II 

Calendar No. 792 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2488 

[Report No. 108–401] 

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, Ms. CANTWELL, Mr. 

BREAUX, and Mr. AKAKA) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

OCTOBER 11, 2004 

Reported by Mr. MCCAIN, without amendment 

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. 
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•S 2488 RS 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

8 findings: 

9 (1) The oceans, which comprise nearly three 

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

11 source of food and provide a wealth of other natural 

12 products that are important to the economy of the 

13 United States and the world. 

14 (2) Ocean and coastal areas are regions of re15 markably high biological productivity, are of consid16 erable importance for a variety of recreational and 

17 commercial activities, and provide a vital means of 

18 transportation. 

19 (3) Ocean and coastal resources are limited and 

20 susceptible to change as a direct and indirect result 

21 of human activities, and such changes can impact 

22 the ability of the ocean to provide the benefits upon 

23 which the Nation depends. 

24 (4) Marine debris, including plastics, derelict 

25 fishing gear, and a wide variety of other objects, has 
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1 a harmful and persistent effect on marine flora and 

2 fauna and can have adverse impacts on human 

3 health and navigation safety. 

4 (5) Marine debris is also a hazard to naviga5 tion, putting mariners and rescuers, their vessels, 

6 and consequently the marine environment at risk, 

7 and can cause economic loss due to entanglement of 

8 vessel systems. 

9 (6) Modern plastic materials persist for decades 

10 in the marine environment and therefore pose the 

11 greatest potential for long-term damage to the ma12 rine environment. 

13 (7) Lack of knowledge and data on the source, 

14 movement, and effects of plastics and other marine 

15 debris in marine ecosystems has hampered efforts to 

16 develop effective approaches for addressing marine 

17 debris. 

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

19 issue, and coordination at the Federal level has un20 dermined the development and implementation of a 

21 Federal program to address marine debris, both do22 mestically and internationally. 

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

24 (1) to establish programs within the National 

25 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the 
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•S 2488 RS 

1 United States Coast Guard to help identify, assess, 

2 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse 

3 impacts on the marine environment and navigation 

4 safety, in coordination with other Federal and non5 Federal entities; 

6 (2) to re-establish the Inter-agency Marine De7 bris Coordinating Committee to ensure a coordinated 

8 government response across Federal agencies; 

9 (3) to develop a Federal information clearing10 house to enable researchers to study the scale and 

11 impact of marine debris more efficiently; and 

12 (4) to take appropriate action in the inter13 national community to prevent marine debris and re14 duce concentrations of existing debris on a global 

15 scale. 

16 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL 

17 PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab19 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad20 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 

21 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and ad22 verse impacts of marine debris on the marine environment 

23 and navigation safety. 
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•S 2488 RS 

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

2 the Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere (Under 

3 Secretary) shall carry out the following activities: 

4 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACTS, RE5 MOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Under Secretary 

6 shall, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, 

7 undertake marine debris mapping, identification, im8 pact assessment, prevention, and removal efforts, 

9 with a focus on marine debris posing a threat to liv10 ing marine resources (particularly endangered or pro11 tected species) and navigation safety, including— 

12 (A) the establishment of a process for 

13 cataloguing and maintaining an inventory of 

14 marine debris and its impacts found in the 

15 United States navigable waters and the United 

16 States exclusive economic zone, including loca17 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and im18 pacts on habitat, living marine resources, 

19 human health, and navigation safety; 

20 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca21 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

22 within the United States navigable waters and 

23 the United States exclusive economic zone, in24 cluding the use of oceanographic, atmospheric, 

25 satellite, and remote sensing data; and 
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1 (C) development and implementation of 

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

3 removing marine debris from United States 

4 navigable waters and within the United States 

5 exclusive economic zone, including development 

6 of local or regional protocols for removal of dere7 lict 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 commercial 

11 fishing gear losses, as well as to reduce adverse im12 pacts of such gear on living marine resources and 

13 navigation safety, 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 and 

18 identification of lost gear; and 

19 (B) development of voluntary or manda20 tory management measures to reduce the loss 

