Sponsors (51)
The bill would reduce plastic pellet pollution and associated health and environmental harms and provide clearer permit standards, but it imposes compliance and enforcement costs, administrative strain on permitting programs, and legal/implementation risks from rapid rulemaking.
Urban and rural communities will face less plastic pellet pollution in waterways and runoff, improving local water quality and reducing aquatic contamination and harm to ecosystems.
People who recreate on or fish in local water bodies will have lower exposure to plastic debris and microplastics, protecting health and maintaining ecosystem services those activities rely on.
State and local governments gain clearer regulatory standards to include in NPDES permits, making expectations for facilities that handle pre‑production plastics easier to enforce.
Facilities that make, use, package, or transport pre‑production plastics—including small businesses—may incur new compliance and remediation costs to prevent pellet discharges.
State permitting programs and EPA will face administrative burden and potential backlogs from revising numerous NPDES permits and issuing rules on short timelines.
Taxpayers could face increased costs for enforcement and monitoring if federal or state agencies expand inspections or oversight to ensure compliance.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires EPA to ban discharges of plastic pellets and other pre‑production plastics from covered point sources and to add that ban to all NPDES permits and applicable performance standards.
Introduced February 12, 2026 by Mike Levin · Last progress February 12, 2026
Prohibits discharges of plastic pellets and other pre‑production plastic materials from regulated industrial point sources and requires the EPA to issue a final rule within 60 days to implement that ban. The rule must be incorporated into all NPDES permits (including state‑delegated programs) and into applicable standards of performance for covered point sources.