II 

109TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 362 

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. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 10, 2005 

Mr. INOUYE (for himself, Mr. STEVENS, Ms. CANTWELL, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. 

KERRY, and Mr. LAUTENBERG) 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, 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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Debris Re3 search Prevention and Reduction Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES. 

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

6 findings: 

7 (1) The oceans, which comprise nearly three 

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

9 source of food and provide a wealth of other natural 

10 products that are important to the economy of the 

11 United States and the world. 

12 (2) Ocean and coastal areas are regions of re13 markably high biological productivity, are of consid14 erable importance for a variety of recreational and 

15 commercial activities, and provide a vital means of 

16 transportation. 

17 (3) Ocean and coastal resources are limited and 

18 susceptible to change as a direct and indirect result 

19 of human activities, and such changes can impact 

20 the ability of the ocean to provide the benefits upon 

21 which the Nation depends. 

22 (4) Marine debris, including plastics, derelict 

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

24 a harmful and persistent effect on marine flora and 

25 fauna and can have adverse impacts on human 

26 health. 
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1 (5) Marine debris is also a hazard to naviga2 tion, putting mariners and rescuers, their vessels, 

3 and consequently the marine environment at risk, 

4 and can cause economic loss due to entanglement of 

5 vessel systems. 

6 (6) Modern plastic materials persist for decades 

7 in the marine environment and therefore pose the 

8 greatest potential for long-term damage to the ma9 rine environment. 

10 (7) Insufficient knowledge and data on the 

11 source, movement, and effects of plastics and other 

12 marine debris in marine ecosystems has hampered 

13 efforts to develop effective approaches for addressing 

14 marine debris. 

15 (8) Lack of resources, inadequate attention to 

16 this issue, and poor coordination at the Federal level 

17 has undermined the development and implementa18 tion of a Federal program to address marine debris, 

19 both domestically and internationally. 

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

21 (1) to establish programs within the National 

22 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the 

23 United States Coast Guard to help identify, deter24 mine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine 

25 debris and its adverse impacts on the marine envi-
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1 ronment and navigation safety, in coordination with 

2 other Federal and non-Federal entities; 

3 (2) to re-establish the Inter-agency Marine De4 bris Coordinating Committee to ensure a coordinated 

5 government response across Federal agencies; 

6 (3) to develop a Federal information clearing7 house to enable researchers to study the sources, 

8 scale and impact of marine debris more efficiently; 

9 and 

10 (4) to take appropriate action in the inter11 national community to prevent marine debris and re12 duce concentrations of existing debris on a global 

13 scale. 

14 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL 

15 PROGRAM. 

16 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab17 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad18 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 

19 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and ad20 verse impacts of marine debris on the marine environment 

21 and navigation safety. 

22 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Through the Marine 

23 Debris Prevention and Removal Program, the Adminis24 trator shall carry out the following activities: 
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1 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT AS2 SESSMENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Ad3 ministrator shall, in consultation with relevant Fed4 eral agencies, undertake marine debris mapping, 

5 identification, impact assessment, prevention, and re6 moval efforts, with a focus on marine debris posing 

7 a threat to living marine resources (particularly en8 dangered or protected species) and navigation safety, 

9 including— 

10 (A) the establishment of a process, build11 ing on existing information sources maintained 

12 by Federal agencies such as the Environmental 

13 Protection Agency and the Coast Guard, for 

14 cataloguing and maintaining an inventory of 

15 marine debris and its impacts found in the 

16 United States navigable waters and the United 

17 States exclusive economic zone, including loca18 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and im19 pacts on habitat, living marine resources, 

20 human health, and navigation safety; 

21 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca22 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

23 within the United States navigable waters, the 

24 United States exclusive economic zone, and the 

25 high seas, including the use of oceanographic, 
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1 atmospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data; 

2 and 

3 (C) development and implementation of 

4 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan for 

5 preventing and removing marine debris from 

6 United States navigable waters and within the 

7 United States exclusive economic zone, includ8 ing development of local or regional protocols 

9 for removal of derelict fishing gear. 

