# 119-s-4181: Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act

119-s-4181, Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL); status introduced (as of 2026-09-10).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4181
- As of: 2026-09-10
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4181
- Congress: 119
- Title: Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-03-24
- Sponsor: Sen. Durbin, Richard J. [D-IL] (D-IL)
- Cosponsors: 9
- Policy area: Environmental Protection
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-10

## Summary

**A ban on discharges of plastic pellets and other pre‑production plastic materials from regulated facilities and point sources.** This bill would require the EPA to issue a final rule within 60 days that prohibits those discharges and to put the limits into wastewater, stormwater, and other permits and into performance standards under the Clean Water Act. - Manufacturers and transporters of plastic pellets: Would be barred from discharging pellets from any point source that makes, uses, packages, or transports them and would need controls to prevent pellet runoff into wastewater or stormwater. - Facilities regulated under 40 CFR parts 414 and 463: Would see explicit permit limits aimed at eliminating pre‑production pellet discharges. - State permitting programs and EPA-issued permits under section 402 and performance standards under section 312(p) of the Clean Water Act: Would be updated to reflect the ban and broaden oversight to associated point sources.

## Cosponsors (9)

- Sen. Booker, Cory A. [D-NJ] (D-NJ), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Van Hollen, Chris [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Murphy, Christopher [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Blumenthal, Richard [D-CT] (D-CT), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Merkley, Jeff [D-OR] (D-OR), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Padilla, Alex [D-CA] (D-CA), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Shaheen, Jeanne [D-NH] (D-NH), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Duckworth, Tammy [D-IL] (D-IL), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Markey, Edward J. [D-MA] (D-MA), 2026-03-25T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- New ban for facilities handling plastic pellets: mixed, medium. This bill would require EPA to issue a final rule within 60 days of enactment. The rule would ban discharges of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic into wastewater and runoff from point sources that make, use, package, or transport those materials. The ban would explicitly cover facili…

## Related bills

- 119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act
- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act

## Sources
- [119-s-4181 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4181)

## Related
- [119-s-5066: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5066)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4181 (as of 2026-09-10).