IB 

Union Calendar No. 432 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1171 

[Report No. 112–584, Parts I and II] 

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 

JULY 9, 2012 

Reported from the Committee on Natural Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

JULY 17, 2012 

Additional sponsors: Mr. COHEN, Mr. MORAN, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. HONDA, Ms. 

ESHOO, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, 

Ms. HIRONO, Mr. WITTMAN, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. SABLAN, Mr. 

RUNYAN, Mr. HOLT, Mr. DEUTCH, Ms. HANABUSA, Mr. REICHERT, Ms. 

WOOLSEY, Mr. MICHAUD, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. LOBIONDO, Mr. WAXMAN, 

Mr. BILBRAY, Mr. STARK, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. KUCINICH, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. ZOE LOFGREN of California, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. 

SCHIFF, Mr. BECERRA, Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. THOMPSON of California, 

Mr. MCNERNEY, and Ms. BONAMICI


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JULY 17, 2012 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an 

amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in boldface roman] 

[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 17, 2011] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, 

Prevention, and Reduction Act. 


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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 

5 Amendments of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

7 Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in 

8 this Act an amendment is expressed as an amendment to 

9 a section or other provision, the reference shall be considered 

10 to be made to a section or other provision of the Marine 

11 Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 

12 1951 et seq.), as in effect immediately before the enactment 

13 of this Act. 

14 SEC. 3. SHORT TITLE AMENDMENT. 

15 Section 1 (33 U.S.C. 1951 note) is amended by strik16 ing ‘‘Research, Prevention, and Reduction’’. 

17 SEC. 4. PURPOSE. 

18 Section 2 (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended to read as fol19 lows: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

21 ‘‘The purpose of this Act is to address the adverse im22 pacts of marine debris on the United States economy, the 

23 marine environment, and navigation safety through identi24 fication, determination of sources, assessment, prevention, 

25 reduction, and removal of marine debris.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

2 (a) NAME OF PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 (33 U.S.C. 1952) is 

4 amended— 

5 (A) in the section heading by striking 

6 ‘‘PREVENTION AND REMOVAL’’; and 

7 (B) in subsection (a)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘Prevention and Re9 moval Program to reduce and prevent’’ and 

10 inserting ‘‘Program to identify, determine 

11 sources of, assess, prevent, reduce, and re12 move’’; and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘the economy of the 

14 United States,’’ after ‘‘marine debris on’’; 

15 and 

16 (iii) by inserting a comma after ‘‘envi17 ronment’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (7) 

19 of section 7 (33 U.S.C. 1956) is amended by striking 

20 ‘‘Prevention and Removal’’. 

21 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Section 3(b) (33 U.S.C. 

22 1952(b)) is amended to read as follows: 

23 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Administrator, 

24 acting through the Program and subject to the availability 

25 of appropriations, shall— 


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1 ‘‘(1) identify, determine sources of, assess, pre2 vent, reduce, and remove marine debris, with a focus 

3 on marine debris posing a threat to living marine re4 sources and navigation safety; 

5 ‘‘(2) provide national and regional coordination 

6 to assist States, Indian tribes, and regional organiza7 tions in identification, determination of sources, as8 sessment, prevention, reduction, and removal of ma9 rine debris; 

10 ‘‘(3) undertake efforts to reduce adverse impacts 

11 of lost and discarded fishing gear on living marine 

12 resources and navigation safety, including— 

13 ‘‘(A) research and development of alter14 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en15 vironment, and methods for marking gear used 

16 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re17 covery, and identification of lost and discarded 

18 gear; and 

19 ‘‘(B) development of effective nonregulatory 

20 measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce 

21 the volume of lost and discarded fishing gear and 

22 to aid in its recovery; and 

23 ‘‘(4) undertake outreach and education of the 

24 public and other stakeholders on sources of marine de25 bris, threats associated with marine debris, and apVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:58 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\H1171.RH H1171

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1 proaches to identify, determine sources of, assess, pre2 vent, reduce, and remove marine debris and its ad3 verse impacts on the United States economy, the ma4 rine environment, and navigational safety, including 

5 outreach and education activities through public-pri6 vate initiatives.’’. 

7 (c) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—Section 3(c) 

8 (33 U.S.C. 1952(c)) is amended— 

9 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘section 2(1)’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘section 2’’; 

11 (2) by repealing paragraph (5); and 

12 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as 

13 paragraphs (5) and (6). 

