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Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act
Reports mandated by HABHRCA 2004
The Prediction
and Response Report, renamed the National Assessment
of Efforts to Predict and Respond to Harmful Algal Blooms in US
Waters, was published in September 2007. It is the first
step in a process to create an innovative research plan on prediction
and response. The purpose of this report is to detail federal,
state, and tribal prediction and response-related research and
impact assessments, evaluate prediction and response programs,
and highlight needs for prediction and response efforts and associated
infrastructure. A summary of this report was published in the Federal
Register in September 2006, and the report was available for public
comment for 60 days. After the period of public comment, the final
Prediction and Response report, which included a summary of the
public comments, was approved by the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean
Science and Technology in February 2007. The report received final
interagency clearance July 2007 and is now available for downloading.
The assessment of current prediction and response programs and
identification of needs will lead to the development of the second
report, the National Scientific Research, Development, Demonstration,
and Technology Transfer Plan on Reducing Impacts from Harmful Algal
Blooms (RDDTT Plan) stipulated by the HABHRCA 2004 legislation.
The Prediction and Response Report and the RDDTT Plan together
make up the final report, Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan. This combined report is now undergoing final interagency review.
Click here for a copy of the Prediction and Response Report.
To download a one page fact sheet on the report, click here.
The National Scientific Research, Development, Demonstration, and Technology Transfer Plan on Reducing Impacts from Harmful Algal Blooms (RDDTT Plan) will present a comprehensive and coordinated national research program to develop and demonstrate prevention, control and mitigation methods to reduce the impacts of HABs on coastal and freshwater ecosystems, public health, and the economy. A community workshop convened forty-nine experts, including HAB scientists, coastal and inland resource and human health managers, communication experts, and social scientists, from June 25-28, 2007 in Woods Hole, MA, to develop a strategy for improving and implementing HAB prediction and response. The findings of the workshop will be published in a report which will focus on priorities for improving critical infrastructure, for developing and implementing prevention, control, and mitigation strategies, and for improving “rapid” event response capabilities. The workshop report was used by the Interagency Working Group on HABs, Hypoxia, and Human Health (IWG-4H) in writing the RDDTT Plan. The RDDTT Plan was added as the last chapter to the Prediction and Response report to make up the final report, Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan. This combined report is now undergoing final interagency review.
The Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms provides an assessment of the current knowledge about HABs in freshwater and sets research priorities to work toward reducing impacts of these events. The assessment examines the causes, ecological consequences, and economic costs of freshwater HABs. It is based, in large part, on a workshop report from the interagency-sponsored International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms (ISOC-HAB), held September 2005, which focused on: 1) occurrence of freshwater blooms and toxins, 2) causes, prevention, and mitigation, 3) toxins, toxin kinetics and dynamics, 4) human health and ecological effects, 5) analytical methods for identifying and quantifying freshwater HAB organisms and toxins, and 6) risk and/or impact assessments for freshwater HABs. The Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms received final interagency clearance in April 2008 and is now available for downloading.
Click here for a copy of the Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms
The Scientific Assessment of Marine Harmful Algal Blooms shall examine the causes and ecological consequences of harmful algal blooms. This assessment shall also evaluate progress made by Federal research programs and identify ways to improve coordination and prevent unnecessary duplication of research among Federal agencies. The first assessment shall only consider marine HABs, and future assessments shall include marine and freshwater HABs. The legislation also calls for an assessment of economic costs of HABs and a description of prevention, control and mitigation methods, which are addressed in more detail in the Harmful Algal Bloom Management and Response: Assessment and Plan. The Scientific Assessment of Marine Harmful Algal Blooms summarizes the state of the marine HAB problem, evaluates activities of current federal programs, and describes opportunities for coordination at the national and international level. The assessment draws from the recent HAB national plan, Harmful Algal Research and Response: a National Environmental Science Strategy (HARRNESS) 2005-2015. The assessment is now undergoing interagency review.
The Scientific Assessments of Hypoxia shall examine the causes, ecological consequences, and economic costs of hypoxia in U.S. coastal waters and the Great Lakes and describe the potential costs and benefits of prevention, control and mitigation actions. This assessment will also evaluate progress made by Federal research programs and identify ways to eliminate gaps in monitoring and modeling and to prevent unnecessary duplication of research by Federal agencies. It is currently being written by the Interagency Working Group on HABs, Hypoxia, and Human Health.
Local and Regional Scientific Assessments of HABs and Hypoxia can be requested of the Secretary of Commerce by State, Indian tribe, and local governments. These assessments shall examine the causes, ecological consequences, and economic costs of these events in specific regions and identify potential methods for prevention, control, and mitigation and provide costs and benefits of such methods. The Secretary of Commerce will coordinate with the Task Force and appropriate State, Indian tribe, and local governments to provide these assessments as requested. There is no required completion date called for these assessments in the legislation.