On 18 May 1988, the Domestic Policy Council endorsed the 

 final report of the Interagency Task Force on Persistent 

 Marine Debris and, by White House memorandum dated 27 May, 

 the chairman of the Council forwarded the Report to the heads 

 of all Cabinet-level departments, the Administrator of the 

 Environmental Protection Agency, and the Chairman of the 

 President's Council on Environmental Quality. 



U.S. Ratification of MARPOL Annex V 



MARPOL, a contraction of the term "marine pollution," is 

 the common name used to refer to the International Convention 

 for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships, an agreement concluded 

 in 1973 at a conference of the Intergovernmental Maritime 

 Consultative Organization (now the International Maritime 

 Organization) . The Convention, which was amended by Protocol 

 in 1978, is designed to control ship-generated marine pollution 

 on a global scale. The amended Convention includes five 

 annexes, each of which addresses a particular type of 

 vessel-related pollution. Annex V contains regulations 

 governing the disposal of garbage from ships, which is a 

 major source of marine debris in the world's oceans. Among 

 other things, the Annex prohibits the disposal of plastics 

 into the marine environment, establishes discharge limitations 

 for other types of ship-generated garbage, and requires that 

 port reception facilities be provided. 



Before Annex V can take effect, the Convention requires 

 that the Annex be ratified by at least 15 nations representing 

 fifty percent or more of the world's commercial shipping 

 tonnage. As noted in previous Annual Reports, criteria for 

 its entry into force had not been met as of the end of 1986, 

 and the Annex had not been ratified by the United States. 

 The importance of Annex V provisions in reducing marine 

 pollution prompted the Marine Mammal Commission to recommend 

 that steps be taken by the U.S. Coast Guard and the State 

 Department to obtain ratification by the U.S. Government. 

 Both agencies shared the Commission's view and took steps to 

 complete documentation necessary for ratification. 



On 9 February 1987, President Reagan transmitted Annex V 

 to the Senate and, on 5 November 1987, the Senate unanimously 

 adopted a resolution providing its advice and consent to 

 ratify the Annex. In doing so, the Senate, among other things, 

 recognized that the Annex provided for designating "Special 

 Areas" in which dumping of all garbage is prohibited except 

 for food wastes beyond 12 nautical miles from land. Referencing 

 marine debris problems on Texas beaches and the large number 

 of endangered sea turtles which occur in the Gulf of Mexico, 

 the Senate included an understanding in its resolution that 

 the U.S. Government would make every reasonable effort to 

 designate the Gulf of Mexico as a Special Area under the Annex. 



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