109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 362

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.

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, Prevention, and Reduction Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

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

3 findings:

4 (1) The oceans, which comprise nearly three

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

6 source of food and provide a wealth of other natural

7 products that are important to the economy of the

8 United States and the world.

9 (2) Ocean and coastal areas are regions of re10 markably high biological productivity, are of consid11 erable importance for a variety of recreational and

12 commercial activities, and provide a vital means of

13 transportation.

14 (3) Marine debris, including plastics, derelict

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

16 a harmful and persistent effect on marine flora and

17 fauna and can have adverse impacts on human

18 health.

19 (4) Marine debris is also a hazard to naviga20 tion, putting mariners and rescuers, their vessels,

21 and consequently the marine environment at risk,

22 and can cause economic loss due to entanglement of

23 vessel systems.

24 (5) Plastic materials persist for decades in the

25 marine environment and therefore pose the greatest
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1 potential for long-term damage to the marine envi2 ronment.

3 (6) Insufficient knowledge and data on the

4 source, movement, and effects of plastics and other

5 marine debris in marine ecosystems has hampered

6 efforts to develop effective approaches for addressing

7 marine debris.

8 (7) Lack of resources, inadequate attention to

9 this issue, and poor coordination at the Federal level

10 has undermined the development and implementa11 tion of a Federal program to address marine debris,

12 both domestically and internationally.

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

14 (1) to establish programs within the National

15 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the

16 United States Coast Guard to help identify, deter17 mine sources of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine

18 debris and its adverse impacts on the marine envi19 ronment and navigation safety, in coordination with

20 other Federal and non-Federal entities;

21 (2) to re-establish the Inter-agency Marine De22 bris Coordinating Committee to ensure a coordinated

23 government response across Federal agencies;

24 (3) to develop a Federal information clearing25 house to enable researchers to study the sources,
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1 scale and impact of marine debris more efficiently;

2 and

3 (4) to take appropriate action in the inter4 national community to prevent marine debris and re5 duce concentrations of existing debris on a global

6 scale.

7 SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PREVENTION AND REMOVAL

8 PROGRAM.

9 (a) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—There is estab10 lished, within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad11 ministration, a Marine Debris Prevention and Removal

12 Program to reduce and prevent the occurrence and ad13 verse impacts of marine debris on the marine environment

14 and navigation safety.

15 (b) PROGRAM COMPONENTS.—Through the Marine

16 Debris Prevention and Removal Program, the Adminis17 trator shall carry out the following activities:

18 (1) MAPPING, IDENTIFICATION, IMPACT AS19 SESSMENT, REMOVAL, AND PREVENTION.—The Ad20 ministrator shall, in consultation with relevant Fed21 eral agencies, undertake marine debris mapping,

22 identification, impact assessment, prevention, and

23 removal efforts, with a focus on marine debris pos24 ing a threat to living marine resources, particularly

25 species identified as endangered or threatened under
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1 the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C.

2 1531 et seq.) and species protected under the Ma3 rine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 (16 U.S.C.

4 1631 et seq.), and navigation safety, including—

5 (A) the establishment of a process, build6 ing on existing information sources maintained

7 by Federal agencies such as the Environmental

8 Protection Agency and the Coast Guard, for

9 cataloguing and maintaining an inventory of

10 marine debris and its impacts found in the nav11 igable waters of the United states and the

12 United States exclusive economic zone, includ13 ing location, material, size, age, and origin, and

14 impacts on habitat, living marine resources,

15 human health, and navigation safety;

16 (B) measures to identify the origin, loca17 tion, and projected movement of marine debris

18 within the United States navigable waters, the

19 United States exclusive economic zone, and the

20 high seas, including the use of oceanographic,

21 atmospheric, satellite, and remote sensing data;

22 and

23 (C) development and implementation of

24 strategies, methods, priorities, and a plan for

25 preventing and removing marine debris from
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1 United States navigable waters and within the

2 United States exclusive economic zone, includ3 ing development of local or regional protocols

4 for removal of derelict fishing gear.

