Sponsors (29)
This bill provides modest, predictable federal grants and technical support to expand local recycling infrastructure and improve access—especially for tribes and underserved communities—but may fall short on equity and effectiveness because of large-grant bias, limits on using funds for education, geographic concentration risks, and added federal spending.
Low-income, underserved, rural, and urban communities gain expanded local recycling collection and processing capacity (curbside, transfer stations, processing), improving local recycling access.
Authorizes predictable federal funding ($30M/year for FY2025–2029) to build recycling capacity, giving local governments and tribes a reliable federal stream to plan and invest in infrastructure.
Local governments and tribes can receive grants up to $15 million with a federal share up to 90%, lowering upfront capital costs for recycling projects and making large projects more financially feasible.
Smaller and rural jurisdictions may be disadvantaged because large grants favor better-resourced applicants and required local contribution/matching could be a barrier to access.
The inability to use funds for recycling education could reduce community participation and long-term effectiveness of new infrastructure, limiting environmental benefits.
Set-aside and hub-and-spoke priority rules risk concentrating resources near existing facilities rather than reaching truly remote or underserved areas, undermining equitable geographic distribution.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Creates an EPA competitive pilot grant program funding hub-and-spoke recycling projects with emphasis on underserved communities, authorized at $30M/year for FY2025–2029.
Introduced March 14, 2025 by Mariannette Miller-Meeks · Last progress March 14, 2025
Creates a new competitive EPA pilot grant program to fund hub-and-spoke recycling infrastructure projects that expand recycling access in underserved communities. Grants range from $500,000 to $15,000,000, with the federal share up to 90% and a requirement that at least 70% of funds each year serve single or multiple underserved communities; $30 million per year is authorized for FY2025–2029.