108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2488

AN ACT

To establish a program within the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration and the United States Coast

Guard to help identify, determine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse impacts

on the marine environment and navigation safety, in

coordination with non-Federal entities, 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 Re5 search Prevention and Reduction Act’’.
 †

2

S 2488 ES

1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

2 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress makes the following

3 findings:

4 (1) The oceans, which comprise nearly three

5 quarters of the Earth’s surface, are an important

6 source of food and provide a wealth of other natural

7 products that are important to the economy of the

8 United States and the world.

9 (2) Ocean and coastal areas are regions of re10 markably high biological productivity, are of consid11 erable importance for a variety of recreational and

12 commercial activities, and provide a vital means of

13 transportation.

14 (3) Ocean and coastal resources are limited and

15 susceptible to change as a direct and indirect result

16 of human activities, and such changes can impact

17 the ability of the ocean to provide the benefits upon

18 which the Nation depends.

19 (4) Marine debris, including plastics, derelict

20 fishing gear, and a wide variety of other objects, has

21 a harmful and persistent effect on marine flora and

22 fauna and can have adverse impacts on human

23 health.

24 (5) Marine debris is also a hazard to naviga25 tion, putting mariners and rescuers, their vessels,

26 and consequently the marine environment at risk,
†

3

S 2488 ES

1 and can cause economic loss due to entanglement of

2 vessel systems.

3 (6) Modern plastic materials persist for decades

4 in the marine environment and therefore pose the

5 greatest potential for long-term damage to the ma6 rine environment.

7 (7) Insufficient knowledge and data on the

8 source, movement, and effects of plastics and other

9 marine debris in marine ecosystems has hampered

10 efforts to develop effective approaches for addressing

11 marine debris.

12 (8) Lack of resources, inadequate attention to

13 this issue, and poor coordination at the Federal level

14 has undermined the development and implementa15 tion of a Federal program to address marine debris,

16 both domestically and internationally.

17 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are—

18 (1) to establish programs within the National

19 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the

20 United States Coast Guard to help identify, deter21 mine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine

22 debris and its adverse impacts on the marine envi23 ronment and navigation safety, in coordination with

24 other Federal and non-Federal entities;
†

4

S 2488 ES

1 (2) to re-establish the Inter-agency Marine De2 bris Coordinating Committee to ensure a coordinated

3 government response across Federal agencies;

4 (3) to develop a Federal information clearing5 house to enable researchers to study the sources,

6 scale and impact of marine debris more efficiently;

7 and

8 (4) to take appropriate action in the inter9 national community to prevent marine debris and re10 duce concentrations of existing debris on a global

11 scale.

12 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL

13 PROGRAM.

14 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab15 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal

17 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and ad18 verse impacts of marine debris on the marine environment

19 and navigation safety.

20 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Through the Marine

21 Debris Prevention and Removal Program, the Under Sec22 retary for Oceans and Atmosphere (Under Secretary) shall

23 carry out the following activities:

24 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT AS25 SESSMENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The
†

5

S 2488 ES

1 Under Secretary shall, in consultation with relevant

2 Federal agencies, undertake marine debris mapping,

3 identification, impact assessment, prevention, and

4 removal efforts, with a focus on marine debris pos5 ing a threat to living marine resources (particularly

6 endangered or protected species) and navigation

7 safety, including—

8 (A) the establishment of a process, build9 ing on existing information sources maintained

10 by Federal agencies such as the Environmental

11 Protection Agency and the Coast Guard, for

12 cataloguing and maintaining an inventory of

13 marine debris and its impacts found in the

14 United States navigable waters and the United

15 States exclusive economic zone, including loca16 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and im17 pacts on habitat, living marine resources,

18 human health, and navigation safety;

19 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca20 tion, and projected movement of marine debris

21 within the United States navigable waters, the

22 United States exclusive economic zone, and the

23 high seas, including the use of oceanographic,

24 atmospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data;

25 and
†

6

S 2488 ES

1 (C) development and implementation of

2 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan for

3 preventing and removing marine debris from

4 United States navigable waters and within the

5 United States exclusive economic zone, includ6 ing development of local or regional protocols

7 for removal of derelict fishing gear.

