FY2024-2025 National Sea Grant BIL Marine Debris Challenge Competition

NOAA works through Sea Grant institutions to increase the understanding, assessment, development, management, utilization, and conservation of the Nation’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources by providing assistance to promote a strong educational base, responsive research and training activities, broad and prompt dissemination of knowledge and techniques, and multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problems, in accordance with 33 USC 1121(b).

There are many types, sources, and causes of marine debris, defined by statute as "any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment or the Great Lakes" (15 C.F.R. § 909.1). Marine debris has long been a significant issue and may include (but is not limited to) plastic waste, trash, derelict vessels, lost or discarded fishing gear, and microplastics. The mass production of plastics, and their ubiquity of application and use across every economic sector, has ultimately resulted in an inescapable global marine debris problem. The United States is the top generator of plastic waste in the world (Law 2020), with a per capita generation rate of 2.22 to 2.72 kg per person per day (EREF 2016, Powell and Chertow 2019, U.S. EPA 2021a). The management of solid plastic waste varies per state and local government and consists of landfilling, recycling, and incineration. An unquantified amount of waste, however, is mismanaged and leaked into the environment. Recognizing the imperative to address the fate of plastics into marine environments, in 2004, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy identified marine “debris,” a term used to describe a wide-range of aquatic-solid waste pollution, as a national ocean priority (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine 2021. Reckoning with the U.S. Role in Global Ocean Plastic Waste). To strengthen efforts in prevention and mitigation, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), has directed NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program to execute $50.0 million over five years for the prevention and removal of marine debris. While plastics are a key focus, this work will also address other relevant types of marine debris, as appropriate. This work will complement broader NOAA efforts, particularly, the National Ocean Service’s Marine Debris Program, focused on active removal, cleanup, mitigation, and prevention of marine debris. Each Sea Grant program will determine and prioritize local needs and research-driven solutions that fully integrate the needs of historically underserved communities as defined by Executive Order 13985 (Section 2(b)).

Miscellaneous

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