Booker, Huffman, Merkley Call on EPA to Address Plastics Crisis

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-N.J.), U.S. Representative Jared Huffman (CA-02), and U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR) led 45 of their colleagues in the Senate and House in a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan encouraging the agency to expand its current efforts to address the plastic production crisis.

"As our transportation, energy, and industrial sectors transition to clean energy, the oil and gas industry is doubling down on petrochemical and plastics, with plans to substantially expand production in the United States. These new facilities will release toxic pollutants that will further disproportionally impact the communities living in and around these areas as well as additional greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change," the members wrote in a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan. "In the face of ongoing international discussions to negotiate a legally binding instrument to address plastic pollution, it is more important now than ever for the U.S. to show leadership and ambition in the fight against plastic production and pollution."

The members went on to highlight several actions EPA can take to protect our communities, climate, and our environment from plastic production and pollution, including the following:

1. Create new nationwide targets for single-use plastic source reduction and reuse/refill requirements in the packaging and food service sectors.
2. Incentivize the expansion of reusable and refillable systems across the country, prioritizing overburdened communities through agency grant making and public-private partnerships.
3. Reject the Trump EPA's proposal to remove pyrolysis and gasification from the definition of incinerators under section 129 of the Clean Air Act.
4. Remove harmful chemical recycling technologies from the National Recycling Strategy.
5. Require financial assurance requirements for new or expanded covered facilities (as defined in the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act, Section 4 (a)(3)) as a condition to receiving Clean Air Act or Clean Water Act permits.
6. Initiate a rulemaking under TSCA to review the entire petrochemical industry, from their facilities to specific chemicals used, to understand how these chemicals, alone or mixed, impact human health.
7. Establish and lead a microplastics pilot program to test the efficacy and cost effectiveness of tools, technologies, and techniques to prevent the release of microplastics into the environment and to remove existing microplastics without causing additional harm to the environment.

The letter is cosigned by: U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA); U.S. Representatives Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Ro Khanna (D-CA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Mark Takano (D-CA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Adriano Espaillat (D-NY), Sean Casten (D-IL), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Mike Quigley (D-IL), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), Nanette Diaz Barragán (D-CA), Mike Levin (D-CA), Yvette Clarke (D-NY), Mary Gay Scanlon (D-PA), James McGovern (D-MA), Jill Tokuda (D-HI), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA), Glenn Ivey (D-MD), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Jamie Raskin (D-MD), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ), Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), David Trone (D-MD), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Chuy García (D-IL), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Grace Meng (D-NY), Katie Porter (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), and Cori Bush (D-MO)

A full copy of the letter can be found here.