Sponsors (10)
The bill accelerates federal action to reduce plastic pellet pollution and protect water quality nationwide, but does so at the cost of compliance and administrative burdens for businesses and governments and with a tight timeline that risks rushed or contested rulemaking.
Downstream communities (including rural towns and local governments) will see fewer plastic pellet releases into waterways, reducing local water pollution and harm to fisheries and recreation.
Municipalities and drinking water systems (and the health systems they serve) may face lower costs and reduced risks from microplastic contamination in source waters.
State governments will get a clear federal timeline (60 days) that prompts faster regulatory action and greater nationwide consistency across NPDES permitting programs.
Facilities that make, use, package, or transport pre-production plastics (including some small businesses and utilities) will incur new compliance costs to prevent pellet discharges.
The 60-day deadline may be difficult for states and EPA to meet, risking rushed rulemaking or legal challenges that could delay effective enforcement and increase costs for taxpayers.
States and EPA will face administrative and implementation costs to revise NPDES permits and carry out enforcement across programs.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires EPA to ban discharges of plastic pellets and pre‑production plastic materials from covered facilities and add the ban to NPDES permits and CWA 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 (including to wastewater and runoff) from covered facilities and any point source that makes, uses, packages, or transports those materials. The rule must be incorporated into all applicable NPDES permits (including state‑delegated programs) and into Clean Water Act standards of performance for covered point sources, in addition to other applicable limits and standards.