II 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2488

To establish a program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Coast Guard to help identify, 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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 2, 2004

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Mr. HOLLINGS, and Ms. CANTWELL) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL

To establish a program within the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration and the United States Coast 

Guard to help identify, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse impacts on the marine environment and navigation safety, in coordination with nonFederal 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 and Reduction Act’’. 
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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 and navigation safety. 

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, 
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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) Lack of knowledge and data on the source, 

8 movement, and effects of plastics and other marine 

9 debris in marine ecosystems has hampered efforts to 

10 develop effective approaches for addressing marine 

11 debris. 

12 (8) Lack of resources, priority attention to this 

13 issue, and coordination at the Federal level has un14 dermined the development and implementation of a 

15 Federal program to address marine debris, both do16 mestically 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, assess, 

21 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse 

22 impacts on the marine environment and navigation 

23 safety, in coordination with other Federal and non24 Federal entities; 
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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 scale and 

6 impact of marine debris more efficiently; and 

7 (4) to take appropriate action in the inter8 national community to prevent marine debris and re9 duce concentrations of existing debris on a global 

10 scale. 

11 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL 

12 PROGRAM. 

13 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab14 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad15 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 

16 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and ad17 verse impacts of marine debris on the marine environment 

18 and navigation safety. 

19 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Through the Program, 

20 the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere (Under 

21 Secretary) shall carry out the following activities: 

22 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACTS, RE23 MOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Under Secretary

24 shall, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, 

25 undertake marine debris mapping, identification, im-
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1 pact assessment, prevention, and removal efforts, 

2 with a focus on marine debris posing a threat to 

3 living marine resources (particularly endangered or 

4 protected species) and navigation safety, including—

5 (A) the establishment of a process for 

6 cataloguing and maintaining an inventory of 

7 marine debris and its impacts found in the 

8 United States navigable waters and the United 

9 States exclusive economic zone, including loca10 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and im11 pacts on habitat, living marine resources, 

12 human health, and navigation safety; 

13 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca14 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

15 within the United States navigable waters and 

16 the United States exclusive economic zone, in17 cluding the use of oceanographic, atmospheric, 

18 satellite, and remote sensing data; and 

19 (C) development and implementation of 

20 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan, for 

21 removing marine debris from United States 

22 navigable waters and within the United States 

23 exclusive economic zone, including development 

24 of local or regional protocols for removal of der25 elict fishing gear. 
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1 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

2 GEAR.—The Under Secretary shall improve efforts 

3 and actively seek to prevent and reduce commercial 

4 fishing gear losses, as well as to reduce adverse im5 pacts of such gear on living marine resources and 

6 navigation safety, including— 

7 (A) research and development of alter8 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en9 vironment, and methods for marking gear used 

10 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking and 

11 identification of lost gear; and 

12 (B) development of voluntary or manda13 tory management measures to reduce the loss 

14 and discard of commercial fishing gear, such as 

15 incentive programs, observer programs, toll-free 

16 reporting hotlines, and computer-based notifica17 tion forms. 

18 (3) OUTREACH.—The Under Secretary shall 

19 undertake outreach and education of stakeholders, 

20 including the fishing, gear manufacturers, and other 

21 marine-dependent industries, on threats associated 

22 with marine debris and approaches to identify, pre23 vent, mitigate, monitor, and remove marine debris, 

24 including outreach and education activities through 

25 public-private initiatives. The Under Secretary shall 
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1 coordinate outreach and education activities under 

2 this paragraph with any outreach programs con3 ducted under section 2204 of the Marine Plastic 

4 Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 (33 

5 U.S.C. 1915). 

6 (c) GRANTS.—

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

8 provide financial assistance, in the form of grants, 

9 through the Program for projects to accomplish the 

10 purposes of this Act. 

11 (2) 50 PERCENT MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

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

13 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any 

14 project under this section may not exceed 50 

15 percent of the total cost of such project. For 

16 purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal 

17 share of project costs may be provided by in18 kind contributions and other noncash support. 

