§4262 Prioritization of Efforts and Assistance to Combat Marine Debris and Improve Plastic Waste Management

Summary

Make the Secretary of State, working with USAID and other named officials, lead and coordinate U.S. efforts to carry out the policy in section 4261. They must create and run strategies and programs with foreign governments, local leaders, and the private sector to speed up help in other countries. The work focuses on improving how countries manage trash after people use it, tracking and fixing problems in those systems, removing incentives that cause bad disposal of plastic, running public awareness campaigns, helping cities and industries improve collection and recycling, supporting investors and businesses to grow recycling and reuse markets, encouraging safe reusable alternatives to throwaway plastics, and finding ways to collect damaged fishing gear. The named officials include the U.S. Trade Representative; the Under Secretary at State; the EPA Administrator; the Director of the Trade and Development Agency; the leaders of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation or the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation; the leaders of the Millennium Challenge Corporation; the Commandant of the Coast Guard for ship pollution; and others the Secretary chooses. They must prioritize help for rapidly developing countries and for rivers and coasts that science shows are major sources of marine debris, use clear, measurable targets to track results, and may not use this work to change or limit any agency’s investment or project portfolios.