IB 

Union Calendar No. 345 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 362 

[Report No. 109–332, Parts I and II] 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 11, 2005 

Referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions 

as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

DECEMBER 8, 2005 

Reported from the Committee on Resources with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

JULY 25, 2006 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure with an 

amendment; committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the 

State of the Union and ordered to be printed 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in bold face roman] 

[For text of Senate passed bill, see copy of bill as referred in the House of Representatives 

on July 11, 2005] 

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 


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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 SEC. 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Debris Research, 

5 Prevention, and Reduction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

7 The purposes of this Act are— 

8 (1) to help identify, determine sources of, assess, 

9 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse im10 pacts on the marine environment and navigation 

11 safety; 

12 (2) to reactivate the Interagency Marine Debris 

13 Coordinating Committee; and 

14 (3) to develop a Federal marine debris informa15 tion clearinghouse. 

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 adverse 

22 impacts of marine debris on the marine environment and 

23 navigation safety. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Administrator, act2 ing through the Program and subject to the availability of 

3 appropriations, shall carry out the following activities: 

4 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT ASSESS5 MENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Adminis6 trator shall, in consultation with relevant Federal 

7 agencies, undertake marine debris mapping, identi8 fication, impact assessment, prevention, and removal 

9 efforts, with a focus on marine debris posing a threat 

10 to living marine resources and navigation safety, in11 cluding— 

12 (A) the establishment of a process, building 

13 on existing information sources maintained by 

14 Federal agencies such as the Environmental Pro15 tection Agency and the Coast Guard, for cata16 loguing and maintaining an inventory of ma17 rine debris and its impacts found in the navi18 gable waters of the United States and the United 

19 States exclusive economic zone, including loca20 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and impacts 

21 on habitat, living marine resources, human 

22 health, and navigation safety; 

23 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca24 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

25 within United States navigable waters, the 


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1 United States exclusive economic zone, and the 

2 high seas, including the use of oceanographic, at3 mospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data; 

4 and 

5 (C) development and implementation of 

6 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan for 

7 preventing and removing marine debris from 

8 United States navigable waters and within the 

9 United States exclusive economic zone, including 

10 development of local or regional protocols for re11 moval of derelict fishing gear and other marine 

12 debris. 

13 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

14 GEAR.—The Administrator shall improve efforts to re15 duce adverse impacts of lost and discarded fishing 

16 gear on living marine resources and navigation safe17 ty, including— 

18 (A) research and development of alter19 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en20 vironment, and methods for marking gear used 

21 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re22 covery, and identification of lost and discarded 

23 gear; and 

24 (B) development of effective nonregulatory 

25 measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce 


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1 the volume of lost and discarded fishing gear and 

2 to aid in its recovery. 

3 (3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall under4 take outreach and education of the public and other 

5 stakeholders, such as the fishing industry, fishing gear 

6 manufacturers, and other marine-dependent indus7 tries, and the plastic and waste management indus8 tries, on sources of marine debris, threats associated 

9 with marine debris and approaches to identify, deter10 mine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine 

11 debris and its adverse impacts on the marine environ12 ment and navigational safety, including outreach and 

13 education activities through public-private initiatives. 

14 The Administrator shall coordinate outreach and edu15 cation activities under this paragraph with any out16 reach programs conducted under section 2204 of the 

17 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 

18 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915). 

19 (c) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND CON20 TRACTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, acting 

22 through the Program, shall enter into cooperative 

23 agreements and contracts and provide financial as24 sistance in the form of grants for projects to accom25 plish the purpose set forth in section 2(1). 


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1 (2) GRANT COST SHARING REQUIREMENT.— 

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

3 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any grant 

4 under this section may not exceed 50 percent of 

5 the total cost of such project. For purposes of this 

6 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 

7 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 

8 and other noncash support. 

9 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 

10 waive all or part of the matching requirement 

11 under subparagraph (A) if the Administrator de12 termines that no reasonable means are available 

13 through which applicants can meet the matching 

14 requirement and the probable benefit of such 

15 project outweighs the public interest in such 

16 matching requirement. 

