I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1425 

To amend the Marine Debris Act to better address severe marine debris 

events, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 9, 2013 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. 

SMITH of Washington, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. CHU, Mr. HONDA, Mr. FARR, 

Ms. SPEIER, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mrs. CAPPS, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. KILMER, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. 

THOMPSON of California, Mr. YOUNG of Alaska, Mr. REICHERT, Mr. 

HUFFMAN, Mr. HECK of Washington, and Ms. DELBENE) 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 amend the Marine Debris Act to better address severe 

marine debris events, 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 ‘‘Marine Debris Emer5 gency Act of 2013’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. MARINE DEBRIS. 

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

3 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(d) SEVERE MARINE DEBRIS EVENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) PRIORITY CONSIDERATION AND DISBURSE6 MENT.—Not later than 60 days after receiving an 

7 application for a grant under subsection (c) with re8 spect to a severe marine debris event, the Adminis9 trator shall, to the extent feasible— 

10 ‘‘(A) approve or disapprove the application; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(B) if approving the application, provide 

13 the approved grant funds to the grant recipient. 

14 ‘‘(2) PREFERENCE.—In evaluating applications 

15 for grants under subsection (c), the Administrator 

16 shall give preference to projects that address severe 

17 marine debris events, including projects that address 

18 a severe marine debris event that has introduced or 

19 is likely to introduce marine invasive species to the 

20 United States. 

21 ‘‘(3) REQUEST FOR A DECLARATION.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 

23 State may request that the Administrator de24 clare a severe marine debris event, in such 

25 State or a region that includes such State, for 

26 purposes of paragraphs (1) and (2). 


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1 ‘‘(B) RESPONSE TO REQUESTS.—Not later 

2 than 30 days after receiving a request under 

3 subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall ei4 ther— 

5 ‘‘(i) declare a severe marine debris 

6 event with respect to the request; or 

7 ‘‘(ii) provide a response to the Gov8 ernor who submitted the request, explain9 ing why the Administrator has not de10 clared a severe marine debris event with 

11 respect to the request. 

12 ‘‘(e) GUIDANCE.—The Administrator shall take ap13 propriate steps to encourage recipients of grants under 

14 this section to— 

15 ‘‘(1) educate staff and volunteers engaged in 

16 marine debris response efforts on the potential 

17 threats that marine debris and marine invasive spe18 cies may pose to the United States with respect to 

19 living marine resources, the marine environment, 

20 navigation, and public health; and 

21 ‘‘(2) coordinate marine debris response efforts 

22 with appropriate Federal, State, and local govern23 ment and nongovernmental entities. 

24 ‘‘(f) MARINE INVASIVE SPECIES DEFINED.—In this 

25 section, the term ‘marine invasive species’ means a marine 


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1 nonindigenous species (as defined in section 1003 of the 

2 Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Prevention and Control 

3 Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4702)) the introduction of which 

4 to the United States will, or is likely to— 

5 ‘‘(1) cause economic or environmental harm; 

6 ‘‘(2) threaten the diversity or abundance of na7 tive species or the ecological stability of infested 

8 waters; or 

9 ‘‘(3) disrupt commercial, agricultural, 

10 aquacultural, or recreational activities dependent on 

11 infested waters.’’. 

Æ 


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