I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 1918
To prohibit the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene food service
ware, expanded polystyrene loose fill, and expanded polystyrene coolers,
and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH6, 2025
Mr. D
OGGETT(for himself, Ms. BALINT, Ms. BARRAGA´N, Mr. BEYER, Ms.
B
ONAMICI, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. CARSON, Mr. CARTERof Louisiana, Mr.
C
ASAR, Mr. CASTEN, Ms. CASTORof Florida, Ms. CHU, Ms. CLARKEof
New York, Mr. C
LEAVER, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mrs. MCCLAIN
D
ELANEY, Ms. DEXTER, Ms. ELFRETH, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANSof
Pennsylvania, Ms. F
RIEDMAN, Mr. FROST, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI´A
of Illinois, Mr. G
ARCIAof California, Mr. GOLDMANof New York, Mr.
G
REENof Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HOYER, Mr. HUFFMAN, Ms. JA-
COBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE,
Mr. K
RISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LATIMER, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LIEU, Mr. MAG-
AZINER, Ms. MATSUI, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK,
Mr. M
FUME, Mr. MIN, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms.
O
CASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms.
P
RESSLEY, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms.
S
A´NCHEZ, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SMITHof Washington,
Ms. S
TANSBURY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSONof California, Ms. TLAIB,
Ms. T
OKUDA, Mr. TORRESof New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. VARGAS, Ms.
V
ELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. WATERS, Mrs. WATSONCOLEMAN, Ms. WILSONof
Florida, Mr. K
HANNA, and Mr. MCGOVERN) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To prohibit the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene
food service ware, expanded polystyrene loose fill, and
expanded polystyrene coolers, and for other purposes.
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•HR 1918 IH
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 ‘‘Farewell to Foam Act 4
of 2025’’. 5
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
In this Act: 7
(1) A
DMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-8
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-9
mental Protection Agency. 10
(2) B
IOLOGICAL PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘biologi-11
cal product’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-12
tion 351(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 13
U.S.C. 262(i)). 14
(3) C
OVERED POLYSTYRENE FOAM WARE .—The 15
term ‘‘covered polystyrene foam ware’’ means— 16
(A) an expanded polystyrene cooler; 17
(B) an expanded polystyrene food service 18
ware; and 19
(C) expanded polystyrene loose fill. 20
(4) D
ISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘‘distributor’’ 21
means any person that distributes covered poly-22
styrene foam ware that is sold or offered for sale in 23
the United States. 24
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(5) DRUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ has the meaning 1
given the term in section 201 of the Federal Food, 2
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 3
(6) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE .—The term ‘‘ex-4
panded polystyrene’’ means blown polystyrene and 5
expanded or extruded foams that are thermoplastic 6
petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer 7
and processed by any technique or combination of 8
techniques, including fusion of polymer spheres (ex-9
pandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam 10
molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam 11
polystyrene). 12
(7) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE COOLER .— 13
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 14
polystyrene cooler’’ means a portable container 15
made entirely or partially of expanded poly-16
styrene that is designed or intended to be used 17
for cold storage. 18
(B) E
XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘expanded 19
polystyrene cooler’’ excludes portable containers 20
intended to be used for drugs, medical devices, 21
or biological products. 22
(8) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 23
WARE.— 24
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 1
polystyrene food service ware’’ means a product 2
made of expanded polystyrene that is— 3
(i) used for selling or providing food 4
or beverages; and 5
(ii)(I) intended by the manufacturer 6
to be used once for eating or drinking; or 7
(II) generally recognized by the public 8
as an item to be discarded after 1 use. 9
(B) I
NCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘expanded 10
polystyrene food service ware’’ includes any 11
product described in subparagraph (A) con-12
sisting of a bowl, plate, hot or cold beverage 13
cup, lid, clamshell, tray, carton for eggs or 14
other food, or any other item used for serving 15
or containing prepared food, including takeout 16