17 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

18 UNDER CONSENT.— 

19 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.—If 

20 authorized by the Administrator or the Attorney 

21 General, as appropriate, the non-Federal share of 

22 the cost of a project carried out under this Act 

23 may include money paid pursuant to, or the 

24 value of any in-kind service performed under, an 

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1 sent decree that will remove or prevent marine 

2 debris. 

3 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The 

4 non-Federal share of the cost of a project carried 

5 out under this Act may not include any money 

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

7 service performed under, any other administra8 tive order or court order. 

9 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, local, or tribal 

10 government whose activities affect research or regula11 tion of marine debris, and any institution of higher 

12 education, nonprofit organization, or commercial or13 ganization with expertise in a field related to marine 

14 debris, is eligible to submit to the Administrator a 

15 marine debris proposal under the grant program. 

16 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—Within 

17 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the 

18 Administrator shall promulgate necessary guidelines 

19 for implementation of the grant program, including 

20 development of criteria and priorities for grants. In 

21 developing those guidelines, the Administrator shall 

22 consult with— 

23 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Coordi24 nating Committee; 


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1 (B) Regional Fishery Management Councils 

2 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

3 Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 

4 1801 et seq.); 

5 (C) State, regional, and local governmental 

6 entities with marine debris experience; 

7 (D) marine-dependent industries; and 

8 (E) nongovernmental organizations involved 

9 in marine debris research, prevention, or re10 moval activities. 

11 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The Ad12 ministrator shall— 

13 (A) review each marine debris project pro14 posal to determine if it meets the grant criteria 

15 and supports the goals of this Act; 

16 (B) after considering any written comments 

17 and recommendations based on the review, ap18 prove or disapprove the proposal; and 

19 (C) provide notification of that approval or 

20 disapproval to the person who submitted the pro21 posal. 

22 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

23 this section shall provide periodic reports as required 

24 by the Administrator. Each report shall include all 

25 information required by the Administrator for evaluVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:29 Jul 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S362.RH S362

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1 ating the progress and success in meeting its stated 

2 goals, and impact of the grant activities on the ma3 rine debris problem. 

4 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 360 days after the 

6 enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast Guard 

7 shall submit a report to the Committee on Transportation 

8 and Infrastructure of the House of Representatives and the 

9 Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation of the 

10 Senate on the implementation of the provision of the 

11 MARPOL Annex V and the Act to Prevent Pollution from 

12 Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) with respect to the discard 

13 of plastics and other garbage from vessels. The report shall 

14 include— 

15 (1) a review of the effectiveness of those provi16 sions in reducing the discard of plastics and other 

17 garbage from vessels; 

18 (2) recommendations on cost effective actions to 

19 improve compliance with those provisions; 

20 (3) a review of the implementation of and com21 pliance with requirements of those provisions that all 

22 United States ports and terminals maintain recep23 tacles for disposing of plastics and other garbage, in24 cluding whether a sufficient quantity of such facilities 

25 exists at all such ports and terminals; 


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1 (4) an assessment of the potential economic im2 pacts and technical feasibility of requiring a vessel 

3 operator to log the disposal of plastics and other gar4 bage, including at a minimum, the time, date, type 

5 of garbage, quantity, and location of discharge by 

6 latitude and longitude or, if discharged on land, the 

7 name of the port where such material is offloaded for 

8 disposal; 

9 (5) an assessment of the potential economic im10 pacts and technical feasibility of methods to improve 

11 ship-board waste management; and 

12 (6) a strategy to promote international coopera13 tion to reduce marine debris. 

14 (b) VOLUNTARY REPORTING PROGRAM.—The Com15 mandant of the Coast Guard shall develop a voluntary re16 porting program and establish a central reporting location 

17 to receive information from commercial vessel operators, 

18 recreational boaters, and the general public regarding inci19 dents of damage to vessels caused by marine debris and ob20 served violations of existing laws and regulations relating 

21 to disposal of plastics and other marine debris. The vol22 untary program developed under this subsection shall be de23 signed to encourage United States-flag vessels to notify the 

24 Coast Guard of ports in other countries that lack adequate 

25 port reception facilities for garbage. 