5 (2) REDUCING AND PREVENTING LOSS OF

6 GEAR.—The Administrator shall improve efforts and

7 actively seek to prevent and reduce fishing gear

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

9 gear on living marine resources and navigation safe10 ty, including—

11 (A) research and development of alter12 natives to gear posing threats to the marine en13 vironment, and methods for marking gear used

14 in specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, re15 covery, and identification of lost and discarded

16 gear; and

17 (B) development of voluntary or manda18 tory measures to reduce the loss and discard of

19 fishing gear, and to aid its recovery, such as in20 centive programs, reporting loss and recovery of

21 gear, observer programs, toll-free reporting hot22 lines, computer-based notification forms, and

23 providing adequate and free disposal receptacles

24 at ports.
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1 (3) OUTREACH.—The Administrator shall un2 dertake outreach and education of the public and

3 other stakeholders, such as the fishing industry,

4 fishing gear manufacturers, and other marine-de5 pendent industries, on sources of marine debris,

6 threats associated with marine debris and ap7 proaches to identify, determine sources of, assess,

8 reduce, and prevent marine debris and its adverse

9 impacts on the marine environment and navigational

10 safety, including outreach and education activities

11 through public-private initiatives. The Administrator

12 shall coordinate outreach and education activities

13 under this paragraph with any outreach programs

14 conducted under section 2204 of the Marine Plastic

15 Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987 (33

16 U.S.C. 1915).

17 (c) GRANTS.—

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall pro19 vide financial assistance, in the form of grants,

20 through the Marine Debris Prevention and Removal

21 Program for projects to accomplish the purposes of

22 this Act.

23 (2) 50 PERCENT MATCHING REQUIREMENT.—

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

25 subparagraph (B), Federal funds for any
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1 project under this section may not exceed 50

2 percent of the total cost of such project. For

3 purposes of this subparagraph, the non-Federal

4 share of project costs may be provided by in5 kind contributions and other noncash support.

6 (B) WAIVER.—The Administrator may

7 waive all or part of the matching requirement

8 under subparagraph (A) if the Administrator

9 determines that no reasonable means are avail10 able through which applicants can meet the

11 matching requirement and the probable benefit

12 of such project outweighs the public interest in

13 such matching requirement.

14 (3) AMOUNTS PAID AND SERVICES RENDERED

15 UNDER CONSENT.—

16 (A) CONSENT DECREES AND ORDERS.—If

17 authorized by the Administrator or the Attor18 ney General, as appropriate, the non-Federal

19 share of the cost of a project carried out under

20 this Act may include money paid pursuant to,

21 or the value of any in-kind service performed

22 under, an administrative order on consent or

23 judicial consent decree that will remove or pre24 vent marine debris.
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1 (B) OTHER DECREES AND ORDERS.—The

2 non-Federal share of the cost of a project car3 ried out under this Act may not include any

4 money paid pursuant to, or the value of any in5 kind service performed under, any other admin6 istrative order or court order.

7 (4) ELIGIBILITY.—Any natural resource man8 agement authority of a State, Federal or other gov9 ernment authority whose activities directly or indi10 rectly affect research or regulation of marine debris,

11 and any educational or nongovernmental institutions

12 with demonstrated expertise in a field related to ma13 rine debris, are eligible to submit to the Adminis14 trator a marine debris proposal under the grant pro15 gram.

16 (5) GRANT CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES.—With17 in 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act,

18 the Administrator shall promulgate necessary guide19 lines for implementation of the grant program, in20 cluding development of criteria and priorities for

21 grants. Such priorities may include proposals that

22 would reduce new sources of marine debris and pro23 vide additional benefits to the public, such as recy24 cling of marine debris or use of biodegradable mate-
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1 rials. In developing those guidelines, the Adminis2 trator shall consult with—

3 (A) the Interagency Marine Debris Com4 mittee;

5 (B) regional fishery management councils

6 established under the Magnuson-Stevens Fish7 ery Conservation and Management Act (16

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

9 (C) State, regional, and local governmental

10 entities with marine debris experience;

11 (D) marine-dependent industries; and

12 (E) non-governmental organizations in13 volved in marine debris research, prevention, or

14 removal activities.

15 (6) PROJECT REVIEW AND APPROVAL.—The

16 Administrator shall review each marine debris

17 project proposal to determine if it meets the grant

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

19 than 120 days after receiving a project proposal

20 under this section, the Administrator shall—

21 (A) provide for external merit-based peer

22 review of the proposal;

23 (B) after considering any written com24 ments and recommendations based on the re25 view, approve or disapprove the proposal; and
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1 (C) provide written notification of that ap2 proval or disapproval to the person who sub3 mitted the proposal.

4 (7) PROJECT REPORTING.—Each grantee under

5 this section shall provide periodic reports as required

6 by the Administrator. Each report shall include all

7 information required by the Administrator for evalu8 ating the progress and success in meeting its stated

9 goals, and impact on the marine debris problem.

10 SEC. 4. COAST GUARD PROGRAM.

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commandant of the Coast

12 Guard shall, in cooperation with the Administrator, under13 take measures to reduce violations of MARPOL Annex V

14 and the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C.