21 and discard of commercial fishing gear, such as 

22 incentive programs, observer programs, toll-free 

23 reporting hotlines, and computer-based notifica24 tion forms. 
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1 (3) OUTREACH.—The Under Secretary shall 

2 undertake outreach and education of stakeholders, 

3 including the fishing, gear manufacturers, and other 

4 marine-dependent industries, on threats associated 

5 with marine debris and approaches to identify, pre6 vent, mitigate, monitor, and remove marine debris, 

7 including outreach and education activities through 

8 public-private initiatives. The Under Secretary shall 

9 coordinate outreach and education activities under 

10 this paragraph with any outreach programs con11 ducted under section 2204 of the Marine Plastic 

12 Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 (33 

13 U.S.C. 1915). 

14 (c) GRANTS.— 

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

16 provide financial assistance, in the form of grants, 

17 through the Program for projects to accomplish the 

18 purposes of this Act. 

19 (2) 50 PERCENT MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

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

21 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any 

22 project under this section may not exceed 50 

23 percent of the total cost of such project. For 

24 purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal 
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1 share of project costs may be provided by in2 kind contributions and other noncash support. 

3 (B) WAIVER.—The Under Secretary may 

4 waive all or part of the matching requirement 

5 under subparagraph (A) if the Under Secretary 

6 determines that no reasonable means are avail7 able through which applicants can meet the 

8 matching requirement and the probable benefit 

9 of such project outweighs the public interest in 

10 such matching requirement. 

11 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

12 UNDER CONSENT.— 

13 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.— 

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

15 carried out under this Act may include money 

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

17 service performed under, an administrative 

18 order on consent or judicial consent decree that 

19 will remove or prevent marine debris. 

20 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The 

21 non-Federal share of the cost of a project car22 ried out under this Act may not include any 

23 money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in24 kind service performed under, any other admin25 istrative order or court order. 
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1 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any natural resource man2 agement authority of a State or other government 

3 authority whose activities directly or indirectly affect 

4 research or regulation of marine debris, and any 

5 educational or nongovernmental institutions with 

6 demonstrated expertise in a field related to marine 

7 debris, are eligible to submit to the Under Secretary 

8 a marine debris proposal under the grant program. 

9 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—With10 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

11 the Under Secretary shall promulgate necessary 

12 guidelines for implementation of the grant program, 

13 including development of criteria and priorities for 

14 grants. In developing those guidelines, the Under 

15 Secretary shall consult with— 

16 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Com17 mittee; 

18 (B) regional fishery management councils 

19 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish20 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 

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

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

23 marine debris experience; 

24 (D) marine-dependent industries; and 
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1 (E) non-governmental organizations in2 volved in marine debris research and mitigation 

3 activities (including activities regarding com4 mercial fishing gear). 

5 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The 

6 Under Secretary shall review each marine debris 

7 project proposal to determine if it meets the grant 

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

9 than 120 days after receiving a project proposal 

10 under this section, the Under Secretary shall— 

11 (A) provide for external merit-based peer 

12 review of the proposal; 

13 (B) after considering any written com14 ments and recommendations based on the re15 view, approve or disapprove the proposal; and 

16 (C) provide written notification of that ap17 proval or disapproval to the person who sub18 mitted the proposal. 

19 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

20 this section shall provide periodic reports as required 

21 by the Under Secretary. Each report shall include all 

22 information required by the Under Secretary for 

23 evaluating the progress and success of the project. 
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1 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

2 The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall, in co3 operation with the Under Secretary, undertake measures 

4 to reduce violations of MARPOL Annex V and the Act 

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

6 with respect to the discard of plastics and other garbage 

7 from vessels. The measures shall include— 

8 (1) the development of a strategy to improve 

9 monitoring and enforcement of current laws, as well 

10 as recommendations for statutory or regulatory 

11 changes to improve compliance and for the develop12 ment of any appropriate amendments to MARPOL; 

13 (2) regulations to improve the implementation 

14 of the requirement of MARPOL Annex V and the 

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

16 1901 et seq.) that all United States ports and termi17 nals maintain receptacles for disposing of plastics, 

