I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 5115 

To establish the Recycling Infrastructure Program within the Environmental 

Protection Agency, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 15, 2019 

Mr. CA ́RDENAS (for himself and Mr. BUCSHON) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish the Recycling Infrastructure Program within 

the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Realizing the Economic Opportunities and Value of Ex6 panding Recycling Act’’ or the ‘‘RECOVER Act’’. 

7 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

8 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

Sec. 3. Recycling Infrastructure Program. 


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Sec. 4. Reports. 

Sec. 5. Funding. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act, the following definitions apply: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency. 

6 (2) CURBSIDE RECYCLABLES.—The term 

7 ‘‘curbside recyclables’’ means those recyclable mate8 rials that a municipality or recycling service provider 

9 collects separately from municipal solid waste. 

10 (3) CURBSIDE RECYCLING.—The term 

11 ‘‘curbside recycling’’ means the process by which 

12 residential recyclable materials are picked up 

13 curbside. 

14 (4) DROP-OFF FACILITY.—The term ‘‘drop-off 

15 facility’’ means a site to drop off recyclable mate16 rials. 

17 (5) MATERIAL RECOVERY FACILITY.—The term 

18 ‘‘material recovery facility’’ means a facility 

19 equipped for the sorting of recyclable materials. 

20 (6) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘recyclable 

22 material’’ means a material that can be col23 lected, separated, processed, or otherwise de24 rived from a waste stream for recycling. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘recyclable 

2 material’’ includes— 

3 (i) ferrous metal; 

4 (ii) nonferrous metal, such as alu5 minum; 

6 (iii) plastic; 

7 (iv) glass; 

8 (v) paper; 

9 (vi) fiber; 

10 (vii) paperboard; 

11 (viii) household electronics; 

12 (ix) tires; 

13 (x) rubber; 

14 (xi) consumer packaging; and 

15 (xii) consumer durables, such as auto16 mobiles and refrigerators. 

17 (7) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’ means 

18 the process of collecting, sorting, and processing re19 cyclable materials for reuse, use as a feedstock, or 

20 use in manufacturing or assembling a product, but 

21 does not include use of recyclable materials for elec22 tricity or steam generation. 

23 (8) RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM.— 

24 The term ‘‘Recycling Infrastructure Program’’ 


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1 means the program that may be established pursu2 ant to section 3(a). 

3 (9) RECYCLING OPERATION.—The term ‘‘recy4 cling operation’’ means an operation that processes 

5 recyclable materials from residential, industrial, or 

6 commercial operations through various manufac7 turing stages, including separating, shredding, 

8 grinding, crushing, media separation, shearing, or 

9 baling. 

10 (10) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means a State, 

11 the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of 

12 Puerto Rico, or any other territory or possession of 

13 the United States. 

14 SEC. 3. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM. 

15 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator may es16 tablish a program, to be known as the Recycling Infra17 structure Program, to award financial assistance to 

18 States, local governments, and tribal governments, on a 

19 competitive basis, to support and expand the recycling in20 frastructure and recycling programs in such States, local 

21 governments, and tribal governments. 

22 (b) ELIGIBLE USE OF FUNDS.—A State, local gov23 ernment, or tribal government may use financial assist24 ance received under the Recycling Infrastructure Program 

25 for projects and programs— 


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1 (1) to— 

2 (A) expand recycling infrastructure by ex3 panding or supporting recycling-related tech4 nology or infrastructure that— 

5 (i) increases recycling or collection 

6 rates; 

7 (ii) expands curbside recycling collec8 tion programs where appropriate; 

9 (iii) expands other collection points 

10 and landfill avoidance programs; 

11 (iv) improves the quality of recyclable 

12 material that is separated from solid 

13 waste; 

14 (v) improves sorting and separation of 

15 recyclable materials; 

16 (vi) delivers increased high-quality 

17 feedstocks for use in manufacturing; or 

18 (vii) encourages the use of recyclable 

19 materials in new products; 

20 (B) transition curbside recycling programs 

21 to more efficient collection practices where nec22 essary; 

23 (C) enhance the performance of curbside 

24 recycling and other recycling programs; 


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1 (D) promote public space recycling pro2 grams; 

3 (E) develop rural recycling systems; or 

4 (F) develop and implement variable rate 

5 (commonly referred to as ‘‘pay-as-you-throw’’) 

6 funding programs in which the pricing struc7 ture for which the fee for solid waste collection 

8 increases as the amount of solid waste in9 creases; or 

10 (2) relating to— 

11 (A) consumer education, that— 

12 (i) identify how to recycle and what is 

13 recyclable; or 

14 (ii)(I) highlights the importance of re15 cycling; 

16 (II) promotes strategies to im17 prove recyclable material quality; and 

18 (III) is designed to increase recy19 cling participation and the amount of 

20 materials collected; 

21 (B) marketing opportunities for recyclable 

22 materials in the United States; or 

23 (C) education and training for recycling 

24 operators. 