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1 (c) VOLUNTARY MEASURES.—The Commandant of the 

2 Coast Guard shall develop voluntary measures to prevent 

3 and reduce the loss and discard of fishing gear from vessels. 

4 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

5 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATING

6 COMMITTEE.—Section 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution 

7 Research and Control Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

10 following: 

11 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY MARINE DE12 BRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—There is established an 

13 Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee to co14 ordinate a comprehensive program of marine debris re15 search and activities among Federal agencies, in coopera16 tion and coordination with non-governmental organiza17 tions, industry, universities, and research institutions, 

18 States, Indian tribes, and other nations, as appropriate.’’; 

19 and 

20 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘public, inter21 agency’’ before ‘‘forum’’. 

22 (b) DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS.—The Adminis23 trator and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in con24 sultation with the Interagency Committee established under 

25 subsection (a), shall jointly develop and promulgate through 


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1 regulations a definition of the term ‘‘marine debris’’ for 

2 purposes of this Act. 

3 (c) REPORTS.— 

4 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

5 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 

7 months after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act, the Interagency Committee, through the 

9 chairperson, shall complete and submit to the 

10 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor11 tation of the Senate and the Committee on 

12 Transportation and Infrastructure and the Com13 mittee on Resources of the House of Representa14 tives a report that— 

15 (i) identifies sources of marine debris; 

16 (ii) the ecological and economic impact 

17 of marine debris; 

18 (iii) alternatives for reducing, miti19 gating, preventing, and controlling the 

20 harmful affects of marine debris; 

21 (iv) the social and economic costs and 

22 benefits of such alternatives; and 

23 (v) recommendations to reduce marine 

24 debris both domestically and internation25 ally. 


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1 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report shall 

2 provide strategies and recommendations on— 

3 (i) establishing priority areas for ac4 tion to address leading problems relating to 

5 marine debris; 

6 (ii) developing strategies and ap7 proaches to prevent, reduce, remove, and 

8 dispose of marine debris, including through 

9 private-public partnerships; 

10 (iii) establishing effective and coordi11 nated education and outreach activities; 

12 and 

13 (iv) ensuring Federal cooperation with, 

14 and assistance to, the coastal States (as that 

15 term is defined in section 304 of the Coastal 

16 Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C. 

17 1453)), Indian tribes, and local govern18 ments in the identification, determination 

19 of sources, prevention, reduction, manage20 ment, mitigation, and control of marine de21 bris and its adverse impacts. 

22 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later 

23 than 3 years after the date of the enactment of this 

24 Act, and biennially thereafter, the Interagency Com25 mittee, through the chairperson, shall submit to the 


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1 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor2 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor3 tation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Re4 sources of the House of Representatives a report that 

5 evaluates United States and international progress in 

6 meeting the purpose of this Act. The report shall in7 clude— 

8 (A) the status of implementation of any rec9 ommendations and strategies of the Interagency 

10 Committee and analysis of their effectiveness; 

11 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven12 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic 

13 and Atmospheric Administration; 

14 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and 

15 Atmospheric Administration program authorized 

16 by section 3, including projects funded and ac17 complishments relating to reduction and preven18 tion of marine debris; 

19 (D) a review of Coast Guard programs and 

20 accomplishments relating to marine debris re21 moval, including enforcement and compliance 

22 with MARPOL requirements; and 

23 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal 

24 funding provided for marine debris and rec25 ommendations for priority funding needs. 


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1 SEC. 6. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

2 The Administrator, in coordination with the Inter3 agency Committee, shall— 

4 (1) maintain a Federal information clearing5 house on marine debris that will be available to re6 searchers and other interested persons to improve ma7 rine debris source identification, data sharing, and 

8 monitoring efforts through collaborative research and 

9 open sharing of data; and 

10 (2) take the necessary steps to ensure the con11 fidentiality of such information (especially propri12 etary information), for any information required by 

13 the Administrator to be submitted by the fishing in14 dustry under this section. 

