Marine Debris Foundation Gets $2M Boost and Tribal Focus in Sweeping Cleanup Law Reorganization

The Save Our Seas 2.0 Amendments Act is essentially a massive administrative clean-up and upgrade for the existing laws dealing with ocean trash. It focuses on reorganizing the Marine Debris Act, clarifying how the Marine Debris Foundation operates, and giving NOAA more flexibility in running cleanup projects. The bill extends the Foundation’s funding authorization through fiscal year 2029 and adds an extra $2,000,000 for FY 2025 activities, ensuring the programs keep running smoothly for the next few years.

The Bureaucracy Shuffle: Making the Law Readable

If you’ve ever tried to read a piece of legislation, you know it can feel like a maze. This bill takes a few dozen sections of the existing law, renumbers them, and moves them around to make the whole thing more logical. For example, what was Section 3 of the Marine Debris Act is now Section 101, and so on (SEC. 2, SEC. 4). This isn't just busy work; it’s about making the law clearer for the people who actually have to implement it—the staff at NOAA and the Foundation. Think of it as a much-needed digital file migration for the federal government.

Another major update is the title change. Throughout the law, references to the "Administrator" of NOAA are being swapped out for "Under Secretary" (SEC. 6). This is just a conforming amendment to reflect the correct official title of the person in charge of these programs, cutting down on confusion and ensuring the right person has the authority to sign off on projects.

More Flexibility for Ocean Cleanup Projects

For those working on the ground in marine cleanup, Section 2 introduces a practical change in how NOAA can contribute to projects. When NOAA partners with a group on a non-grant contract—say, a tech company developing new debris tracking software—the agency can now count in-kind support toward its share of the project cost. Instead of just writing a check, the Under Secretary can assign a dollar value to things like providing access to NOAA research vessels, supplying data, or letting a partner use specialized equipment (SEC. 2). This means NOAA can stretch its budget further and collaborate more easily with private or non-profit partners who might need resources more than cash.

New Rules for the Marine Debris Foundation

The bill also tightens up the governance of the Marine Debris Foundation, the non-profit established to support cleanup efforts. It clarifies that the Foundation’s Board of Directors must get the Secretary of Commerce’s approval for any new appointments, including the EPA Administrator representative (SEC. 3). This adds an extra layer of oversight to ensure the Foundation’s leadership aligns with the Commerce Department’s overall strategy. The bill also clearly defines the leadership chain: the Board appoints the CEO, and the CEO manages all other officers and employees.

Critically, the Foundation’s mission is now explicitly expanded to include Indian Tribes and Tribal organizations alongside Tribal governments (SEC. 3). This isn't just semantics; it comes with a new requirement: the Foundation must develop and implement “best practices” for outreach and technical support to these communities. For coastal Tribal communities often disproportionately affected by marine debris, this ensures they are explicitly included in funding opportunities and capacity-building efforts (SEC. 3).

Who Benefits from This Paperwork?

While this bill is heavy on technical fixes, the real-world impact is clear: it makes the marine debris program more efficient and inclusive. The beneficiaries are primarily the Marine Debris Foundation, which gets a stable funding runway through 2029, and Tribal communities, who now have a specific mandate for outreach and support written into the law. For the rest of us, it means the federal programs tasked with cleaning up plastic and trash from our oceans and coastlines are administratively sound and better equipped to partner with the private sector to get the job done.