II 

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, and Mr. BLUMENTHAL) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; DEFINITIONS. 

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

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

6 Combat Marine Debris Act’’. 

7 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this Act: 

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

9 economy’’ means an economy that uses a systems-foVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2372.IS S2372

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1 cused approach and involves industrial processes and 

2 economic activities that— 

3 (A) are restorative or regenerative by de4 sign; 

5 (B) enable resources used in such proc6 esses and activities to maintain their highest 

7 values for as long as possible; and 

8 (C) aim for the elimination of waste 

9 through the superior design of materials, prod10 ucts, and systems (including business models). 

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

12 Administrator’’ means the Administrator of the En13 vironmental Protection Agency. 

14 (3) MARINE DEBRIS.—The term ‘‘marine de15 bris’’ has the meaning given that term in section 7 

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

17 (4) MARINE DEBRIS EVENT.—The term ‘‘ma18 rine debris event’’ means an event or related events 

19 that affects or may imminently affect the United 

20 States involving— 

21 (A) marine debris caused by a natural 

22 event, including a tsunami, flood, landslide, 

23 hurricane, or other natural source; 

24 (B) distinct, nonrecurring marine debris, 

25 including derelict vessel groundings and conVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:24 Aug 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2372.IS S2372

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1 tainer spills, that have immediate or long-term 

2 impacts on habitats with high ecological, eco3 nomic, or human-use values; or 

4 (C) marine debris caused by an intentional 

5 or grossly negligent act or acts that causes sub6 stantial economic or environmental harm. 

7 (5) POST-CONSUMER MATERIALS MANAGE8 MENT.—The term ‘‘post-consumer materials man9 agement’’ means the systems, operation, supervision, 

10 and aftercare of processes and equipment for post11 consumer materials, including — 

12 (A) collection; 

13 (B) transport; 

14 (C) safe disposal of waste, such as post15 consumer materials that cannot be recovered, 

16 reused, recycled, repaired, or refurbished; and 

17 (D) systems and processes related to recov18 ering, recycling, reusing, repairing, or refur19 bishing post-consumer materials. 

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

21 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary of Commerce 

22 for Oceans and Atmosphere and Administrator of 

23 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra24 tion. 


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1 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY ON INTERNATIONAL CO2 OPERATION TO COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS. 

3 It is the policy of the United States to partner, con4 sult, and coordinate with foreign governments (at the na5 tional and subnational levels), civil society, international 

6 organizations, international financial institutions, sub7 national coastal communities, commercial and recreational 

8 fishing industry leaders, and the private sector, in a con9 certed effort— 

10 (1) to increase knowledge and raise awareness 

11 about— 

12 (A) the linkages between the sources of 

13 plastic waste, mismanaged waste and post-con14 sumer materials, and marine debris; and 

15 (B) the upstream and downstream causes 

16 and effects of plastic waste, mismanaged waste 

17 and post-consumer materials, and marine debris 

18 on marine environments, marine wildlife, 

19 human health, and economic development; 

20 (2) to support— 

21 (A) strengthening systems for recovering, 

22 managing, reusing (to the extent practicable), 

23 and recycling plastic waste, marine debris, and 

24 microfiber pollution in the world’s oceans, em25 phasizing upstream post-consumer materials 

26 management solutions— 


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1 (i) to mitigate plastic waste at its 

2 source; and 

3 (ii) to prevent leakage of plastic waste 

4 into the environment; 

5 (B) advancing the utilization and avail6 ability of safe and affordable reusable alter7 natives to disposable plastic products in com8 merce, to the extent practicable, and with con9 sideration for the potential impacts of such al10 ternatives, and other efforts to prevent marine 

11 debris; 

12 (C) deployment of and access to advanced 

13 technologies to capture value from post-con14 sumer materials and municipal solid waste 

15 streams through mechanical and other recycling 

16 systems; 

