The matter was referred to the President's Domestic 

 Policy Council which, in response to the letter, asked the 

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to establish 

 and chair an Interagency Marine Debris Task Force composed of 

 the principal agencies involved in addressing aspects of the 

 marine debris problem. Representatives of the Coast Guard, 

 the Council on Environmental Quality, the Department of Agri- 

 culture, the Department of the Interior, the Department of 

 State, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of 

 Management and Budget, the White House Office of Domestic 

 Policy, the U.S. Navy, and the Marine Mammal Commission were 

 asked to participate. The Task Force's charge was to prepare 

 a report for the Council by April 1988 which would assess the 

 problem and the need for research, identify potential reduction 

 measures, and consider alternative actions to address the 

 problem of plastic marine pollution. 



A representative from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 

 Administration was designated as Task Force Director and a 

 representative of the Environmental Protection Agency was 

 designated as Deputy Director. The Task Force met several 

 times during the latter half of 1987 to develop a work plan 

 for its activities, to consider priority research and management 

 needs, and to carry out other related responsibilities. At 

 the end of 1987, the Commission looked forward to continuing 

 participation on the Task Force and to assisting as possible 

 with preparation of its report to the Domestic Policy Council. 



U.S. Efforts To Ratify MARPOL Annex V 



Annex V of the 1978 Protocol Relating to the International 

 Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships of 1973 

 (MARPOL 73/78) would provide an international regulatory 

 framework for controlling the disposal of garbage from ships. 

 Among other things, it would prohibit, with certain exceptions, 

 "...the disposal of all plastics, including but not limited 

 to synthetic ropes, synthetic fishing nets, and plastic garbage 



bags " into the sea from ships. This provision would be a 



significant contribution to efforts to reduce the marine 

 debris problem; however, criteria established for its entry 

 into force (see below) had not been met as of the end of 

 1986, nor had the necessary steps been taken to ratify the 

 Annex in the United States. 



As noted in its Annual Reports for 1985 and 1986, the 

 importance of Annex V provisions prompted the Marine Mammal 

 Commission to recommend that steps be taken by the U.S. Coast 

 Guard and the State Department to have it ratified by the 

 U.S. Government. Both agencies shared the Commission's appre- 

 ciation of the need for action and, as of the end of 1986, 

 the State Department and the Coast Guard were completing the 

 necessary documentation for review by the President and tran- 



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