Recycling and Composting Accountability Act

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4040 To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out certain activities to improve recycling and composting programs in the United States, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 12, 2023 Mr. NEGUSE (for himself, Mr. BURCHETT, and Mr. FOSTER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protec- tion Agency to carry out certain activities to improve recycling and composting programs in the United States, 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 ‘‘Recycling and 4 Composting Accountability Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 4040 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) CIRCULAR MARKET.—The term ‘‘circular 4 market’’ means a market that utilizes industrial 5 processes and economic activities to enable post-in- 6 dustrial and post-consumer materials used in those 7 processes and activities to maintain their highest 8 values for as long as possible. 9 (3) COMPOST.—The term ‘‘compost’’ means a 10 product that— 11 (A) is manufactured through the controlled 12 aerobic, biological decomposition of biodegrad- 13 able materials; 14 (B) has been subjected to medium and 15 high temperature organisms, which— 16 (i) significantly reduce the viability of 17 pathogens and weed seeds; and 18 (ii) stabilize carbon in the product 19 such that the product is beneficial to plant 20 growth; and 21 (C) is typically used as a soil amendment, 22 but may also contribute plant nutrients. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 4040 IH (4) COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL.—The term 1 ‘‘compostable material’’ means material that is a 2 feedstock for creating compost, including— 3 (A) wood; 4 (B) agricultural crops; 5 (C) paper; 6 (D) certified compostable products associ- 7 ated with organic waste; 8 (E) other organic plant material; 9 (F) marine products; 10 (G) organic waste, including food waste 11 and yard waste; and 12 (H) such other material that is composed 13 of biomass that can be continually replenished 14 or renewed, as determined by the Adminis- 15 trator. 16 (5) COMPOSTING FACILITY.—The term 17 ‘‘composting facility’’ means a location, structure, or 18 device that transforms compostable materials into 19 compost. 20 (6) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 21 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 22 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 23 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 24 (7) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 4040 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘materials 1 recovery facility’’ means a dedicated facility 2 where primarily residential recyclable materials, 3 which are diverted from disposal by the gener- 4 ator and collected separately from municipal 5 solid waste, are mechanically or manually sort- 6 ed into commodities for further processing into 7 specification-grade commodities for sale to end 8 users. 9 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re- 10 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 11 management facility that may process munic- 12 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 13 (8) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy- 14 clable material’’ means a material that is obsolete, 15 previously used, off-specification, surplus, or inciden- 16 tally produced for processing into a specification- 17 grade commodity for which a circular market cur- 18 rently exists or is being developed. 19 (9) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ means 20 the series of activities— 21 (A) during which recyclable materials are 22 processed into specification-grade commodities, 23 and consumed as raw-material feedstock, in lieu 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 4040 IH of virgin materials, in the manufacturing of new 1 products; 2 (B) that may include sorting, collection, 3 processing, and brokering; and 4 (C) that result in subsequent consumption 5 by a materials manufacturer, including for the 6 manufacturing of new products. 7 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean- 8 ing given the term in section 1004 of the Solid 9 Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 10 (b) DEFINITION OF PROCESSING.—In paragraphs 11 (7), (8), and (9) of subsection (a), the term ‘‘processing’’ 12 means any mechanical, manual, or other method that— 13 (1) transforms a recyclable material into a spec- 14 ification-grade commodity; and 15 (2) may occur in multiple steps, with different 16 steps, including sorting, occurring at different loca- 17 tions. 18 SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 19 It is the sense of Congress that— 20 (1) recycling and composting conserve re- 21 sources, protect the environment, and are important 22 to the United States economy; 23 (2) the United States recycling and composting 24 infrastructure encompass each of the entities that 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 4040 IH collect, process, broker, and consume recyclable ma- 1 terials and compostable materials sourced from com- 2 mercial, industrial, institutional, and residential 3 sources; 4 (3) the residential segment of the United States 5 recycling and composting infrastructure is facing 6 challenges from— 7 (A) confusion over what materials are recy- 8 clable materials or compostable materials; 9 (B) reduced export markets; 10 (C) growing, but still limited, domestic end 11 markets; and 12 (D) an ever-changing and heterogeneous 13 supply stream; 14 (4) in some areas, recycling and composting in- 15 frastructure is in need of revitalization; and 16 (5) in an effort to address those challenges, the 17 United States must use a combination of tactics to 18 improve recycling and composting in the United 19 States. 20 SEC. 4. REPORT ON COMPOSTING INFRASTRUCTURE CAPA- 21 BILITIES. 22 The Administrator, in consultation with States, units 23 of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •HR 4040 IH (1) prepare a report, or expand work under the 1 National Recycling Strategy to include data, describ- 2 ing the capability of the United States to implement 3 a national composting strategy for compostable ma- 4 terials for the purposes of reducing contamination 5 rates for recycling, including— 6 (A) an evaluation of existing Federal, 7 State, and local laws that may present barriers 8 to implementation of a national composting 9 strategy; 10 (B)(i) an evaluation of existing composting 11 programs of States, units of local government, 12 and Indian Tribes; and 13 (ii) a description of best practices based on 14 those programs; 15 (C) an evaluation of existing composting 16 infrastructure in States, units of local govern- 17 ment, and Indian Tribes for the purposes of es- 18 timating cost and approximate land needed to 19 expand composting programs; and 20 (D) a study of the practices of manufac- 21 turers and companies that are moving to using 22 compostable packaging and food service ware 23 for the purpose of making the composting proc- 24 ess the end-of-life use of those products; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 8 •HR 4040 IH (2) not later than 2 years after the date of en- 1 actment of this Act, submit the report prepared 2 under paragraph (1) to Congress. 