Save Our Seas 2.0 Act
On January 9, the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act unanimously passed out of the full Senate. The bill, sponsored by Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Dan Sullivan (R-AK) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), will tackle the plastic pollution problem on our beaches. The bill builds on the success of the original Save Our Seas Act, signed into law by President Trump in 2018. Of the original 2018 bill, the President said, “The United States has some of the most beautiful beaches and oceans in the world, and the coastlines are incredible. As President, I will continue to do everything I can to stop other nations from making our oceans into their landfills. That’s why I’m pleased — very pleased, I must say — to put my signature on this important legislation.”
The act is comprised of three main pieces: strengthening the country’s domestic marine debris response capability with a Marine Debris Foundation, a genius prize for innovation, and new research to tackle the issue; enhancing global engagement to combat marine debris, including formalizing U.S. policy on international cooperation, enhancing federal agency outreach to other countries and exploring the potential for a new international agreement on the challenge; and improving domestic infrastructure to prevent marine debris through new grants for and studies of waste management and mitigation.
“Cleaning up our oceans is one that matters to everybody and, certainly, to my State, with its having more coastline than the rest of the lower 48 combined. You don't even have to live in a coastal State to care about this issue. Some of our cosponsors on this bill — on both sides of the aisle — are from States that don't even have any coastline. That is how important it is,” said Sen. Sullivan, one of the three sponsors of the bill.
The legislation passed through three committees of jurisdiction – Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation; Senate Foreign Relations; and Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW). Senator Sullivan is a member of the Commerce and EPW Committees. Senator Whitehouse is a member of the EPW Committee. Senator Menendez is a member of the Foreign Relations Committee.
The bill now heads to the House, where it looks to have bi-partisan support.