Sponsors (13)
The bill would sharply reduce single‑use EPS pollution and provide clearer federal rules and enforcement, but it shifts compliance costs onto manufacturers, food-service businesses, and consumers and grants broad agency power that raises regulatory uncertainty and legal risk.
Manufacturers, retailers, food service providers, and local governments get clear definitions and explicit inclusion/exclusion rules for EPS products, reducing regulatory uncertainty and making compliance and planning easier.
Restaurants, cafeterias, and other food service providers will stop using EPS food service ware beginning Jan 1, 2028, cutting single‑use EPS waste nationwide and reducing environmental pollution.
Urban and rural communities and taxpayers may see reduced litter, fewer clogged drains, improved local water quality, and lower municipal cleanup costs as EPS is removed from the waste stream.
Manufacturers, importers, restaurants, and other food service providers will face higher compliance and retooling costs to phase out EPS, which could be substantial for small businesses.
Consumers could pay higher prices for takeout, packaged goods, and insulated products if alternatives to EPS are more expensive.
Manufacturers and distributors of EPS loose fill, coolers, and related products may lose sales and face restructuring costs or business decline.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Introduced March 6, 2025 by Christopher Van Hollen · Last progress March 6, 2025
Bans nationwide the sale, offer for sale, or distribution of expanded polystyrene (EPS) food service ware, EPS loose-fill packing peanuts, and most EPS coolers starting January 1, 2028. The EPA Administrator enforces the ban, issues implementing regulations, gives first-time written notice for violations, and imposes escalating civil penalties for repeat violations with small-entity limits on penalty frequency and an option to let qualifying states carry out enforcement.