118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 318 

AN ACT 

To amend the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to improve the administration of the Marine Debris Foundation, to amend 

the Marine Debris Act to improve the administration 

of the Marine Debris Program of the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration, 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 2.0 

3 Amendments Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO THE MARINE DEBRIS FOUNDA5 TION. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 2 of the Save Our Seas 

7 2.0 Act (33 U.S.C. 4201) is amended— 

8 (1) in paragraph (7)(D), by striking ‘‘(as de9 fined’’ and all that follows through ‘‘5304))’’; 

10 (2) by redesignating paragraph (11) as para11 graph (13); and 

12 (3) by inserting after paragraph (10) the fol13 lowing: 

14 ‘‘(11) TRIBAL GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘Tribal 

15 government’ means the recognized governing body of 

16 any Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, 

17 pueblo, village, community, component band, or com18 ponent reservation, individually identified (including 

19 parenthetically) in the list published most recently as 

20 of the date of the enactment of the Save Our Seas 

21 2.0 Amendments Act pursuant to section 104 of the 

22 Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List Act of 1994 

23 (25 U.S.C. 5131). 

24 ‘‘(12) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘Trib25 al organization’ has the meaning given that term in 
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1 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu2 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).’’. 

3 (b) STATUS OF FOUNDATION.—Section 111(a) of 

4 such Act (33 U.S.C. 4211(a)) is amended, in the second 

5 sentence, by striking ‘‘organization’’ and inserting ‘‘cor6 poration’’. 

7 (c) PURPOSES.—Section 111(b)(3) of such Act (33 

8 U.S.C. 4211(b)(3)) is amended by inserting ‘‘Indian 

9 Tribes,’’ after ‘‘Tribal governments,’’. 

10 (d) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

11 (1) APPOINTMENT, VACANCIES, AND RE12 MOVAL.—Section 112(b) of such Act (33 U.S.C. 

13 4212(b)) is amended— 

14 (A) in paragraph (1), in the matter pre15 ceding subparagraph (A)— 

16 (i) by striking ‘‘and considering’’ and 

17 inserting ‘‘considering’’; 

18 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and with the ap19 proval of the Secretary of Commerce,’’ 

20 after ‘‘by the Board,’’; and 

21 (iii) by inserting ‘‘and such other cri22 teria as the Under Secretary may estab23 lish’’ after ‘‘subsection (a)’’; 
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1 (B) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 

2 ‘‘with the approval of the Secretary of Com3 merce’’ after ‘‘the Board’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (5)— 

5 (i) by inserting ‘‘the Administrator of 

6 the United States Agency for International 

7 Development,’’ after ‘‘Service,’’; and 

8 (ii) by inserting ‘‘and with the ap9 proval of the Secretary of Commerce’’ after 

10 ‘‘EPA Administrator’’; 

11 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (2) 

12 through (5) as paragraphs (3) through (6), re13 spectively; and 

14 (E) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘(2) RECOMMENDATIONS OF BOARD REGARD17 ING APPOINTMENTS.—For appointments made 

18 under paragraph (1) other than the initial appoint19 ments, the Board shall submit to the Under Sec20 retary recommendations on candidates for appoint21 ment.’’. 

22 (2) GENERAL POWERS.—Section 112(g) of such 

23 Act (33 U.S.C. 4212(g)) is amended— 
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1 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘offi2 cers and employees’’ and inserting ‘‘the initial 

3 officers and employees’’; and 

4 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)(i), by striking ‘‘its 

5 chief operating officer’’ and inserting ‘‘the chief 

6 executive officer of the Foundation’’. 

7 (3) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.—Section 112 

8 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 4212) is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(h) CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.— 

11 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT; REMOVAL; REVIEW.—The 

12 Board shall appoint and may remove and review the 

13 performance of the chief executive officer of the 

14 Foundation. 

15 ‘‘(2) POWERS.—The chief executive officer of 

16 the Foundation may appoint, remove, and review the 

17 performance of any officer or employee of the Foun18 dation.’’. 

