Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB897 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 897
5	5	To prohibit the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene food service
6	6	ware, expanded polystyrene loose fill, and expanded polystyrene coolers,
7	7	and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	MARCH6, 2025
10	10	Mr. V
11	11	ANHOLLEN(for himself, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. DUR-
12	12	BIN, Mr. KING, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. SAND-
13	13	ERS, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the fol-
14	14	lowing bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Com-
15	15	merce, Science, and Transportation
16	16	A BILL
17	17	To prohibit the sale and distribution of expanded polystyrene
18	18	food service ware, expanded polystyrene loose fill, and
19	19	expanded polystyrene coolers, and for other purposes.
20	20	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
21	21	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
22	22	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
23	23	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Farewell to Foam Act 4
24	24	of 2025’’. 5
25	25	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6
26	26	In this Act: 7
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30	30	(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-1
31	31	trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-2
32	32	mental Protection Agency. 3
33	33	(2) B
34	34	IOLOGICAL PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘biologi-4
35	35	cal product’’ has the meaning given the term in sec-5
36	36	tion 351(i) of the Public Health Service Act (42 6
37	37	U.S.C. 262(i)). 7
38	38	(3) C
39	39	OVERED POLYSTYRENE FOAM WARE .—The 8
40	40	term ‘‘covered polystyrene foam ware’’ means— 9
41	41	(A) an expanded polystyrene cooler; 10
42	42	(B) an expanded polystyrene food service 11
43	43	ware; and 12
44	44	(C) expanded polystyrene loose fill. 13
45	45	(4) D
46	46	ISTRIBUTOR.—The term ‘‘distributor’’ 14
47	47	means any person that distributes covered poly-15
48	48	styrene foam ware that is sold or offered for sale in 16
49	49	the United States. 17
50	50	(5) D
51	51	RUG.—The term ‘‘drug’’ has the meaning 18
52	52	given the term in section 201 of the Federal Food, 19
53	53	Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 20
54	54	(6) E
55	55	XPANDED POLYSTYRENE .—The term ‘‘ex-21
56	56	panded polystyrene’’ means blown polystyrene and 22
57	57	expanded or extruded foams that are thermoplastic 23
58	58	petrochemical materials utilizing a styrene monomer 24
59	59	and processed by any technique or combination of 25
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63	63	techniques, including fusion of polymer spheres (ex-1
64	64	pandable bead polystyrene), injection molding, foam 2
65	65	molding, and extrusion-blow molding (extruded foam 3
66	66	polystyrene). 4
67	67	(7) E
68	68	XPANDED POLYSTYRENE COOLER .— 5
69	69	(A) I
70	70	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 6
71	71	polystyrene cooler’’ means a portable container 7
72	72	made entirely or partially of expanded poly-8
73	73	styrene that is designed or intended to be used 9
74	74	for cold storage. 10
75	75	(B) E
76	76	XCLUSION.—The term ‘‘expanded 11
77	77	polystyrene cooler’’ excludes portable containers 12
78	78	intended to be used for drugs, medical devices, 13
79	79	or biological products. 14
80	80	(8) E
81	81	XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 15
82	82	WARE.— 16
83	83	(A) I
84	84	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘expanded 17
85	85	polystyrene food service ware’’ means a product 18
86	86	made of expanded polystyrene that is— 19
87	87	(i) used for selling or providing food 20
88	88	or beverages; and 21
89	89	(ii)(I) intended by the manufacturer 22
90	90	to be used once for eating or drinking; or 23
91	91	(II) generally recognized by the public 24
92	92	as an item to be discarded after 1 use. 25
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96	96	(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘expanded 1
97	97	polystyrene food service ware’’ includes any 2
98	98	product described in subparagraph (A) con-3
99	99	sisting of a bowl, plate, hot or cold beverage 4
100	100	cup, lid, clamshell, tray, carton for eggs or 5
101	101	other food, or any other item used for serving 6
102	102	or containing prepared food, including takeout 7
103	103	food and leftovers from partially consumed 8
104	104	meals prepared by food vendors. 9
105	105	(9) E
106	106	XPANDED POLYSTYRENE LOOSE FILL .— 10
107	107	The term ‘‘expanded polystyrene loose fill’’ means a 11
108	108	void-filling packaging product made of expanded pol-12
109	109	ystyrene foam that is used as a packaging fill (com-13
110	110	monly referred to as ‘‘packing peanuts’’). 14
111	111	(10) F
112	112	OOD SERVICE PROVIDER .—The term 15
113	113	‘‘food service provider’’ means a person engaged in 16
114	114	the business of selling or distributing prepared food 17
115	115	or beverages for on-premise or off-premise consump-18
116	116	tion, including any— 19
