I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1171 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and 

Reduction Act. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 17, 2011 

Mr. FARR (for himself, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. ROHRABACHER, Ms. 

BORDALLO, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, and Mr. PIERLUISI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, 

for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 

for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 

committee concerned 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, 

Prevention, and Reduction Act. 

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 ‘‘Marine Debris Act Re5 authorization Amendments of 2011’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

2 Section 2 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, 

3 and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended to read 

4 as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

6 ‘‘The purposes of this Act are— 

7 ‘‘(1) to address the adverse impacts of marine 

8 debris to the marine environment, navigation safety, 

9 and the economy through investigation and source 

10 identification, assessment, reduction, removal, and 

11 prevention; 

12 ‘‘(2) to continue the Interagency Marine Debris 

13 Coordinating Committee; and 

14 ‘‘(3) to develop and maintain the Federal ma15 rine debris information clearinghouse.’’. 

16 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

17 Section 3 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, 

18 and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) is amended by strik19 ing so much as precedes subsection (c) and inserting the 

20 following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

22 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is es23 tablished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

24 Administration, a Marine Debris Program to— 

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1 ‘‘(1) investigate, identify sources of, assess, re2 duce, remove, and prevent the occurrence of marine 

3 debris; and 

4 ‘‘(2) address, and where practicable prevent, 

5 adverse impacts of marine debris on the marine en6 vironment, navigation safety, and the economy. 

7 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.— 

8 ‘‘(1) INVESTIGATIONS AND ASSESSMENT.—The 

9 Administrator shall, in consultation with relevant 

10 Federal agencies, undertake marine debris investiga11 tion and assessment efforts, with a focus on marine 

12 debris posing a threat to the marine environment, 

13 navigation safety, and the economy, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) investigation, analysis, and assess15 ment of derelict fishing gear; 

16 ‘‘(B) investigation, analysis, and assess17 ment of plastics, as pertains to the health of the 

18 marine environment; 

19 ‘‘(C) the establishment of a process for 

20 maintaining an inventory of marine debris types 

21 and their impacts found in the navigable waters 

22 of the United States and the United States ex23 clusive economic zone, including impacts on the 

24 marine environment, navigation safety, and the 

25 economy; and 

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1 ‘‘(D) measures to identify the source, loca2 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

3 within United States navigable waters, the 

4 United States exclusive economic zone, and the 

5 high seas, including the use of oceanographic, 

6 atmospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data. 

7 ‘‘(2) PREVENT, REDUCE, AND REMOVE OCCUR8 RENCE AND IMPACTS.—The Administrator shall im9 prove efforts to prevent, reduce, and remove marine 

10 debris, including activities to address the adverse im11 pacts of derelict fishing gear, including— 

12 ‘‘(A) working with other Federal agencies 

13 to address land-based sources of marine debris; 

14 ‘‘(B) developing fishing gear modifications 

15 or alternatives to conventional fishing gear pos16 ing a threat to the marine environment; 

17 ‘‘(C) developing effective nonregulatory 

18 measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce 

19 the volume of lost and discarded fishing gear 

20 and to aid in its recovery; and 

21 ‘‘(D) developing and implementing strate22 gies, methods, priorities, and a plan for pre23 venting and removing marine debris in or likely 

24 to enter United States navigable waters or the 

25 United States exclusive economic zone, includmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 ing development of local or regional protocols 

2 for removal of derelict fishing gear and other 

3 marine debris. 

4 ‘‘(3) NATIONAL AND REGIONAL COORDINA5 TION.—The Administrator shall undertake national 

6 and regional coordination to assist States, Indian 

7 tribes, and regional organizations to address marine 

8 debris issues that are particular to their areas, in9 cluding— 

10 ‘‘(A) facilitating information exchange 

11 within and among States and Indian tribes on 

12 issues relating to marine debris investigation 

13 and assessment, prevention, reduction, and re14 moval activities; and 

15 ‘‘(B) serving as an expert resource to 

16 State, tribal, and local governments, nongovern17 ment organizations, fishing communities, indus18 try, and other entities with an interest in ma19 rine debris. 

