The United States Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted out on February 5th legislation styled:
Strategies to Eliminate Waste and Accelerate Recycling Development (STEWARD) Act (“STEWARD Act”).
The legislation was unanimously passed by the Committee and its key sponsors included:
- Senator John Boozman.
- Chairman Shelley Moore Capito.
- Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse.
The stated goal of the STEWARD Act is to expand recycling access in underserved communities by authorizing strategic infrastructure investments and public-private partnerships.
A pilot program would be initiated by the STEWARD Act which would:
- Authorizes competitive grant awards from $500,000 to $15 million to support projects that enhance recycling infrastructure using a hub-and-spoke development model;
- Prioritizes communities with limited access to materials recovery facilities; and
- Supports projects that:
- Increase transfer stations,
- Expand curbside recycling programs, and
- Reduce collection and transportation costs.
The STEWARD Act would also authorize the United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to collect and analyze data on:
- Market trends.
- Material processing rates.
- Effectiveness of curbside recycling programs.
- Associated accessibility challenges.
New metrics would be established to track material diversion from landfills and support voluntary data-sharing partnerships with states. Technical assistance would be provided to state and local governments to improve recycling and composting rates.
EPA would be tasked to assess:
- National composting potential,
- Evaluating infrastructure.
- Regulatory barriers.
- Costs.
- Industry trends.
Senator Boozman is quoted as stating:
…Strengthening our commitment to recycling in order to preserve the resources we are blessed with, as well as spur economic growth and encourage industry innovation, benefits all Americans…I am proud to see the STEWARD Act advance with bipartisan support as we continue our efforts to encourage sustainable recycling infrastructure systems and practices.
A copy of the Environment and Public Works new release along with a one-pager can be found here.
