I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 4050 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to award 

grants for projects that are consistent with zero-waste practices, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 25, 2019 

Ms. OMAR (for herself, Mr. GRIJALVA, Ms. NORTON, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. 

MCCOLLUM, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, 

Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. PINGREE, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency to award grants for projects that are consistent 

with zero-waste practices, 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 ‘‘Zeroing Excess, Re5 ducing Organic Waste, and Sustaining Technical Exper6 tise Act’’ or the ‘‘ZERO WASTE Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall establish 

3 and carry out a program to award grants, on a competitive 

4 basis, to eligible entities for projects that are consistent 

5 with zero-waste practices. 

6 (b) GRANT USE.— 

7 (1) ORGANICS RECYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE.— 

8 An eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act 

9 may use grant funds to carry out a project relating 

10 to organics recycling infrastructure, including facili11 ties, machinery, equipment, and other physical ne12 cessities required for organics collection or proc13 essing on a city-wide or county-wide scale, provided 

14 that— 

15 (A) implementation of such project— 

16 (i) results in increased capacity for 

17 residential and commercial source sepa18 rated organics streams; and 

19 (ii) generates a usable product that 

20 has demonstrable environmental benefits 

21 when compared to the input materials, 

22 such as compost with added nutritional 

23 content; and 

24 (B) such project does not include mixed25 waste composting. 


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1 (2) ELECTRONIC WASTE REUSE AND RECY2 CLING.—An eligible entity receiving a grant under 

3 this Act may use grant funds to carry out a project 

4 relating to electronic waste reuse or recycling, in5 cluding infrastructure and technology, research and 

6 development, and product refurbishment, provided 

7 that such project— 

8 (A) does not include an electronic waste 

9 ‘‘buy-back’’ program that provides compensa10 tion for used electronics where such compensa11 tion is applied as a credit toward the purchase 

12 of additional electronics; and 

13 (B) is carried out by an organization cer14 tified in sustainable electronic waste standards 

15 by an organization accredited by the National 

16 Accreditation Board of the American National 

17 Standards Institute & The American Society of 

18 Quality, or another accrediting body as deter19 mined appropriate by the Administrator. 

20 (3) SOURCE REDUCTION.—An eligible entity re21 ceiving a grant under this Act may use grant funds 

22 to carry out a project relating to source reduction, 

23 and such project may include— 


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1 (A) educational programming and outreach 

2 activities to encourage behavioral changes in 

3 consumers that result in source reduction; and 

4 (B) product or manufacturing redesign or 

5 redevelopment to reduce byproducts, packaging, 

6 and other outputs if— 

7 (i) the applicable manufacturer— 

8 (I) is domestically-owned and op9 erated; and 

10 (II) pays a living wage; and 

11 (ii) the redevelopment or redesign 

12 does not result in higher toxicity of the 

13 product or byproducts, more complicated 

14 recyclability of the product or byproducts, 

15 or increased volume of byproducts com16 pared with the original practice. 

17 (4) MARKET DEVELOPMENT.—An eligible entity 

18 receiving a grant under this Act may use grant 

19 funds to carry out a project relating to market de20 velopment with respect to source reduction and 

21 waste prevention, including by creating demand for 

22 sorted recyclable commodities and refurbished goods 

23 and promoting domestically-owned and operated 

24 manufacturing for projects relating to source reducVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:01 Aug 14, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4050.IH H4050

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1 tion or waste prevention, provided that such 

2 project— 

3 (A) targets easily or commonly recycled 

4 materials which are disproportionately disposed 

5 of in landfills or incinerated; 

6 (B) addresses the reduction of the volume, 

7 weight, or toxicity of waste and waste byprod8 ucts; and 

9 (C) does not conflict with— 

10 (i) minimum-content laws, such as 

11 post-consumer recycled content require12 ments; 

13 (ii) beverage container deposits; 

14 (iii) programs funded through retail 

15 fees for specific products or classes of 

16 products that use such fees to collect, 

17 treat, or recycle such products; or 

18 (iv) any applicable recycled product 

19 procurement laws and expanded sustain20 able government purchasing requirements, 

21 as identified by the Administrator. 

