I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1239
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to estab-
lish a voluntary sustainable apparel labeling program, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY12, 2025
Mr. C
ASTEN(for himself and Ms. SALAZAR) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To direct the Administrator of the Environmental Protection
Agency to establish a voluntary sustainable apparel label-
ing program, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Voluntary Sustainable 4
Apparel Labeling Act’’. 5
SEC. 2. VOLUNTARY SUSTAINABLE APPAREL LABELING 6
PROGRAM. 7
(a) I
NGENERAL.— 8
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(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of 1
the Environmental Protection Agency (in this sec-2
tion referred to as the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall carry 3
out a voluntary sustainable apparel labeling program 4
(in this section referred to as the ‘‘labeling pro-5
gram’’). 6
(2) C
ONSULTATION.—The Administrator shall 7
establish and operate the labeling program in con-8
sultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and the 9
Federal Trade Commission. 10
(3) R
EGULATIONS.—Not later than 2 years 11
after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad-12
ministrator shall finalize regulations to carry out the 13
labeling program. 14
(b) R
EQUIREMENTS.—Under the labeling program— 15
(1) any person that sells an article of apparel 16
may submit an application to the Administrator to 17
enter the article of apparel into the labeling pro-18
gram; 19
(2) the Administrator shall specify the informa-20
tion to be included in an application under para-21
graph (1); 22
(3) the Administrator shall review any applica-23
tion submitted under paragraph (1) and make a de-24
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termination regarding whether to include the article 1
of apparel in the labeling program— 2
(A) on the basis of whether the Adminis-3
trator believes the person submitting the appli-4
cation will adhere to the requirements of the la-5
beling program; and 6
(B) not on the basis of an assessment of 7
the benefits to the environment associated with 8
the article of apparel; 9
(4) a person (referred to in this section as a 10
‘‘participant’’) that sells an article of apparel that 11
the Administrator has determined to include in the 12
labeling program (referred to in this section as the 13
‘‘participating article of apparel’’) may attach a label 14
(referred to in this section as the ‘‘apparel sustain-15
ability label’’) to— 16
(A) the participating article of apparel; or 17
(B) packaging used for the sole purpose of 18
containing the participating article of apparel; 19
(5) the Administrator shall establish require-20
ments for the visual form of the apparel sustain-21
ability label that shall— 22
(A) convey the information described in 23
paragraph (6) to the consumer in a manner 24
that is determined by the Administrator to be 25
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most useful to the consumer at the point of sale 1
in making apparel purchasing decisions; 2
(B) not convey that any given article of ap-3
parel is acceptable or unacceptable, but instead 4
provide the consumer a numerical quantifica-5
tion of the information described in paragraph 6
(6); 7
(C) employ words, numbers, and imagery, 8
as specified by the Administrator; 9
(D) convey the fact that the information 10
on the apparel sustainability label has been 11
verified under requirements established by the 12
Environmental Protection Agency; and 13
(E) include a logo to help the consumer 14
identify the label as being associated with the 15
labeling program; 16
(6) the information included on the apparel sus-17
tainability label shall— 18
(A) convey a numerical summary of the 19
best available information regarding the total 20
greenhouse gas emissions released throughout 21
the full life cycle of the participating article of 22
apparel and its input materials, including in as-23
sociation with— 24
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(i) growing of plant fibers and other 1
agricultural inputs; 2
(ii) manufacture of the non-3
agricultural input materials; 4
(iii) manufacture of the participating 5
article of apparel; 6
(iv) packaging; 7
(v) transportation of the input mate-8
rials and the participating article of ap-9
parel; 10
(vi) storage; 11
(vii) presentation in a retail apparel 12
establishment; 13
(viii) consumer use, including the en-14
ergy used to— 15
(I) wash the participating article 16
of apparel; and 17
(II) prepare the participating ar-18
ticle of apparel for use, including by 19
ironing or pressing; 20
(ix) end-of-life reuse, recycling, treat-21
ment, and disposal of the participating ar-22
ticle of apparel and its packaging; and 23
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(x) any other aspect of the full life 1
cycle of the participating article of apparel 2
associated with greenhouse gas emissions; 3
(B) convey a summary of the voluntary 4
commitment made regarding the participating 5
article of apparel, as reported under subsection 6
(c)(1); and 7
(C) provide electronic access immediately 8
available to the consumer at the point of sale 9
through a quick response (QR) code or similar 10
mechanism to additional information relevant to 11
