The Free Waters Act Of 2015

The oceans need to be protected because it is where life began and if not taken care of, life as we know it will end. The well-being of the ocean is constantly being threatened and needs to stop. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems suffer and become endangered along with the lives of people and marine life. The importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world 's coasts must be recognized because they are truly irreplaceable. If humans are not educated , and become careless about what is thrown on the ground or sprayed on lawns, disastrous effects follow when it comes to the condition of the ocean’s ecosystems, which can endanger life itself, leading to a problem only we can correct. There is historical evidence of ocean pollution, although the problem still shadows us today.

Oceans cover approximately 75% of Earth 's surface and are vital to this planet and the people who inhabit it. Oceans provide food, natural resources, and recreation for nearly everyone in this world. Unfortunately Oceans have been receiving mass amount of pollutants including oil spills, toxic waste dumping, and industrial dumping. These pollutants will have negative impacts on the wildlife in the ocean, as we are seeing already with the Coral Reefs, and soon enough it will begin to affect our lives as well.

Earth's oceans are dying. “About 80% of the ocean around the world is polluted with chemicals industrial and residential waste, all of which comes from the land” (“Marine Problems…”).  Pollution is mainly coming from the people. Marine pollution should be stopped because it is the cause of many problems and if something is done about it, people will see an increase in sea life and healthier waters. It makes its way into the ocean and kills marine life. Ocean pollution is affecting the way of fisherman and their everyday lives. It is also very bad on the community because pollution is very bad on tourism. Ocean pollution should be stopped because it is poorly affecting marine life, it is not good for fishermen, and is very bad on tourism.

In conclusion, it should have been learned that the issue of plastic pollution has become ruinous. The cost of repair and the inconvenience of lifestyle changes cannot compare to the frightful future this planet is headed. At current rates, hazards are not just inflicted on Earth's oceans but individual human health and the other creatures that rightly inhabit this land. With this concern

On March 4, 2015, the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 was introduced to the United States House of Representatives. Sponsored by Democratic Representative of New Jersey Frank Pallone, the bill called to amend “the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ban rinse-off cosmetics that contain synthetic plastic microbeads beginning on January 1, 2018” (congress.gov, H.R. 1321). The bill was then passed with amendments to it in the House in December, with Senate passing it a week later by unanimous consent. The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 is unlike a lot of bills that have attempted to pass through the House and the Senate because it did not face the all-too-common gridlock that one can expect nowadays from the United States Congress. Pallone said to the New York Times that although he was surprised by the quick success of the bill, it passed simply because it had a lot of support in the House and the Senate and did not have much opposition (New York Times).

The freshwater that is available for use is becoming more contaminated with each use. The Clean Water Act of 1972 put in order more regulations in regards to wastewater and the dumping of it into rivers and lakes. Multiple-step filtration systems have been used since then to better remove toxins from wastes before it enters freshwater. In a personal interview with Moe Crabtree, Nature Resource Specialist for the Washington Department of Natural Resources, I learned some measures taken to keep water clean. Her common job is to setup timber sales which includes much precaution of rivers and streams. I asked her- “In what ways do you have to avoid water contamination?” she replied, “we have to divert culverts at minimum one hundred feet from

Plastic microbeads have been popularized by cosmetic companies for claims that the beads helped clan one’s skin without causing irritation. However, Alliance for the Great Lakes attention was brought to the issue of plastic microbeads appearing in waters that were used for human consumption. The problem with plastic microbeads is that they are able to slip past filters and drains that eventually lead to the waters (Alliances for the Great Lakes, 2015, p. 2-3). First, this paper will describe the process of how the bill was first introduced in the House of Representatives. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) introduced this bill and was cosponsored by Fred Upton (R-MI). In the House, a hearing was held in front of the Subcommittee of Health, (Library of Congress:

One of the many problems that plague the earth lies hand in hand with the living situations that people are used to. This standard of living causes many to be ignorant to the environmental conditions that surrounds these actions which correlate to the health of our planet. Over time, this issue has been recognized and one extremely important resource that the world has to offer is the vast ocean, and this source of life must be protected for the better of the planet. The struggles of dealing with the pollution in the ocean is a constant problem for the Environmental Protection Agency in order to ensure a clean ocean to the public and wild life.

The Clean Water Act first became prominent when the act was passed in 1972 and has became more prevalent than ever in the twenty-first century. It served as a major revision of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1948, which had much looser regulations on water pollution and failed to protect water quality. Some of the most important changes that came about the revision and passing of the Clean Water Act include regulations of what substances can legally be disposed of in water, the implementation of pollution control programs such as IPP, or The Industrial Pretreatment Program, and a new requirement for water standards, such as a base water quality that must be met at all times.

In a world of continuous progress and evolution, climate change and pollution is a leading problem in the world. Both directly and indirectly, pollution happens on a global scale every single hour. The world’s oceans are among the most affected by constant dumping of chemicals. The Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 released 4.9 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the largest spill in US-controlled waters.1

You hear your alarm go off on a typical morning and jump in the shower. You start your daily routine in the shower; normal things, like washing your hair, brushing your teeth, destroying oceans, scrubbing your face-- Wait, what? How could you possibly be destroying oceans with something as insignificant as a morning shower? Almost every personal care item contains plastic in the form of microbeads, which are those little exfoliating pieces in your products. They’re so small and insignificant that everyone thinks they disintegrate or are filtered out after they go down the drain. That’s far from the truth. These, along with every other kind of plastic, are helping to ruin our oceans and the marine wildlife that lives

Ocean pollution kills marine life everyday and damages the ocean in many ways that sometimes can't be fixed. The real question is where does it all go? Much of it ends up on our beaches washed in with the waves and tides, some sinks, some is eaten by marine animals mistaking it for food. The majority of pollutants going into the ocean come from activities on land. According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), land-based activities are responsible for as much as 80 percent of the pollutant load in coastal waters and deep oceans. Land-based activities such as oil spills, fertilizer runoff from agriculture, improper or inadequate garbage disposal, poor sewage practices and the dumping of toxic chemicals into the environment are major causes of marine pollution. As someone who really cares about marine animals I always throw my trash away in trash cans and not on the ground and always recycle because it makes a difference.

Authors who have done the study on such microbeads, many ecologists and conservationists have raised a call for the microbeads to be banned in cosmetic products. On the bright side, some states have already banned the sales of products that have microbeads and 18 states in the US, Canada, Australia, and several countries in Europe have place the ban of products with microbeads under consideration.

Pollution, as a whole, is single handedly destroying the ocean. That single epidemic has multiple types though; from pesticides to plastics, humans are making things difficult for the ocean world. As time goes on, more and more pollution effects are happening. “Eighty percent of pollution to the marine environment

Throughout history humans have always neglected the ocean and polluted the ocean. Pollution has been around even since the Roman times. Marine pollution today has gotten worse due to the fact that society is ignoring the issue and still making over 220 million tons of plastic that are produced each year. There are now close to 500 dead zones covering the ocean globally That is equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom. Society had let these conditions fester for too long. Marine pollution has impacted society in different types of ways such as nonpoint source pollution, point source pollution, and the negative impact marine