National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration December 21, 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The NOAA Marine Debris Division, Office of Response and Restoration, National Ocean Service, is issuing guidelines to implement the Marine Debris Program (MDP) grant program. The MDP was created by the Marine Debris Research, Prevention, and Reduction Act (33 U.S.C. 1951 et seq.) to coordinate, strengthen, and enhance the awareness of marine debris efforts within the agency, and to work with external partners to support research, prevention, and reduction activities related to the issue of marine debris. The NOAA MDP mission is to investigate and solve the problems that stem from marine debris through research, prevention, and reduction activities, in order to protect and conserve our nation's living marine resources and ensure navigation safety. Within the Act, the MDP is directed to develop formal guidelines for the implementation of a grant program. This notice identifies those guidelines.