19 (B) WAIVER.—The Under Secretary may 

20 waive all or part of the matching requirement 

21 under subparagraph (A) if the Under Secretary 

22 determines that no reasonable means are avail23 able through which applicants can meet the 

24 matching requirement and the probable benefit 
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1 of such project outweighs the public interest in 

2 such matching requirement. 

3 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

4 UNDER CONSENT.—

5 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.—

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

7 carried out under this Act may include money 

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

9 service performed under, an administrative 

10 order on consent or judicial consent decree that 

11 will remove or prevent marine debris. 

12 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The 

13 non-Federal share of the cost of a project car14 ried out under this Act may not include any 

15 money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in16 kind service performed under, any other admin17 istrative order or court order. 

18 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any natural resource man19 agement authority of a State or other government 

20 authority whose activities directly or indirectly affect 

21 research or regulation of marine debris, and any 

22 educational or nongovernmental institutions with 

23 demonstrated expertise in a field related to marine

24 debris, are eligible to submit to the Under Secretary 

25 a marine debris proposal under the grant program. 
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1 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—With2 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

3 the Under Secretary shall promulgate necessary 

4 guidelines for implementation of the grant program, 

5 including development of criteria and priorities for 

6 grants. In developing those guidelines, the Under 

7 Secretary shall consult with—

8 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Com9 mittee; 

10 (B) regional fishery management councils 

11 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish12 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 

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

14 (C) State, regional, and local entities with 

15 marine debris experience; 

16 (D) marine-dependent industries; and 

17 (E) non-governmental organizations in18 volved in marine debris research and mitigation 

19 activities (including activities regarding com20 mercial fishing gear). 

21 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The 

22 Under Secretary shall review each marine debris 

23 project proposal to determine if it meets the grant 

24 criteria and supports the goals of the Act. Not later 
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1 than 120 days after receiving a project proposal 

2 under this section, the Under Secretary shall—

3 (A) provide for external merit-based peer 

4 review of the proposal; 

5 (B) after considering any written com6 ments and recommendations based on the re7 view, approve or disapprove the proposal; and 

8 (C) provide written notification of that ap9 proval or disapproval to the person who sub10 mitted the proposal. 

11 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

12 this section shall provide periodic reports as required 

13 by the Under Secretary. Each report shall include all 

14 information required by the Under Secretary for 

15 evaluating the progress and success of the project. 

16 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

17 The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall, in co18 operation with the Under Secretary, undertake measures 

19 to reduce violations of MARPOL Annex V and the Act 

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

21 with respect to the discard of plastics and other garbage 

22 from vessels. The measures shall include—

23 (1) the development of a strategy to improve 

24 monitoring and enforcement of current laws, as well 

25 as recommendations for statutory or regulatory 
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1 changes to improve compliance and for the develop2 ment of any appropriate amendments to MARPOL; 

3 (2) regulations to improve the implementation 

4 of the requirement of MARPOL Annex V and the 

5 Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 

6 1901 et seq.) that all United States ports and termi7 nals maintain receptacles for disposing of plastics, 

8 including measures to ensure that a sufficient quan9 tity of such facilities exist at all such ports and ter10 minals, requirements for logging the waste received, 

11 and for Coast Guard comparison of vessel and port 

12 log books to determine compliance; 

13 (3) regulations to require vessels, including 

14 fishing vessels under 400 gross tons, entering 

15 United States ports to maintain records subject to 

16 Coast Guard inspection on the disposal of plastics 

17 and other garbage, that, at a minimum, include the 

18 time, date, type of garbage, quantity, and location of 

19 discharge by latitude and longitude or, if discharged 

20 on land, the name of the port where such material 

21 is offloaded for disposal; 

22 (4) regulations to require United States fishing 

23 vessels to report the loss and recovery of fishing 

24 gear and to expand to smaller vessels existing re25 quirements to maintain ship-board receptacles and 
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1 maintain a ship-board waste management plan, tak2 ing into account potential economic impacts, tech3 nical feasibility, and other factors; 

4 (5) the development, through outreach to com5 mercial vessel operators and recreational boaters, of 

6 a voluntary reporting program, along with the estab7 lishment of a central reporting location, for incidents 

8 of damage to vessels caused by marine debris, as 

9 well as observed violations of existing laws and regu10 lations relating to disposal of plastics and other ma11 rine debris; and 

12 (6) a voluntary program encouraging United 

13 States flag vessels to inform the Coast Guard of any 

14 ports in other countries that lack adequate port re15 ception facilities for garbage. 