food and leftovers from partially consumed 17
meals prepared by food vendors. 18
(9) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE LOOSE FILL .— 19
The term ‘‘expanded polystyrene loose fill’’ means a 20
void-filling packaging product made of expanded pol-21
ystyrene foam that is used as a packaging fill (com-22
monly referred to as ‘‘packing peanuts’’). 23
(10) F
OOD SERVICE PROVIDER .—The term 24
‘‘food service provider’’ means a person engaged in 25
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the business of selling or distributing prepared food 1
or beverages for on-premise or off-premise consump-2
tion, including any— 3
(A) food service establishment, caterer, 4
temporary food service establishment, mobile 5
food service establishment, and pushcart; 6
(B) retail food store; 7
(C) delicatessen; 8
(D) grocery store; 9
(E) restaurant; 10
(F) cafeteria; 11
(G) coffee shop; 12
(H) hospital, adult care facility, and nurs-13
ing home; and 14
(I) elementary or secondary school, college, 15
and university. 16
(11) M
ANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac-17
turer’’ means any person that manufactures or im-18
ports covered polystyrene foam ware that is sold, of-19
fered for sale, or distributed in the United States. 20
(12) M
EDICAL DEVICE.—The term ‘‘medical de-21
vice’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘device’’ in 22
section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-23
metic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 24
(13) P
REPARED FOOD.— 25
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(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘prepared 1
food’’ means food or beverages that— 2
(i) are cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, 3
brewed, frozen, heated, squeezed, com-4
bined, or otherwise prepared on the prem-5
ises of a food service provider for imme-6
diate consumption; and 7
(ii) require no further preparation to 8
be consumed. 9
(B) I
NCLUSION.—The term ‘‘prepared 10
food’’ includes ready-to-eat takeout foods and 11
beverages described in subparagraph (A). 12
(14) R
ETAILER.—The term ‘‘retailer’’ means 13
any person that sells, supplies, or offers to con-14
sumers covered polystyrene foam ware. 15
SEC. 3. BAN ON EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 16
WARE, LOOSE FILL, AND COOLERS. 17
(a) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOODSERVICE 18
W
ARE.—Beginning on January 1, 2028, no food service 19
provider, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall sell, 20
offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene food 21
service ware. 22
(b) E
XPANDEDPOLYSTYRENELOOSEFILL ANDEX-23
PANDEDPOLYSTYRENECOOLERS.—Beginning on Janu-24
ary 1, 2028, no manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall 25
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•HR 1918 IH
sell, offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene loose 1
fill or expanded polystyrene coolers. 2
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 3
(a) W
RITTENNOTIFICATION FOR FIRSTVIOLA-4
TION.—If a food service provider, manufacturer, dis-5
tributor, or retailer violates section 3, the Administrator 6
shall provide that food service provider, manufacturer, dis-7
tributor, or retailer with written notification regarding the 8
violation. 9
(b) S
UBSEQUENTVIOLATIONS.— 10
(1) I
N GENERAL.—If a food service provider, 11
manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, subsequent to 12
receiving a written notification under subsection (a), 13
violates section 3 again, the Administrator shall im-14
pose a civil penalty on the food service provider, 15
manufacturer, distributor, or retailer in accordance 16
with this subsection. 17
(2) A
MOUNT OF PENALTY .—For each violation 18
described in paragraph (1), the amount of the civil 19
penalty under that paragraph shall be— 20
(A) in the case of the second violation, 21
$250; 22
(B) in the case of the third violation, $500; 23
and 24
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(C) in the case of the fourth, and any sub-1
sequent, violation, $1,000. 2
(3) L
IMITATIONS.— 3
(A) F
OOD SERVICE PROVIDERS ; RETAIL-4
ERS.—In the case of a food service provider or 5
retailer the annual revenue of which is less than 6
$1,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 7
under this subsection more than once during 8
any 7-day period. 9
(B) M
ANUFACTURER; DISTRIBUTORS.—In 10
the case of a manufacturer or distributor the 11
annual revenue of which is less than 12
$5,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 13
under this subsection more than once during 14
any 7-day period. 15
(c) S
TATEENFORCEMENT.—The Administrator may 16
permit a State to carry out enforcement under this section 17
if the Administrator determines that the State meets such 18
requirements as the Administrator may establish. 19
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 20
The Administrator may promulgate such regulations 21
as the Administrator determines necessary to carry out 22
this Act. 23
Æ
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