8 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

9 GEAR.—The Under Secretary shall improve efforts

10 and actively seek to prevent and reduce fishing gear

11 losses, as well as to reduce adverse impacts of such

12 gear on living marine resources and navigation safe13 ty, including—

14 (A) research and development of alter15 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en16 vironment, and methods for marking gear used

17 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re18 covery, and identification of lost and discarded

19 gear; and

20 (B) development of voluntary or manda21 tory measures to reduce the loss and discard of

22 fishing gear, and to aid its recovery, such as in23 centive programs, reporting loss and recovery of

24 gear, observer programs, toll-free reporting hot25 lines, computer-based notification forms, and
†

7

S 2488 ES

1 providing adequate and free disposal recepticals

2 at ports.

3 (3) OUTREACH.—The Under Secretary shall

4 undertake outreach and education of the public and

5 other stakeholders, such as the fishing industry,

6 fishing gear manufacturers, and other marine-de7 pendent industries, on sources of marine debris,

8 threats associated with marine debris and ap9 proaches to identify, determine sources of, assess,

10 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse

11 impacts on the marine environment and navigational

12 safety. Including outreach and education activities

13 through public-private initiatives. The Under Sec14 retary shall coordinate outreach and education ac15 tivities under this paragraph with any outreach pro16 grams conducted under section 2204 of the Marine

17 Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987

18 (33 U.S.C. 1915).

19 (c) GRANTS.—

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Under Secretary shall

21 provide financial assistance, in the form of grants,

22 through the Marine Debris Prevention and Removal

23 Program for projects to accomplish the purposes of

24 this Act.

25 (2) 50 PERCENT MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—
†

8

S 2488 ES

1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in

2 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any

3 project under this section may not exceed 50

4 percent of the total cost of such project. For

5 purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal

6 share of project costs may be provided by in7 kind contributions and other noncash support.

8 (B) WAIVER.—The Under Secretary may

9 waive all or part of the matching requirement

10 under subparagraph (A) if the Under Secretary

11 determines that no reasonable means are avail12 able through which applicants can meet the

13 matching requirement and the probable benefit

14 of such project outweighs the public interest in

15 such matching requirement.

16 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

17 UNDER CONSENT.—

18 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.—

19 The non-Federal share of the cost of a project

20 carried out under this Act may include money

21 paid pursuant to, or the value of any in-kind

22 service performed under, an administrative

23 order on consent or judicial consent decree that

24 will remove or prevent marine debris.
†

9

S 2488 ES

1 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The

2 non-Federal share of the cost of a project car3 ried out under this Act may not include any

4 money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in5 kind service performed under, any other admin6 istrative order or court order.

7 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any natural resource man8 agement authority of a State, Federal or other gov9 ernment authority whose activities directly or indi10 rectly affect research or regulation of marine debris,

11 and any educational or nongovernmental institutions

12 with demonstrated expertise in a field related to ma13 rine debris, are eligible to submit to the Under Sec14 retary a marine debris proposal under the grant pro15 gram.

16 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—With17 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

18 the Under Secretary shall promulgate necessary

19 guidelines for implementation of the grant program,

20 including development of criteria and priorities for

21 grants. Such priorities may include proposals that

22 would reduce new sources of marine debris and pro23 vide additional benefits to the public, such as recy24 cling of marine debris or use of biodegradable mate-
†

10

S 2488 ES

1 rials. In developing those guidelines, the Under Sec2 retary shall consult with—

3 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Com4 mittee;

5 (B) regional fishery management councils

6 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish7 ery Conservation and Management Act (16

8 U.S.C. 1801 et seq.);

9 (C) State, regional, and local governmental

10 entities with marine debris experience;

11 (D) marine-dependent industries; and

12 (E) non-governmental organizations in13 volved in marine debris research, prevention, or

14 removal activities.