15 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

16 In this Act: 

17 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis18 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National Oce19 anic and Atmospheric Administration. 

20 (2) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The term 

21 ‘‘Interagency Committee’’ means the Interagency Ma22 rine Debris Coordinating Committee established 

23 under section 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution 

24 Research and Control Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914). 

25 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

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


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1 zone’’ means the zone established by Presidential 

2 Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983, 

3 including the ocean waters of the areas referred to as 

4 ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in article 3(1) of the Agree5 ment between the United States of America and the 

6 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Maritime 

7 Boundary, signed June 1, 1990. 

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

9 terms ‘‘MARPOL’’, ‘‘Annex V’’, and ‘‘Convention’’ 

10 have the meaning given those terms under section 

11 2(a) of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 

12 U.S.C. 1901(a)). 

13 (5) NAVIGABLE WATERS.—The term ‘‘navigable 

14 waters’’ means waters of the United States, including 

15 the territorial sea. 

16 (6) TERRITORIAL SEA.—The term ‘‘territorial 

17 sea’’ means the waters of the United States referred 

18 to in Presidential Proclamation No. 5928, dated De19 cember 27, 1988. 

20 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’ means the 

21 Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Program es22 tablished under section 3. 

23 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means— 


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1 (A) any State of the United States that is 

2 impacted by marine debris within its seaward or 

3 Great Lakes boundaries; 

4 (B) the District of Columbia; 

5 (C) American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

6 Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 

7 Islands; and 

8 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

9 United States, or separate sovereign in free asso10 ciation with the United States, that is impacted 

11 by marine debris within its seaward boundaries. 

12 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

13 LANDS ACT. 

14 Nothing in this Act supersedes, or limits the authority 

15 of the Secretary of the Interior under, the Outer Continental 

16 Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.) 

17 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal 

19 year 2006 through 2010— 

20 (1) to the Administrator for carrying out sec21 tions 3 and 7, $10,000,000, of which no more than 10 

22 percent may be for administrative costs; and 

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

24 the Coast Guard is operating, for the use of the Com25 mandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out sections 


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1 4 and 6, $2,000,000, of which no more than 10 per2 cent may be used for administrative costs. 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine De5 bris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 

6 Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

8 The purposes of this Act are— 

9 (1) to help identify, determine sources 

10 of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine de11 bris and its adverse impacts on the ma12 rine environment and navigation safety; 

13 (2) to reactivate the Interagency Ma14 rine Debris Coordinating Committee; and 

15 (3) to develop a Federal marine de16 bris information clearinghouse. 

17 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL 

18 PROGRAM. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is 

20 established, within the National Oceanic and 

21 Atmospheric Administration, a Marine Debris 

22 Prevention and Removal Program to reduce 

23 and prevent the occurrence and adverse im24 pacts of marine debris on the marine environ25 ment and navigation safety. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Adminis2 trator, acting through the Program and sub3 ject to the availability of appropriations, shall 

4 carry out the following activities: 

5 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT

6 ASSESSMENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—

7 The Administrator shall, in consultation 

8 with relevant Federal agencies, under9 take marine debris mapping, identifica10 tion, impact assessment, prevention, and 

11 removal efforts, with a focus on marine 

12 debris posing a threat to living marine 

13 resources and navigation safety, includ14 ing—

15 (A) the establishment of a process, 

16 building on existing information 

17 sources maintained by Federal agen18 cies such as the Environmental Pro19 tection Agency and the Coast Guard, 

20 for cataloguing and maintaining an 

21 inventory of marine debris and its im22 pacts found in the navigable waters 

23 of the United States and the United 

24 States exclusive economic zone, in25 cluding location, material, size, age, 


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1 and origin, and impacts on habitat, 

2 living marine resources, human 

3 health, and navigation safety; 

4 (B) measures to identify the ori5 gin, location, and projected move6 ment of marine debris within United 

7 States navigable waters, the United 

8 States exclusive economic zone, and 

9 the high seas, including the use of 

10 oceanographic, atmospheric, satellite, 

11 and remote sensing data; and 

12 (C) development and implementa13 tion of strategies, methods, priorities, 

14 and a plan for preventing and remov15 ing marine debris from United States 

16 navigable waters and within the 

17 United States exclusive economic 

18 zone, including development of local 

19 or regional protocols for removal of 

20 derelict fishing gear and other ma21 rine debris. 

