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The appearance of external links, advertisements, political opinions, or other posts on this Web site does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Commerce (DOC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the National Ocean Service (NOS), the Office of Response and Restoration (ORR), and/or the Marine Debris Program (MDP). For other than authorized activities, the DOC, NOAA, NOS, ORR, and/or MDPDOC, NOAA, NOS, ORR, and/or MDP do not exercise any editorial control over the information you may find at these locations. These links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this Web site.

What this Blog Is NOT

• This blog is not to be used to report criminal activity. If you have information for law enforcement, please contact your local police agency.
• This is a place for collecting suggestions and new ideas, not a substitute channel for NOAA services or general questions. See “Contact Us” on www.noaa.gov.
• Do not submit unsolicited proposals, or other business ideas or inquiries to this blog. This site is not to be used for contracting or commercial business.
• This blog may not be used for the submission of any claim, demand, informal or formal complaint, or any other form of legal and/or administrative notice or process, or for the exhaustion of any legal and/or administrative remedy.

NOAA does not guarantee or warrant that any information posted by individuals on this blog is correct, and disclaims any liability for any loss or damage resulting from reliance on any such information. NOAA may not be able to verify, does not warrant or guarantee, and assumes no liability for anything posted on this website by any other person. NOAA does not endorse, support or otherwise promote any private or commercial entity or the information, products or services contained on those Web sites that may be reached through links on this blog.

Members of the media are asked to send questions to the Office of Public Affairs through their normal channels and to refrain from submitting questions here as comments. Reporter questions will not be posted.

We recognize that the Web is a 24/7 medium, and your comments are welcome at any time. However, given the need to manage federal resources, moderating and posting of comments will occur during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Comments submitted after hours or on weekends will be read and posted as early as possible; in most cases, this means the next business day.

For the benefit of robust discussion, we ask that comments remain “on-topic.” This means that comments will be posted only as it relates to the topic that is being discussed within the blog post. The views expressed on the site by non-federal commentators do not necessarily reflect the official views of NOAA or the Federal Government.

To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personally identifiable information, such as name, Social Security number, phone numbers or email addresses in the body of your comment. If you do voluntarily include personally identifiable information in your comment, such as your name, that comment may or may not be posted on the Blog. If your comment is posted, your name will not be redacted or removed. In no circumstances will comments be posted that contain Social Security numbers, addresses, email address or phone numbers. You have the option of posting comments anonymously, but if you opt not to, any information, including your login name, may be displayed on our site.

Thank you for taking the time to read this comment policy. We encourage your participation in our discussion and look forward to an active exchange of ideas.

Privacy Act Statement
Authority: 49 U.S.C. §114(f).
Purpose: NOAA will use this information to promote communication between the NOAA, the public, and throughout the Marine Debris community.