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1 (c) STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELIGIBILITY.— 

2 In order to be eligible to receive financial assistance under 

3 the Recycling Infrastructure Program— 

4 (1) for a project or program described in para5 graph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), a State, local gov6 ernment, or tribal government shall— 

7 (A) submit to the Administrator an appli8 cation at such time, in such manner, and con9 taining such information as the Administrator 

10 may require; 

11 (B) be in compliance with subtitle D of the 

12 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 et 

13 seq.); and 

14 (C) have, or will have, a method of track15 ing and demonstrating progress on State-wide, 

16 local government-wide, or tribal government17 wide recycling rates, and agree to demonstrate 

18 such progress to the Administrator, in a man19 ner the Administrator determines appropriate, 

20 not later than two years after receipt of such fi21 nancial assistance; and 

22 (2) for a project or program described in para23 graph (1) of subsection (b)— 

24 (A) a State, local government, or tribal 

25 government shall— 


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1 (i) have or will have— 

2 (I) legal, financial, and technical 

3 capacity to carry out the project or 

4 program, including the safety and se5 curity aspects of the project or pro6 gram; 

7 (II) satisfactory continuing con8 trol over the use of the equipment or 

9 facilities used during the project or 

10 program, with a defined plan for its 

11 use after program assistance has 

12 ended; 

13 (III) the technical and financial 

14 capacity to maintain new and existing 

15 equipment and facilities used for the 

16 project or program; and 

17 (IV) advisors providing guidance 

18 on the terms and structure of the 

19 project or program that are inde20 pendent from investors in the project 

21 or program; 

22 (ii) demonstrate that the project or 

23 program shall encourage, to the maximum 

24 extent feasible, as determined by local poliVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Nov 25, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5115.IH H5115

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1 cies, criteria, and decision making, the par2 ticipation of private enterprise; and 

3 (iii) demonstrate that the project or 

4 program is supported by an acceptable de5 gree of local financial commitment (includ6 ing evidence of stable and dependable fi7 nancing sources); and 

8 (B) a local government or tribal govern9 ment shall— 

10 (i) provide for the collection of at 

11 least 5 types of recyclable materials; and 

12 (ii) own, operate, or contract to han13 dle, operate, or sell to— 

14 (I) a curbside recyclables collec15 tion program; 

16 (II) a redemption center, drop-off 

17 facility, or transfer station for 

18 recyclables; or 

19 (III) a material recovery facility. 

20 (d) SELECTION CRITERIA.— 

21 (1) PRIORITY.—In awarding financial assist22 ance to States, local governments, and tribal govern23 ments under the Recycling Infrastructure Program, 

24 the Administrator shall give priority to States, local 


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1 governments, and tribal governments that propose to 

2 use the assistance to— 

3 (A) expand recycling access and collection 

4 of recyclable materials to underserved areas; 

5 (B) modernize existing technology; 

6 (C) use innovative technology; 

7 (D) enhance curbside recycling and other 

8 collection; or 

9 (E) reduce contamination of recyclable ma10 terials. 

11 (2) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this sub12 section supersedes the applicability of other require13 ments of Federal law (including regulations). 

14 (e) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE.— 

15 (1) AMOUNT.—The amount of the Federal fi16 nancial assistance used for a project or program de17 scribed in subsection (b) shall not exceed 50 percent 

18 of the total cost of the project or program. 

19 (2) SUPPLANT.—Federal financial assistance 

20 under this Act shall not be used to supplant or 

21 repay other financial assistance. 

22 (f) STATE, TRIBAL, AND LOCAL PERMITS.—The pro23 vision of financial assistance with respect to a project or 

24 program described in subsection (b) shall not— 


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1 (1) alter any obligation to obtain any required 

2 State, local, or tribal permit or approval with respect 

3 to the project or program; or 

4 (2) otherwise supersede any State, local, or 

5 tribal law (including any regulation) applicable to 

6 the construction or operation of the project or pro7 gram. 

8 SEC. 4. REPORTS. 

9 (a) STATE, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, AND TRIBAL GOV10 ERNMENT REPORTS.—Each State, local government, or 

11 tribal government receiving financial assistance during a 

12 fiscal year under the Recycling Infrastructure Program 

13 shall submit to the Administrator, not later than 12 

14 months after receiving such assistance, a report for such 

15 fiscal year, in accordance with such requirements as the 

16 Administrator may prescribe. 

17 (b) EPA REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the 

18 date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall sub19 mit to Congress a report on measures taken towards im20 plementing this Act that includes a list of States, local 

21 governments, and tribal governments receiving financial 

22 assistance under the Recycling Infrastructure Program. 

23 SEC. 5. FUNDING. 

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be appro25 priated to carry out this Act— 


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1 (1) $150,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, to re2 main available until expended; 

3 (2) $125,000,000 for fiscal year 2021, to re4 main available until expended; 

5 (3) $100,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to re6 main available until expended; 

7 (4) $75,000,000 for fiscal year 2023, to remain 

8 available until expended; and 

9 (5) $50,000,000 for fiscal year 2024, to remain 

10 available until expended. 

11 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Administrator may use 

12 for the administration of this Act such funds as the Ad13 ministrator determines necessary for each of fiscal years 

14 2020 through 2024. 

Æ 


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