Advocacy

U.S. Senate Holds Hearing on Recycling & Composting Bills

On February 2, the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) held a hearing to discuss two draft bills, the “Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act of 2022” and the “Recycling and Composting Accountability Act.” These bills would provide additional data on recycling and composting activities at a national level and fund a pilot grant program to increase recycling access respectively.

The EPW Committee heard testimony from representatives of the Biodegradable Products Institute, Detroit Dirt, E.L. Harvey & Sons, and International Paper, who spoke about the challenges their specific organizations face in providing equitable and economic recycling and composting access.

The two bills address some of these issues but have not yet been introduced in the Senate. The text of both have been made publicly available and provided to the SWANA Core Advocacy Group and Recycling Task Force for review.

The Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, to be sponsored by Senator Shelly Moore Capito (R-WV), is meant to provide investments in infrastructure in underserved communities through the use of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure development. In this case, underserved would be defined as a community that does not have access to more than 1 MRF within 150 miles.

States, local governments, Indian Tribes, and public-private partnerships could apply for grants ranging between $1 million and $15 million on projects to increase the number of transfer stations in a region, expand curbside recycling collection, or reduce collection and transportation costs. A total funding amount for the program isn’t specified in the bill, but if enacted, the program would run from 2023 through 2027.

The other bill discussed at the hearing was the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act, which will be sponsored by Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) and Senator John Boozman (R-AR). This bill is primarily focused on data collection for improving recycling and composting. It would require EPA to work with states and local governments to provide numerous reports, including:

• A baseline report on recycling programs nationally, including number of programs, types of materials accepted, accessibility to residents, and contamination rates
• Biannual reports on the rate of materials diverted and brought to MRFs or composting facilities
• Biannual inventories of MRFs, including number of facilities and types of materials accepted
• Report on end market sales for recyclables and compostable materials
• Report on proportion of recyclables that did not enter the “circular market” over the past ten years

The bill would also instruct EPA to assess the capability of the US to implement a national residential composting strategy, review the recycling practices of federal agencies, and create voluntary national guidelines to enhance recycling and composting outreach.

SWANA will continue to review the draft legislation and work with its members, the U.S. Senate, EPA, and others to determine potential impacts and provide the perspective of municipal solid waste management professionals.

SWANA Joins Industry Comments on Renewable Fuel Standard

SWANA and the Landfill Gas & Biogas Technical Division joined The Coalition of Renewable Natural Gas, NGVAmerica, National Waste & Recycling Association, American Public Gas Association, and Energy Vision to provide comments to EPA on its proposed Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) Annual Rules.

The proposed rule would revise the previously set 2020 RFS standards and set the volume standards for compliance years 2021 and 2022. It also includes EPA’s proposed approach for addressing the remanded 2016 standard-setting rulemaking, as well as other proposed changes to the RFS regulations. Of note for the solid waste industry this year, EPA requested comment on modelling of lifecycle GHG emissions for fuels produced from separated municipal solid waste that is diverted from landfills to processing facilities that produce diesel, gasoline, and jet fuel.

White House Issues Guidebook to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

The Biden Administration has issued a guidebook for state, local, tribal, and territorial leaders to help them understand the funding available under the new infrastructure bill. It also includes an explanatory document that shows program-by-program information. This will be updated at regular intervals.

For the solid waste industry, two funding opportunities of note are the $275 million Solid Waste Infrastructure for Recycling Infrastructure Grants program and the $75 million Reduce, Reuse, Recycling Education and Outreach Grants program, both of which were supported by SWANA. The guidebook states that EPA will begin stakeholder outreach and engagement on the programs in the 2^nd quarter of 2022 with funding available starting in the 4^th quarter. SWANA will continue to closely follow their development and participate in all engagement opportunities, while also urging EPA and the Administration to move as quickly as practical to make the funding available.