II 

Calendar No. 239 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2372 

To enhance global engagement to combat marine debris, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 31, 2019 

Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. WHITEHOUSE, Ms. COLLINS, 

Mr. BOOKER, Mr. COONS, Mr. MURPHY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. 

MERKLEY, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, and Mr. CRUZ) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Reported by Mr. RISCH, with an amendment 

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

A BILL 

To enhance global engagement to combat 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; DEFINITIONS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Save Our Seas 2.0: Enhanced Global Engagement to 

4 Combat Marine Debris Act’’. 

5 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

6 (1) CIRCULAR ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘circular 

7 economy’’ means an economy that uses a systems-fo8 cused approach and involves industrial processes and 

9 economic activities that— 

10 (A) are restorative or regenerative by de11 sign; 

12 (B) enable resources used in such proc13 esses and activities to maintain their highest 

14 values for as long as possible; and 

15 (C) aim for the elimination of waste 

16 through the superior design of materials, prod17 ucts, and systems (including business models). 

18 (2) EPA ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘EPA 

19 Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the En20 vironmental Protection Agency. 

21 (3) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘marine de22 bris’’ has the meaning given that term in section 7 

23 of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956). 

24 (4) MARINE DEBRIS EVENT.—The term ‘‘ma25 rine debris event’’ means an event or related events 


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1 that affects or may imminently affect the United 

2 States involving— 

3 (A) marine debris caused by a natural 

4 event, including a tsunami, flood, landslide, 

5 hurricane, or other natural source; 

6 (B) distinct, nonrecurring marine debris, 

7 including derelict vessel groundings and con8 tainer spills, that have immediate or long-term 

9 impacts on habitats with high ecological, eco10 nomic, or human-use values; or 

11 (C) marine debris caused by an intentional 

12 or grossly negligent act or acts that causes sub13 stantial economic or environmental harm. 

14 (5) POST-CONSUMER MATERIALS MANAGE15 MENT.—The term ‘‘post-consumer materials man16 agement’’ means the systems, operation, supervision, 

17 and aftercare of processes and equipment for post18 consumer materials, including — 

19 (A) collection; 

20 (B) transport; 

21 (C) safe disposal of waste, such as post22 consumer materials that cannot be recovered, 

23 reused, recycled, repaired, or refurbished; and 


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1 (D) systems and processes related to recov2 ering, recycling, reusing, repairing, or refur3 bishing post-consumer materials. 

4 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under 

5 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

6 for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of 

7 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra8 tion. 

9 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON INTERNATIONAL CO10 OPERATION TO COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS. 

11 It is the policy of the United States to partner, con12 sult, and coordinate with foreign governments (at the na13 tional and subnational levels), civil society, international 

14 organizations, international financial institutions, sub15 national coastal communities, commercial and recreational 

16 fishing industry leaders, and the private sector, in a con17 certed effort— 

18 (1) to increase knowledge and raise awareness 

19 about— 

20 (A) the linkages between the sources of 

21 plastic waste, mismanaged waste and post-con22 sumer materials, and marine debris; and 

23 (B) the upstream and downstream causes 

24 and effects of plastic waste, mismanaged waste 

25 and post-consumer materials, and marine debris 


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1 on marine environments, marine wildlife, 

2 human health, and economic development; 

3 (2) to support— 

4 (A) strengthening systems for recovering, 

5 managing, reusing (to the extent practicable), 

6 and recycling plastic waste, marine debris, and 

7 microfiber pollution in the world’s oceans, em8 phasizing upstream post-consumer materials 

9 management solutions— 

10 (i) to mitigate plastic waste at its 

11 source; and 

12 (ii) to prevent leakage of plastic waste 

13 into the environment; 

14 (B) advancing the utilization and avail15 ability of safe and affordable reusable alter16 natives to disposable plastic products in com17 merce, to the extent practicable, and with con18 sideration for the potential impacts of such al19 ternatives, and other efforts to prevent marine 

20 debris; 