22 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

23 GEAR.—The Administrator shall improve 

24 efforts to reduce adverse impacts of lost 

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1 rine resources and navigation safety, in2 cluding—

3 (A) research and development of 

4 alternatives to gear posing threats to 

5 the marine environment, and meth6 ods for marking gear used in specific 

7 fisheries to enhance the tracking, re8 covery, and identification of lost and 

9 discarded gear; and 

10 (B) development of effective non11 regulatory measures and incentives 

12 to cooperatively reduce the volume of 

13 lost and discarded fishing gear and to 

14 aid in its recovery. 

15 (3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator 

16 shall undertake outreach and education 

17 of the public and other stakeholders, 

18 such as the fishing industry, fishing gear 

19 manufacturers, and other marine-depend20 ent industries, and the plastic and waste 

21 management industries, on sources of 

22 marine debris, threats associated with 

23 marine debris and approaches to iden24 tify, determine sources of, assess, reduce, 

25 and prevent marine debris and its adVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:29 Jul 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\S362.RH S362

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1 verse impacts on the marine environment 

2 and navigational safety, including out3 reach and education activities through 

4 public-private initiatives. The Adminis5 trator shall coordinate outreach and edu6 cation activities under this paragraph 

7 with any outreach programs conducted 

8 under section 2204 of the Marine Plastic 

9 Pollution Research and Control Act of 

10 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915). 

11 (c) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND

12 CONTRACTS.—

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, 

14 acting through the Program, shall enter 

15 into cooperative agreements and con16 tracts and provide financial assistance in 

17 the form of grants for projects to accom18 plish the purpose set forth in section 2(1). 

19 (2) GRANT COST SHARING REQUIRE20 MENT.—

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as pro22 vided in subparagraph (B), Federal 

23 funds for any grant under this sec24 tion may not exceed 50 percent of the 

25 total cost of such project. For purVerDate Aug 31 2005 03:29 Jul 27, 2006 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6202 E:\BILLS\S362.RH S362

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1 poses of this subparagraph, the non2 Federal share of project costs may be 

3 provided by in-kind contributions 

4 and other noncash support. 

5 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator 

6 may waive all or part of the matching 

7 requirement under subparagraph (A) 

8 if the Administrator determines that 

9 no reasonable means are available 

10 through which applicants can meet 

11 the matching requirement and the 

12 probable benefit of such project out13 weighs the public interest in such 

14 matching requirement. 

15 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES REN16 DERED UNDER CONSENT.—

17 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND OR18 DERS.—If authorized by the Adminis19 trator or the Attorney General, as ap20 propriate, the non-Federal share of 

21 the cost of a project carried out 

22 under this Act may include money 

23 paid pursuant to, or the value of any 

24 in-kind service performed under, an 

25 administrative order on consent or 


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1 judicial consent decree that will re2 move or prevent marine debris. 

3 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—

4 The non-Federal share of the cost of a 

5 project carried out under this Act 

6 may not include any money paid pur7 suant to, or the value of any in-kind 

8 service performed under, any other 

9 administrative order or court order. 

10 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any State, local, or 

11 tribal government whose activities affect 

12 research or regulation of marine debris, 

13 and any institution of higher education, 

14 nonprofit organization, or commercial or15 ganization with expertise in a field re16 lated to marine debris, is eligible to sub17 mit to the Administrator a marine debris 

18 proposal under the grant program. 

