including estimations of the frequency and occurrence of significant events; ‘‘(B) establish priorities and guidelines for a competitive, peer-reviewed, merit-based interagency research program, as part of the Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) project, to better understand the causes, character- istics, and impacts of harmful algal blooms in freshwater loca- tions; and ‘‘(C) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and departments with respect to research on harmful algal blooms in freshwater locations. ‘‘(g) SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS OF HYPOXIA.—(1) Not less than once every 5 years the Task Force shall complete and submit to the Congress a scientific assessment of hypoxia in United States coastal waters including the Great Lakes. The first such assessment shall be completed not less than 24 months after the date of enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004. ‘‘(2) The assessments under this subsection shall— ‘‘(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and the economic costs, of hypoxia; ‘‘(B) describe the potential ecological and economic costs and benefits of possible policy and management actions for preventing, controlling, and mitigating hypoxia; ‘‘(C) evaluate progress made by, and the needs of, Federal research programs on the causes, characteristics, and impacts of hypoxia, including recommendations of how to eliminate significant gaps in hypoxia modeling and monitoring data; and ‘‘(D) identify ways to improve coordination and to prevent unnecessary duplication of effort among Federal agencies and departments with respect to research on hypoxia. ‘‘(h) SCIENTIFIC ASSESSMENTS OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS.— (1) 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. The first such assessment shall be completed not later than 24 months after the date of enactment of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004 and shall consider only marine harmful algal blooms. All subsequent assessments shall examine both marine and fresh- water harmful algal blooms, including those in the Great Lakes and upper reaches of estuaries. ‘‘(2) The assessments under this subsection shall— ‘‘(A) examine the causes and ecological consequences, and economic costs, of harmful algal blooms; ‘‘(B) describe the potential ecological and economic costs and benefits of possible actions for preventing, controlling, and mitigating harmful algal blooms; VerDate 11-MAY-2000 13:54 Nov 10, 2005 Jkt 029194 PO 00000 Frm 00166 Fmt 6580 Sfmt 6581 C:\STATUTES\2004\29194PT4.001 APPS10 PsN: 29194PT4

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