21 (C) deployment of and access to advanced 

22 technologies to capture value from post-con23 sumer materials and municipal solid waste 

24 streams through mechanical and other recycling 

25 systems; 


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1 (D) access to information on best practices 

2 in post-consumer materials management, op3 tions for post-consumer materials management 

4 systems financing, and options for participating 

5 in public-private partnerships; and 

6 (E) implementation of management meas7 ures to reduce derelict fishing gear, the loss of 

8 fishing gear, and other sources of pollution gen9 erated from marine activities and to increase 

10 proper disposal and recycling of fishing gear; 

11 and 

12 (3) to work cooperatively with international 

13 partners— 

14 (A) on establishing— 

15 (i) measurable targets for reducing 

16 marine debris, lost fishing gear, and plastic 

17 waste from all sources; and 

18 (ii) action plans to achieve those tar19 gets with a mechanism to provide regular 

20 reporting; 

21 (B) to promote consumer education, 

22 awareness, and outreach to prevent marine de23 bris; 


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1 (C) to reduce marine debris by improving 

2 advance planning for marine debris events and 

3 responses to such events; and 

4 (D) to share best practices in post-con5 sumer materials management systems to pre6 vent the entry of plastic waste into the environ7 ment. 

8 SEC. 3. PRIORITIZATION OF EFFORTS AND ASSISTANCE TO 

9 COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS AND IMPROVE 

10 PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall, in 

12 coordination with the Administrator of the United States 

13 Agency for International Development, as appropriate, 

14 and the officials specified in subsection (b)— 

15 (1) lead and coordinate efforts to implement the 

16 policy described in section 2; and 

17 (2) develop strategies and implement programs 

18 that prioritize engagement and cooperation with for19 eign governments, subnational and local stake20 holders, and the private sector to expedite efforts 

21 and assistance in foreign countries— 

22 (A) to partner with, encourage, advise and 

23 facilitate national and subnational governments 

24 on the development and execution, where pracVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S2372.RS S2372

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1 ticable, of national projects, programs and ini2 tiatives to— 

3 (i) improve the capacity, security, and 

4 standards of operations of post-consumer 

5 materials management systems; 

6 (ii) monitor and track how well post7 consumer materials management systems 

8 are functioning nationwide, based on uni9 form and transparent standards developed 

10 in cooperation with municipal, industrial, 

11 and civil society stakeholders; 

12 (iii) identify the operational challenges 

13 of post-consumer materials management 

14 systems and develop policy and pro15 grammatic solutions; 

16 (iv) end intentional or unintentional 

17 incentives for municipalities, industries, 

18 and individuals to improperly dispose of 

19 plastic waste; and 

20 (v) conduct outreach campaigns to 

21 raise public awareness of the importance of 

22 proper waste disposal; 

23 (B) to facilitate the involvement of munici24 palities and industries in improving solid waste 


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1 reduction, collection, disposal, and reuse and re2 cycling projects, programs, and initiatives; 

3 (C) to partner with and provide technical 

4 assistance to investors, and national and local 

5 institutions, including private sector actors, to 

6 develop new business opportunities and solu7 tions to specifically reduce plastic waste and ex8 pand solid waste and post-consumer materials 

9 management best practices in foreign countries 

10 by— 

11 (i) maximizing the number of people 

12 and businesses, in both rural and urban 

13 communities, receiving reliable solid waste 

14 and post-consumer materials management 

15 services; 

16 (ii) improving and expanding the ca17 pacity of foreign industries to responsibly 

18 employ post-consumer materials manage19 ment practices; 

20 (iii) improving and expanding the ca21 pacity and transparency of tracking mech22 anisms for marine debris to reduce the im23 pacts on the marine environment; 

24 (iv) eliminating incentives that under25 mine responsible post-consumer materials 


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1 management practices and lead to im2 proper waste disposal practices and leak3 age; 

4 (v) building the capacity of coun5 tries— 

6 (I) to monitor, regulate, and 

7 manage waste, post-consumer mate8 rials and plastic waste, and pollution 

9 appropriately and transparently; 

