[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1171 Engrossed in House (EH)]
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1171
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
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 Amendments of
2012''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Except as otherwise expressly provided, whenever in this Act an
amendment is expressed as an amendment to a section or other provision,
the reference shall be considered to be made to a section or other
provision of the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act
(33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.), as in effect immediately before the enactment
of this Act.
SEC. 3. SHORT TITLE AMENDMENT.
Section 1 (33 U.S.C. 1951 note) is amended by striking ``Research,
Prevention, and Reduction''.
SEC. 4. PURPOSE.
Section 2 (33 U.S.C. 1951) is amended to read as follows:
``SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
``The purpose of this Act is to address the adverse impacts of
marine debris on the United States economy, the marine environment, and
navigation safety through identification, determination of sources,
assessment, prevention, reduction, and removal of marine debris.''.
SEC. 5. NOAA MARINE DEBRIS PROGRAM.
(a) Name of Program.--
(1) In general.--Section 3 (33 U.S.C. 1952) is amended--
(A) in the section heading by striking ``prevention
and removal''; and
(B) in subsection (a)--
(i) by striking ``Prevention and Removal
Program to reduce and prevent'' and inserting
``Program to identify, determine sources of,
assess, prevent, reduce, and remove'';
(ii) by inserting ``the economy of the
United States,'' after ``marine debris on'';
and
(iii) by inserting a comma after
``environment''.
(2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (7) of section 7 (33
U.S.C. 1956) is amended by striking ``Prevention and Removal''.
(b) Program Components.--Section 3(b) (33 U.S.C. 1952(b)) is
amended to read as follows:
``(b) Program Components.--The Administrator, acting through the
Program and subject to the availability of appropriations, shall--
``(1) identify, determine sources of, assess, prevent,
reduce, and remove marine debris, with a focus on marine debris
posing a threat to living marine resources and navigation
safety;
``(2) provide national and regional coordination to assist
States, Indian tribes, and regional organizations in
identification, determination of sources, assessment,
prevention, reduction, and removal of marine debris;
``(3) undertake efforts to reduce adverse impacts of lost
and discarded fishing gear on living marine resources and
navigation safety, including--
``(A) 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; and
``(B) development of effective nonregulatory
measures and incentives to cooperatively reduce the
volume of lost and discarded fishing gear and to aid in
its recovery; and
``(4) undertake outreach and education of the public and
other stakeholders on sources of marine debris, threats
associated with marine debris, and approaches to identify,
determine sources of, assess, prevent, reduce, and remove
marine debris and its adverse impacts on the United States
economy, the marine environment, and navigational safety,
including outreach and education activities through public-
private initiatives.''.
(c) Repeal.--Section 2204 of the Marine Plastic Pollution Research
and Control Act of 1987 and the item relating to that section in the
table of contents contained in section 2 of the United States-Japan
Fishery Agreement Approval Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1915) are repealed.
(d) Grant Criteria and Guidelines.--Section 3(c) (33 U.S.C.
1952(c)) is amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``section 2(1)'' and
inserting ``section 2'';
(2) by repealing paragraph (5); and
(3) by redesignating paragraphs (6) and (7) as paragraphs
(5) and (6).
SEC. 6. REPEAL OF OBSOLETE PROVISIONS.
Section 4 (33 U.S.C. 1953) is amended--
(1) by striking ``(a) Strategy.--''; and
(2) by repealing subsections (b) and (c).
SEC. 7. AMENDMENTS TO DEFINITIONS.
(a) Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee.--
(1) In general.--Except as provided in subsection (b),
section 2203 of the Marine Plastic Pollution Research and
Control Act of 1987 (33 U.S.C. 1914) is redesignated and moved
to replace and appear as section 5 of the Marine Debris
Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1954).
(2) Clerical amendment.--The item relating to section 2203
in the table of contents contained in section 2 of the United
States-Japan Fishery Agreement Approval Act of 1987 is
repealed.
(b) Biennial Progress Reports.--Section 5(c)(2) (33 U.S.C.
1954(c)(2)), as in effect immediately before the enactment of this
Act--
(1) is redesignated as subsection (e) of section 5, as
redesignated and moved by the amendment made by subsection (a)
of this section; and
(2) is amended--
(A) by striking ``Annual progress reports.--'' and
all that follows through ``thereafter'' and inserting
``Biennial Progress Reports.--Bienially'';
(B) by inserting ``Natural'' before ``Resources'';
(C) by redesignating subparagraphs (A) through (E)
as paragraphs (1) through (5) of such subsection; and
(D) by moving such subsection 2 ems to the left.
SEC. 8. CONFIDENTIALITY OF SUBMITTED INFORMATION.
Section 6(2) (33 U.S.C. 1955(2)) is amended by striking ``by the
fishing industry''.
SEC. 9. MARINE DEBRIS DEFINITION.
Section 7 (33 U.S.C. 1956) is amended--
(1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (9), and
moving such paragraph to appear after paragraph (8); and
(2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the following:
``(3) Marine debris.--The term `marine debris' means any
persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and
directly or indirectly, and intentionally or unintentionally,
disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the
Great Lakes.''.
SEC. 10. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
Section 9 (33 U.S.C. 1958) is amended--
(1) by striking ``are'' and inserting ``is'';
(2) by striking ``2006 through 2010'' and all that follows
through ``(1)'' and inserting ``through fiscal year 2015'';
(3) in paragraph (1), by striking ``$10,000,000'' and
inserting ``$4,900,000''; and
(4) by striking ``; and'' and all that follows through the
end of paragraph (2) and inserting a period.
Passed the House of Representatives August 1, 2012.
Attest:
Clerk.
112th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 1171
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and
Reduction Act.