16 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

17 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COMMITTEE ES18 TABLISHED.—There is established an Interagency Com19 mittee on Marine Debris to coordinate a comprehensive 

20 program of marine debris research and activities among 

21 Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with 

22 non-governmental organizations, industry, universities, 

23 and research institutions, State governments, Indian 

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

25 cost-effective mechanisms to identify, assess, reduce, and 
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1 prevent marine debris, including the joint funding of re2 search and mitigation 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 Marine Mammal Commission; and 

16 (8) such other Federal agencies that have an 

17 interest in ocean issues or water pollution prevention 

18 and control as the Secretary of Commerce deter19 mines appropriate. 

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

21 twice a year to provide a forum to ensure the coordination 

22 of national and international research, monitoring, edu23 cation, and regulatory actions addressing the persistent 

24 marine debris problem. 

25 (d) REPORTING.—
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1 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

2 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—Not later than 12 

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

4 the Committee, through the chairperson, and in co5 operation with the coastal States, Indian tribes, local 

6 governments, and non-governmental organizations, 

7 shall complete and submit to the Congress a report 

8 examining the ecological and economic impact of 

9 marine debris, alternatives for reducing, mitigating, 

10 preventing, and controlling the harmful affects of 

11 marine debris, and the social and economic costs and 

12 benefits of such alternatives. 

13 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

14 paragraph (1) shall provide recommendations on—

15 (A) establishing priority areas for action to 

16 address leading problems relating to marine de17 bris; 

18 (B) developing an effective strategy and 

19 approaches to reducing, removing, and dis20 posing of marine debris, including through pri21 vate-public partnerships; 

22 (C) providing appropriate infrastructure 

23 for effective implementation and enforcement of 

24 measures to prevent and remove marine debris, 

25 especially the discard and loss of fishing gear; 
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1 (D) establishing effective and coordinated 

2 education and outreach activities; and 

3 (E) ensuring Federal cooperation with, and 

4 assistance to, the coastal States (as defined in 

5 section 304(4) of the Coastal Zone Management 

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

7 tribes, and local governments in the prevention, 

8 reduction, management, mitigation, and control 

9 of marine debris and its adverse impacts. 

10 (3) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later 

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

12 Act, and every year thereafter, the Committee, 

13 through the chairperson, shall submit to the Com14 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 

15 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the 

16 House of Representatives a report that evaluates 

17 United States and international progress in meeting 

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

19 (A) the status of implementation of the 

20 recommendations of the Committee and anal21 ysis of their effectiveness; 

22 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven23 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic 

24 and Atmospheric Administration; 
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1 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and 

2 Atmospheric Administration program author3 ized by section 3 of this Act, including projects 

4 funded and accomplishments relating to reduc5 tion and prevention of marine debris; 

6 (D) a review of United States Coast Guard 

7 programs and accomplishments relating to ma8 rine debris removal, including enforcement and 

9 compliance with MARPOL requirements; and 

10 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal 

11 funding provided for marine debris and rec12 ommendations for priority funding needs. 

13 (e) 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; 
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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, including plastics and derelict fishing gear; 

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, including fishing gear; 

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. 
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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 gear frag16 ments; and 

17 (4) the data on mapping and identification of 

18 marine debris to be developed pursuant to section 

19 3(b)(1) of this Act. 

20 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

21 In this Act: 

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

23 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary for Oceans 

24 and Atmosphere of the Department of Commerce. 
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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 fiscal 

20 year 2005—

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 
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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.

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