10 (II) to encourage private invest11 ment in post-consumer materials man12 agement; and 

13 (III) to encourage private invest14 ment, grow opportunities, and develop 

15 markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

16 repurposed plastic waste and post-con17 sumer materials, and products with 

18 high levels of recycled plastic content, 

19 at both national and local levels; and 

20 (vi) promoting safe and affordable re21 usable alternatives to disposable plastic 

22 products, to the extent practicable; and 

23 (D) to research, identify, and facilitate op24 portunities to promote collection and proper 

25 disposal of damaged or derelict fishing gear. 


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1 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 

2 this subsection are the following: 

3 (1) The United States Trade Representative. 

4 (2) The Under Secretary. 

5 (3) The EPA Administrator. 

6 (4) The Director of the Trade and Development 

7 Agency. 

8 (5) The President and the Board of Directors 

9 of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or 

10 the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Direc11 tors of the United States International Development 

12 Finance Corporation, as appropriate. 

13 (6) The Chief Executive Officer and the Board 

14 of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corpora15 tion. 

16 (7) The heads of such other agencies as the 

17 Secretary of State considers appropriate. 

18 (c) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

19 the officials specified in subsection (b) shall prioritize as20 sistance to countries with— 

21 (1) rapidly developing economies; and 

22 (2) rivers and coastal areas that are the most 

23 severe sources of marine debris. 

24 (d) EFFECTIVENESS MEASUREMENT.—In 

25 prioritizing and expediting efforts and assistance under 


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1 this section, the officials specified in subsection (b) shall 

2 use clear, accountable, and metric-based targets to meas3 ure the effectiveness of guarantees and assistance in 

4 achieving the policy described in section 2. 

5 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec6 tion may be construed to authorize the modification of or 

7 the imposition of limits on the portfolios of any agency 

8 or institution led by an official specified in subsection (b). 

9 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL 

10 FORA. 

11 In implementing the policy described in section 2, the 

12 President shall direct the United States representatives to 

13 appropriate international bodies and conferences (such as 

14 the United Nations Environment Programme, the Asso15 ciation of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia Pacific Eco16 nomic Cooperation, the Group of 7, the Group of 20, and 

17 the Our Ocean Conference) to use the voice, vote, and in18 fluence of the United States, consistent with the broad for19 eign policy goals of the United States, to advocate that 

20 each such body— 

21 (1) commit to significantly increasing efforts to 

22 promote investment in well-designed post-consumer 

23 materials management and plastic waste elimination 

24 and mitigation projects and services that increase 

25 access to safe post-consumer materials management 


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1 and mitigation services, in partnership with the pri2 vate sector and consistent with the constraints of 

3 other countries; 

4 (2) address the post-consumer materials man5 agement needs of individuals and communities where 

6 access to municipal post-consumer materials man7 agement services is historically impractical or cost8 prohibitive; 

9 (3) enhance coordination with the private sec10 tor— 

11 (A) to increase access to solid waste and 

12 post-consumer materials management services; 

13 (B) to utilize safe and affordable reusable 

14 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to 

15 the extent practicable; 

16 (C) to encourage and incentivize the use of 

17 recycled content; and 

18 (D) to grow economic opportunities and 

19 develop markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

20 repurposed plastic waste materials and other ef21 forts that support the circular economy; 

22 (4) provide technical assistance to foreign regu23 latory authorities and governments to remove unnec24 essary barriers to investment in otherwise commer25 cially viable projects related to— 


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1 (A) post-consumer materials management; 

2 (B) the use of safe and affordable reusable 

3 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to 

4 the extent practicable; or 

5 (C) beneficial reuse of solid waste, plastic 

6 waste, post-consumer materials, plastic prod7 ucts, and refuse; 

8 (5) use clear, accountable, and metric-based 

9 targets to measure the effectiveness of such projects; 

10 and 

11 (6) engage international partners in an existing 

12 multilateral forum (or, if necessary, establish 

13 through an international agreement a new multilat14 eral forum) to improve global cooperation on— 