3 SEC. 5. REPORT ON FEDERAL AGENCY RECYCLING PRAC- 4 TICES. 5 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 6 of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until 2033, the 7 Comptroller General of the United States, in consultation 8 with the Administrator, shall make publicly available a re- 9 port describing— 10 (1) the total annual recycling and composting 11 rates reported by all Federal agencies; 12 (2) the total annual percentage of products con- 13 taining recyclable material, compostable material, or 14 recovered materials purchased by all Federal agen- 15 cies, including— 16 (A) the total quantity of procured products 17 containing recyclable material or recovered ma- 18 terials listed in the comprehensive procurement 19 guidelines published under section 6002(e) of 20 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 21 6962(e)); and 22 (B) the total quantity of compostable ma- 23 terial purchased; 24 (3) recommendations for updating— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 9 •HR 4040 IH (A) the comprehensive procurement guide- 1 lines published under section 6002(e) of the 2 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6962(e)); 3 and 4 (B) the environmentally preferable pur- 5 chasing program established under section 6 6604(b)(11) of the Pollution Prevention Act of 7 1990 (42 U.S.C. 13103(b)(11)); and 8 (4) the activities of each Federal agency that 9 promote recycling or composting. 10 SEC. 6. IMPROVING DATA AND REPORTING. 11 (a) INVENTORY OF MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILI- 12 TIES.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 13 of this Act, and biannually thereafter, the Administrator, 14 in consultation with States, units of local government, and 15 Indian Tribes, shall— 16 (1) prepare an inventory of public and private 17 materials recovery facilities in the United States, in- 18 cluding— 19 (A) the number of materials recovery fa- 20 cilities in each unit of local government in each 21 State; and 22 (B) a description of the materials that 23 each materials recovery facility can process, in- 24 cluding— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 10 •HR 4040 IH (i) in the case of plastic, a description 1 of— 2 (I) the types of accepted resin, if 3 applicable; and 4 (II) the packaging or product 5 format, such as a jug, a carton, or 6 film; 7 (ii) food packaging and service ware, 8 such as a bottle, cutlery, or a cup; 9 (iii) paper; 10 (iv) aluminum, such as an aluminum 11 beverage can, food can, aerosol can, or foil; 12 (v) steel, such as a steel food or aer- 13 osol can; 14 (vi) other scrap metal; 15 (vii) glass; or 16 (viii) any other material not described 17 in any of clauses (i) through (vii) that a 18 materials recovery facility can process; and 19 (2) submit the inventory prepared under para- 20 graph (1) to Congress. 21 (b) ESTABLISHMENT OF A COMPREHENSIVE BASE- 22 LINE OF DATA FOR THE UNITED STATES RECYCLING 23 SYSTEM.—The Administrator, in consultation with States, 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 11 •HR 4040 IH units of local government, and Indian Tribes, shall deter- 1 mine, with respect to the United States— 2 (1) the number of community curbside recycling 3 and composting programs; 4 (2) the number of community drop-off recycling 5 and composting programs; 6 (3) the types and forms of materials accepted 7 by each community curbside recycling, drop-off recy- 8 cling, or composting program; 9 (4) the number of individuals with access to re- 10 cycling and composting services to at least the ex- 11 tent of access to disposal services; 12 (5) the number of individuals with barriers to 13 accessing recycling and composting services to at 14 least the extent of access to disposal services; 15 (6) the inbound contamination and capture 16 rates of community curbside recycling, drop-off recy- 17 cling, or composting programs; 18 (7) where applicable, other available recycling 19 or composting programs within a community, includ- 20 ing store drop-offs; and 21 (8) the average costs and benefits to States, 22 units of local government, and Indian Tribes of recy- 23 cling and composting programs. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 12 •HR 4040 IH (c) STANDARDIZATION OF RECYCLING REPORTING 1 RATES.— 2 (1) COLLECTION OF RATES.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator may 4 use amounts made available under section 9 to 5 biannually collect from each State the nation- 6 ally standardized rate of recyclable materials in 7 that State that have been successfully diverted 8 from the waste stream and brought to a mate- 9 rials recovery facility or composting facility. 10 (B) CONFIDENTIAL OR PROPRIETARY 11 BUSINESS INFORMATION.—Information col- 12 lected under subparagraph (A) shall not include 13 any confidential or proprietary business infor- 14 mation, as determined by the Administrator. 15 (2) USE.—Using amounts made available under 16 section 9, the Administrator may use the rates col- 17 lected under paragraph (1) to further assist States, 18 units of local government, and Indian Tribes— 19 (A) to reduce the overall waste produced 20 by the States and units of local government; 21 and 22 (B) to increase recycling and composting 23 rates. 24 (d) REPORT ON END MARKETS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Jul 12, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4040.IH H4040 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 13 •HR 4040 IH (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con- 1 sultation with States, units of local government, and 2 Indian Tribes, shall— 3 (A) provide an update to the report sub- 4 mitted under section 306 of the Save Our Seas 5 2.0 Act (Public Law 116–224; 134 Stat. 1096) 6 to include an addendum on the end-market sale 7 of all recyclable materials, in addition to recy- 8 cled plastics as described in that section, from 9 materials recovery facilities that process recy- 10 clable materials collected from households and 11 publicly available recyclable materials drop-off 12 centers, including— 13 (i) the total, in dollars per ton, dom [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]