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of state standards to meet or exceed these federal criteria and 

 the notification of local governments and the public when these 

 standards are not met; and the provisions for federal assistance 

 for state program.s to reduce floatables in coastal waters and for 

 sharing the costs of developing state standards and monitoring. 

 Cleaning America's Beaches: The National Marine Debris Data Base 



Since 1988, the Center for Marine Conservation has been 

 coordinating an annual International Coastal Cleanup, supported 

 by funding assistance from the Departmient of Commerce and the 

 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Last Fall, more than 

 132,000 volunteers all over the United States spent a day at the 

 beach picking up trash. The 19 92 International Coastal Cleanup 

 drew citizens from thirty coastal states, including the Great 

 Lakes states, three U.S. territories, and thirty-one foreign 

 countries. In the U.S. alone, nearly 2.8 million pounds of trash 

 were gathered from 4,600 miles of beach during this three hour 

 event . - 



But the International Coastal Cleanup is not just a one-time 

 event for the sole purpose of removing trash. Since 1988, the 

 Center for Marine Conservation has been coordinating the 

 collection of information on the composition of the trash 

 gathered by the volunteers and reporting the results of this 

 effort to Congress. This activity has enabled us to better 

 understand the sources and pathways of m.arine debris and propose 

 workable solutions to eventually eliminate it. Although 

 information compiled by volunteers is not scientifically sampled. 



