I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6159 

To establish a pilot grant program to improve recycling accessibility, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 1, 2023 

Mrs. MILLER-MEEKS (for herself, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. BUCSHON, and Mr. 

RESCHENTHALER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a pilot grant program to improve recycling 

accessibility, 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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling Infrastruc5 ture and Accessibility Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY 

7 PROGRAM. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) CURBSIDE RECYCLING.—The term 

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

6 residential recyclable materials are picked up 

7 curbside. 

8 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti9 ty’’ means— 

10 (A) a State (as defined in section 1004 of 

11 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 

12 6903)); 

13 (B) a unit of local government; 

14 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 

15 (D) a public-private partnership. 

16 (4) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 

17 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

18 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

19 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 

20 (5) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 

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

22 recovery facility’’ means a recycling facility 

23 where primarily residential recyclables, which 

24 are diverted from disposal by a generator and 

25 collected separately from municipal solid waste, 


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1 are mechanically or manually sorted into com2 modities for further processing into specifica3 tion-grade commodities for sale to end users. 

4 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re5 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

6 management facility that may process munic7 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

8 (6) PILOT GRANT PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘pilot 

9 grant program’’ means the Recycling Infrastructure 

10 and Accessibility Program established under sub11 section (b). 

12 (7) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy13 clable material’’ means obsolete, previously used, off14 specification, surplus, or incidentally produced mate15 rial for processing into a specification-grade com16 modity for which a market exists. 

17 (8) TRANSFER STATION.—The term ‘‘transfer 

18 station’’ means a facility that— 

19 (A) receives and consolidates recyclable 

20 material from curbside recycling or drop-off fa21 cilities; and 

22 (B) loads the recyclable material onto trac23 tor trailers, railcars, or barges for transport to 

24 a distant materials recovery facility or another 

25 recycling-related facility. 


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1 (9) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

2 ‘‘underserved community’’ means a community, in3 cluding an unincorporated area, without access to 

4 full recycling services because— 

5 (A) transportation, distance, or other rea6 sons render utilization of available processing 

7 capacity at an existing materials recovery facil8 ity cost prohibitive; or 

9 (B) the processing capacity of an existing 

10 materials recovery facility is insufficient to 

11 manage the volume of recyclable materials pro12 duced by that community. 

13 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 18 months 

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 

15 shall establish a pilot grant program, to be known as the 

16 ‘‘Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Program’’, to 

17 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 

18 to improve recycling accessibility in a community or com19 munities within the same geographic area. 

20 (c) GOAL.—The goal of the pilot grant program is 

21 to fund eligible projects that will significantly improve ac22 cessibility to recycling systems through investments in in23 frastructure in underserved communities through the use 

24 of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure de25 velopment. 


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1 (d) APPLICATIONS.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

2 under the pilot grant program, an eligible entity shall sub3 mit to the Administrator an application at such time, in 

4 such manner, and containing such information as the Ad5 ministrator may require. 

6 (e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible entities 

7 to receive a grant under the pilot grant program, the Ad8 ministrator shall consider— 

9 (1) whether the community or communities in 

10 which the eligible entity is seeking to carry out a 

11 proposed project has curbside recycling; 

12 (2) whether the proposed project of the eligible 

13 entity will improve accessibility to recycling services 

14 in a single underserved community or multiple un15 derserved communities; and 

16 (3) if the eligible entity is a public-private part17 nership, the financial health of the private entity 

18 seeking to enter into that public-private partnership. 

19 (f) PRIORITY.—In selecting eligible entities to receive 

20 a grant under the pilot grant program, the Administrator 

21 shall give priority to eligible entities seeking to carry out 

22 a proposed project in a community in which there is not 

23 more than 1 materials recovery facility within a 75-mile 

24 radius of that community. 


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1 (g) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity awarded a 

2 grant under the pilot grant program may use the grant 

3 funds for projects to improve recycling accessibility in 

4 communities, including in underserved communities, by— 

5 (1) increasing the number of transfer stations; 

6 (2) expanding curbside recycling collection pro7 grams where appropriate; and 

8 (3) leveraging public-private partnerships to re9 duce the costs associated with collecting and trans10 porting recyclable materials in underserved commu11 nities. 

12 (h) PROHIBITION ON USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible 

13 entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant program may 

14 not use the grant funds for projects relating to recycling 

15 education programs. 

16 (i) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—A 

17 grant awarded to an eligible entity under the pilot grant 

18 program shall be in an amount— 

19 (1) not less than $500,000; and 

20 (2) not more than $15,000,000. 

21 (j) SET-ASIDE.—The Administrator shall set aside 

22 not less than 70 percent of the amounts made available 

23 to carry out the pilot grant program for each fiscal year 

24 to award grants to eligible entities to carry out a proposed 


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1 project or program in a single underserved community or 

2 multiple underserved communities. 

3 (k) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

5 the Federal share of the cost of a project or pro6 gram carried out by an eligible entity using grant 

7 funds shall be not more than 90 percent. 

8 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 

9 the Federal share requirement under paragraph (1) 

10 if the Administrator determines that an eligible enti11 ty would experience significant financial hardship as 

12 a result of that requirement. 

13 (l) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

14 on which the first grant is awarded under the pilot grant 

15 program, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re16 port describing the implementation of the pilot grant pro17 gram, which shall include— 

18 (1) a list of eligible entities that have received 

19 a grant under the pilot grant program; 

20 (2) the actions taken by each eligible entity that 

21 received a grant under the pilot grant program to 

22 improve recycling accessibility with grant funds; and 

23 (3) to the extent information is available, a de24 scription of how grant funds received under the pilot 

25 grant program improved recycling rates in each comVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:41 Nov 08, 2023 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6159.IH H6159

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1 munity in which a project or program was carried 

2 out under the pilot grant program. 

3 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 

5 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 

6 pilot grant program $30,000,000 for each of fiscal 

7 years 2023 through 2027, to remain available until 

8 expended. 

9 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND TECHNICAL

10 ASSISTANCE.—Of the amounts made available under 

11 paragraph (1), the Administrator may use up to 5 

12 percent— 

13 (A) for administrative costs relating to car14 rying out the pilot grant program; and 

15 (B) to provide technical assistance to eligi16 ble entities applying for a grant under the pilot 

17 grant program. 

Æ 


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