[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 12, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E120]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO AMEND THE SAVE OUR SEAS 2.0 ACT

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                       HON. ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

                      of the district of columbia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 12, 2025

  Ms. NORTON. Mr. Speaker, today, I introduce a bill that would make 
the District of Columbia and the territories expressly eligible for the 
wastewater infrastructure and trash-free water grants established by 
section 302 of the Save Our Seas 2.0 Act. These grants, respectively, 
fund the construction of improvements to reduce and remove plastic 
waste and post-consumer materials from wastewater, and support projects 
to reduce the quantity of solid waste in bodies of water.
  The Save Our Seas 2.0 Act makes local governments expressly eligible 
for these two grants, but it does not make D.C. and the territories 
expressly eligible for them, even though D.C. and the territories, like 
local governments, conduct the activities contemplated by these grants.
  In 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held that D.C. was 
not a local government for purposes of the post-consumer materials 
management infrastructure grants established by section 302 of the Save 
Our Seas Act 2.0. I am concerned that the EPA will hold that D.C. and 
the territories are not local governments for purposes of the 
wastewater infrastructure and trash-free water grants established by 
section 302 of the Save Our Seas Act 2.0. This bill would ensure that 
D.C. and the territories are expressly eligible for the wastewater 
infrastructure and trash-free water grants.
  I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

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