II 

Calendar No. 104 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1189 

[Report No. 118–41] 

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

for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 19, 2023 

Mrs. CAPITO (for herself, Mr. CARPER, Mr. BOOZMAN, Mr. WARNOCK, Mr. 

SULLIVAN, Mr. KING, Mr. CASEY, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. KELLY, Ms. 

DUCKWORTH, Ms. COLLINS, and Mr. OSSOFF) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 

and Public Works 

JUNE 22, 2023 

Reported by Mr. CARPER, without amendment 

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’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ6 mental Protection Agency. 

7 (2) CURBSIDE RECYCLING.—The term 

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

9 residential recyclable materials are picked up 

10 curbside. 

11 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti12 ty’’ means— 

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

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

15 6903)); 

16 (B) a unit of local government; 

17 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 

18 (D) a public-private partnership. 

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

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

21 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

23 (5) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 

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

25 recovery facility’’ means a recycling facility 

26 where primarily residential recyclables, which 


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1 are diverted from disposal by a generator and 

2 collected separately from municipal solid waste, 

3 are mechanically or manually sorted into com4 modities for further processing into specifica5 tion-grade commodities for sale to end users. 

6 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re7 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

8 management facility that may process munic9 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

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

11 grant program’’ means the Recycling Infrastructure 

12 and Accessibility Program established under sub13 section (b). 

14 (7) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy15 clable material’’ means obsolete, previously used, off16 specification, surplus, or incidentally produced mate17 rial for processing into a specification-grade com18 modity for which a market exists. 

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

20 station’’ means a facility that— 

21 (A) receives and consolidates recyclable 

22 material from curbside recycling or drop-off fa23 cilities; and 

24 (B) loads the recyclable material onto trac25 tor trailers, railcars, or barges for transport to 


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1 a distant materials recovery facility or another 

2 recycling-related facility. 

3 (9) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

4 ‘‘underserved community’’ means a community, in5 cluding an unincorporated area, without access to 

6 full recycling services because— 

7 (A) transportation, distance, or other rea8 sons render utilization of available processing 

9 capacity at an existing materials recovery facil10 ity cost prohibitive; or 

11 (B) the processing capacity of an existing 

12 materials recovery facility is insufficient to 

13 manage the volume of recyclable materials pro14 duced by that community. 

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

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

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

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

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

20 to improve recycling accessibility in a community or com21 munities within the same geographic area. 

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

23 to fund eligible projects that will significantly improve ac24 cessibility to recycling systems through investments in in25 frastructure in underserved communities through the use 


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1 of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure de2 velopment. 

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

4 under the pilot grant program, an eligible entity shall sub5 mit to the Administrator an application at such time, in 

6 such manner, and containing such information as the Ad7 ministrator may require. 

8 (e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible entities 

9 to receive a grant under the pilot grant program, the Ad10 ministrator shall consider— 

11 (1) whether the community or communities in 

12 which the eligible entity is seeking to carry out a 

13 proposed project has curbside recycling; 

14 (2) whether the proposed project of the eligible 

15 entity will improve accessibility to recycling services 

16 in a single underserved community or multiple un17 derserved communities; and 

18 (3) if the eligible entity is a public-private part19 nership, the financial health of the private entity 

20 seeking to enter into that public-private partnership. 

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

22 a grant under the pilot grant program, the Administrator 

23 shall give priority to eligible entities seeking to carry out 

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


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

2 radius of that community. 

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

4 grant under the pilot grant program may use the grant 

5 funds for projects to improve recycling accessibility in 

6 communities, including in underserved communities, by— 

7 (1) increasing the number of transfer stations; 

8 (2) expanding curbside recycling collection pro9 grams where appropriate; and 

10 (3) leveraging public-private partnerships to re11 duce the costs associated with collecting and trans12 porting recyclable materials in underserved commu13 nities. 

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

15 entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant program may 

16 not use the grant funds for projects relating to recycling 

17 education programs. 

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

19 grant awarded to an eligible entity under the pilot grant 

20 program shall be in an amount— 

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

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

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

24 not less than 70 percent of the amounts made available 

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


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

2 project or program in a single underserved community or 

3 multiple underserved communities. 

4 (k) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

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

6 the Federal share of the cost of a project or pro7 gram carried out by an eligible entity using grant 

8 funds shall be not more than 90 percent. 

9 (2) WAIVER.—The Administrator may waive 

10 the Federal share requirement under paragraph (1) 

11 if the Administrator determines that an eligible enti12 ty would experience significant financial hardship as 

13 a result of that requirement. 

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

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

16 program, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re17 port describing the implementation of the pilot grant pro18 gram, which shall include— 

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

20 a grant under the pilot grant program; 

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

22 received a grant under the pilot grant program to 

23 improve recycling accessibility with grant funds; and 

24 (3) to the extent information is available, a de25 scription of how grant funds received under the pilot 


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1 grant program improved recycling rates in each com2 munity in which a project or program was carried 

3 out under the pilot grant program. 

4 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

6 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 

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

8 years 2023 through 2027, to remain available until 

9 expended. 

10 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND TECHNICAL

11 ASSISTANCE.—Of the amounts made available under 

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

13 percent— 

14 (A) for administrative costs relating to car15 rying out the pilot grant program; and 

16 (B) to provide technical assistance to eligi17 ble entities applying for a grant under the pilot 

18 grant program. 


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Calendar No. 104 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1189 

[Report No. 118–41] 

A BILL 

recycling accessibility, and for other purposes. 

To establish a pilot grant program to improve 

JUNE 22, 2023 

Reported without amendment 


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