Summary

Creates a new EPA pilot grant program to expand recycling access in communities with limited service, with funding authorized for fiscal years 2025–2029, program rules for eligible applicants, allowable uses, grant sizes, and federal cost‑sharing. Requires the EPA to set up the program and report to Congress after grants begin. Directs the EPA and other federal partners to collect, inventory, and publish data on recycling and composting systems, facilities, rates, and markets, to study materials lost from the circular economy, and to protect specified confidential information; it authorizes funding for those data and study activities and forbids imposing unfunded mandates on States, local governments, and Indian Tribes.

Key Points

• Establishes an EPA pilot grant program to expand recycling access, prioritizing underserved communities.
• Specifies eligible applicants, permissible uses of grant funds, grant size limits, and federal cost‑sharing requirements.
• Authorizes funding for the grant program for fiscal years 2025–2029 (subject to appropriations).
• Requires the EPA and federal partners to collect, inventory, and publish national data on recycling and composting systems, facilities, rates, and markets.
• Directs a study on materials lost from the circular market to identify waste streams that could be recovered or recycled.
• Includes confidentiality protections for business-sensitive data submitted to federal agencies.
• Prohibits unfunded mandates on States, local governments, and Indian Tribes related to the bill’s requirements.
• Requires EPA to report to Congress on program implementation and outcomes after grant awards begin.

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