the consumer, which shall include— 12
(i) the complete information described 13
in subparagraph (A) regarding the partici-14
pating article of apparel; 15
(ii) the complete information provided 16
under subsection (c)(1) regarding the par-17
ticipating article of apparel; 18
(iii) the database established under 19
subsection (d); and 20
(iv) such other information as the Ad-21
ministrator determines to be relevant to 22
the consumer; 23
(7) if the participant is the manufacturer of the 24
participating article of apparel, and not the retail es-25
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tablishment selling the participating article of ap-1
parel to the end consumer, this fact shall be made 2
clear on the apparel sustainability label; 3
(8) if requested by a participant, the informa-4
tion pertaining to the participating article of apparel 5
that is conveyed under paragraph (6)(A) shall be di-6
vided into— 7
(A) information identified under clauses (i) 8
through (v) of paragraph (6)(A), for which the 9
participant shall be responsible for reporting; 10
and 11
(B) information identified under clauses 12
(vi) through (ix) of paragraph (6)(A), for which 13
the Administrator shall be responsible for esti-14
mating on the basis of the typical use of the 15
participating article of apparel; 16
(9) the distinction between the sources of infor-17
mation referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 18
paragraph (8) shall be made clear on the apparel 19
sustainability label; 20
(10) no information or imagery shall be in-21
cluded on the apparel sustainability label that has 22
not been specified by the Administrator pursuant to 23
paragraphs (5) and (6); 24
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(11) the Administrator shall establish the meth-1
od by which the information included on the apparel 2
sustainability label shall be verified, which 3
verification shall— 4
(A) be conducted in accordance with uni-5
form standards for the collection and analysis 6
of the information for all participating articles 7
of apparel; 8
(B) require the use of the best available 9
scientific information; 10
(C) specify the requirements for entities to 11
be authorized to measure, monitor, verify, and 12
report the information; 13
(D) be informed by the established inter-14
national standards for carbon accounting for 15
product life cycle assessment, including— 16
(i) the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 17
standards of the International Organiza-18
tion for Standardization; and 19
(ii) protocols established under the 20
Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol program 21
of the World Business Council for Sustain-22
able Development and the World Resources 23
Institute, including— 24
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(I) the GHG Protocol for Prod-1
uct Accounting and Reporting; and 2
(II) Publicly Available Specifica-3
tion 2050; and 4
(E) be informed by and generally align 5
with the current best practices for validating 6
such information in the apparel industry; 7
(12) in establishing the requirements described 8
in paragraphs (5), (6), and (10), the Adminis-9
trator— 10
(A) shall consult with an expert advisory 11
panel composed of apparel industry stake-12
holders; and 13
(B) may consult with such panel either— 14
(i) by establishing a Federal advisory 15
committee under chapter 10 of part I of 16
title 5, United States Code (commonly re-17
ferred to as the ‘‘Federal Advisory Com-18
mittee Act’’); or 19
(ii) through a negotiated rulemaking 20
under subchapter III of part I of title 5, 21
United States Code (commonly referred to 22
as the ‘‘Negotiated Rulemaking Act’’); 23
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(13) the Administrator shall establish a pro-1
gram by which entities shall be certified to perform 2
the activities under paragraph (11)(C); 3
(14) beginning 7 years after the date of enact-4
ment of this Act, and every 5 years thereafter, the 5
Administrator shall— 6
(A) publish a report on the effectiveness, 7
as determined by the Administrator, of the la-8
beling program in achieving objectives, includ-9
ing such effectiveness in— 10
(i) providing consumers information 11
that consumers find useful; and 12
(ii) reducing the greenhouse gas emis-13
sions associated with apparel throughout 14
the full life cycle as described in paragraph 15
(6)(A); 16
(B) review and revise the regulations under 17
this section to increase such effectiveness, as 18
determined by the Administrator, of the label-19
ing program with respect to the two objectives 20
listed in clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 21
(A); and 22
(C) report to the Congress any rec-23
ommendations for amendments to this section 24
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that, in the determination of the Administrator, 1
would improve such effectiveness; and 2
(15) the Administrator shall provide technical 3
assistance, including through consultants, in report-4
ing information as required in accordance with the 5
labeling program, otherwise participating in the la-6
beling program, and reducing greenhouse gas emis-7
sions, to— 8
(A) participants; 9
(B) entities seeking to become partici-10
pants; and 11
(C) entities seeking to become certified 12
under paragraph (13). 13
(c) V