15 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The

16 Under Secretary shall review each marine debris

17 project proposal to determine if it meets the grant

18 criteria and supports the goals of the Act. Not later

19 than 120 days after receiving a project proposal

20 under this section, the Under Secretary shall—

21 (A) provide for external merit-based peer

22 review of the proposal;

23 (B) after considering any written com24 ments and recommendations based on the re25 view, approve or disapprove the proposal; and
†

11

S 2488 ES

1 (C) provide written notification of that ap2 proval or disapproval to the person who sub3 mitted the proposal.

4 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under

5 this section shall provide periodic reports as required

6 by the Under Secretary. Each report shall include all

7 information required by the Under Secretary for

8 evaluating the progress and success in meeting its

9 stated goals, and impact on the marine debris prob10 lem.

11 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM.

12 The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall, in co13 operation with the Under Secretary, undertake measures

14 to reduce violations of MARPOL Annex V and the Act

15 to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.)

16 with respect to the discard of plastics and other garbage

17 from vessels. The measures shall include—

18 (1) the development of a strategy to improve

19 monitoring and enforcement of current laws, as well

20 as recommendations for statutory or regulatory

21 changes to improve compliance and for the develop22 ment of any appropriate amendments to MARPOL;

23 (2) regulations to address implementation gaps

24 with respect to the requirement of MARPOL Annex

25 V and section 6 of the Act to Prevent Pollution from
†

12

S 2488 ES

1 Ships (33 U.S.C. 1905) that all United States ports

2 and terminals maintain receptacles for disposing of

3 plastics and other garbage, which may include meas4 ures to ensure that a sufficient quantity of such fa5 cilities exist at all such ports and terminals, require6 ments for logging the waste received, and for Coast

7 Guard comparison of vessel and port log books to

8 determine compliance;

9 (3) regulations to close record keeping gaps,

10 which may include requiring fishing vessels under

11 400 gross tons entering United States ports to

12 maintain records subject to Coast Guard inspection

13 on the disposal of plastics and other garbage, that,

14 at a minimum, include the time, date, type of gar15 bage, quantity, and location of discharge by latitude

16 and longitude or, if discharged on land, the name of

17 the port where such material is offloaded for dis18 posal;

19 (4) regulations to improve ship-board waste

20 management, which may include expanding to small21 er vessels existing requirements to maintain ship22 board receptacles and maintain a ship-board waste

23 management plan, taking into account potential eco24 nomic impacts and technical feasibility;
†

13

S 2488 ES

1 (5) the development, through outreach to com2 mercial vessel operators and recreational boaters, of

3 a voluntary reporting program, along with the estab4 lishment of a central reporting location, for incidents

5 of damage to vessels caused by marine debris, as

6 well as observed violations of existing laws and regu7 lations relating to disposal of plastics and other ma8 rine debris; and

9 (6) a voluntary program encouraging United

10 States flag vessels to inform the Coast Guard of any

11 ports in other countries that lack adequate port re12 ception facilities for garbage.

13 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.

14 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COMMITTEE ES15 TABLISHED.—There is established an Interagency Com16 mittee on Marine Debris to coordinate a comprehensive

17 program of marine debris research and activities among

18 Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with

19 non-governmental organizations, industry, universities,

20 and research institutions, State governments, Indian

21 tribes, and other nations, as appropriate, and to foster

22 cost-effective mechanisms to identify, determine sources

23 of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris, and its ad24 verse impact on the marine environment and navigational
†

14

S 2488 ES

1 safety, including the joint funding of research and mitiga2 tion and prevention strategies.

