II 

Calendar No. 181 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 756 

[Report No. 115–135] 

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, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. 

UDALL, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. KING, Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. CASSIDY, Mr. PORTMAN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, and Mr. MARKEY) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

JULY 24, 2017 

Reported by Mr. THUNE, without amendment 

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, 


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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.— 

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

5 makes a determination under paragraph (1) 

6 that there is a severe marine debris event, the 

7 Administrator is authorized to make sums 

8 available to be used by the affected State or by 

9 the Administrator in cooperation with the af10 fected State— 

11 ‘‘(i) to assist in the cleanup and re12 sponse required by the severe marine de13 bris event; or 

14 ‘‘(ii) such other activity as the Admin15 istrator determines is appropriate in re16 sponse to the severe marine debris event. 

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

18 assistance under this paragraph, the Adminis19 trator shall prioritize assistance for activities to 

20 respond to a severe marine debris event— 

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

22 or 

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

24 ‘‘(3) FUNDING.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal 

2 share of the cost of an activity carried out 

3 under the authority of this subsection shall 

4 be— 

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

6 funds made available by an entity, includ7 ing the government of a foreign country, to 

8 the Federal Government for the purpose of 

9 responding to a severe marine debris event, 

10 100 percent of the cost of the activity; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) for any activity other than an ac12 tivity funded as described in clause (i), 75 

13 percent of the cost of the activity. 

14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EX15 PENSES.—In the case of an activity funded as 

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

17 than 5 percent of the funds made available for 

18 the activity may be used by the Administrator 

19 for administrative expenses.’’. 

20 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL ENGAGE21 MENT TO RESPOND TO MARINE DEBRIS. 

22 It is the sense of Congress that the President 

23 should— 

24 (1) support Federal funding for research and 

25 development of bio-based and other alternatives or 


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1 environmentally feasible improvements to materials 

2 that reduce municipal solid waste and its con3 sequences in the ocean; 

4 (2) work with representatives of foreign coun5 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

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

7 the contributions of such countries to marine debris 

8 in the world’s oceans; 

9 (3) carry out studies to determine— 

10 (A) the primary means by which solid 

11 waste enters the oceans; 

12 (B) the manner in which waste manage13 ment infrastructure can be most effective in 

14 preventing debris from reaching the oceans; 

15 (C) the long-term economic impacts of ma16 rine debris on the national economies of each 

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

18 global economy; and 

19 (D) the economic benefits of decreasing the 

20 amount of marine debris in the oceans; 

21 (4) work with representatives of foreign coun22 tries that contribute the most to the global marine 

23 debris problem, including land-based sources, to con24 clude one or more new international agreements that 

25 include provisions— 


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1 (A) to mitigate the risk of land-based ma2 rine debris contributed by such countries reach3 ing an ocean; and 

4 (B) to increase technical assistance and in5 vestment in waste management infrastructure, 

6 if the President determines appropriate; and 

7 (5) encourage the United States Trade Rep8 resentative to consider the impact of marine debris 

9 in relevant future trade agreements. 

10 SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP OF THE INTERAGENCY MARINE DE11 BRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE. 

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

13 1954(b)) is amended— 

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

15 inserting a semicolon; 

16 (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as para17 graph (7); and 

18 (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the fol19 lowing: 

20 ‘‘(5) the Department of State; 

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

22 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

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

24 is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 ‘‘There are authorized to be appropriated for each fis3 cal year 2018 through 2022— 

4 ‘‘(1) to the Administrator for carrying out sec5 tions 3, 5, and 6, $10,000,000, of which no more 

6 than 10 percent may be for administrative costs; 

7 and 

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

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

10 the Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out 

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

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


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Calendar No. 181 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 756 

[Report No. 115–135] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act 

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

JULY 24, 2017 

Reported without amendment 


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