10 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

11 GEAR.—The Administrator shall improve efforts and 

12 actively seek to prevent and reduce fishing gear 

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

14 gear on living marine resources and navigation safe15 ty, including— 

16 (A) research and development of alter17 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en18 vironment, and methods for marking gear used 

19 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re20 covery, and identification of lost and discarded 

21 gear; and 

22 (B) development of voluntary or manda23 tory measures to reduce the loss and discard of 

24 fishing gear, and to aid its recovery, such as in25 centive programs, reporting loss and recovery of 
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1 gear, observer programs, toll-free reporting hot2 lines, computer-based notification forms, and 

3 providing adequate and free disposal recepticals 

4 at ports. 

5 (3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall un6 dertake outreach and education of the public and 

7 other stakeholders, such as the fishing industry, 

8 fishing gear manufacturers, and other marine-de9 pendent industries, on sources of marine debris, 

10 threats associated with marine debris and ap11 proaches to identify, determine sources of, assess, 

12 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse 

13 impacts on the marine environment and navigational 

14 safety. Including outreach and education activities 

15 through public-private initiatives. The Administrator 

16 shall coordinate outreach and education activities 

17 under this paragraph with any outreach programs 

18 conducted under section 2204 of the Marine Plastic 

19 Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 (33 

20 U.S.C. 1915). 

21 (c) GRANTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall pro23 vide financial assistance, in the form of grants, 

24 through the Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 
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1 Program for projects to accomplish the purposes of 

2 this Act. 

3 (2) 50 PERCENT MATCHING REQUIREMENT.— 

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

5 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any 

6 project under this section may not exceed 50 

7 percent of the total cost of such project. For 

8 purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal 

9 share of project costs may be provided by in10 kind contributions and other noncash support. 

11 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 

12 waive all or part of the matching requirement 

13 under subparagraph (A) if the Administrator 

14 determines that no reasonable means are avail15 able through which applicants can meet the 

16 matching requirement and the probable benefit 

17 of such project outweighs the public interest in 

18 such matching requirement. 

19 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

20 UNDER CONSENT.— 

21 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.— 

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

23 carried out under this Act may include money 

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

25 service performed under, an administrative 
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1 order on consent or judicial consent decree that 

2 will remove or prevent marine debris. 

3 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The 

4 non-Federal share of the cost of a project car5 ried out under this Act may not include any 

6 money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in7 kind service performed under, any other admin8 istrative order or court order. 

9 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any natural resource man10 agement authority of a State, Federal or other gov11 ernment authority whose activities directly or indi12 rectly affect research or regulation of marine debris, 

13 and any educational or nongovernmental institutions 

14 with demonstrated expertise in a field related to ma15 rine debris, are eligible to submit to the Adminis16 trator a marine debris proposal under the grant pro17 gram. 

18 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—With19 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, 

20 the Administrator shall promulgate necessary guide21 lines for implementation of the grant program, in22 cluding development of criteria and priorities for 

23 grants. Such priorities may include proposals that 

24 would reduce new sources of marine debris and pro25 vide additional benefits to the public, such as recy-
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1 cling of marine debris or use of biodegradable mate2 rials. In developing those guidelines, the Adminis3 trator shall consult with— 

4 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Com5 mittee; 

6 (B) regional fishery management councils 

7 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish8 ery Conservation and Management Act (16 

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

10 (C) State, regional, and local governmental 

11 entities with marine debris experience; 

12 (D) marine-dependent industries; and 

13 (E) non-governmental organizations in14 volved in marine debris research, prevention, or 

15 removal activities. 

16 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The 

17 Administrator shall review each marine debris 

18 project proposal to determine if it meets the grant 

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

20 than 120 days after receiving a project proposal 

21 under this section, the Administrator shall— 

22 (A) provide for external merit-based peer 

23 review of the proposal; 
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1 (B) after considering any written com2 ments and recommendations based on the re3 view, approve or disapprove the proposal; and 

4 (C) provide written notification of that ap5 proval or disapproval to the person who sub6 mitted the proposal. 

7 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

8 this section shall provide periodic reports as required 

9 by the Administrator. Each report shall include all 

10 information required by the Administrator for evalu11 ating the progress and success in meeting its stated 

12 goals, and impact on the marine debris problem. 