3 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Committee shall include a

4 senior official from—

5 (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad6 ministration, who shall serve as the chairperson of

7 the Committee;

8 (2) the United States Coast Guard;

9 (3) the Environmental Protection Agency;

10 (4) the United States Navy;

11 (5) the Maritime Administration of the Depart12 ment of Transportation;

13 (6) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin14 istration;

15 (7) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service;

16 (8) the Department of State;

17 (9) the Marine Mammal Commission; and

18 (10) such other Federal agencies that have an

19 interest in ocean issues or water pollution prevention

20 and control as the Secretary of Commerce deter21 mines appropriate.

22 (c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at least

23 twice a year to provide a public, interagency forum to en24 sure the coordination of national and international re-
†

15

S 2488 ES

1 search, monitoring, education, and regulatory actions ad2 dressing the persistent marine debris problem.

3 (d) DEFINITION.—The Committee shall develop and

4 promulgate through regulation a definition of the term

5 ‘‘marine debris’’.

6 (e) REPORTING.—

7 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

8 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—Not later than 12

9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act,

10 the Committee, through the chairperson, and in co11 operation with the coastal States, Indian tribes, local

12 governments, and non-governmental organizations,

13 shall complete and submit to the Congress a report

14 identifying the source of marine debris, examining

15 the ecological and economic impact of marine debris,

16 alternatives for reducing, mitigating, preventing, and

17 controlling the harmful affects of marine debris, the

18 social and economic costs and benefits of such alter19 natives, and recommendations regarding both do20 mestic and international marine debris issues.

21 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under

22 paragraph (1) shall provide recommendations on—

23 (A) establishing priority areas for action to

24 address leading problems relating to marine de25 bris;
†

16

S 2488 ES

1 (B) developing an effective strategy and

2 approaches to preventing, reducing, removing,

3 and disposing of marine debris, including

4 through private-public partnerships;

5 (C) providing appropriate infrastructure

6 for effective implementation and enforcement of

7 measures to prevent and remove marine debris,

8 especially the discard and loss of fishing gear;

9 (D) establishing effective and coordinated

10 education and outreach activities; and

11 (E) ensuring Federal cooperation with, and

12 assistance to, the coastal States (as defined in

13 section 304(4) of the Coastal Zone Management

14 Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 1453(4))), Indian

15 tribes, and local governments in the identifica16 tion, determination of sources, prevention, re17 duction, management, mitigation, and control of

18 marine debris and its adverse impacts.

19 (3) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later

20 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this

21 Act, and every year thereafter, the Committee,

22 through the chairperson, shall submit to the Com23 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

24 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the

25 House of Representatives a report that evaluates
†

17

S 2488 ES

1 United States and international progress in meeting

2 the purposes of this Act. The report shall include—

3 (A) the status of implementation of the

4 recommendations of the Committee and anal5 ysis of their effectiveness;

6 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven7 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic

8 and Atmospheric Administration;

9 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and

10 Atmospheric Administration program author11 ized by section 3 of this Act, including projects

12 funded and accomplishments relating to reduc13 tion and prevention of marine debris;

14 (D) a review of United States Coast Guard

15 programs and accomplishments relating to ma16 rine debris removal, including enforcement and

17 compliance with MARPOL requirements; and

18 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal

19 funding provided for marine debris and rec20 ommendations for priority funding needs.

21 (f) MONITORING.—The Secretary of Commerce, act22 ing through the Administrator of the National Oceanic

23 and Atmospheric Administration and in cooperation with

24 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agen25 cy, shall utilize the marine debris data derived under this
†

18

S 2488 ES

1 Act and title V of the Marine Protection, Research, and

2 Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) to

3 assist—

4 (1) the Committee in ensuring coordination of

5 research, monitoring, education, and regulatory ac6 tions; and

7 (2) the United States Coast Guard in assessing

8 the effectiveness of this Act and the Act to Prevent

9 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) in en10 suring compliance under section 2201 of the Marine

11 Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987

12 (33 U.S.C. 1913).

13 (g) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2203 of the

14 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of

15 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is repealed.

16 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.

