109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 362

AMENDMENT

In the House of Representatives, U. S.,

September 27, 2006.

Resolved, That the bill from the Senate (S. 362) entitled 

‘‘An Act to establish a program within the National Oceanic 

and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Coast 

Guard to help identify, determine sources of, assess, reduce, 

and prevent marine debris and its adverse impacts on the 

marine environment and navigation safety, in coordination 

with non-Federal entities, and for other purposes’’, do pass 

with the following

AMENDMENT:

Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Prevention, and Reduction Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. PURPOSES. 

5 The purposes of this Act are—

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

7 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse im8 pacts on the marine environment and navigation 

9 safety; 
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1 (2) to reactivate the Interagency Marine Debris 

2 Coordinating Committee; and 

3 (3) to develop a Federal marine debris informa4 tion clearinghouse. 

5 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL 

6 PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab8 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad9 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 

10 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and adverse 

11 impacts of marine debris on the marine environment and 

12 navigation safety. 

13 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—The Administrator, act14 ing through the Program and subject to the availability of 

15 appropriations, shall carry out the following activities: 

16 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT ASSESS17 MENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Adminis18 trator shall, in consultation with relevant Federal 

19 agencies, undertake marine debris mapping, identi20 fication, impact assessment, prevention, and removal 

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

22 to living marine resources and navigation safety, in23 cluding—

24 (A) the establishment of a process, building 

25 on existing information sources maintained by 
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1 Federal agencies such as the Environmental Pro2 tection Agency and the Coast Guard, for cata3 loguing and maintaining an inventory of ma4 rine debris and its impacts found in the navi5 gable waters of the United States and the United 

6 States exclusive economic zone, including loca7 tion, material, size, age, and origin, and impacts 

8 on habitat, living marine resources, human 

9 health, and navigation safety; 

10 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca11 tion, and projected movement of marine debris 

12 within United States navigable waters, the 

13 United States exclusive economic zone, and the 

14 high seas, including the use of oceanographic, at15 mospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data; 

16 and 

17 (C) development and implementation of 

18 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan for 

19 preventing and removing marine debris from 

20 United States navigable waters and within the 

21 United States exclusive economic zone, including 

22 development of local or regional protocols for re23 moval of derelict fishing gear and other marine 

24 debris. 
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1 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

2 GEAR.—The Administrator shall improve efforts to re3 duce adverse impacts of lost and discarded fishing 

4 gear on living marine resources and navigation safe5 ty, including—

6 (A) research and development of alter7 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en8 vironment, and methods for marking gear used 

9 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re10 covery, and identification of lost and discarded 

11 gear; and 

12 (B) development of effective nonregulatory 

13 measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce 

14 the volume of lost and discarded fishing gear and 

15 to aid in its recovery. 

16 (3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall under17 take outreach and education of the public and other 

18 stakeholders, such as the fishing industry, fishing gear 

19 manufacturers, and other marine-dependent indus20 tries, and the plastic and waste management indus21 tries, on sources of marine debris, threats associated 

22 with marine debris and approaches to identify, deter23 mine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine 

24 debris and its adverse impacts on the marine environ25 ment and navigational safety, including outreach and 
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1 education activities through public-private initiatives. 

2 The Administrator shall coordinate outreach and edu3 cation activities under this paragraph with any out4 reach programs conducted under section 2204 of the 

5 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 

6 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915). 

7 (c) GRANTS, COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS, AND CON8 TRACTS.—

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

10 through the Program, shall enter into cooperative 

11 agreements and contracts and provide financial as12 sistance in the form of grants for projects to accom13 plish the purpose set forth in section 2(1). 

14 (2) GRANT COST SHARING REQUIREMENT.—

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

16 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any grant 

17 under this section may not exceed 50 percent of 

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

19 subparagraph, the non-Federal share of project 

20 costs may be provided by in-kind contributions 

21 and other noncash support. 

22 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may 

23 waive all or part of the matching requirement 

24 under subparagraph (A) if the Administrator de25 termines that no reasonable means are available 
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1 through which applicants can meet the matching 

2 requirement and the probable benefit of such 

3 project outweighs the public interest in such 

4 matching requirement. 

5 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

6 UNDER CONSENT.—

7 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.—If 

8 authorized by the Administrator or the Attorney 

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

10 the cost of a project carried out under this Act 

11 may include money paid pursuant to, or the 

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

13 administrative order on consent or judicial con14 sent decree that will remove or prevent marine 

15 debris. 

16 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The 

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

18 out under this Act may not include any money 

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

20 service performed under, any other administra21 tive order or court order. 

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

23 government whose activities affect research or regula24 tion of marine debris, and any institution of higher 

25 education, nonprofit organization, or commercial or-
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1 ganization with expertise in a field related to marine 

2 debris, is eligible to submit to the Administrator a 

3 marine debris proposal under the grant program. 