15 (A) creating tangible metrics for evaluating 

16 efforts to reduce plastic waste and marine de17 bris; 

18 (B) developing and implementing best 

19 practices for collecting, disposing, recycling, and 

20 reusing plastic waste and post-consumer mate21 rials, including building capacity for improving 

22 post-consumer materials management at the 

23 national and subnational levels of foreign coun24 tries, particularly countries with little to no 


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1 solid waste or post-consumer materials manage2 ment systems, facilities, or policies in place; 

3 (C) encouraging the development of stand4 ards and practices, and increasing recycled con5 tent percentage requirements for disposable 

6 plastic products; 

7 (D) integrating tracking and monitoring 

8 systems into post-consumer materials manage9 ment systems; 

10 (E) fostering research to improve scientific 

11 understanding of— 

12 (i) how microfibers and microplastics 

13 may affect marine ecosystems, human 

14 health and safety, and maritime activities; 

15 (ii) changes in the amount and re16 gional concentrations of plastic waste in 

17 the ocean, based on scientific modeling and 

18 forecasting; 

19 (iii) the role rivers, streams, and other 

20 inland waterways play in serving as con21 duits for mismanaged waste traveling from 

22 land to the ocean; 

23 (iv) effective means to eliminate 

24 present and future leakages of plastic 

25 waste into the environment; and 


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1 (v) other related areas of research the 

2 United States representatives deem nec3 essary; 

4 (F) encouraging the World Bank and other 

5 international finance organizations to prioritize 

6 efforts to combat marine debris; 

7 (G) collaborating on technological advances 

8 in post-consumer materials management and 

9 recycled plastics; 

10 (H) growing economic opportunities and 

11 developing markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

12 repurposed plastic waste and post-consumer 

13 materials and other efforts that support the cir14 cular economy; and 

15 (I) advising foreign countries, at both the 

16 national and subnational levels, on the develop17 ment and execution of regulatory policies, serv18 ices, including recycling and reuse of plastic, 

19 and laws pertaining to reducing the creation 

20 and the collection and safe management of— 

21 (i) solid waste; 

22 (ii) post-consumer materials; 

23 (iii) plastic waste; and 

24 (iv) marine debris. 


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1 SEC. 5. ENHANCING INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH AND 

2 PARTNERSHIP OF UNITED STATES AGENCIES 

3 INVOLVED IN MARINE DEBRIS ACTIVITIES. 

4 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress recognizes the success of 

5 the marine debris program of the National Oceanic and 

6 Atmospheric Administration and the Trash-Free Waters 

7 program of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

8 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF EFFORTS TO BUILD FOR9 EIGN PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary and the 

10 EPA Administrator shall work with the Secretary of State 

11 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

12 International Development to build partnerships, as ap13 propriate, with the governments of foreign countries and 

14 to support international efforts to combat marine debris. 

15 SEC. 6. NEGOTIATION OF NEW INTERNATIONAL AGREE16 MENTS. 

17 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

18 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Con19 gress a report— 

20 (1) assessing the potential for negotiating new 

21 international agreements or creating a new inter22 national forum to reduce land-based sources of ma23 rine debris and derelict fishing gear, consistent with 

24 section 4; 

25 (2) describing the provisions that could be in26 cluded in such agreements; and 


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1 (3) assessing potential parties to such agree2 ments. 

3 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF MARINE DEBRIS IN NEGOTI4 ATING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. 

5 In negotiating any relevant international agreement 

6 with any country or countries after the date of the enact7 ment of this Act, the President shall, as appropriate— 

8 (1) consider the impact of land-based sources of 

9 plastic waste and other solid waste from that coun10 try on the marine and aquatic environment; and 

11 (2) ensure that the agreement strengthens ef12 forts to eliminate land-based sources of plastic waste 

13 and other solid waste from that country that impact 

14 the marine and aquatic environment. 

15 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS. 

