[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1171 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1171

 To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and 
                             Reduction Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 17, 2011

   Mr. Farr (for himself, Mr. Young of Alaska, Mr. Rohrabacher, Ms. 
Bordallo, Mrs. Christensen, and Mr. Pierluisi) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure, and in addition to the Committee on Natural 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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and 
                             Reduction Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Marine Debris Act Reauthorization 
Amendments of 2011''.

SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    Section 2 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

    ``The purposes of this Act are--
            ``(1) to address the adverse impacts of marine debris to 
        the marine environment, navigation safety, and the economy 
        through investigation and source identification, assessment, 
        reduction, removal, and prevention;
            ``(2) to continue the Interagency Marine Debris 
        Coordinating Committee; and
            ``(3) to develop and maintain the Federal marine debris 
        information clearinghouse.''.

SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM.

    Section 3 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) is amended by striking so much as precedes 
subsection (c) and inserting the following:

``SEC. 3. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Establishment of Program.--There is established, within the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a Marine Debris 
Program to--
            ``(1) investigate, identify sources of, assess, reduce, 
        remove, and prevent the occurrence of marine debris; and
            ``(2) address, and where practicable prevent, adverse 
        impacts of marine debris on the marine environment, navigation 
        safety, and the economy.
    ``(b) Program Components.--
            ``(1) Investigations and assessment.--The Administrator 
        shall, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies, 
        undertake marine debris investigation and assessment efforts, 
        with a focus on marine debris posing a threat to the marine 
        environment, navigation safety, and the economy, including--
                    ``(A) investigation, analysis, and assessment of 
                derelict fishing gear;
                    ``(B) investigation, analysis, and assessment of 
                plastics, as pertains to the health of the marine 
                environment;
                    ``(C) the establishment of a process for 
                maintaining an inventory of marine debris types and 
                their impacts found in the navigable waters of the 
                United States and the United States exclusive economic 
                zone, including impacts on the marine environment, 
                navigation safety, and the economy; and
                    ``(D) measures to identify the source, location, 
                and projected movement of marine debris within United 
                States navigable waters, the United States exclusive 
                economic zone, and the high seas, including the use of 
                oceanographic, atmospheric, satellite, and remote 
                sensing data.
            ``(2) Prevent, reduce, and remove occurrence and impacts.--
        The Administrator shall improve efforts to prevent, reduce, and 
        remove marine debris, including activities to address the 
        adverse impacts of derelict fishing gear, including--
                    ``(A) working with other Federal agencies to 
                address land-based sources of marine debris;
                    ``(B) developing fishing gear modifications or 
                alternatives to conventional fishing gear posing a 
                threat to the marine environment;
                    ``(C) developing effective nonregulatory measures 
                and incentives to cooperatively reduce the volume of 
                lost and discarded fishing gear and to aid in its 
                recovery; and
                    ``(D) developing and implementing strategies, 
                methods, priorities, and a plan for preventing and 
                removing marine debris in or likely to enter United 
                States navigable waters or the United States exclusive 
                economic zone, including development of local or 
                regional protocols for removal of derelict fishing gear 
                and other marine debris.
            ``(3) National and regional coordination.--The 
        Administrator shall undertake national and regional 
        coordination to assist States, Indian tribes, and regional 
        organizations to address marine debris issues that are 
        particular to their areas, including--
                    ``(A) facilitating information exchange within and 
                among States and Indian tribes on issues relating to 
                marine debris investigation and assessment, prevention, 
                reduction, and removal activities; and
                    ``(B) serving as an expert resource to State, 
                tribal, and local governments, nongovernment 
                organizations, fishing communities, industry, and other 
                entities with an interest in marine debris.
            ``(4) Development of tools and products.--The Administrator 
        shall develop tools and products to improve efforts to address 
        marine debris, and make these available to researchers, the 
        marine debris community, and the general public. The tools and 
        products may include--
                    ``(A) best practices;
                    ``(B) protocols for monitoring marine debris;
                    ``(C) technology; and
                    ``(D) reporting methods.
            ``(5) International cooperation.--The Administrator, acting 
        through the Marine Debris Program, may lead the development and 
        implementation of a strategy, in coordination with other 
        relevant programs, that may be pursued by the United States 
        with other nations and in appropriate international and 
        regional forums, to promote international action to reduce the 
        incidence of marine debris, including--
                    ``(A) the adoption of effective marine debris 
                prevention and removal measures in international and 
                regional agreements, including fisheries agreements and 
                maritime agreements;
                    ``(B) the development of standardized national 
                reporting and information guidelines that will assist 
                in improving information collection and identification 
                and monitoring of marine debris;
                    ``(C) consistent with the information clearinghouse 
                established under section 6, the promotion of `best 
                practices to address marine debris';
                    ``(D) the establishment of public-private 
                partnerships and funding sources for pilot programs 
                that will assist in implementation of marine debris 
                prevention and removal measures in international 
                agreements and guidelines;
                    ``(E) when appropriate, provision of assistance to 
                the responsible Federal agency in bilateral and 
                multilateral efforts to effectively address marine 
                debris prevention; and
                    ``(F) actions to implement the relevant 
                recommendations of the National Research Council report 
                entitled `Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century' 
                and dated 2008.''.

SEC. 4. GLOBAL MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATION CONFERENCE.

    The Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 
U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) is amended by redesignating sections 7, 8, and 9 
in order as sections 8, 9, and 10, and by inserting after section 6 the 
following new section:

``SEC. 7. GLOBAL MARINE DEBRIS COORDINATION CONFERENCE.

    ``The Administrator, in coordination with representatives of the 
domestic and nondomestic marine debris community, shall host a Global 
Marine Debris Coordination Conference not less often than every four 
years, beginning in 2015. The Conference shall be developed with a 
steering committee composed of domestic and nondomestic marine debris 
experts, led by the Administrator.''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS.

    Section 8 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act, as redesignated by section 4 of this Act, is amended--
            (1) by moving paragraph (3) (relating to the definition of 
        ``United States exclusive economic zone'') to appear as the 
        last paragraph of the section;
            (2) by moving paragraph (6) (relating to the definition of 
        ``territorial sea'') to appear immediately before such last 
        paragraph, as so moved;
            (3) by amending the paragraphs after paragraph (2) as 
        paragraphs (4) through (10);
            (4) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (3);
            (5) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new 
        paragraph:
            ``(2) Indian tribe.--The term `Indian tribe' has the 
        meaning given that term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
        Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).''; 
        and
            (6) by inserting after paragraph (3), as so redesignated, 
        the following new paragraph:
            ``(4) Marine debris.--The term `marine debris' means any 
        man-made object that--
                    ``(A) intentionally or unintentionally, is 
                discarded, disposed of, or abandoned; and
                    ``(B) enters the coastal or marine environment--
                            ``(i) directly from a vessel, a facility, 
                        or shore; or
                            ``(ii) indirectly, by being carried via a 
                        river, stream, or storm drain or by other 
                        means.''.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 10 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act, as redesignated by section 4 of this Act, is amended by striking 
``for each fiscal year 2006 through 2010'' and inserting ``for each of 
fiscal years 2012 through 2016''.
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