17 The Interagency Marine Debris Committee shall de18 velop a strategy and pursue in the International Maritime

19 Organization and other appropriate international and re20 gional forums, international action to reduce the incidence

21 of marine debris, including—

22 (1) the inclusion of effective and enforceable

23 marine debris prevention and removal measures in

24 international and regional agreements, including

25 fisheries agreements and maritime agreements;
†

19

S 2488 ES

1 (2) measures to strengthen and to improve

2 compliance with MARPOL Annex V;

3 (3) national reporting and information require4 ments that will assist in improving information col5 lection, identification and monitoring of marine de6 bris;

7 (4) the establishment of an international data8 base, consistent with the information clearinghouse

9 established under section 7, that will provide current

10 information on location, source, prevention, and re11 moval of marine debris;

12 (5) the establishment of public-private partner13 ships and funding sources for pilot programs that

14 will assist in implementation and compliance with

15 marine debris requirements in international agree16 ments and guidelines;

17 (6) the identification of possible amendments to

18 and provisions in the International Maritime Organi19 zation Guidelines for the Implementation of Annex V

20 of MARPOL for potential inclusion in Annex V; and

21 (7) when appropriate assist the responsible

22 Federal agency in bilateral negotiations to effectively

23 enforce marine debris prevention.
†

20

S 2488 ES

1 SEC. 7. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.

2 The Under Secretary, in coordination with the Com3 mittee, shall maintain a Federal information clearinghouse

4 on marine debris that will be available to researchers and

5 other interested parties to improve source identification,

6 data sharing, and monitoring efforts through collaborative

7 research and open sharing of data. The clearinghouse shall

8 include—

9 (1) standardized protocols to map locations of

10 commercial fishing and aquaculture activities using

11 Geographic Information System techniques;

12 (2) a world-wide database which describes fish13 ing gear and equipment, and fishing practices, in14 cluding information on gear types and specifications;

15 (3) guidance on the identification of types of

16 fishing gear fragments and their sources developed

17 in consultation with persons of relevant expertise;

18 and

19 (4) the data on mapping and identification of

20 marine debris to be developed pursuant to section

21 3(b)(1) of this Act.

22 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

23 In this Act:

24 (1) UNDER SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Under

25 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary for Oceans

26 and Atmosphere of the Department of Commerce.
†

21

S 2488 ES

1 (2) COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Committee’’

2 means the Interagency Marine Debris Committee es3 tablished by section 5 of this Act.

4 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

5 ZONE.—The term ‘‘United States exclusive economic

6 zone’’ means the zone established by Presidential

7 Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10,

8 1983, including the ocean waters of the areas re9 ferred to as ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in Article 3(1)

10 of the Agreement between the United States of

11 America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

12 on the Maritime Boundary, signed June 1, 1990.

13 (4) MARPOL; ANNEX V; CONVENTION.—The

14 terms ‘‘MARPOL’’, ‘‘Annex 5’’, and ‘‘Convention’’

15 have the meaning given those terms in paragraphs

16 (3) and (4) of section 2(a) of the Act to Prevent

17 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901(a)).

18 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

19 There are authorized to be appropriated for each fis20 cal year 2005 through 2009—

21 (1) to the Secretary of Commerce for the pur22 pose of carrying out sections 3 and 7 of this Act,

23 $10,000,000, of which no more than 10 percent may

24 be for administrative costs; and
†

22

S 2488 ES

1 (2) to the Secretary of the Department in which

2 the Coast Guard is operating, for the use of the

3 Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out

4 sections 4 and 6 of this Act, $5,000,000, of which

5 no more than 10 percent may be used for adminis6 trative costs.

Passed the Senate November 21 (legislative day, November 20), 2004.

Attest:

Secretary.
108TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2488

AN ACT

To establish a program within the National Oceanic

and Atmospheric Administration and the UnitedStates Coast Guard to help identify, determinesources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marinedebris and its adverse impacts on the marine environment and navigation safety, in coordinationwith non-Federal entities, and for other purposes.