President Trump Signs Three Important Oceans-Related Bills Passed by Congress

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of the Interior Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, Douglas W. Domenech today applauded President Donald J. Trump for signing three important oceans-related bills passed by Congress: the National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2020, the Digital Coast Act, and the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act.

“These three pieces of legislation are the latest actions by President Trump to support ocean health and technology,” said Assistant Secretary Domenech, “all of which are critical to and complement the work that we do at the Department of the Interior with other federal partners in support of ocean, coastal, and marine resources health for the benefit of all Americans.”

On December 18, 2020, President Trump signed all three bills into law as follows:

• The S. 910, National Sea Grant College Program Amendments Act of 2020, now Public Law 116-221, reauthorized the National Sea Grant College Program through fiscal year 2024, through which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supports university-based programs that focus on studying, conserving, and effectively using U.S. coastal resources. It also modified the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program.
• The S.1069, Digital Coast Act, now Public Law No. 116-223, revised the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Digital Coast program for critical coastal management and data tracking for the ocean and the Great Lakes coasts.
• The S.1982, Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, now Public Law No. 116-224, established a nongovernmental Marine Debris Foundation and a prize competition for the "Genius Prize for Save Our Seas Innovation"; increases efforts to engage, cooperate, and coordinate with other governmental and nongovernmental entities to raise international awareness of plastic waste and combat marine debris; and creates infrastructure grant programs to be administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. 
   

Assistant Secretary Domenech serves as member of the White House Ocean Policy Committee and Co-Chair of the White House Ocean Resource Management Sub-committee. Domenech is also the Co-Chair of the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force.

For more information about the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of Insular Affairs, visit the website at www.doi.gov/oia or follow on Twitter at @ASIIADomenech. Also follow OIA on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/InsularAffairs or watch related content on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLDHjK6yOPNkuv7H_7y6GG7VRbzrHSnrj6.

The Assistant Secretary, Insular and International Affairs, and the Office of Insular Affairs carry out the Secretary of the Interior’s responsibilities for the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Additionally, the Office of Insular Affairs administers and oversees federal assistance under the Compacts of Free Association to the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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