OLUNTARYCOMMITMENTS.— 14
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Administrator shall 15
carry out a program under which a participant may 16
agree to— 17
(A) a voluntary commitment to reduce the 18
total greenhouse gas emissions released 19
throughout the full life cycle of participating ar-20
ticles of apparel and their input materials, as 21
described in subsection (b)(6)(A); and 22
(B) make publicly available, including on 23
the participant’s website, sustainability infor-24
mation pertaining to the participant or the par-25
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ticipating article of apparel that is determined 1
by the Administrator to be based on the best 2
available scientific information. 3
(2) E
STABLISHMENT.—Not later than 2 years 4
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis-5
trator shall establish the program required by para-6
graph (1). 7
(3) E
NCOURAGEMENT; TECHNICAL ASSIST -8
ANCE.—The Administrator shall encourage partici-9
pants, and provide technical assistance to partici-10
pants, to agree to voluntary commitments under this 11
subsection. 12
(4) N
O MANDATE.— This subsection does not 13
authorize the Administrator to impose any mandate. 14
(d) D
ATABASE.—Not later than 2 years after the 15
date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall es-16
tablish a database to provide easy access to consumers and 17
apparel industry stakeholders to information pertaining to 18
the labeling program, including— 19
(1) explanations of the objectives and the meth-20
odologies of the Administrator in establishing the re-21
quirements described in subsection (b); 22
(2) the information described in subsection 23
(b)(6) with respect to each participating article of 24
apparel; 25
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(3) the voluntary commitments of each partici-1
pant as reported under subsection (c); and 2
(4) any additional available information on the 3
sustainability of apparel that the Administrator de-4
termines to be— 5
(A) useful to the consumer and apparel in-6
dustry stakeholders; and 7
(B) based on the best scientifically avail-8
able information. 9
(e) C
ONSUMEROUTREACH.— 10
(1) P
ROGRAM.—Not later than 3 years after 11
the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator 12
shall establish a program to inform consumers about 13
the labeling program. 14
(2) R
EQUIREMENTS.—The consumer outreach 15
program established under paragraph (1) shall— 16
(A) provide retail apparel establishments 17
educational materials and other information to 18
be conveyed to consumers regarding the label-19
ing program; 20
(B) provide technical assistance to retail 21
apparel establishments regarding the labeling 22
program and the materials and information de-23
scribed in subparagraph (A); and 24
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(C) reach the public through a wide range 1
of means, including public service announce-2
ments and advertising. 3
(f) P
ENALTIES FORFRAUDULENTUSE OFLABEL.— 4
(1) I
N GENERAL.—Any person that violates a 5
requirement of this section shall forfeit and pay to 6
the United States a civil penalty of not more than 7
$10,000 for each such violation. 8
(2) S
EPARATE VIOLATIONS .—Each separate 9
violation of a requirement of this section shall be a 10
separate offense, except that in a case of a violation 11
through continuing failure to obey or neglect to obey 12
an order by the Administrator under this section, 13
each day of continuance of such failure or neglect 14
shall be deemed a separate offense. 15
(3) E
QUITABLE RELIEF .—In a civil action 16
brought under this section, the United States dis-17
trict courts are empowered to grant mandatory in-18
junctions and such other equitable relief as such 19
courts deem appropriate. 20
(g) D
EFINITIONS.—In this section: 21
(1) A
PPAREL INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS .—The 22
term ‘‘apparel industry stakeholders’’ means— 23
(A) suppliers and vendors of apparel man-24
ufacturers; 25
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(B) apparel manufacturers; 1
(C) retail apparel establishments; 2
(D) entities that measure, monitor, verify, 3
and report information described under sub-4
section (b)(6); 5
(E) institutions of higher education; 6
(F) consumer organizations; and 7
(G) other experts, as determined by the 8
Administrator. 9
(2) G
REENHOUSE GAS.—The term ‘‘greenhouse 10
gas’’ includes each of the following: 11
(A) Carbon dioxide. 12
(B) Methane. 13
(C) Nitrous oxide. 14
(D) Sulfur hexafluoride. 15
(E) Any hydrofluorocarbon. 16
(F) Any perfluorocarbon. 17
(G) Nitrogen trifluoride. 18
(H) Any fully fluorinated linear, branched, 19
or cyclic— 20
(i) alkane; 21
(ii) ether; 22
(iii) tertiary amine; or 23
(iv) aminoether. 24
(I) Any perfluoropolyether. 25
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(J) Any hydrofluoropolyether. 1
(K) Any other fluorocarbon, except for a 2
fluorocarbon with a vapor pressure of less than 3
1 mm of Hg absolute at 25 degrees Celsius. 4
(3) G
REENHOUSE GAS EMISSION .—The term 5
‘‘greenhouse gas emission’’ means the release of a 6
greenhouse gas into the ambient air. 7
(4) R
ETAIL APPAREL ESTABLISHMENT .—The 8
term ‘‘retail apparel establishment’’ means a person 9
that sells an article of apparel to a consumer. 10
Æ
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