ZERO WASTE Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4050 To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award grants for projects that are consistent with zero-waste practices, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Ms. OMAR (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. PINGREE, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award grants for projects that are consistent with zero-waste practices, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Zeroing Excess, Re- 4 ducing Organic Waste, and Sustaining Technical Exper- 5 tise Act’’ or the ‘‘ZERO WASTE Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 4050 IH SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 2 and carry out a program to award grants, on a competitive 3 basis, to eligible entities for projects that are consistent 4 with zero-waste practices. 5 (b) GRANT USE.— 6 (1) ORGANICS RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE.— 7 An eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act 8 may use grant funds to carry out a project relating 9 to organics recycling infrastructure, including facili- 10 ties, machinery, equipment, and other physical ne- 11 cessities required for organics collection or proc- 12 essing on a city-wide or county-wide scale, provided 13 that— 14 (A) implementation of such project— 15 (i) results in increased capacity for 16 residential and commercial source sepa- 17 rated organics streams; and 18 (ii) generates a usable product that 19 has demonstrable environmental benefits 20 when compared to the input materials, 21 such as compost with added nutritional 22 content; and 23 (B) such project does not include mixed- 24 waste composting. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 4050 IH (2) ELECTRONIC WASTE REUSE AND RECY- 1 CLING.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under 2 this Act may use grant funds to carry out a project 3 relating to electronic waste reuse or recycling, in- 4 cluding infrastructure and technology, research and 5 development, and product refurbishment, provided 6 that such project— 7 (A) does not include an electronic waste 8 ‘‘buy-back’’ program that provides compensa- 9 tion for used electronics where such compensa- 10 tion is applied as a credit toward the purchase 11 of additional electronics; and 12 (B) is carried out by an organization cer- 13 tified in sustainable electronic waste standards 14 by an organization accredited by the National 15 Accreditation Board of the American National 16 Standards Institute & The American Society of 17 Quality, or another accrediting body as deter- 18 mined appropriate by the Administrator. 19 (3) SOURCE REDUCTION.—An eligible entity re- 20 ceiving a grant under this Act may use grant funds 21 to carry out a project relating to source reduction, 22 and such project may include— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 4050 IH (A) educational programming and outreach 1 activities to encourage behavioral changes in 2 consumers that result in source reduction; and 3 (B) product or manufacturing redesign or 4 redevelopment to reduce byproducts, packaging, 5 and other outputs if— 6 (i) the applicable manufacturer— 7 (I) is domestically-owned and op- 8 erated; and 9 (II) pays a living wage; and 10 (ii) the redevelopment or redesign 11 does not result in higher toxicity of the 12 product or byproducts, more complicated 13 recyclability of the product or byproducts, 14 or increased volume of byproducts com- 15 pared with the original practice. 16 (4) MARKET DEVELOPMENT.—An eligible entity 17 receiving a grant under this Act may use grant 18 funds to carry out a project relating to market de- 19 velopment with respect to source reduction and 20 waste prevention, including by creating demand for 21 sorted recyclable commodities and refurbished goods 22 and promoting domestically-owned and operated 23 manufacturing for projects relating to source reduc- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 4050 IH tion or waste prevention, provided that such 1 project— 2 (A) targets easily or commonly recycled 3 materials which are disproportionately disposed 4 of in landfills or incinerated; 5 (B) addresses the reduction of the volume, 6 weight, or toxicity of waste and waste byprod- 7 ucts; and 8 (C) does not conflict with— 9 (i) minimum-content laws, such as 10 post-consumer recycled content require- 11 ments; 12 (ii) beverage container deposits; 13 (iii) programs funded through retail 14 fees for specific products or classes of 15 products that use such fees to collect, 16 treat, or recycle such products; or 17 (iv) any applicable recycled product 18 procurement laws and expanded sustain- 19 able government purchasing requirements, 20 as identified by the Administrator. 21 SEC. 3. GRANT AWARDS. 22 (a) APPLICATION.— 23 (1) CRITERIA FOR ALL APPLICANTS.—To be eli- 24 gible to receive a grant under this Act, an eligible 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 4050 IH entity shall submit to the Administrator an applica- 1 tion at such time and in such form as the Adminis- 2 trator requires, demonstrating that the eligible enti- 3 ty— 4 (A) has set specific source reduction or 5 waste prevention targets; 6 (B) will carry out such project in commu- 7 nities that are in the 80th percentile or higher 8 for one or more pollutants as noted in the 9 EJSCREEN tool, or any successor system, of 10 the Environmental Protection Agency; and 11 (C) will carry out a project that meets the 12 applicable project requirements under section 13 2(b). 14 (2) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION CRITERIA FOR 15 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—In the case of an ap- 16 plication from an eligible entity that is a nonprofit 17 organization, the application shall include a letter of 18 support for the proposed project— 19 (A) from— 20 (i) a local unit of government; or— 21 (ii) a nonprofit organization that— 22 (I) has a demonstrated history of 23 undertaking work in the geographic 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 4050 IH region where the proposed project is 1 to take place; and 2 (II) is not involved in the project 3 being proposed; and 4 (B) containing such information as the Ad- 5 ministrator may require. 6 (b) PRIORITY FACTORS.