II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 756 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act to promote international 

action to reduce marine debris, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2017 

Mr. SULLIVAN (for himself, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Mr. 

PETERS, Mr. INHOFE, Mr. TILLIS, and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

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

6 SEC. 2. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

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

8 (33 U.S.C. 1952(b)) is amended— 


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

2 end; 

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

4 at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

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

6 ‘‘(6) work with other Federal agencies to de7 velop outreach and education strategies to address 

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

9 and 

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

11 other Federal agencies to promote international ac12 tion to reduce the incidence of marine debris.’’. 

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

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

15 is amended by adding at the end the following new sub16 section: 

17 ‘‘(d) ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERE MARINE DEBRIS

18 EVENTS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—At the discretion of the Ad20 ministrator or at the request of the Governor of an 

21 affected State, the Administrator shall determine 

22 whether there is a severe marine debris event. 

23 ‘‘(2) ASSISTANCE.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Administrator 

25 makes a determination under paragraph (1) 


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1 that there is a severe marine debris event, the 

2 Administrator is authorized to make sums 

3 available to be used by the affected State or by 

4 the Administrator in cooperation with the af5 fected State— 

6 ‘‘(i) to assist in the cleanup and re7 sponse required by the severe marine de8 bris event; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) such other activity as the Admin10 istrator determines is appropriate in re11 sponse to the severe marine debris event. 

12 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY ASSISTANCE.—In providing 

13 assistance under this paragraph, the Adminis14 trator shall prioritize assistance for activities to 

15 respond to a severe marine debris event— 

16 ‘‘(i) in a rural or remote community; 

17 or 

18 ‘‘(ii) in a habitat of national concern. 

19 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

21 share of the cost of an activity carried out 

22 under the authority of this subsection shall 

23 be— 

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

25 funds made available by an entity, includVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:57 Mar 31, 2017 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S756.IS S756

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1 ing the government of a foreign country, to 

2 the Federal Government for the purpose of 

3 responding to a severe marine debris event, 

4 100 percent of the cost of the activity; or 

5 ‘‘(ii) for any activity other than an ac6 tivity funded as described in clause (i), 75 

7 percent of the cost of the activity. 

8 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX9 PENSES.—In the case of an activity funded as 

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

11 than 5 percent of the funds made available for 

12 the activity may be used by the Administrator 

13 for administrative expenses.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL ENGAGE15 MENT TO RESPOND TO MARINE DEBRIS. 

16 It is the sense of Congress that the President 

17 should— 

18 (1) support Federal funding for research and 

19 development of bio-based and other alternatives or 

20 environmentally feasible improvements to materials 

21 that reduce municipal solid waste and its con22 sequences in the ocean; 

23 (2) work with representatives of foreign coun24 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

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


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1 the contributions of such countries to marine debris 

2 in the world’s oceans; 

3 (3) carry out studies to determine— 

4 (A) the primary means by which solid 

5 waste enters the oceans; 

6 (B) the manner in which waste manage7 ment infrastructure can be most effective in 

8 preventing debris from reaching the oceans; 

9 (C) the long-term economic impacts of ma10 rine debris on the national economies of each 

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

12 global economy; and 

13 (D) the economic benefits of decreasing the 

14 amount of marine debris in the oceans; 

15 (4) work with representatives of foreign coun16 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

17 debris problem, including land-based sources, to con18 clude one or more new international agreements that 

19 include provisions— 

20 (A) to mitigate the risk of land-based ma21 rine debris contributed by such countries reach22 ing an ocean; and 

23 (B) to increase technical assistance and in24 vestment in waste management infrastructure, 

25 if the President determines appropriate; and 


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1 (5) encourage the United States Trade Rep2 resentative to consider the impact of marine debris 

3 in relevant future trade agreements. 

4 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP OF THE INTERAGENCY MARINE DE5 BRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

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

7 1954(b)) is amended— 

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

9 inserting a semicolon; 

10 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para11 graph (7); and 

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(5) the Department of State; 

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

16 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

18 is amended to read as follows: 

19 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

20 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for each fis21 cal year 2018 through 2022— 

22 ‘‘(1) to the Administrator for carrying out sec23 tions 3, 5, and 6, $10,000,000, of which no more 

24 than 10 percent may be for administrative costs; 

25 and 


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

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

3 the Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out 

4 section 4, $2,000,000, of which no more than 10 

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

Æ 


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