Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act of 2025

Key Points

• This bill updates the 1998 Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act to expand research and monitoring from coastal waters to all marine, estuarine, and freshwater systems. It requires a federal Task Force to submit a new action strategy to Congress every five years.
• The bill authorizes $27.5 million per year from 2026 through 2030, with $19.5 million going to NOAA and $8 million to the EPA. An additional $2 million per year is authorized for responding to harmful algal bloom events of national significance.
• A new national incubator program will fund and evaluate new technologies and strategies to prevent, mitigate, and control harmful algal blooms, with a focus on protecting fish and wildlife habitats, public health, and low-income and tribal communities.
• The bill specifically includes Indian tribes, Tribal organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, rural communities, and subsistence communities in consultation and priority-setting, ensuring these groups have a voice in research and response activities.
• NOAA is directed to develop better forecasting models that account for how hurricanes and other weather events stir up nutrients in sediments that can trigger algal blooms, and to expand real-time monitoring and observation data sharing with state, local, and tribal decision-makers.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.