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HABHRCA

The Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act authorizes funding for research on HABS and hypoxia to advance scientific understanding and our ability to detect, assess, predict, control, and mitigate events.

click here for HABHRCA fact sheet (.pdf)

Both Congress and the Administration have recognized harmful algal blooms (HABs) and hypoxic events (severe oxygen depletion) as some of the most complex phenomena currently challenging management of aquatic and marine ecosystems. Scientific understanding of HABs and hypoxia has progressed significantly since the early 1990's, but major impediments still remain for prediction, control, and mitigation of these complex phenomena. Practical and innovative approaches to address eutrophication, hypoxia, and HABs in US waters are essential for management of aquatic and marine ecosystems and to fulfill a stronger investment in the health of the coasts and oceans called for by the U. S. Ocean Action Plan and recent reports on ocean policy. Recognizing this need, in 2004 Congress reauthorized and expanded the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 (HABHRCA, Public Law 108-456,) by passing the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act of 2004 (HABHRCA 2004,  Public Law 105-383).