14 SEC. 6. PROGRESS REPORTS. 

15 Section 5(c)(2) (33 U.S.C. 1954(c)(2)) is amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.— 

17 ’’ and all that follows through ‘‘thereafter’’ and insert18 ing ‘‘BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Biennially’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘Natural’’ before ‘‘Resources’’. 

21 SEC. 7. CONFIDENTIALITY OF SUBMITTED INFORMATION. 

22 Section 6(2) (33 U.S.C. 1955(2)) is amended by strik23 ing ‘‘by the fishing industry’’. 

24 SEC. 8. MARINE DEBRIS DEFINITION. 

25 Section 7 (33 U.S.C. 1956) is amended— 


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1 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para2 graph (9), and moving such paragraph to appear 

3 after paragraph (8); and 

4 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol5 lowing: 

6 ‘‘(3) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘marine debris’ 

7 means any persistent solid material that is manufac8 tured or processed and directly or indirectly, and in9 tentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or aban10 doned into the marine environment or the Great 

11 Lakes.’’. 

12 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

13 Section 9 (33 U.S.C. 1958) is amended— 

14 (1) by striking ‘‘are’’ and inserting ‘‘is’’; 

15 (2) by striking ‘‘2006 through 2010’’ and all that 

16 follows through ‘‘(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘through fiscal 

17 year 2015’’; and 

18 (3) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘$10,000,000’’ 

19 and inserting ‘‘$4,900,000’’. 

20 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

21 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine De22 bris Act Amendments of 2012’’. 

23 SEC. 2. REFERENCES. 

24 Except as otherwise expressly provided, 

25 whenever in this Act an amendment is exVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:58 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\H1171.RH H1171

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1 pressed as an amendment to a section or 

2 other provision, the reference shall be consid3 ered to be made to a section or other provi4 sion of the Marine Debris Research, Preven5 tion, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et 

6 seq.), as in effect immediately before the en7 actment of this Act. 

8 SEC. 3. SHORT TITLE AMENDMENT. 

9 Section 1 (33 U.S.C. 1951 note) is amended 

10 by striking ‘‘Research, Prevention, and Re11 duction’’. 

12 SEC. 4. PURPOSE. 

13 Section 2 (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended to 

14 read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 

16 ‘‘The purpose of this Act is to address the 

17 adverse impacts of marine debris on the 

18 United States economy, the marine environ19 ment, and navigation safety through identi20 fication, determination of sources, assess21 ment, prevention, reduction, and removal of 

22 marine debris.’’. 

23 SEC. 5. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM. 

24 (a) NAME OF PROGRAM.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 3 (33 U.S.C. 

2 1952) is amended— 

3 (A) in the section heading by 

4 striking ‘‘PREVENTION AND REMOVAL’’; 

5 and 

6 (B) in subsection (a)— 

7 (i) by striking ‘‘Prevention 

8 and Removal Program to reduce 

9 and prevent’’ and inserting ‘‘Pro10 gram to identify, determine 

11 sources of, assess, prevent, re12 duce, and remove’’; and 

13 (ii) by inserting ‘‘the economy 

14 of the United States,’’ after ‘‘ma15 rine debris on’’; and 

16 (iii) by inserting a comma 

17 after ‘‘environment’’. 

18 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Para19 graph (7) of section 7 (33 U.S.C. 1956) is 

20 amended by striking ‘‘Prevention and Re21 moval’’. 

22 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Section 3(b) 

23 (33 U.S.C. 1952(b)) is amended to read as fol24 lows: 


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1 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Adminis2 trator, acting through the Program and sub3 ject to the availability of appropriations, 

4 shall— 

5 ‘‘(1) identify, determine sources of, as6 sess, prevent, reduce, and remove marine 

7 debris, with a focus on marine debris pos8 ing a threat to living marine resources 

9 and navigation safety; 

10 ‘‘(2) provide national and regional co11 ordination to assist States, Indian tribes, 

12 and regional organizations in identifica13 tion, determination of sources, assess14 ment, prevention, reduction, and removal 

15 of marine debris; 

16 ‘‘(3) undertake efforts to reduce ad17 verse impacts of lost and discarded fish18 ing gear on living marine resources and 

19 navigation safety, including— 

20 ‘‘(A) research and development of 

21 alternatives to gear posing threats to 

22 the marine environment, and meth23 ods for marking gear used in specific 

24 fisheries to enhance the tracking, reVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:58 Jul 18, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\H1171.RH H1171

