Protecting the Global Marine Environment

EPA Efforts to Address the Global Marine Litter Problem

Marine litter is a significant problem in the world’s oceans. The 80% of marine litter stemming from land-based sources is largely a result of insufficient solid waste management. Plastic waste is a major component of marine litter. While the US can do better in preventing and reducing marine litter and plastics, many countries around the world require massive improvements in solid waste management to address this problem.  

Uncollected waste is a major source of land-based marine litter. It is estimated that less than 50% of waste in the least developed countries is collected, and approximately 90% of waste is burned or ends up in open dumps. The amount of uncollected and mismanaged waste entering the oceans has significantly worsened in the past decades, causing increased economic and environmental damage. In particular, the plastic waste harms physical habitats for wildlife, transports chemical and nutrient pollutants, and interferes with human uses of river, marine and coastal environments. 

EPA is working to address marine litter globally through international policy engagement and international actions and projects to reduce and prevent marine litter. EPA has also developed an International Marine Litter Toolbox that includes guides for countries to use in addressing marine litter and improving solid waste management. 

Learn more about EPA’s International Actions to Address Marine Litter.

Addressing Land-based Sources of Marine Pollution

Land-Based Sources Protocol for the Wider Caribbean Region

EPA led the negotiations for the Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities (LBS Protocol),  which was signed in 1999 in Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, and entered into force in 2010 at the Cartagena Convention. The LBS Protocol is a legally binding protocol to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean (Cartagena Convention).

The Wider Caribbean Region includes those countries that border:

• eastern Florida south of 30 north latitude,
• the Straits of Florida,
• the Gulf of Mexico or
• the Caribbean Sea.

The seaward boundary of the region is the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone of each country.

EPA joined the US delegation at the first meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the LBS Protocol (LBS COP 1), which took place on October 24, 2012 in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.  EPA continues to play a leadership role for the U.S. government in projects under the UNEP Caribbean Environment Programme.

The United Nations Environment Programme/ Caribbean Environment Programme (UNEP/CEP) is the Secretariat for the Cartagena Convention as well as the three Protocols: Land-Based Sources (LBS) Protocol; Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife; and, Protocol Concerning Pollution from Land-Based Sources and Activities.

In addition to staff in Washington, DC, EPA staff in the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division provide expertise and coordination with countries of the Wider Caribbean Region. The Office of International and Tribal Affairs also coordinates with experts in EPA's Gulf of Mexico Program on pollution prevention issues.

The LBS Protocol  incorporates the following general obligation to address land-based sources of pollution in the Wider Caribbean Region:

Each Contracting Party shall, in accordance with its laws, the provisions of this Protocol, and international law, take appropriate measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the Convention area from land-based sources and activities, using for this purpose the best practicable means at its disposal and in accordance with its capabilities.

EPA is the U.S. government technical focal point for the implementation of the LBS Protocol, which focuses on two key issues: domestic sewage (wastewater) and agricultural non-point source (nutrient) pollution.

For further information on EPA's involvement with the LBS Protocol, see Cartagena Convention and Caribbean Environment Program.

Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities

The Global Programme of Action  for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-Based Activities (GPA) is designed to be a source of conceptual and practical guidance for national and/or regional authorities to devise and implement sustained actions to prevent, reduce, control and/or eliminate marine degradation from land-based activities.

On November 5, 1995, the GPA was adopted at an intergovernmental meeting in Washington, DC. The aims of the GPA are:

preventing the degradation of the marine environment from land-based activities by facilitating the realization of the duty of States to preserve and protect the marine environment. [The GPA] is designed to assist States in taking actions individually or jointly within their respective policies priorities and resources, which will lead to the prevention, reduction, control and /or elimination of degradation of the marine environment, as well as to its recovery from the impacts of land-based activities. Achievement of the aims of the Programme of Action will contribute to maintaining and, where appropriate, ensuring the protection of human health, as well as promoting the conservation and sustainable use of marine living resources.

The recommendations and principles contained in the GPA are used to focus policy decisions, regional initiatives and international cooperation to protect human health and marine environmental resources.

Reducing Pollution from Ships

Antifouling Paints

EPA's Office of International and Tribal Affairs (OITA) led an interagency working group negotiating U.S. policy and then helped negotiate on behalf of the U.S. for the global antifouling treaty that was developed at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The treaty was completed in October 2001 and legally entered into force in 2008.

Additional information is available on Antifouling Systems section the official website of the IMO. 

Air Pollution

EPA is leading U.S. Government efforts to address air pollution from ships including discussions at the International Maritime Organization (IMO) relating to MARPOL 73/78 Annex VI and greenhouse gas emissions from ships. EPA coordinates closely with the State Department’s climate office and the U.S. Coast Guard. 

For more information on this topic, visit the Air Pollution section of the official website of the IMO.  

Ballast Water Discharges

EPA is a member of an interagency working group for the U.S. delegation to IMO's Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC). The committee is currently engaged in the implementation of a global treaty for the Control and Management of Ships' Ballast Water and Sediments that is intended to reduce the introduction of harmful aquatic species. Although this Convention has not yet entered into force, EPA works with others to assess proposals for IMO approval of ballast water management systems that may be employed on international shipping.

Ocean Dumping

The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter (commonly referred to as the London Convention) was signed in London in 1972. Article I of the London Convention states:

Contracting Parties shall individually and collectively promote the effective control of all sources of pollution of the marine environment, and pledge themselves especially to take all practicable steps to prevent the pollution of the sea by the dumping of waste and other matter that is liable to create hazards to human health, to harm living resources and marine life, to damage amenities or to interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea.

In 1996, a Protocol was developed to amend the London Convention to ban ocean disposal of radioactive wastes and incineration at sea. Article II of the 1996 Protocol defines the objectives of this amendment as:

Contracting Parties shall individually and collectively protect and preserve the marine environment from all sources of pollution and take effective measures, according to their scientific, technical and economic capabilities, to prevent, reduce and where practicable eliminate pollution caused by dumping or incineration at sea of wastes or other matter. Where appropriate, they shall harmonize their policies in this regard.

Additional information on EPA's involvement with the London Convention.

Additional Information

Coral Reefs

EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds is the primary office working on coral reef protection issues, including through involvement with the U.S. Coral Reef Task Force (USCRTF) and the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI).

Arctic Marine Environment

EPA works on marine protection in the Arctic through the Arctic Council and its working groups, as well as through the negotiation of the IMO’s mandatory code for ships operating in polar waters (the Polar Code).

To learn more about marine and other activities in the Arctic, visit our Arctic Council site and explore the Polar Code in our International Maritime Organization site.

Contacts

For additional information on EPA's work protecting the global marine environment, contact:

Janice Sims
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of International and Tribal Affairs
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20460
E-mail: s[email protected]
(202) 564-6600