Buchanan co-sponsors bill to bring more money to red tide issues

Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, announced Friday he is co-sponsoring legislation that would aim to bring additional funding to combat the impact of red tide.

The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Amendments Act (HR 4417), introduced by Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Ore., in November, would provide more than $100 million to combat red tide and other harmful algae blooms, if passed.

The legislation is a re-authorization of the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 that includes amendments and additional funding, according to Sally Dionne, district director for Buchanan.

Appropriations detailed in the bill are $22 million a year for fiscal years 2019 through 2023.

The bill would also create a process to declare an “Event of National Significance,” triggering funds for affected communities, similar to disaster funding, according to the news release. Private donations would be permitted to be used to fund recovery under the declaration.

According to the bill, an “event of national significance” means a deficiency of oxygen in the water or harmful algal bloom event has or will likely have a “significant detrimental environmental, economic, subsistence use, or public health impact” on the state.

“Our economy, environment and marine life is under siege by this crisis and we need all hands on deck to help Florida deal with the problem,” Buchanan said in a statement in a news release announcing his co-sponsorship.

The Harmful Algal Bloom Federal Interagency Task Force would also be reauthorized and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers would be added to the task force.

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., is one of five other co-sponsors of the bill, which include representatives from Ohio, New York and Texas. In May, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Environment.

The Senate previously passed a similar version of the bill.

Buchanan also co-sponsored related bill HR 6645 which directs the task force to assess the ongoing Florida water issues by working with state and local stakeholders to recreate a plan of action to address the issues, according to the news release.

This story was originally published August 31, 2018 at 11:35 AM.