4 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—Within 

5 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, 

6 the Administrator shall promulgate necessary guide7 lines for implementation of the grant program, in8 cluding development of criteria and priorities for 

9 grants. In developing those guidelines, the Adminis10 trator shall consult with—

11 (A) the Interagency Committee; 

12 (B) regional fishery management councils 

13 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery 

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

15 1801 et seq.); 

16 (C) State, regional, and local governmental 

17 entities with marine debris experience; 

18 (D) marine-dependent industries; and 

19 (E) nongovernmental organizations involved 

20 in marine debris research, prevention, or re21 moval activities. 

22 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The Ad23 ministrator shall—
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1 (A) review each marine debris project pro2 posal to determine if it meets the grant criteria 

3 and supports the goals of this Act; 

4 (B) after considering any written comments 

5 and recommendations based on the review, ap6 prove or disapprove the proposal; and 

7 (C) provide notification of that approval or 

8 disapproval to the person who submitted the pro9 posal. 

10 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under 

11 this section shall provide periodic reports as required 

12 by the Administrator. Each report shall include all 

13 information required by the Administrator for evalu14 ating the progress and success in meeting its stated 

15 goals, and impact of the grant activities on the ma16 rine debris problem. 

17 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM. 

18 (a) STRATEGY.—The Commandant of the Coast 

19 Guard, in consultation with the Interagency Committee, 

20 shall—

21 (1) take actions to reduce violations of and im22 prove implementation of MARPOL Annex V and the 

23 Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 

24 et seq.) with respect to the discard of plastics and 

25 other garbage from vessels; 
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1 (2) take actions to cost-effectively monitor and 

2 enforce compliance with MARPOL Annex V and the 

3 Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 

4 et seq.), including through cooperation and coordina5 tion with other Federal and State enforcement pro6 grams; 

7 (3) take actions to improve compliance with re8 quirements under MARPOL Annex V and section 6 

9 of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 

10 1905) that all United States ports and terminals 

11 maintain and monitor the adequacy of receptacles for 

12 the disposal of plastics and other garbage, including 

13 through promoting voluntary government-industry 

14 partnerships; 

15 (4) develop and implement a plan, in coordina16 tion with industry and recreational boaters, to im17 prove ship-board waste management, including rec18 ordkeeping, and access to waste reception facilities for 

19 ship-board waste; 

20 (5) take actions to improve international co21 operation to reduce marine debris; and 

22 (6) establish a voluntary reporting program for 

23 commercial vessel operators and recreational boaters 

24 to report incidents of damage to vessels and disrup25 tion of navigation caused by marine debris, and ob-
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1 served violations of laws and regulations relating to 

2 the disposal of plastics and other marine debris. 

3 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, the Commandant of the Coast 

5 Guard shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 

6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the Com7 mittee on Transportation and Infrastructure of the House 

8 of Representatives a report evaluating the Coast Guard’s 

9 progress in implementing subsection (a). 

10 (c) EXTERNAL EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

11 ON ANNEX V.—

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant of the 

13 Coast Guard shall enter into an arrangement with the 

14 National Research Council under which the National 

15 Research Council shall submit, by not later than 18 

16 months after the date of the enactment of this Act and 

17 in consultation with the Commandant and the Inter18 agency Committee, to the Committee on Commerce, 

19 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 

20 Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 

21 the House of Representatives a comprehensive report 

22 on the effectiveness of international and national 

23 measures to prevent and reduce marine debris and its 

24 impact. 
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1 (2) CONTENTS.—The report required under 

2 paragraph (1) shall include—

3 (A) an evaluation of international and do4 mestic implementation of MARPOL Annex V 

5 and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 

6 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) and recommendations of 

7 cost-effective actions to improve implementation 

8 and compliance with such measures to reduce 

9 impacts of marine debris; 

10 (B) recommendation of additional Federal 

11 or international actions, including changes to 

12 international and domestic law or regulations, 

13 needed to further reduce the impacts of marine 

14 debris; and 

15 (C) evaluation of the role of floating fish ag16 gregation devices in the generation of marine de17 bris and existing legal mechanisms to reduce im18 pacts of such debris, focusing on impacts in the 

19 Western Pacific and Central Pacific regions. 

20 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION. 

21 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATING

22 COMMITTEE.—Section 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution 

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

24 amended—
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1 (1) by striking subsection (a) and inserting the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF INTERAGENCY MARINE DE4 BRIS COORDINATING COMMITTEE.—There is established an 

5 Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee to co6 ordinate a comprehensive program of marine debris re7 search and activities among Federal agencies, in coopera8 tion and coordination with non-governmental organiza9 tions, industry, universities, and research institutions, 

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

11 and 

12 (2) in subsection (c), by inserting ‘‘public, inter13 agency’’ before ‘‘forum’’. 

14 (b) DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS.—The Adminis15 trator and the Commandant of the Coast Guard, in con16 sultation with the Interagency Committee established under 

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

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

19 purposes of this Act. 