13 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

14 The Commandant of the Coast Guard shall, in co15 operation with the Administrator, undertake measures to 

16 reduce violations of MARPOL Annex V and the Act to 

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

18 with respect to the discard of plastics and other garbage 

19 from vessels. The measures shall include— 

20 (1) the development of a strategy to improve 

21 monitoring and enforcement of current laws, as well 

22 as recommendations for statutory or regulatory 

23 changes to improve compliance and for the develop24 ment of any appropriate amendments to MARPOL; 
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1 (2) regulations to address implementation gaps 

2 with respect to the requirement of MARPOL Annex 

3 V and section 6 of the Act to Prevent Pollution from 

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

5 and terminals maintain receptacles for disposing of 

6 plastics and other garbage, which may include meas7 ures to ensure that a sufficient quantity of such fa8 cilities exist at all such ports and terminals, require9 ments for logging the waste received, and for Coast 

10 Guard comparison of vessel and port log books to 

11 determine compliance; 

12 (3) regulations to close record keeping gaps, 

13 which may include requiring fishing vessels under 

14 400 gross tons entering United States ports to 

15 maintain records subject to Coast Guard inspection 

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

17 at a minimum, include the time, date, type of gar18 bage, quantity, and location of discharge by latitude 

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

20 the port where such material is offloaded for dis21 posal; 

22 (4) regulations to improve ship-board waste 

23 management, which may include expanding to small24 er vessels existing requirements to maintain ship25 board receptacles and maintain a ship-board waste 
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1 management plan, taking into account potential eco2 nomic impacts and technical feasibility; 

3 (5) the development, through outreach to com4 mercial vessel operators and recreational boaters, of 

5 a voluntary reporting program, along with the estab6 lishment of a central reporting location, for incidents 

7 of damage to vessels caused by marine debris, as 

8 well as observed violations of existing laws and regu9 lations relating to disposal of plastics and other ma10 rine debris; and 

11 (6) a voluntary program encouraging United 

12 States flag vessels to inform the Coast Guard of any 

13 ports in other countries that lack adequate port re14 ception facilities for garbage. 

15 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

16 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COMMITTEE ES17 TABLISHED.—There is established an Interagency Com18 mittee on Marine Debris to coordinate a comprehensive 

19 program of marine debris research and activities among 

20 Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with 

21 non-governmental organizations, industry, universities, 

22 and research institutions, State governments, Indian 

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

24 cost-effective mechanisms to identify, determine sources 

25 of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris, and its ad-
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1 verse inpact on the marine environment and navigational 

2 safety, including the joint funding of research and mitiga3 tion and prevention strategies. 

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

5 senior official from— 

6 (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad7 ministration, who shall serve as the chairperson of 

8 the Committee; 

9 (2) the United States Coast Guard; 

10 (3) the Environmental Protection Agency; 

11 (4) the United States Navy; 

12 (5) the Maritime Administration of the Depart13 ment of Transportation; 

14 (6) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin15 istration; 

16 (7) the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 

17 (8) the Department of State; 

18 (9) the Marine Mammal Commission; and 

19 (10) such other Federal agencies that have an 

20 interest in ocean issues or water pollution prevention 

21 and control as the Administrator determines appro22 priate. 

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

24 twice a year to provide a public, interagency forum to en25 sure the coordination of national and international re-
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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; 
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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 
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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 Administrator, in cooperation 

22 with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

23 Agency, shall utilize the marine debris data derived under 

24 this Act and title V of the Marine Protection, Research, 
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1 and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) to 

2 assist— 

3 (1) the Committee in ensuring coordination of 

4 research, monitoring, education, and regulatory ac5 tions; and 

6 (2) the United States Coast Guard in assessing 

7 the effectiveness of this Act and the Act to Prevent 

8 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) in en9 suring compliance under section 2201 of the Marine 

10 Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 

11 (33 U.S.C. 1913). 

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

13 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 

14 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is repealed. 

15 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION. 

16 The Interagency Marine Debris Committee shall de17 velop a strategy and pursue in the International Maritime 

18 Organization and other appropriate international and re19 gional forums, international action to reduce the incidence 

20 of marine debris, including— 

21 (1) the inclusion of effective and enforceable 

22 marine debris prevention and removal measures in 

23 international and regional agreements, including 

24 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; 

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. 
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1 SEC. 7. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

2 The Administrator, 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) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis25 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National 

26 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 
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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 each fis20 cal year 2006 through 2010— 

21 (1) to the Administrator for the purpose of car22 rying out sections 3 and 7 of this Act, $10,000,000, 

23 of which no more than 10 percent may be for ad24 ministrative 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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