19 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—

20 Within 180 days after the date of the en21 actment of this Act, the Administrator 

22 shall promulgate necessary guidelines for 

23 implementation of the grant program, in24 cluding development of criteria and pri25 orities for grants. In developing those 


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1 guidelines, the Administrator shall con2 sult with—

3 (A) the Interagency Committee; 

4 (B) regional fishery management 

5 councils established under the Mag6 nuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation 

7 and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1801 

8 et seq.); 

9 (C) State, regional, and local gov10 ernmental entities with marine de11 bris experience; 

12 (D) marine-dependent industries; 

13 and 

14 (E) nongovernmental organiza15 tions involved in marine debris re16 search, prevention, or removal activi17 ties. 

18 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—

19 The Administrator shall—

20 (A) review each marine debris 

21 project proposal to determine if it 

22 meets the grant criteria and supports 

23 the goals of this Act; 

24 (B) after considering any written 

25 comments and recommendations 


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1 based on the review, approve or dis2 approve the proposal; and 

3 (C) provide notification of that 

4 approval or disapproval to the person 

5 who submitted the proposal. 

6 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grant7 ee under this section shall provide peri8 odic reports as required by the Adminis9 trator. Each report shall include all infor10 mation required by the Administrator for 

11 evaluating the progress and success in 

12 meeting its stated goals, and impact of 

13 the grant activities on the marine debris 

14 problem. 

15 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

16 (a) STRATEGY.—The Commandant of the 

17 Coast Guard, in consultation with the Inter18 agency Committee, shall—

19 (1) take actions to reduce violations 

20 of and improve implementation of 

21 MARPOL Annex V and the Act to Prevent 

22 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et 

23 seq.) with respect to the discard of plas24 tics and other garbage from vessels; 


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1 (2) take actions to cost-effectively 

2 monitor and enforce compliance with 

3 MARPOL Annex V and the Act to Prevent 

4 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et 

5 seq.), including through cooperation and 

6 coordination with other Federal and 

7 State enforcement programs; 

8 (3) take actions to improve compli9 ance with requirements under MARPOL 

10 Annex V and section 6 of the Act to Pre11 vent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1905) 

12 that all United States ports and terminals 

13 maintain and monitor the adequacy of re14 ceptacles for the disposal of plastics and 

15 other garbage, including through pro16 moting voluntary government-industry 

17 partnerships; 

18 (4) develop and implement a plan, in 

19 coordination with industry and rec20 reational boaters, to improve ship-board 

21 waste management, including record22 keeping, and access to waste reception 

23 facilities for ship-board waste; 


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1 (5) take actions to improve inter2 national cooperation to reduce marine 

3 debris; and 

4 (6) establish a voluntary reporting 

5 program for commercial vessel operators 

6 and recreational boaters to report inci7 dents of damage to vessels and disruption 

8 of navigation caused by marine debris, 

9 and observed violations of laws and regu10 lations relating to the disposal of plastics 

11 and other marine debris. 

12 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this Act, the Com14 mandant of the Coast Guard shall submit to 

15 the Committee on Commerce, Science, and 

16 Transportation of the Senate and the Com17 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

18 of the House of Representatives a report eval19 uating the Coast Guard’s progress in imple20 menting subsection (a). 

21 (c) EXTERNAL EVALUATION AND REC22 OMMENDATIONS ON ANNEX V.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant of 

24 the Coast Guard shall enter into an ar25 rangement with the National Research 


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1 Council under which the National Re2 search Council shall submit, by not later 

3 than 18 months after the date of the en4 actment of this Act and in consultation 

5 with the Commandant and the Inter6 agency Committee, to the Committee on 

7 Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

8 of the Senate and the Committee on 

9 Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

10 House of Representatives a comprehen11 sive report on the effectiveness of inter12 national and national measures to pre13 vent and reduce marine debris and its 

14 impact. 