18 including measures to ensure that a sufficient quan19 tity of such facilities exist at all such ports and ter20 minals, requirements for logging the waste received, 

21 and for Coast Guard comparison of vessel and port 

22 log books to determine compliance; 

23 (3) regulations to require vessels, including 

24 fishing vessels under 400 gross tons, entering 

25 United States ports to maintain records subject to 

26 Coast Guard inspection on the disposal of plastics 
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1 and other garbage, that, at a minimum, include the 

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

3 discharge by latitude and longitude or, if discharged 

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

5 is offloaded for disposal; 

6 (4) regulations to require United States fishing 

7 vessels to report the loss and recovery of fishing 

8 gear and to expand to smaller vessels existing re9 quirements to maintain ship-board receptacles and 

10 maintain a ship-board waste management plan, tak11 ing into account potential economic impacts, tech12 nical feasibility, and other factors; 

13 (5) the development, through outreach to com14 mercial vessel operators and recreational boaters, of 

15 a voluntary reporting program, along with the estab16 lishment of a central reporting location, for incidents 

17 of damage to vessels caused by marine debris, as 

18 well as observed violations of existing laws and regu19 lations relating to disposal of plastics and other ma20 rine debris; and 

21 (6) a voluntary program encouraging United 

22 States flag vessels to inform the Coast Guard of any 

23 ports in other countries that lack adequate port re24 ception facilities for garbage. 
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1 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

2 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COMMITTEE ES3 TABLISHED.—There is established an Interagency Com4 mittee on Marine Debris to coordinate a comprehensive 

5 program of marine debris research and activities among 

6 Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with 

7 non-governmental organizations, industry, universities, 

8 and research institutions, State governments, Indian 

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

10 cost-effective mechanisms to identify, assess, reduce, and 

11 prevent marine debris, including the joint funding of re12 search and mitigation and prevention strategies. 

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

14 senior official from— 

15 (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration, who shall serve as the chairperson of 

17 the Committee; 

18 (2) the United States Coast Guard; 

19 (3) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

20 (4) the United States Navy; 

21 (5) the Maritime Administration of the Depart22 ment of Transportation; 

23 (6) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin24 istration; 

25 (7) the Marine Mammal Commission; and 
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1 (8) such other Federal agencies that have an 

2 interest in ocean issues or water pollution prevention 

3 and control as the Secretary of Commerce deter4 mines appropriate. 

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

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

7 of national and international research, monitoring, edu8 cation, and regulatory actions addressing the persistent 

9 marine debris problem. 

10 (d) REPORTING.— 

11 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

12 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—Not later than 12 

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

14 the Committee, through the chairperson, and in co15 operation with the coastal States, Indian tribes, local 

16 governments, and non-governmental organizations, 

17 shall complete and submit to the Congress a report 

18 examining the ecological and economic impact of 

19 marine debris, alternatives for reducing, mitigating, 

20 preventing, and controlling the harmful affects of 

21 marine debris, and the social and economic costs and 

22 benefits of such alternatives. 

23 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under 

24 paragraph (1) shall provide recommendations on— 
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1 (A) establishing priority areas for action to 

2 address leading problems relating to marine de3 bris; 

4 (B) developing an effective strategy and 

5 approaches to reducing, removing, and dis6 posing of marine debris, including through pri7 vate-public partnerships; 

8 (C) providing appropriate infrastructure 

9 for effective implementation and enforcement of 

10 measures to prevent and remove marine debris, 

11 especially the discard and loss of fishing gear; 

12 (D) establishing effective and coordinated 

13 education and outreach activities; and 

14 (E) ensuring Federal cooperation with, and 

15 assistance to, the coastal States (as defined in 

16 section 304(4) of the Coastal Zone Management 

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

18 tribes, and local governments in the prevention, 

19 reduction, management, mitigation, and control 

20 of marine debris and its adverse impacts. 