17 (D) access to information on best practices 

18 in post-consumer materials management, op19 tions for post-consumer materials management 

20 systems financing, and options for participating 

21 in public-private partnerships; and 

22 (E) implementation of management meas23 ures to reduce derelict fishing gear, the loss of 

24 fishing gear, and other sources of pollution gen25 erated from marine activities and to increase 


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1 proper disposal and recycling of fishing gear; 

2 and 

3 (3) to work cooperatively with international 

4 partners— 

5 (A) on establishing— 

6 (i) measurable targets for reducing 

7 marine debris, lost fishing gear, and plastic 

8 waste from all sources; and 

9 (ii) action plans to achieve those tar10 gets with a mechanism to provide regular 

11 reporting; 

12 (B) to promote consumer education, 

13 awareness, and outreach to prevent marine de14 bris; 

15 (C) to reduce marine debris by improving 

16 advance planning for marine debris events and 

17 responses to such events; and 

18 (D) to share best practices in post-con19 sumer materials management systems to pre20 vent the entry of plastic waste into the environ21 ment. 


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1 SEC. 3. PRIORITIZATION OF EFFORTS AND ASSISTANCE TO 

2 COMBAT MARINE DEBRIS AND IMPROVE 

3 PLASTIC WASTE MANAGEMENT. 

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

5 coordination with the Administrator of the United States 

6 Agency for International Development, as appropriate, 

7 and the officials specified in subsection (b)— 

8 (1) lead and coordinate efforts to implement the 

9 policy described in section 2; and 

10 (2) develop strategies and implement programs 

11 that prioritize engagement and cooperation with for12 eign governments, subnational and local stake13 holders, and the private sector to expedite efforts 

14 and assistance in foreign countries— 

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

16 facilitate national and subnational governments 

17 on the development and execution, where prac18 ticable, of national projects, programs and ini19 tiatives to— 

20 (i) improve the capacity, security, and 

21 standards of operations of post-consumer 

22 materials management systems; 

23 (ii) monitor and track how well post24 consumer materials management systems 

25 are functioning nationwide, based on uni26 form and transparent standards developed 


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1 in cooperation with municipal, industrial, 

2 and civil society stakeholders; 

3 (iii) identify the operational challenges 

4 of post-consumer materials management 

5 systems and develop policy and pro6 grammatic solutions; 

7 (iv) end intentional or unintentional 

8 incentives for municipalities, industries, 

9 and individuals to improperly dispose of 

10 plastic waste; and 

11 (v) conduct outreach campaigns to 

12 raise public awareness of the importance of 

13 proper waste disposal; 

14 (B) to facilitate the involvement of munici15 palities and industries in improving solid waste 

16 reduction, collection, disposal, and reuse and re17 cycling projects, programs, and initiatives; 

18 (C) to partner with and provide technical 

19 assistance to investors, and national and local 

20 institutions, including private sector actors, to 

21 develop new business opportunities and solu22 tions to specifically reduce plastic waste and ex23 pand solid waste and post-consumer materials 

24 management best practices in foreign countries 

25 by— 


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1 (i) maximizing the number of people 

2 and businesses, in both rural and urban 

3 communities, receiving reliable solid waste 

4 and post-consumer materials management 

5 services; 

6 (ii) improving and expanding the ca7 pacity of foreign industries to responsibly 

8 employ post-consumer materials manage9 ment practices; 

10 (iii) improving and expanding the ca11 pacity and transparency of tracking mech12 anisms for marine debris to reduce the im13 pacts on the marine environment; 

14 (iv) eliminating incentives that under15 mine responsible post-consumer materials 

16 management practices and lead to im17 proper waste disposal practices and leak18 age; 

19 (v) building the capacity of coun20 tries— 

21 (I) to monitor, regulate, and 

22 manage waste, post-consumer mate23 rials and plastic waste, and pollution 

24 appropriately and transparently; 


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1 (II) to encourage private invest2 ment in post-consumer materials man3 agement; and 

4 (III) to encourage private invest5 ment, grow opportunities, and develop 

6 markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

7 repurposed plastic waste and post-con8 sumer materials, and products with 

9 high levels of recycled plastic content, 

10 at both national and local levels; and 

11 (vi) promoting safe and affordable re12 usable alternatives to disposable plastic 

13 products, to the extent practicable; and 

14 (D) to research, identify, and facilitate op15 portunities to promote collection and proper 

16 disposal of damaged or derelict fishing gear. 

