Zero Waste Development and Expansion Act of 2017

Summary: Zero Waste Development and Expansion Act of 2017  This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to award grants to local governments for developing solid waste prevention, reuse, and recycling tactics and operations. Applicants must set specific waste prevention, reuse, recycling, composting, or public education goals that will bring communities closer to zero waste. Zero waste is a goal to guide people towards emulating sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use. The EPA must convene an annual conference for grantees and other stakeholders to learn about moving toward a zero waste goal.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Zero Waste Development and Expansion 
Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM.

    The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (in this 
Act referred to as the ``Administrator'') shall award grants to local 
governments or consortia of local governments, which may be acting in 
coordination with one or more nongovernmental entities. The grants 
shall be used to develop solid waste prevention, reuse, and recycling 
tactics and operations, which may include--
            (1) development or deployment of technologies or practices 
        to increase rates of waste prevention, reuse, recycling, or 
        composting;
            (2) capital investment in infrastructure to start or expand 
        waste prevention, reuse, recycling, composting, or product 
        reuse programs;
            (3) partnerships with local businesses interested in 
        incorporating new technologies or processes to reduce or 
        prevent waste in production or packaging; or
            (4) community outreach and public education programming, 
        including programming to--
                    (A) increase community knowledge of effective waste 
                prevention, reuse, recycling, or composting; and
                    (B) increase behavior that will reduce overall 
                household waste generation.

SEC. 3. GRANT REVIEW.

    (a) Grant Awardees.--Grants shall be awarded under this Act to 
applicants that collectively represent a range of existing waste 
prevention, reuse, recycling, and composting rates. In order to be 
considered for this award, applicants must--
            (1) set specific waste prevention, reuse, recycling, 
        composting, or public education goals that will bring 
        communities closer to zero waste;
            (2) have a clearly established plan to use grant funds for 
        one or more of the purposes described in section 2; and
            (3) meet other criteria as determined by the Administrator.
    (b) Additional Factors.--Additional weight may be given to the 
applications of local governments or consortia that--
            (1) have statutorily committed to zero waste principles;
            (2) demonstrate job creation;
            (3) have partnerships with domestic manufacturers who will 
        use locally recycled materials to spur the growth of domestic 
        manufacturing businesses and the creation of domestic 
        manufacturing jobs;
            (4) address the disproportionate environmental, health, and 
        economic burden of waste disposal that is borne by communities 
        of color and low income;
            (5) propose to use funds for waste prevention, reuse, or 
        recycling programs in schools;
            (6) employ adaptive management practices to identify and 
        address unintended consequences as they arise, including 
        potential contamination of land, water, air, or food;
            (7) have a demonstrated need for additional investment in 
        infrastructure and programs to achieve waste prevention, reuse, 
        or recycling;
            (8) will drive technologies for product reuse, recycling, 
        composting, or waste prevention;
            (9) demonstrate ways in which the grant will encourage 
        further investment in waste prevention, reuse, recycling, or 
        composting projects; or
            (10) incorporate multistakeholder involvement, including 
        nonprofit, commercial, and public sector partners.

SEC. 4. REPORTING.

    Grant awardees shall report to the Administrator the results of 
their project and relevant data requested by the Administrator to track 
the grant program's impact.

SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONFERENCE.

    The Administrator shall convene or co-convene an annual conference 
for current, past, and potential grantees, and other stakeholders, to 
learn from each other's experiences in moving toward a zero waste goal.

SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Recycling.--The term ``recycling'' means processing 
        material that has reached the end of its current use into 
        material utilized in the production of new products. The term 
        does not include incineration.
            (2) Reuse.--The term ``reuse'' means extending the life of 
        a product, packaging, or resources by either using it more than 
        once for the same or a new function with little to no 
        processing, or repairing it so it can be used longer, sharing 
        or renting it, or selling or donating it to another party. The 
        term does not include incineration.
            (3) Waste prevention.--The term ``waste prevention'' 
        includes--
                    (A) measures or techniques that reduce the amount 
                of wastes generated during industrial production 
                processes; and
                    (B) reuse, recycling, and other efforts to reduce 
                the amount of waste going into the waste stream.
            (4) Zero waste.--The term ``zero waste'' is a goal that is 
        ethical, economical, efficient, and visionary, to guide people 
        in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate 
        sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are 
        designed to become resources for others to use. Zero waste 
        means designing and managing products and processes to 
        systematically avoid and eliminate the volume and toxicity of 
        waste and materials, conserve and recover all resources, and 
        not burn or bury them. Implementing zero waste will eliminate 
        all discharges to land, water, or air that are a threat to 
        planetary, human, animal, or plant health.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator 
$100,000,000 for the period encompassing fiscal years 2018 through 2023 
for carrying out this Act.