| 3.23.22

Does the U.S. Need to Fight "Marine Disease"? (H.R. 5546)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 5546?

(Updated December 7, 2018)

This bill would authorize the Secretary of Commerce to identify, declare, and respond to marine disease emergencies.

What is a marine disease emergency you ask? Well, that's part of the reason this bill is being introduced: to identify them. In general, we know there has been a rise of diseases affecting marine life, and in turn affecting people connected to the ocean — so, basically, everyone.

So why now? The National Climate Assessment explains:

After a marine disease emergency is declared under this bill, an emergency response would be organized through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). These emergency responses would include a 120-day rapid response plan, bringing together assets at the federal, regional, state, and local levels to minimize the impact of the disease, and prevent spreading.

The bill would create a “Marine Disease Emergency Fund” in the Treasury so that donations can be gathered from the public and private industry. Also, a national data repository to store data on marine ecosystems would created to facilitate future research and identify trends.

Post-emergency reports would also be required to update the current status of the disease, and offer recommendations for improved response in the future.

Argument in favor

Protecting our ocean ecosystems is of vital importance, especially when a disease is impacting particular species. We all use or consume products made possible by the ocean, it's in our best interest to fight marine disease.

Argument opposed

In many cases it may not be possible to save species that are being endangered by widespread disease. Forecasting how much funding would be needed to save a particular species will be very difficult, and eventually, very costly.

Impact

People who consume or use products made possible by the ocean and/or marine life, marine species suffering from disease and epidemics, regions afflicted with a marine disease, private and public resources that would be utilized, NOAA, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Treasury.

Cost of H.R. 5546

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth:

Off the West Coast of the U.S. there is an epidemic causing widespread deaths in dozens of species of sea stars (or starfish, if you prefer). Sea star wasting syndrome (the motivation behind H.R. 5546) causes the starfish to grow lesions, lose their arms, and eventually die.

The cause of the disease had been unknown for many years, but researchers believe they have identified a particular virus strain that is responsible, although what that means for the future of the epidemic is unclear.