Subcommittee considers recycling infrastructure bill and data-collection amendment

The House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Environment opened consideration of H.R. 2145, the Recycling Infrastructure and Accessibility Act, and a related data-collection measure to be offered as an amendment.

The Chair described H.R. 2145, introduced by Representative Miller Meeks of Iowa, as bipartisan legislation directing the Environmental Protection Agency to establish a pilot grant program for states, tribes, local governments, and public'private partnerships to increase access to recycling systems, particularly in underserved communities. "This bipartisan legislation directs the EPA to establish a pilot program to award grants to states, tribes, local governments, and public private partnerships for projects to increase access to recycling systems, particularly in underserved communities," the Chair said.

The Chair framed increased recycling capacity as an opportunity to recover and reuse more discarded material, strengthen domestic supply chains and national security, and lower the cost of implementing recycling programs in underserved areas. "Increasing recycling rates provides us with an opportunity to recover and reuse more discarded material. In turn, we can keep more of these products in our domestic supply chains, enhancing our economic and national security," the Chair said.

The Chair also said the Subcommittee would consider H.R. 4109, the Recycling and Composting Accountability Act, as an amendment to H.R. 2145. The measure would direct EPA to collect data to assess national recycling and composting rates; the Chair described the proposal as bipartisan and intended to inform policy choices.

Remarks at opening did not include final votes or detailed grant-amount figures; the Chair said the amendment would be taken up during the markup process and that further discussions with colleagues on funding levels would continue.