[Senate Report 118-41]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
Calendar No. 104
118th Congress } { Report
SENATE
1st Session } { 118-41
======================================================================
THE RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY ACT OF 2023
_______
June 22, 2023.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Carper, from the Committee on Environment and Public
Works, submitted the following
R E P O R T
[To accompany S. 1189]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was
referred the bill (S. 1189) to establish a pilot program to
improve recycling accessibility, and for other purposes, having
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without
amendment and recommends that the bill do pass.
GENERAL STATEMENT
Communities in the United States face several barriers to
accessing recycling and composting programs, with location
being a primary barrier. Rural communities have different
location-based recycling and composting program challenges than
urban or suburban communities, such as limited access to
curbside recycling and composting programs or convenient drop-
off programs. The price of services also plays a major role in
precluding access to recycling and composting programs. For
example, some services require that communities or households
pay a fee in order to participate.
OBJECTIVES
The goal of this bill is to establish a new program to fund
eligible projects that will significantly improve underserved
communities' accessibility to recycling systems. Accordingly,
the bill supports investments in infrastructure in underserved
communities using a hub-and-spoke model for recycling
infrastructure development. This model consists of centralized
processing centers (hubs) that receive recyclables from
surrounding rural communities (spokes). This hub-and-spoke
model reduces the cost for communities to transport recyclables
and aims to ensure sufficient material is processed at each hub
to make recycling financially viable.
SUMMARY OF THE BILL
This bill establishes a pilot program, known as the
Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program, at the
Environmental Protection Agency. This pilot program will
provide grants to improve recycling accessibility in a
community or communities within the same geographic area. The
grants are awarded, on a competitive basis, to eligible
entities, which include: States; local governments; Indian
Tribes; and public-private partnerships.
In selecting eligible entities to receive a grant under the
pilot grant program, the bill requires the Administrator to
consider: whether the community to be served has curbside
recycling; whether the proposed project will improve
accessibility to recycling services in an underserved
community; and if the eligible entity is a public-private
partnership, the financial health of the private entity seeking
to enter into that public-private partnership.
Priority for these grants will be given to eligible
entities seeking to carry out a proposed project in a community
in which there is not more than 1 materials recovery facility
within a 75-mile radius of that community.
An eligible entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant
program may use the grant funds for projects to improve
recycling accessibility in communities, including in
underserved communities, by: increasing the number of transfer
stations; expanding curbside recycling collection programs
where appropriate; and leveraging public-private partnerships
to reduce the costs associated with collecting and transporting
recyclable materials in underserved communities.
Finally, the legislation makes clear that grants awarded
under this pilot program may not be used to fund recycling
education programs. The bill authorizes $30 million per year to
be appropriated for this program for fiscal years 2023 through
2027.
BACKGROUND
The modern United States recycling system, which has been
in place for more than 30 years, has many challenges and
opportunities. The concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle has
allowed millions of Americans the opportunity to participate in
recovering materials as a way of reducing the volumes of waste
headed for disposal and protecting the environment. However,
the broader public is often unaware of the many challenges that
constrain our nation's recycling system.
In the United States, state and local law--not federal
law--governs recycling programs. Towns, cities, and counties
manage recycling programs, typically through partnerships with
private sector entities. Recycling programs can involve
curbside collection, which takes place along with weekly trash
collection, as well as drop-off recycling, which takes place at
one or more principal locations within a community. Local
governments typically fund recycling programs through the sale
of recyclable materials and user fees, also known as tipping
fees. A user fee is typically paid by trash collection
companies or other entities for disposing of materials at a
landfill. In some cases, the revenue generated by
municipalities through the collection of user fees is used to
offset the cost of recycling programs.
The collection of curbside recyclables from millions of
individual homes across America can have an enormous economic
benefit. Even with its current challenges, the United States
recycling system has a significant impact on our nation's
economy because it provides a consistent source of commodity
feedstocks to manufacturers worldwide.
Currently, two key challenges are preventing the United
States recycling system from realizing its full potential: lack
of demand for recycled material; and contamination of collected
items destined for recycling. For decades, much of the United
States recycling system sent its recyclable materials to
entities that exported these materials to China. Cargo ships,
which would otherwise return empty to China, offered rates that
often made it less expensive to ship recyclable materials to
China than to ship these materials for processing domestically.