16 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

17 ‘‘Save Our Seas 2.0: Enhanced Global Engagement to Com18 bat Marine Debris Act’’. 

19 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

20 (1) CIRCULAR ECONOMY.—The term ‘‘circular 

21 economy’’ means an economy that uses a systems-fo22 cused approach and involves industrial processes and 

23 economic activities that— 

24 (A) are restorative or regenerative by de25 sign; 


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1 (B) enable resources used in such processes 

2 and activities to maintain their highest values 

3 for as long as possible; and 

4 (C) aim for the elimination of waste 

5 through the superior design of materials, prod6 ucts, and systems (including business models). 

7 (2) EPA ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘EPA Ad8 ministrator’’ means the Administrator of the Envi9 ronmental Protection Agency. 

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

11 has the meaning given that term in section 7 of the 

12 Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1956). 

13 (4) MARINE DEBRIS EVENT.—The term ‘‘marine 

14 debris event’’ means an event or related events that 

15 affects or may imminently affect the United States 

16 involving— 

17 (A) marine debris caused by a natural 

18 event, including a tsunami, flood, landslide, hur19 ricane, or other natural source; 

20 (B) distinct, nonrecurring marine debris, 

21 including derelict vessel groundings and con22 tainer spills, that have immediate or long-term 

23 impacts on habitats with high ecological, eco24 nomic, or human-use values; or 


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1 (C) marine debris caused by an intentional 

2 or grossly negligent act or acts that causes sub3 stantial economic or environmental harm. 

4 (5) POST-CONSUMER MATERIALS MANAGE5 MENT.—The term ‘‘post-consumer materials manage6 ment’’ means the systems, operation, supervision, and 

7 aftercare of processes and equipment for post-con8 sumer materials, including — 

9 (A) collection; 

10 (B) transport; 

11 (C) safe disposal of waste, such as post-con12 sumer materials that cannot be recovered, reused, 

13 recycled, repaired, or refurbished; and 

14 (D) systems and processes related to recov15 ering, recycling, reusing, repairing, or refur16 bishing post-consumer materials. 

17 (6) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under Sec18 retary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce for 

19 Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of the Na20 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

21 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON INTERNATIONAL CO22 OPERATION TO COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS. 

23 It is the policy of the United States to partner, consult, 

24 and coordinate with foreign governments (at the national 

25 and subnational levels), civil society, international organiVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2372.RS S2372

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1 zations, international financial institutions, subnational 

2 coastal communities, commercial and recreational fishing 

3 industry leaders, and the private sector, in a concerted ef4 fort— 

5 (1) to increase knowledge and raise awareness 

6 about— 

7 (A) the linkages between the sources of plas8 tic waste, mismanaged waste and post-consumer 

9 materials, and marine debris; and 

10 (B) the upstream and downstream causes 

11 and effects of plastic waste, mismanaged waste 

12 and post-consumer materials, and marine debris 

13 on marine environments, marine wildlife, 

14 human health, and economic development; 

15 (2) to support— 

16 (A) strengthening systems for recovering, 

17 managing, reusing (to the extent practicable), 

18 and recycling plastic waste, marine debris, and 

19 microfiber pollution in the world’s oceans, em20 phasizing upstream post-consumer materials 

21 management solutions— 

22 (i) to mitigate plastic waste at its 

23 source; and 

24 (ii) to prevent leakage of plastic waste 

25 into the environment; 


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1 (B) advancing the utilization and avail2 ability of safe and affordable reusable alter3 natives to disposable plastic products in com4 merce, to the extent practicable, and with consid5 eration for the potential impacts of such alter6 natives, and other efforts to prevent marine de7 bris; 

8 (C) deployment of and access to advanced 

9 technologies to capture value from post-consumer 

10 materials and municipal solid waste streams 

11 through mechanical and other recycling systems; 

12 (D) access to information on best practices 

13 in post-consumer materials management, options 

14 for post-consumer materials management systems 

15 financing, and options for participating in pub16 lic-private partnerships; and 

