Sponsors
Last progress June 6, 2025 (8 months ago)
Introduced on June 6, 2025 by Brian Jeffrey Mast
Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Directs Army civil‑works managers to run the Central and Southern Florida water system with protecting public health as the top priority while still recognizing other authorized project purposes. It requires updating operations and the system’s Master Operational Manual, orders a scientific study of pollution and nutrient impacts, prohibits using restoration funds for deep well injection, preserves existing legal limits and other project purposes, and authorizes funding needed to implement these changes.
The Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works must direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to modify water infrastructure management in Central and Southern Florida so that public health overlays all authorized project purposes.
Lists the authorized project purposes that public health must overlay: (1) flood control; (2) navigation; (3) water supply for agricultural irrigation, municipalities, industry, and Everglades National Park; (4) regional groundwater control and salinity control; (5) enhancement of fish and wildlife; and (6) recreation.
Defines “public health” for this Act to include (1) managing Lake Okeechobee and the Central and Southern Florida system to minimize toxic cyanobacteria and other harmful algal blooms and to prevent discharges with cyanobacteria or related toxins into the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee watersheds, downstream users, and other areas that would cause or worsen public health risks; (2) ensuring the integrity and stability of the Herbert Hoover Dike; (3) maintaining applicable State, Federal, and Tribal water quality laws, policies, and regulations; and (4) ensuring necessary water volume and quality reach the greater Everglades, Tribal lands, Everglades National Park, Florida Bay, and Caloosahatchee Watershed to restore natural habitat.
The Secretary of the Army shall modify operations of all current project elements so that public health of all citizens, including downstream users, overlays existing operating regimes.
The Secretary of the Army, in cooperation with the State of Florida, must update or develop a Master Operational Manual to manage all existing operational project elements as a system to protect public health and support Everglades restoration; the Manual must be updated as new project elements are completed and added.
Direct effects fall mainly on federal water managers, Florida water users, and communities dependent on the Central and Southern Florida system. Army Corps operational staff will need to revise operating procedures and the Master Operational Manual, allocate staff time, and manage the funded study. Public water systems, coastal and shoreline communities, and commercial and recreational fishers could see changes in water releases, timing, or quality protections intended to reduce public‑health risks from pollution and nutrient‑driven events (for example, harmful algal blooms). State and local water agencies, environmental restoration programs, and agricultural water users may experience operational adjustments that change water deliveries or treatment needs. The ban on using restoration funds for deep well injection removes one disposal option and could shift restoration program planning and budgets toward alternative approaches. Overall, the bill increases emphasis on health‑protective management informed by science and backed by authorized funding, while explicitly retaining other authorized project purposes and existing legal constraints.