19 (e) POWERS OF FOUNDATION.—Section 113(c)(1) of 

20 such Act (33 U.S.C. 4213(c)(1)) is amended, in the mat21 ter preceding subparagraph (A)— 

22 (1) by inserting ‘‘nonprofit’’ before ‘‘corpora23 tion’’; and 

24 (2) by striking ‘‘acting as a trustee’’ and insert25 ing ‘‘formed’’. 
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1 (f) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—Section 113 of such Act (33 

2 U.S.C. 4213) is amended by adding at the end the fol3 lowing: 

4 ‘‘(g) PRINCIPAL OFFICE.—The Board may locate the 

5 principal office of the Foundation outside the District of 

6 Columbia and is encouraged to locate that office in a 

7 coastal State.’’. 

8 (g) BEST PRACTICES; RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.— 

9 Section 113 of such Act (33 U.S.C. 4213), as amended 

10 by subsection (f), is further amended by adding at the end 

11 the following: 

12 ‘‘(h) BEST PRACTICES.— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Foundation shall de14 velop and implement best practices for conducting 

15 outreach to Indian Tribes and Tribal governments. 

16 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—The best practices de17 veloped under paragraph (1) shall— 

18 ‘‘(A) include a process to support technical 

19 assistance and capacity building to improve out20 comes; and 

21 ‘‘(B) promote an awareness of programs 

22 and grants available under this Act. 

23 ‘‘(i) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this Act 

24 may be construed— 
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1 ‘‘(1) to satisfy any requirement for government2 to-government consultation with Tribal governments; 

3 or 

4 ‘‘(2) to affect or modify any treaty or other 

5 right of any Tribal government.’’. 

6 (h) USE OF FUNDS.—Section 118 of such Act (33 

7 U.S.C. 4218) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (a)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and 

10 State and local government agencies’’ and in11 serting ‘‘, State and local government agencies, 

12 regional organizations, Indian Tribes, and Trib13 al organizations’’; and 

14 (B) in paragraph (3)— 

15 (i) in the paragraph heading, by strik16 ing ‘‘PROHIBITION’’ and inserting ‘‘LIMI17 TATION’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 

19 inserting the following: 

20 ‘‘(B) SALARIES.—The Foundation may use 

21 Federal funds described in subparagraph (A) to 

22 pay for salaries only during the 24-month pe23 riod beginning on the date of the enactment of 

24 the Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act. The 

25 Secretary shall not require reimbursement from 
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1 the Foundation for any such Federal funds 

2 used to pay for such salaries.’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(2), by striking ‘‘and State 

4 and local government agencies’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

5 State and local government agencies, United States 

6 and international nongovernmental organizations, re7 gional organizations, and foreign government enti8 ties’’. 

9 SEC. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO THE MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM 

10 OF THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOS11 PHERIC ADMINISTRATION. 

12 Section 3(d) of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 

13 1952(d)) is amended— 

14 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking ‘‘AND

15 CONTRACTS’’ and inserting ‘‘CONTRACTS, AND

16 OTHER AGREEMENTS’’; 

17 (2) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘and con18 tracts’’ and inserting ‘‘, contracts, and other agree19 ments’’; 

20 (3) in paragraph (2)— 

21 (A) in subparagraph (B)— 

22 (i) by striking ‘‘part of the’’ and in23 serting ‘‘part of a’’; and 

24 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or (C)’’ after ‘‘sub25 paragraph (A)’’; and 
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1 (B) in subparagraph (C), in the matter 

2 preceding clause (i), by inserting ‘‘and except as 

3 provided in subparagraph (B)’’ after ‘‘subpara4 graph (A)’’; and 

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

6 ‘‘(7) IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS.—With respect 

7 to any project carried out pursuant to a contract or 

8 other agreement entered into under paragraph (1) 

9 that is not a cooperative agreement or an agreement 

10 to provide financial assistance in the form of a 

11 grant, the Administrator may contribute on an in12 kind basis the portion of the costs of the project that 

13 the Administrator determines represents the amount 

14 of benefit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

15 Administration derives from the project.’’. 

Passed the Senate December 13, 2023. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 
118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 318 

AN ACT 

To amend the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act to improve 

istration, and for other purposes. of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminthe administration of the Marine Debris Program tion, to amend the Marine Debris Act to improve the administration of the Marine Debris Founda-