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 8 this Act, the Administrator shall give priority to eli- 9 gible entities that— 10 (A) have statutorily committed to imple- 11 menting zero-waste practices; 12 (B) demonstrate how the project to be car- 13 ried out with grant funds could lead to the cre- 14 ation of new jobs that pay a living wage, with 15 preference for projects that create jobs for indi- 16 viduals with barriers to employment, as deter- 17 mined by the Administrator; 18 (C) will use grant funds for source reduc- 19 tion or waste prevention in schools; 20 (D) will use grant funds to employ adapt- 21 ive management practices to identify, prevent, 22 or address any negative environmental con- 23 sequences of the proposed project; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •HR 4050 IH (E) have a demonstrated need for addi- 1 tional investment in infrastructure and projects 2 to achieve source reduction and waste preven- 3 tion targets set by the local unit of government 4 that is responsible for waste and recycling 5 projects in the geographic area; 6 (F) will use grant funds to develop innova- 7 tive or new technologies and strategies for 8 source reduction and waste prevention; 9 (G) demonstrate how receiving the grant 10 will encourage further investment in source re- 11 duction and waste prevention projects; or 12 (H) will incorporate multi-stakeholder in- 13 volvement, including nonprofit, commercial, and 14 public sector partners, in carrying out a project 15 using grant funds. 16 (2) ZERO-WASTE HIERARCHY.—In determining 17 priority between multiple eligible entities who qualify 18 for priority under paragraph (1), the Administrator 19 shall grant first priority to an eligible entity that can 20 demonstrate how the zero-waste hierarchy was con- 21 sidered with respect to the project to be carried out 22 with grant funds. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •HR 4050 IH SEC. 4. REPORTING. 1 An eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act 2 shall report to the Administrator, at such time and in such 3 form as the Administrator may require, on the results of 4 the project carried out with grant funds and any relevant 5 data requested by the Administrator to track the effective- 6 ness of the program established under section 2(a). 7 SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 8 In each of calendar years 2022 through 2027, the 9 Administrator shall convene an annual conference for eli- 10 gible entities, including eligible entities that have received 11 a grant under this Act, and other stakeholders as identi- 12 fied by the Administrator, to provide an opportunity for 13 such eligible entities and stakeholders to share experience 14 and expertise in implementing zero-waste practices. 15 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 16 In this Act: 17 (1) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.—The 18 term ‘‘adaptive management practices’’ means, with 19 respect to a project, the integration of project de- 20 sign, management, and monitoring to identify 21 project impacts and outcomes as they arise and ad- 22 just behaviors to improve outcomes. 23 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 24 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 25 mental Protection Agency. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 10 •HR 4050 IH (3) DOMESTICALLY-OWNED AND OPERATED.— 1 The term ‘‘domestically-owned and operated’’ means, 2 with respect to a business, a business with— 3 (A) headquarters located within the United 4 States; and 5 (B) primary operations carried out in the 6 United States. 7 (4) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti- 8 ty’’ means— 9 (A) a single unit of State, local, or Tribal 10 government; 11 (B) a consortium of multiple units of 12 State, local, or Tribal government; 13 (C) one or more units of State, local, or 14 Tribal government in coordination with for- 15 profit or nonprofit organizations; or 16 (D) one or more incorporated nonprofit or- 17 ganizations. 18 (5) EMBODIED ENERGY.—The term ‘‘embodied 19 energy’’ means energy that was used to create a 20 product or material. 21 (6) LIVING WAGE.—The term ‘‘living wage’’ 22 means the minimum income necessary to allow a 23 person working 40 hours per week to afford the cost 24 of housing, food, and other material necessities. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 11 •HR 4050 IH (7) ORGANICS RECYCLING.—The term 1 ‘‘organics recycling’’ means the biological processes 2 by which organics streams are converted to compost 3 which is not harmful to humans, plants, or animals. 4 (8) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’— 5 (A) means the mechanical processing of 6 material that has reached the end of its current 7 use into material to be used in the production 8 of new products; 9 (B) does not include incineration or any 10 other energy recovery process; and 11 (C) does not include depolymerization or a 12 similar process. 13 (9) REUSE.—The term ‘‘reuse’’— 14 (A) means— 15 (i) using a product, packaging, or re- 16 source more than once for the same or a 17 new function with little to no processing; 18 or 19 (ii) repairing a product so it can be 20 used longer, sharing or renting it, or sell- 21 ing or donating it to another party; and 22 (B) does not include incineration. 23 (10) SOURCE REDUCTION.—The term ‘‘source 24 reduction’’— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 12 •HR 4050 IH (A) includes— 1 (i) activities that reduce consumption 2 of products or services that create physical 3 outputs, such as packaging, that is sec- 4 ondary to the intended use of the item 5 being consumed; 6 (ii) measures or techniques that re- 7 duce the amount of waste generated during 8 production processes; and 9 (iii) the reduction or elimination of 10 the use of materials which are not able to 11 be recycled without degrading the quality 12 of the material; and 13 (B) does not include incineration. 14 (11) SOURCE SEPARATED.—The term ‘‘source 15 separated’’— 16 (A) means the separation of a stream of 17 recyclable materials at the point of waste cre- 18 ation before the materials are collected and cen- 19 tralized; and 20 (B) does not include technologies that sort 21 mixed municipal solid waste into recyclable and 22 non-recyclable materials. 23 (12) WASTE PREVENTION.—The term ‘‘waste 24 prevention’’ includes reuse, recycling, and other 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 13 •HR 4050 IH methods to reduce the amount of materials disposed 1 of in landfills or incinerated. 2 (13) ZERO-WASTE.—The term ‘‘zero-waste’’ 3 means the conservation of all resources by means of 4 responsible production, consumption, reuse, and re- 5 covery of products, packaging, and materials without 6 burning or otherwise destroying embodied energy, 7 with no discharges to land, water, or air that threat- 8 en the environment or human health. 9 (14) ZERO-WASTE PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘zero- 10 waste practice’’ means a practice used to help 11 achieve zero-was [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]