Due to several factors, in 2018 China began prohibiting imports
of mixed paper, mixed plastic, and other waste. While India and
several countries in Southeast Asia have taken some of this
waste, these countries recently imposed their own restrictions
on imported waste from the United States, due to high levels of
contamination.
Prior to 2018, China's willingness to import mixed paper
and mixed plastic enabled local recycling programs in the
United States to adopt ``single stream'' recycling--something
only practiced in a few other places in the world. Single
stream recycling allows consumers to put all recyclable
materials into a single bin which, in turn, helps boost
consumers' recycling participation rates.
Rules concerning which materials can and cannot be recycled
in curbside recycling programs vary widely within the United
States. As a result, consumers often comingle recyclable
materials (e.g., aluminum cans) with materials that cannot be
recycled (e.g., materials with food contamination) or cannot be
recycled locally (e.g., electronics). Contamination can add
substantial cost for local recycling programs because the value
of recyclable materials depends upon the value of virgin
materials and the purity of the recyclable materials. State and
local governments generally indicate that reducing
contamination rates in a cost-effective manner would allow them
to find or develop new markets for their recyclable materials.
Most municipal recycling occurs at specialized locations
known as materials recovery facilities (MRFs). Recyclable
materials sourced from municipal curbside collection programs
are transported to MRFs to be processed. These facilities have
become highly sophisticated in order to be able to handle the
increasing variability in materials sent to a MRF. Modern MRFs
often utilize advanced technology such as optical sorters and
robots to reduce contamination and separate materials. As such,
owning and operating a MRF has become increasingly expensive.
Most MRFs are now run by private sector companies, operate
on thin margins and are highly sensitive to changes in demand,
and the recycling market is very volatile. Given their
expensive equipment and thin margins, most MRFs also need to
process a large quantity of recyclable materials to stay in
operation. As a result, MRFs are largely located in densely
populated areas, where they have easier access to large volumes
of recyclable materials. This trend has made recycling in rural
communities more challenging.
Many rural communities are too geographically remote from
the closest MRF to make recycling from a curbside pick-up
program economical due to transportation costs. As a result,
most rural communities do not have curbside recycling programs
in place. Instead, rural residential recycling usually consists
of smaller-scale drop-off programs. Residents of rural
communities must collect their own recyclables and bring them
to a specified location. This method of recycling can be
inconvenient for rural residents, which is reflected in the
fact that participation in rural drop-off recycling programs
ranges from low to nonexistent. For example, rural states like
West Virginia, Alaska, Louisiana, and Mississippi have among
the lowest recycling rates in the country.
SECTION-BY-SECTION ANALYSIS
S. 1189, THE RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY ACT
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the ``Recycling Infrastructure and
Accessibility Act of 2023''.
Section 2. Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program
Establishes a pilot program, known as the Recycling
Infrastructure and Accessibility Program, at the Environmental
Protection Agency. This pilot program would award grants, on a
competitive basis, to eligible entities to improve recycling
accessibility in a community or communities within the same
geographic area. The goal of the program is to fund eligible
projects that will significantly improve accessibility to
recycling systems through investments in infrastructure in
underserved communities through the use of a hub-and-spoke
model for recycling infrastructure development.
In selecting eligible entities to receive a grant under the
pilot grant program, the Administrator must consider: whether
the community that would receive a proposed project has
curbside recycling; whether the proposed project will improve
accessibility to recycling services in one or more underserved
communities; and if the eligible entity is a public-private
partnership, the financial health of the private entity seeking
to enter into that public-private partnership.
Priority for these grants will be given to eligible
entities seeking to carry out a proposed project in a community
in which there is not more than 1 materials recovery facility
within a 75-mile radius of that community.
An eligible entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant
program may use the grant funds for projects to improve
recycling accessibility in communities, including in
underserved communities, by: increasing the number of transfer
stations; expanding curbside recycling collection programs
where appropriate; and leveraging public-private partnerships
to reduce the costs associated with collecting and transporting
recyclable materials in underserved communities. Grants awarded
under this pilot program may not be used to fund recycling
education programs.
Each grant must be for an amount between $500,000 and
$15,000,000, and the federal share of the total funding for a
project must not exceed 90%, unless EPA finds that applying
this requirement would cause the grant recipient significant
financial hardship. At least 70% of the overall funding for
grants each year must go to projects in one or more underserved
communities.
