“Marine Debris” is addressed in a September 25, 2019 US General Accounting Office (GAO) report. The GAO-19-653 report advises that the Interagency Marine Debris Coordinating Committee (IMDCC) is taking action on marine debris “such as plastic bottles and abandoned fishing gear … but Additional Steps Could Enhance the Federal Response”.
The report examines the following three items:
- How the committee coordinates among federal agencies and the process for determining membership
- The extent to which the committee’s biennial reports contain required elements
- Experts’ suggestions on actions the federal government could take to most effectively address marine debris
GAO made four recommendations “including that NOAA establish a time frame for documenting membership and the committee develop processes to analyze the effectiveness of its efforts and identify priority funding.”