[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1119 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1119

To reauthorize and improve the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and 
                 Reduction Act, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 26, 2011

 Mr. Inouye (for himself, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. Begich, Ms. Snowe, and 
Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
   referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To reauthorize and improve the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and 
                 Reduction Act, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Trash Free Seas Act of 2011''.

SEC. 2. MODIFICATION OF PURPOSES OF MARINE DEBRIS RESEARCH, PREVENTION, 
              AND REDUCTION ACT.

    Section 2 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) to address the adverse impacts of marine debris on 
        the marine environment, navigation safety, and the United 
        States economy through research, source identification, 
        assessment, reduction, removal, and prevention;''; and
            (2) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``and maintain'' after 
        ``to develop''.

SEC. 3. REVISION OF NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION 
              MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM.

    (a) Renaming of Program.--
            (1) In general.--Subsection (a) of section 3 of the Marine 
        Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) 
        is amended by striking ``Marine Debris Prevention and Removal 
        Program'' and inserting ``Marine Debris Program''.
            (2) Clerical amendment.--Such section is amended in the 
        heading by striking ``prevention and removal''.
            (3) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (7) of section 7 of 
        such Act (33 U.S.C. 1956) is amended by striking ``Marine 
        Debris Prevention and Removal Program'' and inserting ``Marine 
        Debris Program''.
    (b) Expansion of Program Purposes.--Subsection (a) of section 3 of 
such Act (33 U.S.C. 1952), as amended by subsection (a)(1), is further 
amended--
            (1) by striking ``reduce and prevent'' and inserting 
        ``research, assess, reduce, and prevent''; and
            (2) by striking ``and navigation safety.'' and inserting 
        ``, navigation safety, and the United States economy.''.
    (c) Revision of Program Components.--Subsection (b) of such section 
is amended by striking paragraphs (1) through (3) and inserting the 
following:
            ``(1) Research and assessment.--The Administrator shall, in 
        consultation with relevant Federal agencies, undertake marine 
        debris research and assessment, reduction and prevention 
        efforts, with a focus on marine debris posing a threat to 
        living marine resources, the marine environment, navigation 
        safety, or the United States economy including the following:
                    ``(A) Research and assessment of derelict fishing 
                gear.
                    ``(B) Research and assessment of plastics, with 
                respect 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 living marine resources, the 
                marine environment, navigation safety, and the United 
                States economy.
                    ``(D) Measures to identify the origin, 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 undertake efforts to prevent, reduce, 
        and remove the occurrence and impacts of marine debris, 
        including the adverse impacts of derelict fishing gear, 
        including by--
                    ``(A) working with other Federal agencies to 
                address land-based sources of marine debris;
                    ``(B) conducting research and development of 
                alternatives to gear posing threats to the marine 
                environment, and methods for marking gear used in 
                specific fisheries to enhance the tracking, recovery, 
                and identification of lost and discarded gear;
                    ``(C) developing effective nonregulatory measures 
                and incentives to cooperatively reduce the volume of 
                lost and discarded fishing gear and to aid in its 
                recovery;
                    ``(D) developing and implementing strategies, 
                methods, priorities, and a plan for tracking, 
                preventing and removing marine debris that is in, or 
                likely to enter, United States navigable waters or the 
                United States exclusive economic zone, including the 
                development of local or regional protocols for removal 
                of derelict fishing gear and other marine debris;
                    ``(E) providing national and regional coordination 
                to assist States, Indian tribes, and regional 
                organizations in addressing local marine debris issues;
                    ``(F) promoting international action to reduce the 
                incidence of marine debris; and
                    ``(G) developing and disseminating tools and 
                products related to the activities described in 
                subparagraphs (A) through (E).
            ``(3) Outreach and education.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Administrator shall 
                undertake outreach and education of the public and 
                other stakeholders, such as the fishing industry, 
                fishing gear manufacturers, other marine-dependent 
                industries, and the plastic and waste management 
                industries, on sources of marine debris, threats 
                associated with marine debris, and approaches to 
                identify, determine sources of, assess, reduce, remove, 
                and prevent marine debris and its adverse impacts on 
                the marine environment, navigation safety, and the 
                United States economy, including outreach and education 
                activities through public-private initiatives.
                    ``(B) Coordination.--The Administrator shall 
                coordinate outreach and education activities under this 
                paragraph with any outreach programs conducted under 
                section 2204 of the Marine Plastic Pollution Research 
                and Control Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915).''.
    (d) Modification of Requirement To Prescribe Criteria and 
Guidelines for Grant Program.--Paragraph (5) of subsection (c) of such 
section is amended to read as follows:
            ``(5) Grant criteria and guidelines.--Applicants for and 
        recipients of grants awarded under this subsection shall comply 
        with such criteria and guidelines as the Administrator shall 
        prescribe to carry out the provisions of this subsection.''.

SEC. 4. EXPANSION OF FEDERAL INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE.

    Section 6 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1955) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``and monitoring 
        efforts'' and inserting ``monitoring efforts, and best 
        practices''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``or other for-profit 
        industries'' after ``the fishing industry''.

SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF MARINE DEBRIS.

    (a) In General.--Section 7 of the Marine Debris Research, 
Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1956), as amended by section 
3(a)(3), is further amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(9) Marine debris.--The term `marine debris' means any 
        persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and 
        directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, 
        disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the 
        Great Lakes.''.
    (b) Conforming and Technical Amendment.--Section 5 of such Act (33 
U.S.C. 1954) is amended to read as follows:

``SEC. 5. BIENNIAL PROGRESS REPORTS OF THE INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS 
              COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

    ``(a) In General.--Not less frequently than once every 2 years, the 
Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee established pursuant 
to section 2203(a) of the Marine Plastic Pollution Research and Control 
Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914(a)) (in this section referred to as the 
`Interagency Committee') shall, acting through the chairperson of the 
Interagency Committee, submit to the Committee on Commerce, Science, 
and Transportation of the Senate and the Committee on Transportation 
and Infrastructure and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House 
of Representatives a report that evaluates United States and 
international progress in meeting the purposes of this Act.
    ``(b) Contents.--Each report submitted pursuant to subsection (a) 
shall include the following:
            ``(1) The status of implementation of any recommendations 
        and strategies of the Interagency Committee and analysis of 
        their effectiveness.
            ``(2) A summary of the marine debris inventory to be 
        maintained by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration.
            ``(3) A review of the Marine Debris Program established by 
        section 3, including projects funded and accomplishments 
        relating to reduction and prevention of marine debris.
            ``(4) A review of Coast Guard programs and accomplishments 
        relating to marine debris removal, including enforcement and 
        compliance with MARPOL requirements.
            ``(5) Estimated Federal and non-Federal funding provided 
        for marine debris and recommendations for priority funding 
        needs.''.

SEC. 6. EXTENSION OF AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 9 of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction 
Act (33 U.S.C. 1958) is amended, in the matter before paragraph (1), by 
striking ``through 2010--'' and inserting ``through 2015--''.
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