The bill authorizes to be appropriated to the Administrator
$30 million per year for fiscal years 2023 through 2027 to
implement the pilot program.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
On April 19, 2023, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, Ranking
Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public
Works introduced S. 1189, The Recycling Infrastructure and
Accessibility Act of 2023. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chair
of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Senator John
Boozman (R-Ark.) joined as original cosponsors of the
legislation. The bill was referred to the Committee on
Environment and Public Works.
On April 26, 2023 the Committee on Environment and Public
Works conducted a Business Meeting to consider S. 1189. The
Committee ordered S. 1189 to be favorably reported without
amendment by a voice vote.
In the 117th Congress, on March 3, 2022, Ranking Member
Capito introduced S. 3742, The Recycling Infrastructure and
Accessibility Act of 2022. Chair Carper and Senator Boozman (R-
Ark.) joined as original cosponsors of the legislation. The
bill was referred to the Committee on Environment and Public
Works.
On April 7, 2022, the Committee on Environment and Public
Works conducted a Business Meeting to consider S. 3742. The
Committee ordered S. 3742 to be favorably reported by a voice
vote.
On July 28, 2022, S. 3742 passed the Senate without
amendment by Unanimous Consent.
HEARINGS
In the 117th Congress, the Committee on Environment and
Public Works held a legislative hearing on February 2, 2022,
entitled ``Legislative Proposals to Improve Domestic Recycling
and Composting Programs.'' The purpose of this hearing was to
allow committee members to consider stakeholder testimony
regarding draft versions of two pieces of legislation within
the Committee's jurisdiction aimed at improving recycling, S.
3743, The Recycling and Composting Accountability Act and S.
3742, The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act.
ROLL CALL VOTES
The Committee on Environment and Public Works met to
consider S. 1189 on April 26, 2023. The bill was ordered to be
favorably reported by voice vote, with a voting quorum of the
Committee present.
REGULATORY IMPACT STATEMENT
In compliance with section 11(b) of rule XXVI of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the committee has evaluated the
regulatory impact of the reported bill. This bill will not
directly regulate individuals or businesses or create any
additional regulatory burdens, and will not have any adverse
effect on the personal privacy of individuals.
MANDATES ASSESSMENT
In compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995
(Public Law 104-4), the Committee notes that the Congressional
Budget Office found S. 1189 contains no intergovernmental or
private-sector mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates
Reform Act (UMRA).
CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING
In compliance with section 4(b) of rule XLIV of the
Standing Rules of the Senate, the Committee finds that no
provisions contained in S. 1189 meet the definition of
congressionally directed spending items under the rule.
COST OF LEGISLATION
Section 403 of the Congressional Budget and Impoundment
Control Act requires that a statement of the cost of the
reported bill, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, be
included in the report, if available. That statement follows:
S. 1189 would authorize the appropriation of $30 million
annually over the 2023-2027 period to the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) for a grant program to expand access to
residential recycling systems and to increase the number of
transfer stations that aggregate recyclable materials for
processing offsite.
S. 1189 would require EPA to allocate 70 percent of the
authorized amounts for grants to communities without access to
recycling services or that have insufficient recycling
capacity. Participating grant recipients, including states,
localities, tribes, and public-private partnerships, would have
to contribute at least 10 percent of a project's total cost. In
cases of financial hardship, the bill would authorize EPA to
waive the nonfederal cost share. The bill also would require
EPA to report on the program two years after the first grant is
awarded and would authorize the agency to use up to 5 percent
of the appropriated funds to administer the program.
Assuming appropriation of the specified amounts and based
on spending patterns for similar programs, CBO estimates that
implementing the bill would cost $102 million over the 2023-
2028 period and $48 million after 2028.
The costs of the legislation, detailed in Table 1, fall
within budget function 300 (natural resources and environment).
TABLE 1.--ESTIMATED INCREASES IN SPENDING SUBJECT TO APPROPRIATION UNDER S. 1189
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, millions of dollars--
----------------------------------------------------------------
2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2023-2028
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Authorization.................................. 30 30 30 30 30 0 150
Estimated Outlays.............................. 0 4 15 24 29 30 102
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Aurora Swanson.
The estimate was reviewed by H. Samuel Papenfuss, Deputy
Director of Budget Analysis.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
In compliance with section 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing
Rules of the Senate, changes in existing law made by the bill
are reported. Passage of this bill will make no changes to
existing law.