Sponsors (10)
The bill would substantially reduce microplastic pellet pollution and create uniform federal permit standards, but it imposes compliance and administrative costs on businesses and state agencies and risks rushed rulemaking under a tight deadline.
Local communities and aquatic ecosystems will see fewer plastic pellets and pre‑production plastic discharges to waterways because the bill bans releases from covered facilities and point sources.
People who rely on local waterbodies will benefit from improved water quality and healthier aquatic habitat as a common source of microplastic pollution is curtailed.
State environmental programs and regulated entities get uniform federal permit standards, reducing regulatory gaps between EPA and State‑delegated NPDES programs.
Facilities that make, use, package, or transport pellets (including small businesses and some utilities) will face additional compliance costs to prevent discharges, increasing operating expenses.
States with delegated NPDES programs must quickly update permits and implement the rule, creating administrative burdens and straining state agency resources.
The 60‑day deadline for EPA to issue a final rule risks rushed rulemaking and potential legal challenges over the rule's technical or procedural adequacy.
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 put the ban into NPDES permits and performance standards within 60 days.
Introduced March 24, 2026 by Richard Joseph Durbin · Last progress March 24, 2026
Requires the EPA to issue a final rule within 60 days that bans discharges of plastic pellets and other pre‑production plastic materials into wastewater, runoff, and other waters from facilities that make, use, package, or transport those materials. The rule must be reflected in all EPA-issued and state-delegated NPDES permits and in standards of performance for covered point sources. The requirement applies to facilities regulated under specific EPA effluent guideline parts and to any Clean Water Act point source involved with pellets or pre‑production plastics, and it obligates permit writers (EPA and delegated states) to incorporate the prohibition into permits and standards without separate new authorization or funding in the text.