17 (E) implementation of management meas18 ures to reduce derelict fishing gear, the loss of 

19 fishing gear, and other sources of pollution gen20 erated from marine activities and to increase 

21 proper disposal and recycling of fishing gear; 

22 and 

23 (3) to work cooperatively with international 

24 partners— 

25 (A) on establishing— 


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1 (i) measurable targets for reducing ma2 rine debris, lost fishing gear, and plastic 

3 waste from all sources; and 

4 (ii) action plans to achieve those tar5 gets with a mechanism to provide regular 

6 reporting; 

7 (B) to promote consumer education, aware8 ness, and outreach to prevent marine debris; 

9 (C) to reduce marine debris by improving 

10 advance planning for marine debris events and 

11 responses to such events; and 

12 (D) to share best practices in post-consumer 

13 materials management systems to prevent the 

14 entry of plastic waste into the environment. 

15 SEC. 3. PRIORITIZATION OF EFFORTS AND ASSISTANCE TO 

16 COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS AND IMPROVE 

17 PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall, in co19 ordination with the Administrator of the United States 

20 Agency for International Development, as appropriate, and 

21 the officials specified in subsection (b)— 

22 (1) lead and coordinate efforts to implement the 

23 policy described in section 2; and 

24 (2) develop strategies and implement programs 

25 that prioritize engagement and cooperation with forVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2372.RS S2372

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1 eign governments, subnational and local stakeholders, 

2 and the private sector to expedite efforts and assist3 ance in foreign countries— 

4 (A) to partner with, encourage, advise and 

5 facilitate national and subnational governments 

6 on the development and execution, where prac7 ticable, of national projects, programs and ini8 tiatives to— 

9 (i) improve the capacity, security, and 

10 standards of operations of post-consumer 

11 materials management systems; 

12 (ii) monitor and track how well post13 consumer materials management systems 

14 are functioning nationwide, based on uni15 form and transparent standards developed 

16 in cooperation with municipal, industrial, 

17 and civil society stakeholders; 

18 (iii) identify the operational challenges 

19 of post-consumer materials management 

20 systems and develop policy and pro21 grammatic solutions; 

22 (iv) end intentional or unintentional 

23 incentives for municipalities, industries, 

24 and individuals to improperly dispose of 

25 plastic waste; and 


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1 (v) conduct outreach campaigns to 

2 raise public awareness of the importance of 

3 proper waste disposal; 

4 (B) to facilitate the involvement of munici5 palities and industries in improving solid waste 

6 reduction, collection, disposal, and reuse and re7 cycling projects, programs, and initiatives; 

8 (C) to partner with and provide technical 

9 assistance to investors, and national and local 

10 institutions, including private sector actors, to 

11 develop new business opportunities and solutions 

12 to specifically reduce plastic waste and expand 

13 solid waste and post-consumer materials man14 agement best practices in foreign countries by— 

15 (i) maximizing the number of people 

16 and businesses, in both rural and urban 

17 communities, receiving reliable solid waste 

18 and post-consumer materials management 

19 services; 

20 (ii) improving and expanding the ca21 pacity of foreign industries to responsibly 

22 employ post-consumer materials manage23 ment practices; 

24 (iii) improving and expanding the ca25 pacity and transparency of tracking mechaVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00025 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2372.RS S2372

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1 nisms for marine debris to reduce the im2 pacts on the marine environment; 

3 (iv) eliminating incentives that under4 mine responsible post-consumer materials 

5 management practices and lead to improper 

6 waste disposal practices and leakage; 

7 (v) building the capacity of coun8 tries— 

9 (I) to monitor, regulate, and man10 age waste, post-consumer materials 

11 and plastic waste, and pollution ap12 propriately and transparently, includ13 ing imports of plastic waste from the 

14 United States and other countries; 

15 (II) to encourage private invest16 ment in post-consumer materials man17 agement; and 

18 (III) to encourage private invest19 ment, grow opportunities, and develop 

20 markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

21 repurposed plastic waste and post-con22 sumer materials, and products with 

23 high levels of recycled plastic content, 

24 at both national and local levels; and 


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1 (vi) promoting safe and affordable re2 usable alternatives to disposable plastic 

3 products, to the extent practicable; and 

4 (D) to research, identify, and facilitate op5 portunities to promote collection and proper dis6 posal of damaged or derelict fishing gear. 

