To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a study and make recommendations to the Congress with respect to the development of uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradability.

Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, for the purpose of developing standards and definitions of plastic degradability to be used in the packaging of consumer goods, to study and report to the Congress on the process by which plastics degrade.

 
HR 4332 IH
101st CONGRESS
2d Session
 H. R. 4332
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry
out a study and make recommendations to the Congress with respect to the
development of uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradability.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 21, 1990
Mr. COURTER 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 carry
out a study and make recommendations to the Congress with respect to the
development of uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradability.
  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
  States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
  (a) FINDINGS- The Congress finds the following:
  (1) The Office of Technology Assessment estimates that, in the United States,
  over 160,000,000 tons of municipal solid waste, more than one-half ton per
  person, is generated each year and that such amount will continue to rise.
  (2) The Office of Technology Assessment has also found that plastics account
  for approximately 7.3 percent of the municipal solid waste stream and are
  estimated to account for over 9 percent by the year 2000.
  (3) In 1986 almost 80 percent of the Nation's municipal solid waste,
  approximately 130,000,000 tons, was disposed of in landfills. Because the
  Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 80 percent of existing
  permitted landfills will close within 20 years and that nearly half of
  the municipal landfills that were in operation in 1986 will close by 1991,
  it is essential to develop and encourage solid waste disposal alternatives.
  (4) Many proposed bans on polystyrene or other nondegradable plastic
  products require or promote the substitution of degradable products.
  (5) Although the term `biodegradable plastic' generally refers to a plastic
  that can be broken down by biological means and the term `photodegradable'
  means that there is a breakdown due to the effect of ultraviolet radiation
  on chemicals that have been blended with the basic plastic resin, uniform
  definitions of these basic terms have not yet been established, nor have
  uniform methods of testing been developed.
  (6) The rate of biodegradation depends on the presence of micro-organisms,
  temperature and moisture conditions, starch content, and additives
  used. Photodegradation depends upon the presence of sunlight. Both of these
  degradation processes are greatly retarded in landfills where entombed
  waste is deprived of these conditions, and even naturally degradable items,
  such as newsprint, often take decades to waste away.
  (7) Little is known about what happens to plastics when they
  degrade. Depending on conditions, metal additives could be released in
  soluble forms and become part of leachate which can contaminate groundwater.
  (8) Claims of product degradability made on several plastic products,
  particularly garbage bags and diapers, may be misleading and, therefore,
  deprive consumers of the ability to make environmentally sound purchasing
  decisions, encourage our throwaway society to continue its reliance
  on products that do not contribute to the reduction of the solid waste
  stream, and foster and promote a consume-and-dispose mentality rather than
  a conservation ethic.
  (9) The Federal Trade Commission and several State attorneys general
  are investigating the accuracy of claims that promote certain degradable
  plastics as good for the environment.
  (b) PURPOSE- The purpose of this Act, therefore, is to direct the
  Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to carry out a study
  and make recommendations to the Congress with respect to the development of
  uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradability to be used in the
  packaging of consumer goods to ensure that consumers receive environmentally
  sound packaging information and to prevent consumer reliance on misleading
  packaging claims.
SEC. 2. STUDY AND REPORT.
  (a) STUDY-
  (1) IN GENERAL- For the purpose of developing standards and definitions
  of plastic degradability which can be used in the packaging of consumer
  goods, the Administrator shall carry out a study of the process by which
  plastics degrade.
  (2) CONSULTATION- This study shall be conducted in consultation with,
  and taking into consideration any previous relevant data collected by,
  the Federal Trade Commission, the National Institutes on Standards and
  Technology of the Department of Commerce, and other appropriate Federal
  agencies and private sector organizations, including the American Society
  for Testing and Materials.
  (b) REPORT- The Administrator shall, not later than 6 months after the date
  of enactment of this Act, transmit to the Congress a report containing a
  detailed statement of the findings and conclusions of the study carried out
  under subsection (a), together with recommendations for such legislative or
  administrative action as the Administrator considers necessary to develop
  a system of uniform standards and definitions of plastic degradability to
  be used in the packaging of consumer goods.