118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1189 

AN ACT 

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, 
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†S 1189 ES

1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Recycling Infrastruc3 ture and Accessibility Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE AND ACCESSIBILITY 

5 PROGRAM. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis8 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ9 mental Protection Agency. 

10 (2) CURBSIDE RECYCLING.—The term 

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

12 residential recyclable materials are picked up 

13 curbside. 

14 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti15 ty’’ means— 

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

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

18 6903)); 

19 (B) a unit of local government; 

20 (C) an Indian Tribe; and 

21 (D) a public-private partnership. 

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

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

24 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 

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

26 (5) MATERIALS RECOVERY FACILITY.— 
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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘materials 

2 recovery facility’’ means a recycling facility 

3 where primarily residential recyclables, which 

4 are diverted from disposal by a generator and 

5 collected separately from municipal solid waste, 

6 are mechanically or manually sorted into com7 modities for further processing into specifica8 tion-grade commodities for sale to end users. 

9 (B) EXCLUSION.—The term ‘‘materials re10 covery facility’’ does not include a solid waste 

11 management facility that may process munic12 ipal solid waste to remove recyclable materials. 

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

14 grant program’’ means the Recycling Infrastructure 

15 and Accessibility Program established under sub16 section (b). 

17 (7) RECYCLABLE MATERIAL.—The term ‘‘recy18 clable material’’ means obsolete, previously used, off19 specification, surplus, or incidentally produced mate20 rial for processing into a specification-grade com21 modity for which a market exists. 

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

23 station’’ means a facility that— 
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1 (A) receives and consolidates recyclable 

2 material from curbside recycling or drop-off fa3 cilities; and 

4 (B) loads the recyclable material onto trac5 tor trailers, railcars, or barges for transport to 

6 a distant materials recovery facility or another 

7 recycling-related facility. 

8 (9) UNDERSERVED COMMUNITY.—The term 

9 ‘‘underserved community’’ means a community, in10 cluding an unincorporated area, without access to 

11 full recycling services because— 

12 (A) transportation, distance, or other rea13 sons render utilization of available processing 

14 capacity at an existing materials recovery facil15 ity cost prohibitive; or 

16 (B) the processing capacity of an existing 

17 materials recovery facility is insufficient to 

18 manage the volume of recyclable materials pro19 duced by that community. 

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

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

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

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

24 award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities 
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1 to improve recycling accessibility in a community or com2 munities within the same geographic area. 

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

4 to fund eligible projects that will significantly improve ac5 cessibility to recycling systems through investments in in6 frastructure in underserved communities through the use 

7 of a hub-and-spoke model for recycling infrastructure de8 velopment. 

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

10 under the pilot grant program, an eligible entity shall sub11 mit to the Administrator an application at such time, in 

12 such manner, and containing such information as the Ad13 ministrator may require. 

14 (e) CONSIDERATIONS.—In selecting eligible entities 

15 to receive a grant under the pilot grant program, the Ad16 ministrator shall consider— 

17 (1) whether the community or communities in 

18 which the eligible entity is seeking to carry out a 

19 proposed project has curbside recycling; 

20 (2) whether the proposed project of the eligible 

21 entity will improve accessibility to recycling services 

22 in a single underserved community or multiple un23 derserved communities; and 
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1 (3) if the eligible entity is a public-private part2 nership, the financial health of the private entity 

3 seeking to enter into that public-private partnership. 

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

5 a grant under the pilot grant program, the Administrator 

6 shall give priority to eligible entities seeking to carry out 

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

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

9 radius of that community. 

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

11 grant under the pilot grant program may use the grant 

12 funds for projects to improve recycling accessibility in 

13 communities, including in underserved communities, by— 

14 (1) increasing the number of transfer stations; 

15 (2) expanding curbside recycling collection pro16 grams where appropriate; and 

17 (3) leveraging public-private partnerships to re18 duce the costs associated with collecting and trans19 porting recyclable materials in underserved commu20 nities. 

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

22 entity awarded a grant under the pilot grant program may 

23 not use the grant funds for projects relating to recycling 

24 education programs. 
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1 (i) MINIMUM AND MAXIMUM GRANT AMOUNT.—A 

2 grant awarded to an eligible entity under the pilot grant 

3 program shall be in an amount— 

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

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

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

7 not less than 70 percent of the amounts made available 

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

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

10 project or program in a single underserved community or 

11 multiple underserved communities. 

12 (k) FEDERAL SHARE.—The Federal share of the cost 

13 of a project or program carried out by an eligible entity 

14 using grant funds shall be not more than 95 percent. 

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

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

17 program, the Administrator shall submit to Congress a re18 port describing the implementation of the pilot grant pro19 gram, which shall include— 

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

21 a grant under the pilot grant program; 

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

23 received a grant under the pilot grant program to 

24 improve recycling accessibility with grant funds; and 
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1 (3) to the extent information is available, a de2 scription of how grant funds received under the pilot 

3 grant program improved recycling rates in each com4 munity in which a project or program was carried 

5 out under the pilot grant program. 

6 (m) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

8 appropriated to the Administrator to carry out the 

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

10 years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until 

11 expended. 

12 (2) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND TECHNICAL

13 ASSISTANCE.—Of the amounts made available under 

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

15 percent— 

16 (A) for administrative costs relating to car17 rying out the pilot grant program; and 

18 (B) to provide technical assistance to eligi19 ble entities applying for a grant under the pilot 

20 grant program. 

Passed the Senate March 12, 2024. 

Attest: 

Secretary. 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 1189 

AN ACT 

recycling accessibility, and for other purposes. 

To establish a pilot grant program to improve