20 ‘‘(4) DEVELOPMENT OF TOOLS AND PROD21 UCTS.—The Administrator shall develop tools and 

22 products to improve efforts to address marine de23 bris, and make these available to researchers, the 

24 marine debris community, and the general public. 

25 The tools and products may include— 

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1 ‘‘(A) best practices; 

2 ‘‘(B) protocols for monitoring marine de3 bris; 

4 ‘‘(C) technology; and 

5 ‘‘(D) reporting methods. 

6 ‘‘(5) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—The Ad7 ministrator, acting through the Marine Debris Pro8 gram, may lead the development and implementation 

9 of a strategy, in coordination with other relevant 

10 programs, that may be pursued by the United States 

11 with other nations and in appropriate international 

12 and regional forums, to promote international action 

13 to reduce the incidence of marine debris, including— 

14 ‘‘(A) the adoption of effective marine de15 bris prevention and removal measures in inter16 national and regional agreements, including 

17 fisheries agreements and maritime agreements; 

18 ‘‘(B) the development of standardized na19 tional reporting and information guidelines that 

20 will assist in improving information collection 

21 and identification and monitoring of marine de22 bris; 

23 ‘‘(C) consistent with the information clear24 inghouse established under section 6, the promstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 motion of ‘best practices to address marine de2 bris’; 

3 ‘‘(D) the establishment of public-private 

4 partnerships and funding sources for pilot pro5 grams that will assist in implementation of ma6 rine debris prevention and removal measures in 

7 international agreements and guidelines; 

8 ‘‘(E) when appropriate, provision of assist9 ance to the responsible Federal agency in bilat10 eral and multilateral efforts to effectively ad11 dress marine debris prevention; and 

12 ‘‘(F) actions to implement the relevant rec13 ommendations of the National Research Council 

14 report entitled ‘Tackling Marine Debris in the 

15 21st Century’ and dated 2008.’’. 

16 SEC. 4. GLOBAL MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATION CON17 FERENCE. 

18 The Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduc19 tion Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) is amended by redesig20 nating sections 7, 8, and 9 in order as sections 8, 9, and 

21 10, and by inserting after section 6 the following new sec22 tion: 

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1 ‘‘SEC. 7. GLOBAL MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATION CON2 FERENCE. 

3 ‘‘The Administrator, in coordination with representa4 tives of the domestic and nondomestic marine debris com5 munity, shall host a Global Marine Debris Coordination 

6 Conference not less often than every four years, beginning 

7 in 2015. The Conference shall be developed with a steering 

8 committee composed of domestic and nondomestic marine 

9 debris experts, led by the Administrator.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS. 

11 Section 8 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, 

12 and Reduction Act, as redesignated by section 4 of this 

13 Act, is amended— 

14 (1) by moving paragraph (3) (relating to the 

15 definition of ‘‘United States exclusive economic 

16 zone’’) to appear as the last paragraph of the sec17 tion; 

18 (2) by moving paragraph (6) (relating to the 

19 definition of ‘‘territorial sea’’) to appear immediately 

20 before such last paragraph, as so moved; 

21 (3) by amending the paragraphs after para22 graph (2) as paragraphs (4) through (10); 

23 (4) by redesignating paragraph (2) as para24 graph (3); 

25 (5) by inserting after paragraph (1) the fol26 lowing new paragraph: 

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1 ‘‘(2) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

2 has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 

3 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

4 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).’’; and 

5 (6) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so re6 designated, the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(4) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘marine de8 bris’ means any man-made object that— 

9 ‘‘(A) intentionally or unintentionally, is 

10 discarded, disposed of, or abandoned; and 

11 ‘‘(B) enters the coastal or marine environ12 ment— 

13 ‘‘(i) directly from a vessel, a facility, 

14 or shore; or 

15 ‘‘(ii) indirectly, by being carried via a 

16 river, stream, or storm drain or by other 

17 means.’’. 

18 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 Section 10 of the Marine Debris Research, Preven20 tion, and Reduction Act, as redesignated by section 4 of 

21 this Act, is amended by striking ‘‘for each fiscal year 2006 

22 through 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘for each of fiscal years 

23 2012 through 2016’’. 

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