22 SEC. 3. GRANT AWARDS. 

23 (a) APPLICATION.— 

24 (1) CRITERIA FOR ALL APPLICANTS.—To be eli25 gible to receive a grant under this Act, an eligible 


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1 entity shall submit to the Administrator an applica2 tion at such time and in such form as the Adminis3 trator requires, demonstrating that the eligible enti4 ty— 

5 (A) has set specific source reduction or 

6 waste prevention targets; 

7 (B) will carry out such project in commu8 nities that are in the 80th percentile or higher 

9 for one or more pollutants as noted in the 

10 EJSCREEN tool, or any successor system, of 

11 the Environmental Protection Agency; and 

12 (C) will carry out a project that meets the 

13 applicable project requirements under section 

14 2(b). 

15 (2) ADDITIONAL APPLICATION CRITERIA FOR

16 NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION.—In the case of an ap17 plication from an eligible entity that is a nonprofit 

18 organization, the application shall include a letter of 

19 support for the proposed project— 

20 (A) from— 

21 (i) a local unit of government; or— 

22 (ii) a nonprofit organization that— 

23 (I) has a demonstrated history of 

24 undertaking work in the geographic 


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1 region where the proposed project is 

2 to take place; and 

3 (II) is not involved in the project 

4 being proposed; and 

5 (B) containing such information as the Ad6 ministrator may require. 

7 (b) PRIORITY FACTORS.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—In awarding grants under 

9 this Act, the Administrator shall give priority to eli10 gible entities that— 

11 (A) have statutorily committed to imple12 menting zero-waste practices; 

13 (B) demonstrate how the project to be car14 ried out with grant funds could lead to the cre15 ation of new jobs that pay a living wage, with 

16 preference for projects that create jobs for indi17 viduals with barriers to employment, as deter18 mined by the Administrator; 

19 (C) will use grant funds for source reduc20 tion or waste prevention in schools; 

21 (D) will use grant funds to employ adapt22 ive management practices to identify, prevent, 

23 or address any negative environmental con24 sequences of the proposed project; 


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1 (E) have a demonstrated need for addi2 tional investment in infrastructure and projects 

3 to achieve source reduction and waste preven4 tion targets set by the local unit of government 

5 that is responsible for waste and recycling 

6 projects in the geographic area; 

7 (F) will use grant funds to develop innova8 tive or new technologies and strategies for 

9 source reduction and waste prevention; 

10 (G) demonstrate how receiving the grant 

11 will encourage further investment in source re12 duction and waste prevention projects; or 

13 (H) will incorporate multi-stakeholder in14 volvement, including nonprofit, commercial, and 

15 public sector partners, in carrying out a project 

16 using grant funds. 

17 (2) ZERO-WASTE HIERARCHY.—In determining 

18 priority between multiple eligible entities who qualify 

19 for priority under paragraph (1), the Administrator 

20 shall grant first priority to an eligible entity that can 

21 demonstrate how the zero-waste hierarchy was con22 sidered with respect to the project to be carried out 

23 with grant funds. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORTING. 

2 An eligible entity receiving a grant under this Act 

3 shall report to the Administrator, at such time and in such 

4 form as the Administrator may require, on the results of 

5 the project carried out with grant funds and any relevant 

6 data requested by the Administrator to track the effective7 ness of the program established under section 2(a). 

8 SEC. 5. ANNUAL CONFERENCE. 

9 In each of calendar years 2022 through 2027, the 

10 Administrator shall convene an annual conference for eli11 gible entities, including eligible entities that have received 

12 a grant under this Act, and other stakeholders as identi13 fied by the Administrator, to provide an opportunity for 

14 such eligible entities and stakeholders to share experience 

15 and expertise in implementing zero-waste practices. 

