[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 126 (Thursday, July 28, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3755-S3756]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY ACT OF 2022
Mrs. CAPITO. Mr. President, I feel like the Senator from West
Virginia right now.
I am very glad that we are going to be passing these two recycling
bills.
I will just briefly say I am the cosponsor of the bipartisan
Recycling and Infrastructure Accessibility Act. Sometimes the simplest
things that we can do have such great impacts, and I think that is what
we are going to see here today.
In rural America, we don't have the accessibility to recycling and
the infrastructure that we need, and that is the point of my bill. It
helps us, obviously, protect our environment, supports jobs, and it
helps our municipalities and others be able to sustain these.
This is a pilot program that would give Federal support for recycling
infrastructure projects, such as transfer stations and dropoff
facilities. That is the difficulty; you can't have one in every small
town. You need to have a spoke-and-hub sort of system, and that is what
this is looking at.
I will speed it up here. I want to thank all the different
organizations and groups that have helped: The National Water Resources
Association, the Plastics Industry Association, the American Beverage
Association, our associated staffs, and particularly the chair of the
full committee. He has been just a champion here in working on the
recycling bills. He is the main sponsor of the Recycling Composting
Accountability Act, of which I am also a cosponsor.
These will fill great and important data gaps. These are recycling
bills that were reported out by voice votes so we have unanimous
consent by our committee. I am glad that our colleagues have agreed to
pass them.
S. 3742
So I will move on and say, as if in legislative session, I ask
unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate
consideration of Calendar No. 357, S. 3742.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Schatz). The clerk will report the bill by
title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 3742) to establish a pilot grant program to
improve recycling accessibility, and for other purposes.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the bill.
Mrs. CAPITO. I ask unanimous consent that the bill be considered read
a third time and passed and that the motion to reconsider be considered
made and laid upon the table.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
Without objection, it is so ordered.
The bill (S. 3742) was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading,
was read the third time, and passed as follows:
S. 3742
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Recycling Infrastructure and
Accessibility Act of 2022''.
SEC. 2. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY PROGRAM.
(a) Definitions.--In this section:
(1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Curbside recycling.--The term ``curbside recycling''
means the process by which residential recyclable materials
are picked up curbside.
(3) Eligible entity.--The term ``eligible entity'' means--
(A) a State (as defined in section 1004 of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903));
(B) a unit of local government;
(C) an Indian Tribe; and
(D) a public-private partnership.
(4) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has the
meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 5304).
(5) Materials recovery facility.--
(A) In general.--The term ``materials recovery facility''
means a recycling facility where primarily residential
recyclables, which are diverted from disposal by a generator
and collected separately from municipal solid waste, are
mechanically or manually sorted into commodities for further
processing into specification-grade commodities for sale to
end users.
(B) Exclusion.--The term ``materials recovery facility''
does not include a solid waste management facility that may
process municipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials.
(6) Pilot grant program.--The term ``pilot grant program''
means the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program
established under subsection (b).
(7) Recyclable material.--The term ``recyclable material''
means obsolete, previously used, off-specification, surplus,
or incidentally produced material for processing into a
specification-grade commodity for which a market exists.
(8) Transfer station.--The term ``transfer station'' means
a facility that--
(A) receives and consolidates recyclable material from
curbside recycling or drop-off facilities; and
(B) loads the recyclable material onto tractor trailers,
railcars, or barges for transport to a distant materials
recovery facility or another recycling-related facility.
(9) Underserved community.--The term ``underserved
community'' means a community, including an unincorporated
area, without access to full recycling services because--
(A) transportation, distance, or other reasons render
utilization of available processing capacity at an existing
materials recovery facility cost prohibitive; or
(B) the processing capacity of an existing materials
recovery facility is insufficient to manage the volume of
recyclable materials produced by that community.
(b) Establishment.--Not later than 18 months after the date
of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish a
pilot grant program, to be known as the ``Recycling
Infrastructure and Accessibility Program'', to award grants,
on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to improve
recycling accessibility in a community or communities within
the same geographic area.
(c) Goal.--The goal of the pilot grant 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.
(d) Applications.--To be eligible to receive a grant under
the pilot grant program, an eligible entity shall submit to
the Administrator an application at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Administrator
may require.
[[Page S3756]]
(e) Considerations.--In selecting eligible entities to
receive a grant under the pilot grant program, the
Administrator shall consider--
(1) whether the community or communities in which the
eligible entity is seeking to carry out a proposed project
has curbside recycling;
(2) whether the proposed project of the eligible entity
will improve accessibility to recycling services in a single
underserved community or multiple underserved communities;
and
(3) if the eligible entity is a public-private partnership,
the financial health of the private entity seeking to enter
into that public-private partnership.
