Rep. Brian Mast to refile algal bloom assessment bill

U.S. Rep. Brian Mast said he will continue to push legislation that reduces algal blooms on the Treasure Coast during a news conference Monday. 

Mast announced he was refiling the South Florida Clean Coastal Waters Act, a bill that would require "the first-ever specific federal assessment and action plan to reduce harmful algal blooms in the greater Everglades." 

Mast's office said similar harmful algal blooms have been researched in the Gulf of Mexico, the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River, but never specifically in South Florida.

The bill requires: 

• A task force to complete an assessment that "examines the causes, consequences and potential approaches to reduce harmful algal blooms and hypoxia (oxygen deficiency) in the Greater Everglades region." 
• The study would include looking at how ongoing ecosystem restoration efforts in the state could be helping or limiting the blooms.
• The task force must submit a plan to Congress for "reducing, mitigating and controlling harmful algal blooms in the Greater Everglades region."

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio is introducing the same bill in his chamber.

Mast said he believes it's going to be a "great year" for the Treasure Coast on water issues, specifically praising Gov.-elect Ron DeSantis' stances on local water issues. Mast is serving as chair of DeSantis's environmental advisory committee. 

Mast listed many goals he had for water this year, including getting federal funding for a reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee and working with the DeSantis administration on a water management plan that would limit discharges. 

"I think 2019 is going to be a great year for our water in terms of making a purposeful effort to manage so that water isn't released to the estuaries beyond what some people are requesting," Mast said. "But beyond that, we're not going to have these discharges."

More: How will Ron DeSantis approach Florida's environmental woes?

Mast said he hasn't had a chance to talk with incoming U.S. Sen. Rick Scott about the bill or other water legislation yet.  

"I will seek him out," Mast said of Scott. "I will do my best to sway him to be on the same side and be a partner with me on these issues."

Mast has been critical of Scott on water issues, declining to endorse Scott's bid for U.S. Senate until he backed Mast's water stances.