20 (c) REPORTS.—

21 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

22 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—

23 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 12 

24 months after the date of the enactment of this 

25 Act, the Interagency Committee, through the 
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1 chairperson, shall complete and submit to the 

2 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor3 tation of the Senate and the Committee on 

4 Transportation and Infrastructure and the Com5 mittee on Resources of the House of Representa6 tives a report that—

7 (i) identifies sources of marine debris; 

8 (ii) the ecological and economic impact 

9 of marine debris; 

10 (iii) alternatives for reducing, miti11 gating, preventing, and controlling the 

12 harmful affects of marine debris; 

13 (iv) the social and economic costs and 

14 benefits of such alternatives; and 

15 (v) recommendations to reduce marine 

16 debris both domestically and internation17 ally. 

18 (B) RECOMMENDATIONS.—The report shall 

19 provide strategies and recommendations on—

20 (i) establishing priority areas for ac21 tion to address leading problems relating to 

22 marine debris; 

23 (ii) developing strategies and ap24 proaches to prevent, reduce, remove, and 
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1 dispose of marine debris, including through 

2 private-public partnerships; 

3 (iii) establishing effective and coordi4 nated education and outreach activities; 

5 and 

6 (iv) ensuring Federal cooperation with, 

7 and assistance to, the coastal States (as that 

8 term is defined in section 304 of the Coastal 

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

10 1453)), Indian tribes, and local govern11 ments in the identification, determination 

12 of sources, prevention, reduction, manage13 ment, mitigation, and control of marine de14 bris and its adverse impacts. 

15 (2) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later 

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

17 Act, and biennially thereafter, the Interagency Com18 mittee, through the chairperson, shall submit to the 

19 Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transpor20 tation of the Senate and the Committee on Transpor21 tation and Infrastructure and the Committee on Re22 sources of the House of Representatives a report that 

23 evaluates United States and international progress in 

24 meeting the purpose of this Act. The report shall in25 clude—
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1 (A) the status of implementation of any rec2 ommendations and strategies of the Interagency 

3 Committee and analysis of their effectiveness; 

4 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven5 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic 

6 and Atmospheric Administration; 

7 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and 

8 Atmospheric Administration program authorized 

9 by section 3, including projects funded and ac10 complishments relating to reduction and preven11 tion of marine debris; 

12 (D) a review of Coast Guard programs and 

13 accomplishments relating to marine debris re14 moval, including enforcement and compliance 

15 with MARPOL requirements; and 

16 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal 

17 funding provided for marine debris and rec18 ommendations for priority funding needs. 

19 SEC. 6. FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE. 

20 The Administrator, in coordination with the Inter21 agency Committee, shall—

22 (1) maintain a Federal information clearing23 house on marine debris that will be available to re24 searchers and other interested persons to improve ma25 rine debris source identification, data sharing, and 
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1 monitoring efforts through collaborative research and 

2 open sharing of data; and 

3 (2) take the necessary steps to ensure the con4 fidentiality of such information (especially propri5 etary information), for any information required by 

6 the Administrator to be submitted by the fishing in7 dustry under this section. 

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National Oce12 anic and Atmospheric Administration. 

13 (2) INTERAGENCY COMMITTEE.—The term 

14 ‘‘Interagency Committee’’ means the Interagency Ma15 rine Debris Coordinating Committee established 

16 under section 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution 

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

18 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

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

20 zone’’ means the zone established by Presidential 

21 Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10, 1983, 

22 including the ocean waters of the areas referred to as 

23 ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in article 3(1) of the Agree24 ment between the United States of America and the 
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1 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Maritime 

2 Boundary, signed June 1, 1990. 

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

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

5 have the meaning given those terms under section 

6 2(a) of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 

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

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

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

10 the territorial sea. 

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

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

13 to in Presidential Proclamation No. 5928, dated De14 cember 27, 1988. 

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

16 Marine Debris Prevention and Removal Program es17 tablished under section 3. 

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

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

20 impacted by marine debris within its seaward or 

21 Great Lakes boundaries; 

22 (B) the District of Columbia; 

23 (C) American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

24 Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin 

25 Islands; and 
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1 (D) any other territory or possession of the 

2 United States, or separate sovereign in free asso3 ciation with the United States, that is impacted 

4 by marine debris within its seaward boundaries. 

5 SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF 

6 LANDS ACT. 

7 Nothing in this Act supersedes, or limits the authority 

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

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

10 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

11 There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal 

12 year 2006 through 2010—

13 (1) to the Administrator for carrying out sec14 tions 3 and 6, $10,000,000, of which no more than 10 

15 percent may be for administrative costs; and 

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

17 the Coast Guard is operating, for the use of the Com18 mandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out section 

19 4, $2,000,000, of which no more than 10 percent may 

20 be used for administrative costs.

Attest:

Clerk.