7 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 

8 this subsection are the following: 

9 (1) The United States Trade Representative. 

10 (2) The Under Secretary. 

11 (3) The EPA Administrator. 

12 (4) The Director of the Trade and Development 

13 Agency. 

14 (5) The President and the Board of Directors of 

15 the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or the 

16 Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Directors of 

17 the United States International Development Finance 

18 Corporation, as appropriate. 

19 (6) The Chief Executive Officer and the Board of 

20 Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corporation. 

21 (7) The heads of such other agencies as the Sec22 retary of State considers appropriate. 

23 (c) PRIORITIZATION.—In carrying out subsection (a), 

24 the officials specified in subsection (b) shall prioritize asVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Sep 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00027 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S2372.RS S2372

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1 sistance to countries with, and regional organizations in 

2 regions with— 

3 (1) rapidly developing economies; and 

4 (2) rivers and coastal areas that are the most se5 vere sources of marine debris, as identified by the best 

6 available science. 

7 (d) EFFECTIVENESS MEASUREMENT.—In prioritizing 

8 and expediting efforts and assistance under this section, the 

9 officials specified in subsection (b) shall use clear, account10 able, and metric-based targets to measure the effectiveness 

11 of guarantees and assistance in achieving the policy de12 scribed in section 2. 

13 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this section 

14 may be construed to authorize the modification of or the 

15 imposition of limits on the portfolios of any agency or insti16 tution led by an official specified in subsection (b). 

17 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL 

18 FORA. 

19 In implementing the policy described in section 2, the 

20 President shall direct the United States representatives to 

21 appropriate international bodies and conferences (includ22 ing the United Nations Environment Programme, the Asso23 ciation of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia Pacific Eco24 nomic Cooperation, the Group of 7, the Group of 20, the 

25 Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development 


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1 (OECD), and the Our Ocean Conference) to use the voice, 

2 vote, and influence of the United States, consistent with the 

3 broad foreign policy goals of the United States, to advocate 

4 that each such body— 

5 (1) commit to significantly increasing efforts to 

6 promote investment in well-designed post-consumer 

7 materials management and plastic waste elimination 

8 and mitigation projects and services that increase ac9 cess to safe post-consumer materials management and 

10 mitigation services, in partnership with the private 

11 sector and consistent with the constraints of other 

12 countries; 

13 (2) address the post-consumer materials manage14 ment needs of individuals and communities where ac15 cess to municipal post-consumer materials manage16 ment services is historically impractical or cost-pro17 hibitive; 

18 (3) enhance coordination with the private sec19 tor— 

20 (A) to increase access to solid waste and 

21 post-consumer materials management services; 

22 (B) to utilize safe and affordable reusable 

23 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to the 

24 extent practicable; 


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1 (C) to encourage and incentivize the use of 

2 recycled content; and 

3 (D) to grow economic opportunities and de4 velop markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

5 repurposed plastic waste materials and other ef6 forts that support the circular economy; 

7 (4) provide technical assistance to foreign regu8 latory authorities and governments to remove unnec9 essary barriers to investment in otherwise commer10 cially-viable projects related to— 

11 (A) post-consumer materials management; 

12 (B) the use of safe and affordable reusable 

13 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to the 

14 extent practicable; or 

15 (C) beneficial reuse of solid waste, plastic 

16 waste, post-consumer materials, plastic products, 

17 and refuse; 

18 (5) use clear, accountable, and metric-based tar19 gets to measure the effectiveness of such projects; and 

20 (6) engage international partners in an existing 

21 multilateral forum (or, if necessary, establish through 

22 an international agreement a new multilateral 

23 forum) to improve global cooperation on— 

24 (A) creating tangible metrics for evaluating 

25 efforts to reduce plastic waste and marine debris; 