21 (3) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later 

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

23 Act, and every year thereafter, the Committee, 

24 through the chairperson, shall submit to the Com25 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of 
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1 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the 

2 House of Representatives a report that evaluates 

3 United States and international progress in meeting 

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

5 (A) the status of implementation of the 

6 recommendations of the Committee and anal7 ysis of their effectiveness; 

8 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven9 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic 

10 and Atmospheric Administration; 

11 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and 

12 Atmospheric Administration program author13 ized by section 3 of this Act, including projects 

14 funded and accomplishments relating to reduc15 tion and prevention of marine debris; 

16 (D) a review of United States Coast Guard 

17 programs and accomplishments relating to ma18 rine debris removal, including enforcement and 

19 compliance with MARPOL requirements; and 

20 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal 

21 funding provided for marine debris and rec22 ommendations for priority funding needs. 

23 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 2203 of the 

24 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 

25 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is repealed. 
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1 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

2 The Interagency Marine Debris Committee shall de3 velop a strategy and pursue in the International Maritime 

4 Organization and other appropriate international and re5 gional forums, international action to reduce the incidence 

6 of marine debris, including— 

7 (1) the inclusion of effective and enforceable 

8 marine debris prevention and removal measures in 

9 international and regional agreements, including 

10 fisheries agreements and maritime agreements; 

11 (2) measures to strengthen and to improve 

12 compliance with MARPOL Annex V; 

13 (3) national reporting and information require14 ments that will assist in improving information col15 lection, identification and monitoring of marine de16 bris, including plastics and derelict fishing gear; 

17 (4) the establishment of an international data18 base, consistent with the information clearinghouse 

19 established under section 7, that will provide current 

20 information on location, source, prevention, and re21 moval of marine debris, including fishing gear; 

22 (5) the establishment of public-private partner23 ships and funding sources for pilot programs that 

24 will assist in implementation and compliance with 

25 marine debris requirements in international agree26 ments and guidelines; 
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1 (6) the identification of possible amendments to 

2 and provisions in the International Maritime Organi3 zation Guidelines for the Implementation of Annex V 

4 of MARPOL for potential inclusion in Annex V; and 

5 (7) when appropriate assist the responsible 

6 Federal agency in bilateral negotiations to effectively 

7 enforce marine debris prevention. 

8 SEC. 7. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

9 The Under Secretary, in coordination with the Com10 mittee, shall maintain a Federal information clearinghouse 

11 on marine debris that will be available to researchers and 

12 other interested parties to improve source identification, 

13 data sharing, and monitoring efforts through collaborative 

14 research and open sharing of data. The clearinghouse shall 

15 include— 

16 (1) standardized protocols to map locations of 

17 commercial fishing and aquaculture activities using 

18 Geographic Information System techniques; 

19 (2) a world-wide database which describes fish20 ing gear and equipment, and fishing practices, in21 cluding information on gear types and specifications; 

22 (3) guidance on the identification of gear frag23 ments; and 
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1 (4) the data on mapping and identification of 

2 marine debris to be developed pursuant to section 

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

4 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS. 

5 In this Act: 

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

7 Secretary’’ means the Under Secretary for Oceans 

8 and Atmosphere of the Department of Commerce. 

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

10 means the Interagency Marine Debris Committee es11 tablished by section 5 of this Act. 

12 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

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

14 zone’’ means the zone established by Presidential 

15 Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 

16 1983, including the ocean waters of the areas re17 ferred to as ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in Article 3(1) 

18 of the Agreement between the United States of 

19 America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 

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

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

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

23 have the meaning given those terms in paragraphs 

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

25 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901(a)). 
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1 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal 

3 year 2005— 

4 (1) to the Secretary of Commerce for the pur5 pose of carrying out sections 3 and 7 of this Act, 

6 $10,000,000, of which no more than 10 percent may 

7 be for administrative costs; and 

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

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

10 Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out 

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

12 no more than 10 percent may be used for adminis13 trative costs. 

Calendar No. 792 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2488 

[Report No. 108–401] 

A BILL 

To establish a program within the National Oceanic 

tities, and for other purposes. tion safety, in coordination with non-Federal enimpacts on the marine environment and navigaduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse States Coast Guard to help identify, assess, reand Atmospheric Administration and the United 

OCTOBER 11, 2004 

Reported without amendment