In July, the House passed amendments from Congressman Brian Mast (R-FL) to add more than $1 million in funding to combat harmful algal blooms, but Mast was not done. On 14 September 2017, 9 of new amendments from Mast were passed, adding more than $20 million toward cost-effective solutions to this problem that has caused incalculable damage to Florida communities.
Here are the amendments that Mast wrote which passed:
- Adds $5.6 million to the Natural Resource Conservation Service to promote environmentally sustainable agriculture and toxic runoff mitigation.
- Adds $2 million to the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative to expand postdoctoral research, prevention and monitoring of Harmful Algal Blooms.
- Adds $1.5 million to the FDA, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, to continue research on human impact of contaminated seafood.
- Adds $1.1 million to the EPA Office of Research and Development to research water quality impacts of nutrient inputs, temperature, land use and runoff.
- Adds $1 million to non-point source pollution grants to state projects for mitigation and removal of toxic substances.
- Adds $1 million to the U.S. Geological Service, Oregon Water Sciences Research Center, to research Harmful Algal Blooms affect on animals and exposure to disease from toxins.
- Adds $1 million to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to research human health impacts of exposure to Harmful Algal Bloom toxins.
- Adds $400,000 to the CDC’s Safe Water Program to investigate environmental threats of public exposure to waterborne contaminates.
- Adds $8 million to NOAA’s National Ocean Service to detect, respond to, and develop new and innovative technologies to mitigate impacts from Harmful Algal Blooms. Mast was the lead co-sponsor of this amendment offered by Congressman Vern Buchanan.