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1 covery, and identification of lost and 

2 discarded gear; and 

3 ‘‘(B) development of effective non4 regulatory measures and incentives 

5 to cooperatively reduce the volume of 

6 lost and discarded fishing gear and to 

7 aid in its recovery; and 

8 ‘‘(4) undertake outreach and edu9 cation of the public and other stake10 holders on sources of marine debris, 

11 threats associated with marine debris, 

12 and approaches to identify, determine 

13 sources of, assess, prevent, reduce, and 

14 remove marine debris and its adverse im15 pacts on the United States economy, the 

16 marine environment, and navigational 

17 safety, including outreach and education 

18 activities through public-private initia19 tives.’’. 

20 (c) REPEAL.—Section 2204 of the Marine 

21 Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 

22 1987 and the item relating to that section in 

23 the table of contents contained in section 2 of 

24 the United States-Japan Fishery Agreement 


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1 Approval Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915) are re2 pealed. 

3 (d) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—Sec4 tion 3(c) (33 U.S.C. 1952(c)) is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘sec6 tion 2(1)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 2’’; 

7 (2) by repealing paragraph (5); and 

8 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (6) 

9 and (7) as paragraphs (5) and (6). 

10 SEC. 6. REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISIONS. 

11 Section 4 (33 U.S.C. 1953) is amended— 

12 (1) by striking ‘‘(a) STRATEGY.—’’; and 

13 (2) by repealing subsections (b) and 

14 (c). 

15 SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS. 

16 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COORDI17 NATING COMMITTEE.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided 

19 in subsection (b), section 2203 of the Ma20 rine Plastic Pollution Research and Con21 trol Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is redesig22 nated and moved to replace and appear 

23 as section 5 of the Marine Debris Re24 search, Prevention, and Reduction Act 

25 (33 U.S.C. 1954). 


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1 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The item 

2 relating to section 2203 in the table of 

3 contents contained in section 2 of the 

4 United States-Japan Fishery Agreement 

5 Approval Act of 1987 is repealed. 

6 (b) BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Section 

7 5(c)(2) (33 U.S.C. 1954(c)(2)), as in effect imme8 diately before the enactment of this Act— 

9 (1) is redesignated as subsection (e) of 

10 section 5, as redesignated and moved by 

11 the amendment made by subsection (a) of 

12 this section; and 

13 (2) is amended— 

14 (A) by striking ‘‘ANNUAL PROGRESS

15 REPORTS.—’’ and all that follows 

16 through ‘‘thereafter’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORTS.— 

18 Bienially’’; 

19 (B) by inserting ‘‘Natural’’ before 

20 ‘‘Resources’’; 

21 (C) by redesignating subpara22 graphs (A) through (E) as paragraphs 

23 (1) through (5) of such subsection; 

24 and 


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1 (D) by moving such subsection 2 

2 ems to the left. 

3 SEC. 8. CONFIDENTIALITY OF SUBMITTED INFORMATION. 

4 Section 6(2) (33 U.S.C. 1955(2)) is amended 

5 by striking ‘‘by the fishing industry’’. 

6 SEC. 9. MARINE DEBRIS DEFINITION. 

7 Section 7 (33 U.S.C. 1956) is amended— 

8 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as 

9 paragraph (9), and moving such para10 graph to appear after paragraph (8); and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(3) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘ma14 rine debris’ means any persistent solid 

15 material that is manufactured or proc16 essed and directly or indirectly, and in17 tentionally or unintentionally, disposed 

18 of or abandoned into the marine environ19 ment or the Great Lakes.’’. 

20 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

21 Section 9 (33 U.S.C. 1958) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘are’’ and inserting 

23 ‘‘is’’; 


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1 (2) by striking ‘‘2006 through 2010’’ 

2 and all that follows through ‘‘(1)’’ and in3 serting ‘‘through fiscal year 2015’’; 

4 (3) in paragraph (1), by striking 

5 ‘‘$10,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$4,900,000’’; 

6 and 

7 (4) by striking ‘‘; and’’ and all that fol8 lows through the end of paragraph (2) 

9 and inserting a period. 


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Union Calendar No. 432 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 1171 

[Report No. 112–584, Parts I and II] 

A BILL 

To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris 

Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act. 

JULY 17, 2012 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and 

Infrastructure with an amendment 


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