115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 756 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act to promote 

international action to reduce marine debris, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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†S 756 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Save Our Seas Act 

3 of 2017’’ or the ‘‘SOS Act of 2017’’. 

4 SEC. 2. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

5 Subsection (b) of section 3 of the Marine Debris Act 

6 (33 U.S.C. 1952(b)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

8 end; 

9 (2) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking the period 

10 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

11 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(6) work with other Federal agencies to de13 velop outreach and education strategies to address 

14 both land- and sea-based sources of marine debris; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(7) work with the Department of State and 

17 other Federal agencies to promote international ac18 tion to reduce the incidence of marine debris.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERE MARINE DEBRIS EVENTS. 

20 Section 3 of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) 

21 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub22 section: 

23 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERE MARINE DEBRIS

24 EVENTS.— 

25 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of the Ad26 ministrator or at the request of the Governor of an 
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1 affected State, the Administrator shall determine 

2 whether there is a severe marine debris event. 

3 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.—If the Administrator makes 

4 a determination under paragraph (1) that there is a 

5 severe marine debris event, the Administrator is au6 thorized to make sums available to be used by the 

7 affected State or by the Administrator in coopera8 tion with the affected State— 

9 ‘‘(A) to assist in the cleanup and response 

10 required by the severe marine debris event; or 

11 ‘‘(B) to conduct such other activity as the 

12 Administrator determines is appropriate in re13 sponse to the severe marine debris event. 

14 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.— 

15 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

16 share of the cost of an activity carried out 

17 under the authority of this subsection shall 

18 be— 

19 ‘‘(i) if the activity is funded wholly by 

20 funds made available by an entity, includ21 ing the government of a foreign country, to 

22 the Federal Government for the purpose of 

23 responding to a severe marine debris event, 

24 100 percent of the cost of the activity; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) for any activity other than an ac2 tivity funded as described in clause (i), 75 

3 percent of the cost of the activity. 

4 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX5 PENSES.—In the case of an activity funded as 

6 described in subparagraph (A)(i), not more 

7 than 5 percent of the funds made available for 

8 the activity may be used by the Administrator 

9 for administrative expenses.’’. 

10 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL ENGAGE11 MENT TO RESPOND TO MARINE DEBRIS. 

12 It is the sense of Congress that the President 

13 should— 

14 (1) support research and development, includ15 ing through the establishment of a prize competition, 

16 of bio-based and other alternatives or environ17 mentally feasible improvements to materials that re18 duce municipal solid waste and its consequences in 

19 the ocean; 

20 (2) work with representatives of foreign coun21 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

22 debris problem to learn about, and find solutions to, 

23 the contributions of such countries to marine debris 

24 in the world’s oceans; 

25 (3) carry out studies to determine— 
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1 (A) the primary means by which solid 

2 waste enters the oceans; 

3 (B) the manner in which waste manage4 ment infrastructure can be most effective in 

5 preventing debris from reaching the oceans; 

6 (C) the long-term economic impacts of ma7 rine debris on the national economies of each 

8 country set out in paragraph (1) and on the 

9 global economy; and 

10 (D) the economic benefits of decreasing the 

11 amount of marine debris in the oceans; 

12 (4) work with representatives of foreign coun13 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

14 debris problem, including land-based sources, to con15 clude one or more new international agreements that 

16 include provisions— 

17 (A) to mitigate the risk of land-based ma18 rine debris contributed by such countries reach19 ing an ocean; and 

20 (B) to increase technical assistance and in21 vestment in waste management infrastructure, 

22 if the President determines appropriate; and 

23 (5) encourage the United States Trade Rep24 resentative to consider the impact of marine debris 

25 in relevant future trade agreements. 
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1 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP OF THE INTERAGENCY MARINE DE2 BRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

3 Section 5(b) of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 

4 1954(b)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘; and’’ and 

6 inserting a semicolon; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para8 graph (7); and 

9 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(5) the Department of State; 

12 ‘‘(6) the Department of the Interior; and’’. 

13 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

14 Section 9 of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1958) 

15 is amended to read as follows: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for each fis18 cal year 2018 through 2022— 

19 ‘‘(1) to the Administrator for carrying out sec20 tions 3, 5, and 6, $10,000,000, of which no more 

21 than 10 percent may be for administrative costs; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(2) to the Secretary of the Department in 

24 which the Coast Guard is operating, for the use of 

25 the Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out 
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1 section 4, $2,000,000, of which no more than 10 

2 percent may be used for administrative costs.’’. 

Passed the Senate August 3, 2017. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 756 

AN ACT 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act 

debris, and for other purposes. to promote international action to reduce marine