16 SEC. 6. DEFINITIONS. 

17 In this Act: 

18 (1) ADAPTIVE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES.—The 

19 term ‘‘adaptive management practices’’ means, with 

20 respect to a project, the integration of project de21 sign, management, and monitoring to identify 

22 project impacts and outcomes as they arise and ad23 just behaviors to improve outcomes. 

24 (2) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis25 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ26 mental Protection Agency. 


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1 (3) DOMESTICALLY-OWNED AND OPERATED.— 

2 The term ‘‘domestically-owned and operated’’ means, 

3 with respect to a business, a business with— 

4 (A) headquarters located within the United 

5 States; and 

6 (B) primary operations carried out in the 

7 United States. 

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

10 (A) a single unit of State, local, or Tribal 

11 government; 

12 (B) a consortium of multiple units of 

13 State, local, or Tribal government; 

14 (C) one or more units of State, local, or 

15 Tribal government in coordination with for16 profit or nonprofit organizations; or 

17 (D) one or more incorporated nonprofit or18 ganizations. 

19 (5) EMBODIED ENERGY.—The term ‘‘embodied 

20 energy’’ means energy that was used to create a 

21 product or material. 

22 (6) LIVING WAGE.—The term ‘‘living wage’’ 

23 means the minimum income necessary to allow a 

24 person working 40 hours per week to afford the cost 

25 of housing, food, and other material necessities. 


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1 (7) ORGANICS RECYCLING.—The term 

2 ‘‘organics recycling’’ means the biological processes 

3 by which organics streams are converted to compost 

4 which is not harmful to humans, plants, or animals. 

5 (8) RECYCLING.—The term ‘‘recycling’’— 

6 (A) means the mechanical processing of 

7 material that has reached the end of its current 

8 use into material to be used in the production 

9 of new products; 

10 (B) does not include incineration or any 

11 other energy recovery process; and 

12 (C) does not include depolymerization or a 

13 similar process. 

14 (9) REUSE.—The term ‘‘reuse’’— 

15 (A) means— 

16 (i) using a product, packaging, or re17 source more than once for the same or a 

18 new function with little to no processing; 

19 or 

20 (ii) repairing a product so it can be 

21 used longer, sharing or renting it, or sell22 ing or donating it to another party; and 

23 (B) does not include incineration. 

24 (10) SOURCE REDUCTION.—The term ‘‘source 

25 reduction’’— 


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1 (A) includes— 

2 (i) activities that reduce consumption 

3 of products or services that create physical 

4 outputs, such as packaging, that is sec5 ondary to the intended use of the item 

6 being consumed; 

7 (ii) measures or techniques that re8 duce the amount of waste generated during 

9 production processes; and 

10 (iii) the reduction or elimination of 

11 the use of materials which are not able to 

12 be recycled without degrading the quality 

13 of the material; and 

14 (B) does not include incineration. 

15 (11) SOURCE SEPARATED.—The term ‘‘source 

16 separated’’— 

17 (A) means the separation of a stream of 

18 recyclable materials at the point of waste cre19 ation before the materials are collected and cen20 tralized; and 

21 (B) does not include technologies that sort 

22 mixed municipal solid waste into recyclable and 

23 non-recyclable materials. 

24 (12) WASTE PREVENTION.—The term ‘‘waste 

25 prevention’’ includes reuse, recycling, and other 


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1 methods to reduce the amount of materials disposed 

2 of in landfills or incinerated. 

3 (13) ZERO-WASTE.—The term ‘‘zero-waste’’ 

4 means the conservation of all resources by means of 

5 responsible production, consumption, reuse, and re6 covery of products, packaging, and materials without 

7 burning or otherwise destroying embodied energy, 

8 with no discharges to land, water, or air that threat9 en the environment or human health. 

10 (14) ZERO-WASTE PRACTICE.—The term ‘‘zero11 waste practice’’ means a practice used to help 

12 achieve zero-waste, including source reduction and 

13 waste prevention. 

14 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Admin16 istrator to carry out this Act $250,000,000 for the period 

17 of fiscal years 2020 through 2027. 

Æ 


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