15 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required 

16 under paragraph (1) shall include—

17 (A) an evaluation of international 

18 and domestic implementation of 

19 MARPOL Annex V and the Act to Pre20 vent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 

21 1901 et seq.) and recommendations of 

22 cost-effective actions to improve im23 plementation and compliance with 

24 such measures to reduce impacts of 

25 marine debris; 


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1 (B) recommendation of additional 

2 Federal or international actions, in3 cluding changes to international and 

4 domestic law or regulations, needed 

5 to further reduce the impacts of ma6 rine debris; and 

7 (C) evaluation of the role of float8 ing fish aggregation devices in the 

9 generation of marine debris and ex10 isting legal mechanisms to reduce im11 pacts of such debris, focusing on im12 pacts in the Western Pacific and Cen13 tral Pacific regions. 

14 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

15 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COORDI16 NATING COMMITTEE.—Section 2203 of the Ma17 rine Plastic Pollution Research and Control 

18 Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is amended—

19 (1) by striking subsection (a) and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY MA22 RINE DEBRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—

23 There is established an Interagency Marine 

24 Debris Coordinating Committee to coordinate 

25 a comprehensive program of marine debris 


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1 research and activities among Federal agen2 cies, in cooperation and coordination with 

3 non-governmental organizations, industry, 

4 universities, and research institutions, States, 

5 Indian tribes, and other nations, as appro6 priate.’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting 

8 ‘‘public, interagency’’ before ‘‘forum’’. 

9 (b) DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS.—The 

10 Administrator and the Commandant of the 

11 Coast Guard, in consultation with the Inter12 agency Committee established under sub13 section (a), shall jointly develop and promul14 gate through regulations a definition of the 

15 term ‘‘marine debris’’ for purposes of this Act. 

16 (c) REPORTS.—

17 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE

18 DEBRIS IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 

20 months after the date of the enact21 ment of this Act, the Interagency 

22 Committee, through the chairperson, 

23 shall complete and submit to the 

24 Committee on Commerce, Science, 

25 and Transportation of the Senate and 


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1 the Committee on Transportation and 

2 Infrastructure and the Committee on 

3 Resources of the House of Represent4 atives a report that—

5 (i) identifies sources of ma6 rine debris; 

7 (ii) the ecological and eco8 nomic impact of marine debris; 

9 (iii) alternatives for reducing, 

10 mitigating, preventing, and con11 trolling the harmful affects of ma12 rine debris; 

13 (iv) the social and economic 

14 costs and benefits of such alter15 natives; and 

16 (v) recommendations to re17 duce marine debris both domesti18 cally and internationally. 

19 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The re20 port shall provide strategies and rec21 ommendations on—

22 (i) establishing priority areas 

23 for action to address leading 

24 problems relating to marine de25 bris; 


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1 (ii) developing strategies and 

2 approaches to prevent, reduce, re3 move, and dispose of marine de4 bris, including through private5 public partnerships; 

6 (iii) establishing effective and 

7 coordinated education and out8 reach activities; and 

9 (iv) ensuring Federal coopera10 tion with, and assistance to, the 

11 coastal States (as that term is de12 fined in section 304 of the Coastal 

13 Zone Management Act of 1972 (16 

14 U.S.C. 1453)), Indian tribes, and 

15 local governments in the identi16 fication, determination of sources, 

17 prevention, reduction, manage18 ment, mitigation, and control of 

19 marine debris and its adverse im20 pacts. 

21 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not 

22 later than 3 years after the date of the 

23 enactment of this Act, and biennially 

24 thereafter, the Interagency Committee, 

25 through the chairperson, shall submit to 


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1 the Committee on Commerce, Science, 

2 and Transportation of the Senate and the 

3 Committee on Transportation and Infra4 structure and the Committee on Re5 sources of the House of Representatives a 

6 report that evaluates United States and 

7 international progress in meeting the 

8 purpose of this Act. The report shall in9 clude—

10 (A) the status of implementation 

11 of any recommendations and strate12 gies of the Interagency Committee 

13 and analysis of their effectiveness; 

14 (B) a summary of the marine de15 bris inventory to be maintained by 

16 the National Oceanic and Atmos17 pheric Administration; 

18 (C) a review of the National Oce19 anic and Atmospheric Administration 

20 program authorized by section 3, in21 cluding projects funded and accom22 plishments relating to reduction and 

23 prevention of marine debris; 

24 (D) a review of Coast Guard pro25 grams and accomplishments relating 


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1 to marine debris removal, including 

2 enforcement and compliance with 

3 MARPOL requirements; and 

4 (E) estimated Federal and non5 Federal funding provided for marine 

6 debris and recommendations for pri7 ority funding needs. 