117	117	(A) food service establishment, caterer, 20
118	118	temporary food service establishment, mobile 21
119	119	food service establishment, and pushcart; 22
120	120	(B) retail food store; 23
121	121	(C) delicatessen; 24
122	122	(D) grocery store; 25
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126	126	(E) restaurant; 1
127	127	(F) cafeteria; 2
128	128	(G) coffee shop; 3
129	129	(H) hospital, adult care facility, and nurs-4
130	130	ing home; and 5
131	131	(I) elementary or secondary school, college, 6
132	132	and university. 7
133	133	(11) M
134	134	ANUFACTURER.—The term ‘‘manufac-8
135	135	turer’’ means any person that manufactures or im-9
136	136	ports covered polystyrene foam ware that is sold, of-10
137	137	fered for sale, or distributed in the United States. 11
138	138	(12) M
139	139	EDICAL DEVICE.—The term ‘‘medical de-12
140	140	vice’’ has the meaning given the term ‘‘device’’ in 13
141	141	section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cos-14
142	142	metic Act (21 U.S.C. 321). 15
143	143	(13) P
144	144	REPARED FOOD.— 16
145	145	(A) I
146	146	N GENERAL.—The term ‘‘prepared 17
147	147	food’’ means food or beverages that— 18
148	148	(i) are cooked, chopped, sliced, mixed, 19
149	149	brewed, frozen, heated, squeezed, com-20
150	150	bined, or otherwise prepared on the prem-21
151	151	ises of a food service provider for imme-22
152	152	diate consumption; and 23
153	153	(ii) require no further preparation to 24
154	154	be consumed. 25
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158	158	(B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘prepared 1
159	159	food’’ includes ready-to-eat takeout foods and 2
160	160	beverages described in subparagraph (A). 3
161	161	(14) R
162	162	ETAILER.—The term ‘‘retailer’’ means 4
163	163	any person that sells, supplies, or offers to con-5
164	164	sumers covered polystyrene foam ware. 6
165	165	SEC. 3. BAN ON EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOOD SERVICE 7
166	166	WARE, LOOSE FILL, AND COOLERS. 8
167	167	(a) E
168	168	XPANDED POLYSTYRENE FOODSERVICE 9
169	169	W
170	170	ARE.—Beginning on January 1, 2028, no food service 10
171	171	provider, manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall sell, 11
172	172	offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene food 12
173	173	service ware. 13
174	174	(b) E
175	175	XPANDEDPOLYSTYRENELOOSEFILL ANDEX-14
176	176	PANDEDPOLYSTYRENECOOLERS.—Beginning on Janu-15
177	177	ary 1, 2028, no manufacturer, distributor, or retailer shall 16
178	178	sell, offer for sale, or distribute expanded polystyrene loose 17
179	179	fill or expanded polystyrene coolers. 18
180	180	SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT. 19
181	181	(a) W
182	182	RITTENNOTIFICATION FOR FIRSTVIOLA-20
183	183	TION.—If a food service provider, manufacturer, dis-21
184	184	tributor, or retailer violates section 3, the Administrator 22
185	185	shall provide that food service provider, manufacturer, dis-23
186	186	tributor, or retailer with written notification regarding the 24
187	187	violation. 25
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191	191	(b) SUBSEQUENTVIOLATIONS.— 1
192	192	(1) I
193	193	N GENERAL.—If a food service provider, 2
194	194	manufacturer, distributor, or retailer, subsequent to 3
195	195	receiving a written notification under subsection (a), 4
196	196	violates section 3 again, the Administrator shall im-5
197	197	pose a civil penalty on the food service provider, 6
198	198	manufacturer, distributor, or retailer in accordance 7
199	199	with this subsection. 8
200	200	(2) A
201	201	MOUNT OF PENALTY .—For each violation 9
202	202	described in paragraph (1), the amount of the civil 10
203	203	penalty under that paragraph shall be— 11
204	204	(A) in the case of the second violation, 12
205	205	$250; 13
206	206	(B) in the case of the third violation, $500; 14
207	207	and 15
208	208	(C) in the case of the fourth, and any sub-16
209	209	sequent, violation, $1,000. 17
210	210	(3) L
211	211	IMITATIONS.— 18
212	212	(A) F
213	213	OOD SERVICE PROVIDERS ; RETAIL-19
214	214	ERS.—In the case of a food service provider or 20
215	215	retailer the annual revenue of which is less than 21
216	216	$1,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 22
217	217	under this subsection more than once during 23
218	218	any 7-day period. 24
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222	222	(B) MANUFACTURER; DISTRIBUTORS.—In 1
223	223	the case of a manufacturer or distributor the 2
224	224	annual revenue of which is less than 3
225	225	$5,000,000, a penalty shall not be imposed 4
226	226	under this subsection more than once during 5
227	227	any 7-day period. 6
228	228	(c) S
229	229	TATEENFORCEMENT.—The Administrator may 7
230	230	permit a State to carry out enforcement under this section 8
231	231	if the Administrator determines that the State meets such 9
232	232	requirements as the Administrator may establish. 10
233	233	SEC. 5. REGULATIONS. 11
234	234	The Administrator may promulgate such regulations 12
235	235	as the Administrator determines necessary to carry out 13
236	236	this Act. 14
237	237	Æ
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