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

18 this subsection are the following: 

19 (1) The United States Trade Representative. 

20 (2) The Under Secretary. 

21 (3) The EPA Administrator. 

22 (4) The Director of the Trade and Development 

23 Agency. 

24 (5) The President and the Board of Directors 

25 of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or 


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1 the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Direc2 tors of the United States International Development 

3 Finance Corporation, as appropriate. 

4 (6) The Chief Executive Officer and the Board 

5 of Directors of the Millennium Challenge Corpora6 tion. 

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

8 Secretary of State considers appropriate. 

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

10 the officials specified in subsection (b) shall prioritize as11 sistance to countries with— 

12 (1) rapidly developing economies; and 

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

14 severe sources of marine debris. 

15 (d) EFFECTIVENESS MEASUREMENT.—In 

16 prioritizing and expediting efforts and assistance under 

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

18 use clear, accountable, and metric-based targets to meas19 ure the effectiveness of guarantees and assistance in 

20 achieving the policy described in section 2. 

21 (e) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec22 tion may be construed to authorize the modification of or 

23 the imposition of limits on the portfolios of any agency 

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


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1 SEC. 4. UNITED STATES LEADERSHIP IN INTERNATIONAL 

2 FORA. 

3 In implementing the policy described in section 2, the 

4 President shall direct the United States representatives to 

5 appropriate international bodies and conferences (such as 

6 the United Nations Environment Programme, the Asso7 ciation of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia Pacific Eco8 nomic Cooperation, the Group of 7, the Group of 20, and 

9 the Our Ocean Conference) to use the voice, vote, and in10 fluence of the United States, consistent with the broad for11 eign policy goals of the United States, to advocate that 

12 each such body— 

13 (1) commit to significantly increasing efforts to 

14 promote investment in well-designed post-consumer 

15 materials management and plastic waste elimination 

16 and mitigation projects and services that increase 

17 access to safe post-consumer materials management 

18 and mitigation services, in partnership with the pri19 vate sector and consistent with the constraints of 

20 other countries; 

21 (2) address the post-consumer materials man22 agement needs of individuals and communities where 

23 access to municipal post-consumer materials man24 agement services is historically impractical or cost25 prohibitive; 


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1 (3) enhance coordination with the private sec2 tor— 

3 (A) to increase access to solid waste and 

4 post-consumer materials management services; 

5 (B) to utilize safe and affordable reusable 

6 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to 

7 the extent practicable; 

8 (C) to encourage and incentivize the use of 

9 recycled content; and 

10 (D) to grow economic opportunities and 

11 develop markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

12 repurposed plastic waste materials and other ef13 forts that support the circular economy; 

14 (4) provide technical assistance to foreign regu15 latory authorities and governments to remove unnec16 essary barriers to investment in otherwise commer17 cially viable projects related to— 

18 (A) post-consumer materials management; 

19 (B) the use of safe and affordable reusable 

20 alternatives to disposable plastic products, to 

21 the extent practicable; or 

22 (C) beneficial reuse of solid waste, plastic 

23 waste, post-consumer materials, plastic prod24 ucts, and refuse; 


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

2 targets to measure the effectiveness of such projects; 

3 and 

4 (6) engage international partners in an existing 

5 multilateral forum (or, if necessary, establish 

6 through an international agreement a new multilat7 eral forum) to improve global cooperation on— 