(f) Priority.--In selecting eligible entities to receive a
grant under the pilot grant program, the Administrator shall
give priority 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.
(g) Use of Funds.--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--
(1) increasing the number of transfer stations;
(2) expanding curbside recycling collection programs where
appropriate; and
(3) leveraging public-private partnerships to reduce the
costs associated with collecting and transporting recyclable
materials in underserved communities.
(h) Prohibition on Use of Funds.--An eligible entity
awarded a grant under the pilot grant program may not use the
grant funds for projects relating to recycling education
programs.
(i) Minimum and Maximum Grant Amount.--A grant awarded to
an eligible entity under the pilot grant program shall be in
an amount--
(1) not less than $500,000; and
(2) not more than $15,000,000.
(j) Set-Aside.--The Administrator shall set aside not less
than 70 percent of the amounts made available to carry out
the pilot grant program for each fiscal year to award grants
to eligible entities to carry out a proposed project or
program in a single underserved community or multiple
underserved communities.
(k) Federal Share.--
(1) In general.--Subject to paragraph (2), the Federal
share of the cost of a project or program carried out by an
eligible entity using grant funds shall be not more than 90
percent.
(2) Waiver.--The Administrator may waive the Federal share
requirement under paragraph (1) if the Administrator
determines that an eligible entity would experience
significant financial hardship as a result of that
requirement.
(l) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date on which
the first grant is awarded under the pilot grant program, the
Administrator shall submit to Congress a report describing
the implementation of the pilot grant program, which shall
include--
(1) a list of eligible entities that have received a grant
under the pilot grant program;
(2) the actions taken by each eligible entity that received
a grant under the pilot grant program to improve recycling
accessibility with grant funds; and
(3) to the extent information is available, a description
of how grant funds received under the pilot grant program
improved recycling rates in each community in which a project
or program was carried out under the pilot grant program.
(m) Authorization of Appropriations.--
(1) In general.--There are authorized to be appropriated to
the Administrator to carry out the pilot grant program such
sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2023
through 2027, to remain available until expended.
(2) Administrative costs and technical assistance.--Of the
amounts made available under paragraph (1), the Administrator
may use up to 5 percent--
(A) for administrative costs relating to carrying out the
pilot grant program; and
(B) to provide technical assistance to eligible entities
applying for a grant under the pilot grant program.
Mrs. CAPITO. Thank you.
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I ask that Senator Boozman, who is a
charter member of the Senate Recycling Caucus, be recognized to speak
on behalf of these measures, which he has played a key role on.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The Senator from Arkansas.
Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. President, and thank you, Mr. Chairman
and Ranking Member Capito, for your leadership in that this area.
As has been said and should be said many times more, we appreciate
the great work of our staffs in getting this done.
The other thing that is so important is the answers to our problems
need to come from the ground up. Through the Recycling Caucus and
hearings, and the list goes on and on, this is where those answers were
generated--from the people who are out fighting the battles.
We talk a lot about the lack of bipartisanship and things. This is a
great example of people working together for the common good up here.
It is great for the environment in the sense that recycling is not
just gathering. We don't want to have a situation continuing, like we
do now, where so much of that that is gathered actually winds up in the
landfill eventually.
Conservation is the low-hanging fruit. You know, it makes all the
sense in the world to reuse things. It creates a situation where we
lessen the dependence on landfills, things like that. And then, again,
in this age of globalization and things, we really do need to use the
resources that we have and then continue to use the resources as we go
forward.
So we are talking about jobs. We are talking about the environment.
And, for that reason, I very much support and appreciate, as I said,
the leadership of the chairman and the ranking member for their great
effort in pushing this forward.
And, with that, I yield the floor to Senator Cardin--Mr. Chairman.
I yield the floor.
Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, I just want to say again my thanks to--I
think I am pretty rabid on recycling, but this fellow from Arkansas is
right there with me. I appreciate very much both your leadership and
Senator Capito's.
I think we are going to shift gears here. We just passed two very
significant recycling bills for our country. This is something that I
am thrilled about, and I know Senator Capito is as well. And we are
going to shift gears and take some time to consider other important
legislation: the Water Resources Development Act.
Senator Cardin, who chairs the subcommittee, has jurisdiction on the
water resources bill. I think he is prepared to speak.
I think I need to make a unanimous consent request before we do that.
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