Sponsors (48)
The bill reduces single-use plastic and can improve park health and visitor safety, but it shifts costs and operational burdens onto parks, concessioners, and visitors and could create short-term safety and access gaps if not implemented carefully.
Visitors and nearby communities will encounter less single-use plastic in national parks, improving park aesthetics and reducing litter and environmental harm to wildlife and ecosystems.
Visitors will gain access to more bottle-refill infrastructure and educational programs, which can lower long-term consumer spending by encouraging reusable bottles instead of repeated bottled-water purchases.
Visitors’ health and safety may improve because the NPS Office of Public Health will provide input and monitoring to help ensure safe drinking-water access and track dehydration or disease risks.
Visitors who rely on buying bottled water may face reduced availability or higher out-of-park costs if parks phase out single-use bottles or limit sales.
Taxpayers, park operators, and concessioners could incur upfront capital and maintenance costs to install and operate refill stations, which could lead to higher prices for goods or reduced services.
Visitors could be at increased risk of dehydration or may resort to unsafe water sources if refill stations, water access, or signage are inadequate during the transition.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs the NPS to set up a program within 180 days to reduce and, where feasible, eliminate sale of disposable plastic products (including single‑use bottles) in park units.
Official title: To encourage reduction of disposable plastic products in units of the National Park System, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 23, 2025 by Mike Quigley · Last progress May 23, 2025
Requires the National Park Service to set up a program, within 180 days of enactment, to reduce disposable plastic products in national park units and, where feasible, stop selling disposable plastic items (including single‑use water bottles). Regional directors must implement the program, develop visitor education, coordinate with concessioners and cooperating associations, and submit program evaluations every two years that track public response, water access, safety, and plastic collection rates. The law defines covered plastic items, allows superintendents who already prohibit bottled water to continue doing so, and directs the Park Service to weigh costs, infrastructure, health/safety, revenue, and other factors when eliminating sale of disposable plastic products.