15 1901 et seq.) with respect to the discard of plastics and

16 other garbage from vessels. The measures shall include—

17 (1) the development of a strategy to improve

18 monitoring and enforcement of current laws, as well

19 as recommendations for statutory or regulatory

20 changes to improve compliance and for the develop21 ment of any appropriate amendments to MARPOL;

22 (2) regulations to address implementation gaps

23 with respect to the requirement of MARPOL Annex

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

25 Ships (33 U.S.C. 1905) that all United States ports
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1 and terminals maintain receptacles for disposing of

2 plastics and other garbage, which may include meas3 ures to ensure that a sufficient quantity of such fa4 cilities exist at all such ports and terminals, require5 ments for logging the waste received, and for Coast

6 Guard comparison of vessel and port log books to

7 determine compliance, taking into account potential

8 economic impacts and technical feasibility;

9 (3) regulations to close record keeping gaps,

10 which may include requiring fishing vessels under

11 400 gross tons entering United States ports to

12 maintain records subject to Coast Guard inspection

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

14 at a minimum, include the time, date, type of gar15 bage, quantity, and location of discharge by latitude

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

17 the port where such material is offloaded for dis18 posal, taking into account potential economic im19 pacts and technical feasibility;

20 (4) regulations to improve ship-board waste

21 management, which may include expanding to small22 er vessels existing requirements to maintain ship23 board receptacles and maintain a ship-board waste

24 management plan, taking into account potential eco25 nomic impacts and technical feasibility;
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1 (5) the development, through outreach to com2 mercial vessel operators and recreational boaters, of

3 a voluntary reporting program, along with the estab4 lishment of a central reporting location, for incidents

5 of damage to vessels caused by marine debris, as

6 well as observed violations of existing laws and regu7 lations relating to disposal of plastics and other ma8 rine debris; and

9 (6) a voluntary program encouraging United

10 States flag vessels to inform the Coast Guard of any

11 ports in other countries that lack adequate port re12 ception facilities for garbage.

13 (b) ON-SHORE OIL AND GAS SPILLS.—The Com14 mandant of the Coast Guard shall expedite implementa15 tion of the Coast Guard’s responsibilities with respect to

16 on-shore oil and gas spills.

17 SEC. 5. INTERAGENCY COORDINATION.

18 (a) INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS COMMITTEE ES19 TABLISHED.—There is established an Interagency Com20 mittee on Marine Debris to coordinate a comprehensive

21 program of marine debris research and activities among

22 Federal agencies, in cooperation and coordination with

23 non-governmental organizations, industry, universities,

24 and research institutions, State governments, Indian

25 tribes, and other nations, as appropriate, and to foster
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1 cost-effective mechanisms to identify, determine sources

2 of, assess, reduce, and prevent marine debris, and its ad3 verse impact on the marine environment and navigational

4 safety, including the joint funding of research and mitiga5 tion and prevention strategies.

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

7 senior official from—

8 (1) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad9 ministration, who shall serve as the chairperson of

10 the Committee;

11 (2) the United States Coast Guard;

12 (3) the Environmental Protection Agency;

13 (4) the United States Navy;

14 (5) the Maritime Administration of the Depart15 ment of Transportation;

16 (6) the National Aeronautics and Space Admin17 istration;

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

19 (8) the Department of State;

20 (9) the Marine Mammal Commission; and

21 (10) such other Federal agencies that have an

22 interest in ocean issues or water pollution prevention

23 and control as the Administrator determines appro24 priate.
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1 (c) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at least

2 twice a year to provide a public, interagency forum to en3 sure the coordination of national and international re4 search, monitoring, education, and regulatory actions ad5 dressing the persistent marine debris problem.

6 (d) DEFINITION.—The Committee shall develop and

7 promulgate through regulation a definition of the term

8 ‘‘marine debris’’.

9 (e) REPORTING.—

10 (1) INTERAGENCY REPORT ON MARINE DEBRIS

11 IMPACTS AND STRATEGIES.—Not later than 12

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

13 the Committee, through the chairperson, and in co14 operation with the coastal States, Indian tribes, local

15 governments, and non-governmental organizations,

16 shall complete and submit to the Congress a report

17 identifying the source of marine debris, examining

18 the ecological and economic impact of marine debris,

19 alternatives for reducing, mitigating, preventing, and

20 controlling the harmful affects of marine debris, the

21 social and economic costs and benefits of such alter22 natives, and recommendations regarding both do23 mestic and international marine debris issues.

24 (2) CONTENTS.—The report submitted under

25 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 preventing, reducing, removing,

6 and disposing of marine debris, including

7 through private-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 identifica19 tion, determination of sources, prevention, re20 duction, management, mitigation, and control of

21 marine debris and its adverse impacts.