8 (A) creating tangible metrics for evaluating 

9 efforts to reduce plastic waste and marine de10 bris; 

11 (B) developing and implementing best 

12 practices for collecting, disposing, recycling, and 

13 reusing plastic waste and post-consumer mate14 rials, including building capacity for improving 

15 post-consumer materials management at the 

16 national and subnational levels of foreign coun17 tries, particularly countries with little to no 

18 solid waste or post-consumer materials manage19 ment systems, facilities, or policies in place; 

20 (C) encouraging the development of stand21 ards and practices, and increasing recycled con22 tent percentage requirements for disposable 

23 plastic products; 


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1 (D) integrating tracking and monitoring 

2 systems into post-consumer materials manage3 ment systems; 

4 (E) fostering research to improve scientific 

5 understanding of— 

6 (i) how microfibers and microplastics 

7 may affect marine ecosystems, human 

8 health and safety, and maritime activities; 

9 (ii) changes in the amount and re10 gional concentrations of plastic waste in 

11 the ocean, based on scientific modeling and 

12 forecasting; 

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

14 inland waterways play in serving as con15 duits for mismanaged waste traveling from 

16 land to the ocean; 

17 (iv) effective means to eliminate 

18 present and future leakages of plastic 

19 waste into the environment; and 

20 (v) other related areas of research the 

21 United States representatives deem nec22 essary; 

23 (F) encouraging the World Bank and other 

24 international finance organizations to prioritize 

25 efforts to combat marine debris; 


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1 (G) collaborating on technological advances 

2 in post-consumer materials management and 

3 recycled plastics; 

4 (H) growing economic opportunities and 

5 developing markets for recyclable, reusable, and 

6 repurposed plastic waste and post-consumer 

7 materials and other efforts that support the cir8 cular economy; and 

9 (I) advising foreign countries, at both the 

10 national and subnational levels, on the develop11 ment and execution of regulatory policies, serv12 ices, including recycling and reuse of plastic, 

13 and laws pertaining to reducing the creation 

14 and the collection and safe management of— 

15 (i) solid waste; 

16 (ii) post-consumer materials; 

17 (iii) plastic waste; and 

18 (iv) marine debris. 

19 SEC. 5. ENHANCING INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH AND 

20 PARTNERSHIP OF UNITED STATES AGENCIES 

21 INVOLVED IN MARINE DEBRIS ACTIVITIES. 

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

23 the marine debris program of the National Oceanic and 

24 Atmospheric Administration and the Trash-Free Waters 

25 program of the Environmental Protection Agency. 


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1 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF EFFORTS TO BUILD FOR2 EIGN PARTNERSHIPS.—The Under Secretary and the 

3 EPA Administrator shall work with the Secretary of State 

4 and the Administrator of the United States Agency for 

5 International Development to build partnerships, as ap6 propriate, with the governments of foreign countries and 

7 to support international efforts to combat marine debris. 

8 SEC. 6. NEGOTIATION OF NEW INTERNATIONAL AGREE9 MENTS. 

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

11 of this Act, the Secretary of State shall submit to Con12 gress a report— 

13 (1) assessing the potential for negotiating new 

14 international agreements or creating a new inter15 national forum to reduce land-based sources of ma16 rine debris and derelict fishing gear, consistent with 

17 section 4; 

18 (2) describing the provisions that could be in19 cluded in such agreements; and 

20 (3) assessing potential parties to such agree21 ments. 


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1 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF MARINE DEBRIS IN NEGOTI2 ATING INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS. 

3 In negotiating any relevant international agreement 

4 with any country or countries after the date of the enact5 ment of this Act, the President shall, as appropriate— 

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

7 plastic waste and other solid waste from that coun8 try on the marine and aquatic environment; and 

9 (2) ensure that the agreement strengthens ef10 forts to eliminate land-based sources of plastic waste 

11 and other solid waste from that country that impact 

12 the marine and aquatic environment. 

Æ 


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