§6966d Consumer recycling education and outreach grant program; Federal procurement

Summary

Creates a program at the Environmental Protection Agency to give competitive grants to groups that teach the public about residential and community recycling. The EPA Administrator (the head of EPA) runs the program. Grants go to improve recycling by telling people what can be recycled, how their local program works, and by raising collection and lowering contamination. Eligible applicants include States, local governments, Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, nonprofits, and public‑private partnerships. Two or more of those groups can apply together to explain differences between multiple recycling programs. Applicants must show the money will help collect recyclables that are sold to existing or developing markets; they can give business plans or financial data to prove this, and the EPA will keep those documents confidential. Grant money can pay for public service announcements, door‑to‑door outreach, social media, ads, toolkits, business outreach, bin labeling, and other education work the EPA approves. Funds cannot be used for programs that mix trash and recyclables unless the money is helping move the area to a system that separates them, and grants cannot promote switching to a system that mixes them. The EPA must create a model toolkit with common terms, best practices, training, consumer materials, and a guide to measure results. Grantees must report results between 180 days and 2 years after a grant, and the EPA must send an annual report to Congress. Congress authorized $15,000,000 each year for fiscal years 2022 through 2026, and at least 20% of each year’s money must go to low‑income, rural, and Native American communities.