necessary and constructive contribution to worldwide efforts 

 to mitigate the serious problems being caused by marine 

 debris, and recommended that the State Department take all 

 appropriate actions, including prompt ratification of Annex 

 V, to bring it into force at the earliest possible date. The 

 State Department responded by letter of 12 June 1986 noting 

 that efforts would be taken to advance the ratification 

 process and to highlight the problem in the upcoming MEPC 

 meeting. 



The meeting of the Shipping Coordinating Committee was 

 convened by the Coast Guard at its headquarters in Wash- 

 ington, D.C., on 2 July 1986. During the meeting, there was 

 general agreement that ratification of Annex V was an 

 appropriate and desirable course of action. The 2 July 

 meeting was held just before the 23rd Session of the MEPC 

 held in London, England, on 7-11 July 1986. Considering the 

 Committee's comments and the views already expressed by the 

 Commission and other Federal agencies, the head of the U.S. 

 delegation to the 23rd Session of the MEPC announced that, 

 upon its return, the U.S. delegation would recommend to the 

 Secretary of State that actions be taken by the U.S. Govern- 

 ment to ratify MARPOL Annex V. This was done following the 

 meeting and, at the end of 1986, it was the Commission's 

 understanding that the necessary documentation to transmit 

 Annex V to the Senate for its advice and consent was being 

 reviewed by the State Department and would be forwarded to 

 the President early in 1987. 



Congressional Activities 



Funds appropriated for the U.S. Entanglement Research 

 Program in Fiscal Years 1985, 1986, and 1987 made it possible 

 for the nature and extent of the problem to become better 

 documented. In part because of this improved understanding, 

 bills designed to address certain aspects of the problem were 

 introduced in both the Senate and the House. The House also 

 convened a hearing on plastic pollution in the marine 

 environment. 



Two bills were introduced in the Senate. The first, 

 S. 2596, was introduced by Senator John H. Chafee and others 

 on 25 June 1986. The bill, entitled the "Plastic Waste 

 Reduction Act of 1986," would direct the Environmental 

 Protection Agency to: conduct a study of adverse effects of 

 plastic debris discarded into terrestrial, marine, and 

 freshwater environments; develop recommendations on ways to 

 reduce or eliminate the problems; and require that, within 18 

 months of enactment of the bill, materials used for packag- 

 ing, transporting, or carrying cans, bottles, and other 

 containers be made of naturally degradable materials. The 

 second bill, S. 2611, introduced by Senator Ted Stevens, was 



89 