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1 (B) developing and implementing best prac2 tices for collecting, disposing, recycling, and 

3 reusing plastic waste and post-consumer mate4 rials, including building capacity for improving 

5 post-consumer materials management at the na6 tional and subnational levels of foreign countries, 

7 particularly countries with little to no solid 

8 waste or post-consumer materials management 

9 systems, facilities, or policies in place; 

10 (C) encouraging the development of stand11 ards and practices, and increasing recycled con12 tent percentage requirements for disposable plas13 tic products; 

14 (D) integrating tracking and monitoring 

15 systems into post-consumer materials manage16 ment systems; 

17 (E) fostering research to improve scientific 

18 understanding of— 

19 (i) how microfibers and microplastics 

20 may affect marine ecosystems, human 

21 health and safety, and maritime activities; 

22 (ii) changes in the amount and re23 gional concentrations of plastic waste in the 

24 ocean, based on scientific modeling and 

25 forecasting; 


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1 (iii) the role rivers, streams, and other 

2 inland waterways play in serving as con3 duits for mismanaged waste traveling from 

4 land to the ocean; 

5 (iv) effective means to eliminate 

6 present and future leakages of plastic waste 

7 into the environment; and 

8 (v) other related areas of research the 

9 United States representatives deem nec10 essary; 

11 (F) encouraging the World Bank and other 

12 international finance organizations to prioritize 

13 efforts to combat marine debris; 

14 (G) collaborating on technological advances 

15 in post-consumer materials management and re16 cycled plastics; 

17 (H) growing economic opportunities and 

18 developing markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

19 repurposed plastic waste and post-consumer ma20 terials and other efforts that support the circular 

21 economy; and 

22 (I) advising foreign countries, at both the 

23 national and subnational levels, on the develop24 ment and execution of regulatory policies, serv25 ices, including recycling and reuse of plastic, 


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1 and laws pertaining to reducing the creation 

2 and the collection and safe management of— 

3 (i) solid waste; 

4 (ii) post-consumer materials; 

5 (iii) plastic waste; and 

6 (iv) marine debris. 

7 SEC. 5. ENHANCING INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH AND 

8 PARTNERSHIP OF UNITED STATES AGENCIES 

9 INVOLVED IN MARINE DEBRIS ACTIVITIES. 

10 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress recognizes the success of the 

11 marine debris program of the National Oceanic and Atmos12 pheric Administration and the Trash-Free Waters program 

13 of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF EFFORTS TO BUILD FOREIGN

15 PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary and the EPA Ad16 ministrator shall work with the Secretary of State and the 

17 Administrator of the United States Agency for Inter18 national Development to build partnerships, as appro19 priate, with the governments of foreign countries and to 

20 support international efforts to combat marine debris. 

21 SEC. 6. NEGOTIATION OF NEW INTERNATIONAL AGREE22 MENTS. 

23 Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment 

24 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Congress 

25 a report— 


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1 (1) assessing the potential for negotiating new 

2 international agreements or creating a new inter3 national forum to reduce land-based sources of ma4 rine debris and derelict fishing gear, consistent with 

5 section 4; 

6 (2) describing the provisions that could be in7 cluded in such agreements; and 

8 (3) assessing potential parties to such agree9 ments. 

10 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF MARINE DEBRIS IN NEGOTI11 ATING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. 

12 In negotiating any relevant international agreement 

13 with any country or countries after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the President shall, as appropriate— 

15 (1) consider the impact of land-based sources of 

16 plastic waste and other solid waste from that country 

17 on the marine and aquatic environment; and 

18 (2) ensure that the agreement strengthens efforts 

19 to eliminate land-based sources of plastic waste and 

20 other solid waste from that country that impact the 

21 marine and aquatic environment. 


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kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS
Calendar No. 239 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2372 

A BILL 

To enhance global engagement to combat marine 

debris, and for other purposes. 

SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 

Reported with an amendment 


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