I 
112TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6251 
To amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act to 
establish an expedited award process for grants to address marine debris 
emergencies, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
AUGUST 1, 2012 
Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Ms. HERRERA BEUTLER, Mr. SCHRADER, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. HONDA, 
Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Ms. CHU, Ms. SPEIER, 
Mr. SMITH of Washington, Mr. DICKS, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. GEORGE MIL-
LER of California, Ms. HAHN, Mr. WALDEN, and Mr. STARK) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Re-
sources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdic-
tion of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Re-
duction Act to establish an expedited award process for 
grants to address marine debris emergencies, and for 
other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Marine Debris Emer-
gency Act of 2012’’. 
SEC. 2. MARINE DEBRIS EMERGENCIES. 
Section 3 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, 
and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) MARINE DEBRIS EMERGENCY.— 
‘‘(1) DECLARATION
OF
A
MARINE
DEBRIS 
EMERGENCY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Administrator 
may declare a marine debris emergency if the 
Administrator determines that marine debris— 
‘‘(i) is an immediate threat to the 
United States with respect to— 
‘‘(I) living marine resources; 
‘‘(II) the marine environment; 
‘‘(III) navigation safety; or 
‘‘(IV) public health; and 
‘‘(ii) requires Federal resources to 
supplement the State and local resources 
available to alleviate such threat. 
‘‘(B) REQUEST FOR A DECLARATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Governor of a 
State may request that the Administrator 
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declare a marine debris emergency in such 
State or a region that includes such State. 
‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATOR
MAY
REQUEST 
INFORMATION.—In response to a Gov-
ernor’s request under clause (i), the Ad-
ministrator may request that the Governor 
provide information on— 
‘‘(I) the nature and immediacy of 
the threat; and 
‘‘(II) the nature and amount of 
State and local resources that have 
been or will be committed to alle-
viating the threat. 
‘‘(C) RESPONSE
TO
GOVERNOR’S
RE-
QUEST.—Within 30 days after a Governor sub-
mits a request under subparagraph (B)(i), the 
Administrator shall either— 
‘‘(i) grant that Governor’s request; or 
‘‘(ii) submit a response to that Gov-
ernor, explaining why the Administrator 
has not granted the Governor’s request. 
‘‘(2) PREFERENCE FOR MARINE DEBRIS EMER-
GENCIES IN MARINE DEBRIS GRANTS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In evaluating applica-
tions for grants under section 3(c), the Admin-
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istrator shall give preference to projects to ad-
dress marine debris emergencies, including 
projects to address marine debris that has in-
troduced or is likely to introduce marine 
invasive species into the United States. 
‘‘(B) EXPEDITED
GRANT
AWARD
PROC-
ESS.—Not later than 60 days after receipt of 
an application under subparagraph (A), the Ad-
ministrator shall, to the extent feasible— 
‘‘(i) approve or disapprove such appli-
cation; and 
‘‘(ii) if such application is approved, 
disperse the approved funds to the grantee. 
‘‘(3) MARINE INVASIVE SPECIES.—In this sec-
tion, the term ‘marine invasive species’ means a ma-
rine nonindigenous species (as defined in section 
4702 of the Nonindigenous Aquatic Nuisance Pre-
vention and Control Act of 1990 (16 U.S.C. 4702)) 
the introduction of which to the United States will, 
or is likely to, cause economic or environmental 
harm, threaten the diversity or abundance of native 
species or the ecological stability of infested waters, 
or disrupt commercial, agricultural, aquacultural, or 
recreational activities dependent on such waters.’’. 
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SEC. 3. GUIDANCE FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS ENGAGED IN 
MARINE DEBRIS RESPONSE EFFORTS. 
Section 3 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, 
and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) is further amended 
by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(e) GUIDANCE FOR GRANT RECIPIENTS ENGAGED 
IN MARINE DEBRIS RESPONSE EFFORTS.—The Adminis-
trator shall take appropriate steps to encourage grant re-
cipients under this section to— 
‘‘(1) educate staff and volunteers who are en-
gaged in marine debris response efforts on the po-
tential threats that marine debris and marine 
invasive species (as defined in subsection (d)(3)) 
may pose to the United States with respect to living 
marine resources, the marine environment, naviga-
tion, and public health; and 
‘‘(2) coordinate their marine debris response ef-
forts with relevant Federal, State, local, and non- 
governmental entities.’’. 
Æ 
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