22 (3) ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS.—Not later

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

24 Act, and every year thereafter, the Committee,

25 through the chairperson, shall submit to the Com-
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1 mittee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of

2 the Senate and the Committee on Resources of the

3 House of Representatives a report that evaluates

4 United States and international progress in meeting

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

6 (A) the status of implementation of the

7 recommendations of the Committee and anal8 ysis of their effectiveness;

9 (B) a summary of the marine debris inven10 tory to be maintained by the National Oceanic

11 and Atmospheric Administration;

12 (C) a review of the National Oceanic and

13 Atmospheric Administration program author14 ized by section 3 of this Act, including projects

15 funded and accomplishments relating to reduc16 tion and prevention of marine debris;

17 (D) a review of United States Coast Guard

18 programs and accomplishments relating to ma19 rine debris removal, including enforcement and

20 compliance with MARPOL requirements; and

21 (E) estimated Federal and non-Federal

22 funding provided for marine debris and rec23 ommendations for priority funding needs.

24 (f) MONITORING.—The Administrator, in cooperation

25 with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
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1 Agency, shall utilize the marine debris data derived under

2 this Act and title V of the Marine Protection, Research,

3 and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (33 U.S.C. 2801 et seq.) to

4 assist—

5 (1) the Committee in ensuring coordination of

6 research, monitoring, education, and regulatory ac7 tions; and

8 (2) the United States Coast Guard in assessing

9 the effectiveness of this Act and the Act to Prevent

10 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) in en11 suring compliance under section 2201 of the Marine

12 Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of 1987

13 (33 U.S.C. 1913).

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

15 Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control Act of

16 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is repealed.

17 SEC. 6. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.

18 The Interagency Marine Debris Committee shall de19 velop a strategy that may be pursued by the United States

20 in the International Maritime Organization and other ap21 propriate international and regional forums to reduce the

22 incidence of marine debris, including—

23 (1) the inclusion of effective and enforceable

24 marine debris prevention and removal measures in
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1 international and regional agreements, including

2 fisheries agreements and maritime agreements;

3 (2) measures to strengthen and to improve

4 compliance with MARPOL Annex V;

5 (3) national reporting and information require6 ments that will assist in improving information col7 lection, identification and monitoring of marine de8 bris;

9 (4) the establishment of an international data10 base, consistent with the information clearinghouse

11 established under section 7, that will provide current

12 information on location, source, prevention, and re13 moval of marine debris;

14 (5) the establishment of public-private partner15 ships and funding sources for pilot programs that

16 will assist in implementation and compliance with

17 marine debris requirements in international agree18 ments and guidelines;

19 (6) the identification of possible amendments to

20 and provisions in the International Maritime Organi21 zation Guidelines for the Implementation of Annex V

22 of MARPOL for potential inclusion in Annex V; and

23 (7) when appropriate assist the responsible

24 Federal agency in bilateral negotiations to effectively

25 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 the general

10 locations of commercial fishing and aquaculture ac11 tivities using Geographic Information System tech12 niques;

13 (2) a world-wide database which describes fish14 ing gear and equipment, and fishing practices, in15 cluding information on gear types and specifications;

16 (3) guidance on the identification of types of

17 fishing gear fragments and their sources developed

18 in consultation with persons of relevant expertise;

19 and

20 (4) the data on mapping and identification of

21 marine debris to be developed pursuant to section

22 3(b)(1) of this Act.

23 SEC. 8. DEFINITIONS.

24 In this Act:
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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the National

3 Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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

5 means the Interagency Marine Debris Committee es6 tablished by section 5 of this Act.

7 (3) UNITED STATES EXCLUSIVE ECONOMIC

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

9 zone’’ means the zone established by Presidential

10 Proclamation Numbered 5030, dated March 10,

11 1983, including the ocean waters of the areas re12 ferred to as ‘‘eastern special areas’’ in article 3(1)

13 of the Agreement between the United States of

14 America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

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

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

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

18 have the meaning given those terms in paragraphs

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

20 Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C. 1901(a)).

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

22 waters’’ has the meaning given that term by section

23 502(7) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act

24 (33 U.S.C. 1362(7)).
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1 SEC. 9. APPLICATION WITH OUTER CONTINENTAL SHELF

2 LANDS ACT.

3 Nothing in this Act supersedes, or limits the author4 ity of the Secretary of the Interior under, the Outer Conti5 nental Shelf Lands Act (43 U.S.C. 1331 et seq.)

6 SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

7 There are authorized to be appropriated for each fis8 cal year 2006 through 2010—

9 (1) to the Administrator for the purpose of car10 rying out sections 3 and 7 of this Act, $10,000,000,

11 of which no more than 10 percent may be for ad12 ministrative costs; and

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

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

15 Commandant of the Coast Guard in carrying out

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

17 no more than 10 percent may be used for adminis18 trative costs.

Passed the Senate July 1, 2005.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 362

AN ACT

To establish a program within the National Oceanic

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