II
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION S. 897
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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
MARCH6, 2025
Mr. V
ANHOLLEN(for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. DUR-
BIN, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. SAND-
ERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the fol-
lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com-
merce, Science, and Transportation
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.
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
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(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-2
mental Protection Agency. 3
(2) B
IOLOGICAL PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘biologi-4
cal product’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-5
tion 351(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 6
U.S.C. 262(i)). 7
(3) C
OVERED POLYSTYRENE FOAM WARE .—The 8
term ‘‘covered polystyrene foam ware’’ means— 9
(A) an expanded polystyrene cooler; 10
(B) an expanded polystyrene food service 11
ware; and 12
(C) expanded polystyrene loose fill. 13
(4) D
ISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘‘distributor’’ 14
means any person that distributes covered poly-15
styrene foam ware that is sold or offered for sale in 16
the United States. 17
(5) D
RUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ has the meaning 18
given the term in section 201 of the Federal Food, 19
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 20
(6) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE .—The term ‘‘ex-21
panded polystyrene’’ means blown polystyrene and 22
expanded or extruded foams that are thermoplastic 23
petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer 24
and processed by any technique or combination of 25
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techniques, including fusion of polymer spheres (ex-1
pandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam 2
molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam 3
polystyrene). 4
(7) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE COOLER .— 5
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 6
polystyrene cooler’’ means a portable container 7
made entirely or partially of expanded poly-8
styrene that is designed or intended to be used 9
for cold storage. 10
(B) E
XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘expanded 11
polystyrene cooler’’ excludes portable containers 12
intended to be used for drugs, medical devices, 13
or biological products. 14
(8) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 15
WARE.— 16
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 17
polystyrene food service ware’’ means a product 18
made of expanded polystyrene that is— 19
(i) used for selling or providing food 20
or beverages; and 21
(ii)(I) intended by the manufacturer 22
to be used once for eating or drinking; or 23
(II) generally recognized by the public 24
as an item to be discarded after 1 use. 25
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(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘expanded 1
polystyrene food service ware’’ includes any 2
product described in subparagraph (A) con-3
sisting of a bowl, plate, hot or cold beverage 4
cup, lid, clamshell, tray, carton for eggs or 5
other food, or any other item used for serving 6
or containing prepared food, including takeout 7
food and leftovers from partially consumed 8
meals prepared by food vendors. 9
(9) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE LOOSE FILL .— 10
The term ‘‘expanded polystyrene loose fill’’ means a 11
void-filling packaging product made of expanded pol-12
ystyrene foam that is used as a packaging fill (com-13
monly referred to as ‘‘packing peanuts’’). 14
(10) F
OOD SERVICE PROVIDER .—The term 15
‘‘food service provider’’ means a person engaged in 16
the business of selling or distributing prepared food 17
or beverages for on-premise or off-premise consump-18
tion, including any— 19
(A) food service establishment, caterer, 20
temporary food service establishment, mobile 21
food service establishment, and pushcart; 22
(B) retail food store; 23
(C) delicatessen; 24
(D) grocery store; 25
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(E) restaurant; 1
(F) cafeteria; 2
(G) coffee shop; 3
(H) hospital, adult care facility, and nurs-4
ing home; and 5
(I) elementary or secondary school, college, 6
and university. 7
(11) M
ANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac-8
turer’’ means any person that manufactures or im-9
ports covered polystyrene foam ware that is sold, of-10
fered for sale, or distributed in the United States. 11
(12) M
EDICAL DEVICE.—The term ‘‘medical de-12
vice’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘device’’ in 13
section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-14
metic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 15
(13) P
REPARED FOOD.— 16
(A) I
N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘prepared 17
food’’ means food or beverages that— 18
(i) are cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, 19
brewed, frozen, heated, squeezed, com-20
bined, or otherwise prepared on the prem-21
ises of a food service provider for imme-22
diate consumption; and 23
(ii) require no further preparation to 24
be consumed. 25
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(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘prepared 1
food’’ includes ready-to-eat takeout foods and 2
beverages described in subparagraph (A). 3
(14) R
ETAILER.—The term ‘‘retailer’’ means 4
any person that sells, supplies, or offers to con-5
sumers covered polystyrene foam ware. 6
SEC. 3. BAN ON EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 7
WARE, LOOSE FILL, AND COOLERS. 8
(a) E
XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOODSERVICE 9
W
ARE.—Beginning on January 1, 2028, no food service 10
provider, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall sell, 11
offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene food 12
service ware. 13
(b) E
XPANDEDPOLYSTYRENELOOSEFILL ANDEX-14
PANDEDPOLYSTYRENECOOLERS.—Beginning on Janu-15
ary 1, 2028, no manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall 16
sell, offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene loose 17
fill or expanded polystyrene coolers. 18
SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 19
(a) W
RITTENNOTIFICATION FOR FIRSTVIOLA-20
TION.—If a food service provider, manufacturer, dis-21
tributor, or retailer violates section 3, the Administrator 22
shall provide that food service provider, manufacturer, dis-23
tributor, or retailer with written notification regarding the 24
violation. 25
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(b) SUBSEQUENTVIOLATIONS.— 1
(1) I
N GENERAL.—If a food service provider, 2
manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, subsequent to 3
receiving a written notification under subsection (a), 4
violates section 3 again, the Administrator shall im-5
pose a civil penalty on the food service provider, 6
manufacturer, distributor, or retailer in accordance 7
with this subsection. 8
(2) A
MOUNT OF PENALTY .—For each violation 9
described in paragraph (1), the amount of the civil 10
penalty under that paragraph shall be— 11
(A) in the case of the second violation, 12
$250; 13
(B) in the case of the third violation, $500; 14
and 15
(C) in the case of the fourth, and any sub-16
sequent, violation, $1,000. 17
(3) L
IMITATIONS.— 18
(A) F
OOD SERVICE PROVIDERS ; RETAIL-19
ERS.—In the case of a food service provider or 20
retailer the annual revenue of which is less than 21
$1,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 22
under this subsection more than once during 23
any 7-day period. 24
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(B) MANUFACTURER; DISTRIBUTORS.—In 1
the case of a manufacturer or distributor the 2
annual revenue of which is less than 3
$5,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 4
under this subsection more than once during 5
any 7-day period. 6
(c) S
TATEENFORCEMENT.—The Administrator may 7
permit a State to carry out enforcement under this section 8
if the Administrator determines that the State meets such 9
requirements as the Administrator may establish. 10
SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 11
The Administrator may promulgate such regulations 12
as the Administrator determines necessary to carry out 13
this Act. 14
Æ
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