[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 163 (2017), Part 9]
[Senate]
[Pages 12688-12689]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       SAVE OUR SEAS ACT OF 2017

  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate 
proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 181, S. 756.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk read as follows:

       A bill (S. 756) to reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris 
     Act to promote international action to reduce marine debris, 
     and for other purposes.

  There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the 
Sullivan amendment at the desk be considered and agreed to, the bill, 
as amended, be considered read a third time and passed, and the motion 
to reconsider be considered made and laid upon the table.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The amendment (No. 773) was agreed to, as follows:

                     (Purpose: To improve the bill)

       Beginning on page 3, strike line 3 and all that follows 
     through page 3, line 23, and insert the following:
       ``(2) Assistance.--If the Administrator makes a 
     determination under paragraph (1) that there is a severe 
     marine debris event, the Administrator is authorized to make 
     sums available to be used by the affected State or by the 
     Administrator in cooperation with the affected State--
       ``(A) to assist in the cleanup and response required by the 
     severe marine debris event; or
       ``(B) to conduct such other activity as the Administrator 
     determines is appropriate in response to the severe marine 
     debris event.''.
       On page 4, beginning on line 24, strike ``Federal funding 
     for research and development'' and insert ``research and 
     development, including through the establishment of a prize 
     competition,''.
  The bill (S. 756), as amended, was ordered to be engrossed for a 
third reading, was read the third time, and passed, as follows:

                                 S. 756

       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 ``Save Our Seas Act of 2017'' 
     or the ``SOS Act of 2017''.

     SEC. 2. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM.

       Subsection (b) of section 3 of the Marine Debris Act (33 
     U.S.C. 1952(b)) is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``and'' at the end;
       (2) in paragraph (5)(C), by striking the period at the end 
     and inserting a semicolon; and
       (3) by adding at the end the following:
       ``(6) work with other Federal agencies to develop outreach 
     and education strategies to address both land- and sea-based 
     sources of marine debris; and
       ``(7) work with the Department of State and other Federal 
     agencies to promote international action to reduce the 
     incidence of marine debris.''.

     SEC. 3. ASSISTANCE FOR SEVERE MARINE DEBRIS EVENTS.

       Section 3 of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1952) is 
     amended by adding at the end the following new subsection:
       ``(d) Assistance for Severe Marine Debris Events.--
       ``(1) In general.--At the discretion of the Administrator 
     or at the request of the Governor of an affected State, the 
     Administrator shall determine whether there is a severe 
     marine debris event.
       ``(2) Assistance.--If the Administrator makes a 
     determination under paragraph (1) that there is a severe 
     marine debris event, the Administrator is authorized to make 
     sums available to be used by the affected State or by the 
     Administrator in cooperation with the affected State--
       ``(A) to assist in the cleanup and response required by the 
     severe marine debris event; or
       ``(B) to conduct such other activity as the Administrator 
     determines is appropriate in response to the severe marine 
     debris event.
       ``(3) Funding.--
       ``(A) Federal share.--The Federal share of the cost of an 
     activity carried out under the authority of this subsection 
     shall be--
       ``(i) if the activity is funded wholly by funds made 
     available by an entity, including the government of a foreign 
     country, to the Federal Government for the purpose of 
     responding to a severe marine debris event, 100 percent of 
     the cost of the activity; or
       ``(ii) for any activity other than an activity funded as 
     described in clause (i), 75 percent of the cost of the 
     activity.
       ``(B) Limitation on administrative expenses.--In the case 
     of an activity funded as described in subparagraph (A)(i), 
     not more than 5 percent of the funds made available for the 
     activity may be used by the Administrator for administrative 
     expenses.''.

     SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL ENGAGEMENT TO 
                   RESPOND TO MARINE DEBRIS.

       It is the sense of Congress that the President should--
       (1) support research and development, including through the 
     establishment of a prize competition, of bio-based and other 
     alternatives or environmentally feasible improvements to 
     materials that reduce municipal solid waste and its 
     consequences in the ocean;
       (2) work with representatives of foreign countries that 
     contribute the most to the global marine debris problem to 
     learn about, and find solutions to, the contributions of such 
     countries to marine debris in the world's oceans;
       (3) carry out studies to determine--
       (A) the primary means by which solid waste enters the 
     oceans;
       (B) the manner in which waste management infrastructure can 
     be most effective in preventing debris from reaching the 
     oceans;
       (C) the long-term economic impacts of marine debris on the 
     national economies of each country set out in paragraph (1) 
     and on the global economy; and
       (D) the economic benefits of decreasing the amount of 
     marine debris in the oceans;
       (4) work with representatives of foreign countries that 
     contribute the most to the global marine debris problem, 
     including land-based sources, to conclude one or more new 
     international agreements that include provisions--
       (A) to mitigate the risk of land-based marine debris 
     contributed by such countries reaching an ocean; and
       (B) to increase technical assistance and investment in 
     waste management infrastructure, if the President determines 
     appropriate; and
       (5) encourage the United States Trade Representative to 
     consider the impact of marine debris in relevant future trade 
     agreements.

     SEC. 5. MEMBERSHIP OF THE INTERAGENCY MARINE DEBRIS 
                   COORDINATING COMMITTEE.

       Section 5(b) of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1954(b)) 
     is amended--
       (1) in paragraph (4), by striking ``; and'' and inserting a 
     semicolon;

[[Page 12689]]

       (2) by redesignating paragraph (5) as paragraph (7); and
       (3) by inserting after paragraph (4) the following:
       ``(5) the Department of State;
       ``(6) the Department of the Interior; and''.

     SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       Section 9 of the Marine Debris Act (33 U.S.C. 1958) is 
     amended to read as follows:

     ``SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

       ``There are authorized to be appropriated for each fiscal 
     year 2018 through 2022--
       ``(1) to the Administrator for carrying out sections 3, 5, 
     and 6, $10,000,000, of which no more than 10 percent may be 
     for administrative costs; and
       ``(2) to the Secretary of the Department in which the Coast 
     Guard is operating, for the use of the Commandant of the 
     Coast Guard in carrying out section 4, $2,000,000, of which 
     no more than 10 percent may be used for administrative 
     costs.''.
  Ms. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I wish to take a brief detour and 
congratulate my colleague who has been working aggressively as we 
worked to address the issue of marine debris. This is something on 
which, as members of the Oceans Caucus, we have been working with 
Senator Sullivan, Senator Whitehouse, and so many. I want to 
acknowledge the good work that has gone into this particular piece of 
legislation we have just passed.

                          ____________________