8 SEC. 6. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

9 The Administrator, in coordination with 

10 the Interagency Committee, shall—

11 (1) maintain a Federal information 

12 clearinghouse on marine debris that will 

13 be available to researchers and other in14 terested persons to improve marine de15 bris source identification, data sharing, 

16 and monitoring efforts through collabo17 rative research and open sharing of data; 

18 and 

19 (2) take the necessary steps to ensure 

20 the confidentiality of such information 

21 (especially proprietary information), for 

22 any information required by the Adminis23 trator to be submitted by the fishing in24 dustry under this section. 


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1 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Ad4 ministrator’’ means the Administrator of 

5 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

6 Administration. 

7 (2) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The 

8 term ‘‘Interagency Committee’’ means the 

9 Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating 

10 Committee established under section 

11 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution Re12 search and Control Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 

13 1914). 

14 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

15 ZONE.—The term ‘‘United States exclusive 

16 economic zone’’ means the zone estab17 lished by Presidential Proclamation 

18 Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983, in19 cluding the ocean waters of the areas re20 ferred to as ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in ar21 ticle 3(1) of the Agreement between the 

22 United States of America and the Union 

23 of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Mari24 time Boundary, signed June 1, 1990. 

25 (4) MARPOL; ANNEX V; CONVENTION.—

26 The terms ‘‘MARPOL’’, ‘‘Annex V’’, and 


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1 ‘‘Convention’’ have the meaning given 

2 those terms under section 2(a) of the Act 

3 to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 

4 U.S.C. 1901(a)). 

5 (5) NAVIGABLE WATERS.—The term 

6 ‘‘navigable waters’’ means waters of the 

7 United States, including the territorial 

8 sea. 

9 (6) TERRITORIAL SEA.—The term ‘‘terri10 torial sea’’ means the waters of the 

11 United States referred to in Presidential 

12 Proclamation No. 5928, dated December 

13 27, 1988. 

14 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Program’’

15 means the Marine Debris Prevention and 

16 Removal Program established under sec17 tion 3. 

18 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means—

19 (A) any State of the United States 

20 that is impacted by marine debris 

21 within its seaward or Great Lakes 

22 boundaries; 

23 (B) the District of Columbia; 


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1 (C) American Samoa, Guam, the 

2 Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto 

3 Rico, and the Virgin Islands; and 

4 (D) any other territory or posses5 sion of the United States, or separate 

6 sovereign in free association with the 

7 United States, that is impacted by 

8 marine debris within its seaward 

9 boundaries. 

10 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

11 LANDS ACT. 

12 Nothing in this Act supersedes, or limits 

13 the authority of the Secretary of the Interior 

14 under, the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act 

15 (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.). 

16 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

17 There are authorized to be appropriated 

18 for each fiscal year 2006 through 2010—

19 (1) to the Administrator for carrying 

20 out sections 3 and 7, $10,000,000, of which 

21 no more than 10 percent may be for ad22 ministrative costs; and 

23 (2) to the Secretary of the Depart24 ment in which the Coast Guard is oper25 ating, for the use of the Commandant of 


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1 the Coast Guard in carrying out sections 

2 4 and 6, $2,000,000, of which no more 

3 than 10 percent may be used for adminis4 trative costs. 


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Union Calendar No. 345 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 362 

[Report No. 109

–332, Parts I and II] 

AN ACT 

To establish a program within the National Oceanic 

poses. with non-Federal entities, and for other purvironment and navigation safety, in coordination debris and its adverse impacts on the marine ensources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine States Coast Guard to help identify, determine and Atmospheric Administration and the United 

JULY 25, 2006 

Reported from the Committee on Transportation and InUnion and ordered to be printed Committee of the Whole House on the State of the frastructure with an amendment; committed to the 


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