[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 102 (Monday, June 12, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO PROVIDE COMPREHENSIVE ELIGIBILITY TO THE 
  DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FOR THE U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY'S 
         SOLID WASTE INFRASTRUCTURE FOR RECYCLING GRANT PROGRAM

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 12, 2023

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill to provide the 
District of Columbia comprehensive eligibility for funding under the 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Solid Waste Infrastructure for 
Recycling grant program. The program is authorized under the Save Our 
Seas 2.0 Act.
  The program was intended to provide grants to both states and 
municipalities to ensure the comprehensive management of post-consumer 
wastes and plastics and to prevent the continued contamination of our 
nation's waters by these materials. In its implementation of the 
program, the EPA created two separate grants--one for states and one 
for municipalities. The EPA made D.C. eligible for the state program, 
as required by the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, but not the municipality 
program, even though it should have been eligible for the municipality 
program, too. The EPA has misinterpreted the definition of municipality 
in the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and is depriving D.C. of funds to which it 
is entitled.
  Making D.C. eligible for both grants--both as a state and as a 
municipality--is consistent with the overall intent of the program and 
would enable D.C. to utilize funding both for the development of a 
comprehensive strategy to improve post-consumer materials management 
and recycling, and for implementation of specific collection and 
treatment measures to remove these wastes from the wastewater stream.
  The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act defines the terms ``state'' and 
``municipality'' for the purposes of the program. Section 2 of the Act 
defines the term ``state'' as specifically including D.C. Section 
302(c) of the Act utilizes the definition for ``municipality'' in 
section 502 of the Clean Water Act. which includes ``a city, town, 
borough, county, parish, district, association, or other public body . 
. . having jurisdiction over disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, or 
other wastes.'' D.C. falls under the definitions of both terms and 
therefore should be eligible for both grants under the program.
  Given that D.C. operates as the functional equivalent of a joint 
city, county and state, D.C. is analogous to a municipality that has 
jurisdiction over publicly owned treatment works under section 302(c) 
of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act, as well as being explicitly defined under 
section 2 of the Act as a state. Exclusion of D.C. from either portion 
of the program is inconsistent with the comprehensive nature of post-
consumer waste management under the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act and the 
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and would leave D.C. poorly 
positioned to address the challenges of post-consumer wastes in our 
Nation's waters.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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