Reducing Waste in National Parks Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4236 To encourage recycling and reduction of disposable plastic bottles in units of the National Park System, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 6, 2019 Mr. QUIGLEY (for himself, Mr. COHEN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Ms. HAALAND, Mr. TONKO, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. CONNOLLY, and Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire) in- troduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Nat- ural Resources A BILL To encourage recycling and reduction of disposable plastic bottles in units of the National Park System, 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 ‘‘Reducing Waste in 4 National Parks Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4236 IH SEC. 2. DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BOTTLE RECYCLING AND RE- 1 DUCTION IN UNITS OF THE NATIONAL PARK 2 SYSTEM. 3 (a) PROGRAM FOR RECYCLING AND REDUCTION OF 4 DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BOTTLES IN UNITS OF THE 5 NPS.—Each regional director concerned shall establish in 6 such unit of the National Park System a program for recy- 7 cling and reduction of disposable plastic bottles, including, 8 if applicable, elimination of the sale of water in disposable 9 plastic bottles under subsection (b). 10 (b) ELIMINATION OF SALE OF WATER IN DISPOS- 11 ABLE PLASTIC BOTTLES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Each regional director con- 13 cerned may eliminate the sale of water in disposable 14 plastic bottles in such unit of the National Park Sys- 15 tem after consideration of the following factors with 16 respect to such unit: 17 (A) The costs and benefits to the overall 18 operations. 19 (B) The amount of waste that would be 20 eliminated. 21 (C) The infrastructure costs and funding 22 sources for bottle refill stations. 23 (D) Any contractual implications with re- 24 spect to concessioners, including considerations 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4236 IH of new leaseholder surrender interest or posses- 1 sory interest. 2 (E) The operational costs of bottle refill 3 stations, including utilities and regular public 4 health testing. 5 (F) The cost and availability of BPA-free 6 reusable containers. 7 (G) The effect on concessioner and co- 8 operation association sales revenue. 9 (H) The availability of water within con- 10 cession food service operations. 11 (I) The ability to provide visitor education 12 in the unit and online so that visitors may come 13 prepared with their own water bottles. 14 (J) Any input from the National Park 15 Service Office of Public Health. 16 (K) The feasibility of posting signs so that 17 visitors can easily find bottle refill stations. 18 (L) Safety considerations for visitors who 19 may resort to not carrying enough water or 20 drinking from surface water sources with poten- 21 tial exposure to disease. 22 (M) Any input from concessioners and co- 23 operating associations within the unit. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4236 IH (2) UNITS OF NPS PREVIOUSLY ELIMINATED 1 SALE OF WATER IN DISPOSABLE PLASTIC BOT- 2 TLES.—With respect to a unit of the National Park 3 System that does not offer for sale water in dispos- 4 able plastic bottles on the date prior to the date of 5 the enactment of this Act, the superintendent of 6 such unit may continue to not offer for sale water 7 in disposable plastic bottles if such superintendent, 8 not later than 180 days after the date of the enact- 9 ment of this Act, submits to the regional director of 10 such unit an evaluation that analyzes and addresses 11 the factors listed in subparagraphs (A) through (M) 12 of paragraph (1). 13 (c) PROACTIVE VISITOR EDUCATION STRATEGY.— 14 Each regional director concerned shall develop for such 15 unit of the National Park System a proactive visitor edu- 16 cation strategy that addresses visitor expectations of water 17 availability and explains the rationale for the program for 18 recycling and reduction of disposable plastic bottles estab- 19 lished under subsection (a) and implemented in such unit. 20 (d) CONTINUITY WITHIN UNIT OF THE NPS.—Each 21 regional director concerned shall, to the extent possible, 22 implement the program for recycling and reduction of dis- 23 posable plastic bottles established under subsection (a) in 24 a manner that is consistent throughout such unit of the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4236 IH National Park System, including incorporation of such 1 program into any agreement with an organization oper- 2 ating within the unit, including a concessioner operating 3 plan and cooperating association scope of sales. 4 (e) BIENNIAL EVALUATION.—Each regional director 5 concerned shall, not less than once every 2 years— 6 (1) conduct an evaluation of the program for 7 recycling and reduction of disposable plastic bottles 8 established under subsection (a) for such unit of the 9 National Park System, including— 10 (A) public response to the program; 11 (B) visitor satisfaction with the availability 12 of water; 13 (C) buying behavior with respect to prod- 14 ucts sold in disposable plastic bottles; 15 (D) public safety including information on 16 cases of dehydration or exposure to disease 17 from drinking from surface water; and 18 (E) disposable plastic bottle collection 19 rates; and 20 (2) submit such evaluation to the Director of 21 the National Park Service and the Secretary of the 22 Interior. 23 (f) DEFINITION OF REGIONAL DIRECTOR CON- 24 CERNED.—For the purposes of this section, the term ‘‘re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4236 IH gional director concerned’’ means, with respect to a unit 1 of the National Park System, the regional director of the 2 region of the National Park System in which such unit 3 is located, working in coordination with the superintendent 4 of such unit. 5 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:06 Sep 06, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4236.IH H4236 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS