,,ii  #aaith ,,congress  #ast ,session  
,s4 #aibf  ,,in ,,the ,,senate ,,of     
,,the ,,united ,,states  ,june #b1 #bjbe
 ,mr4 ,merkley 7for himself1 ,ms4       
,duckworth1 ,mr4 ,fetterman1 ,mr4       
,murphy1 ,mr4 ,sanders1 ,mr4 ,van       
,hollen1 ,ms4 ,warren1 ,mr4 ,whitehouse1
 ,mr4 ,wyden1 and ,mr4 ,blumenthal7     
introduced the following bill2 which was
 read twice and referred to the         
,committee on ,energy and ,natural      
,resources  ,a ,,bill  ,to encourage    
reduction of disposable plastic products
 in units of the ,national ,park        
,system1 and for other purposes4  #a4   
,short title  ,this ,act may be cited as
 the ,reducing ,waste in ,national      
,parks ,act4  #b4  ,disposable plastic  
products reduction in units of the      
,national ,park ,system  7a7  ,program  
for reduction of disposable plastic     
products in units of the ,,nps  ,not    
later than #ahj days after the date of  
the enactment of this ,act1 the         
,director shall establish1 for the      

,national ,park ,system a program for   
reduction of disposable plastic products
 and1 if applicable1 elimination of the 
sale and distribution of disposable     
plastic products under subsection 7b74  
,each regional director shall implement 
the plan for park units in their region4
  7b7  ,elimination of sale and         
distribution of disposable plastic      
products  7#a7  ,in general  ,each      
regional director concerned shall       
eliminate the sale of water in          
disposable plastic products and the sale
 and distribution of other disposable   
plastic products to the greatest extent 
feasible in the relevant unit of the    
,national ,park ,system after           
consideration of the following factors1 
when applicable1 with respect to the    
relevant unit3  7,a7 ,the costs and     
benefits to the overall operations4     
7,b7 ,the amount of waste that would be 
eliminated4  7,c7 ,the infrastructure   
costs and funding sources for bottle    
refill stations4  7,d7 ,any contractual 

implications with respect to            
concessioners1 including considerations 
of new leaseholder surrender interest or
 possessory interest4  7,e7 ,the        
operational costs of bottle refill      
stations1 including utilities and       
regular public health testing4  7,f7    
,the cost and availability of bisphenol 
,a-free reusable containers4  7,g7 ,the 
effect on concessioner and cooperation  
association sales revenue4  7,h7 ,the   
availability of water within concession 
food service operations4  7,i7 ,the     
ability to provide visitor education in 
the unit and online so that visitors may
 come prepared with their own water     
bottles4  7,j7 ,input from the ,national
 ,park ,service ,office of ,public      
,health4  7,k7 ,the feasibility of      
posting signs so that visitors can      
easily find bottle refill stations4     
7,l7 ,safety considerations for visitors
 who may resort to not carrying enough  
water or drinking from surface water    
sources with potential exposure to      

disease4  7,m7 ,any input from          
concessioners and cooperating           
associations within the relevant unit4  
7#b7  ,units of ,,nps previously        
eliminated sale of water in disposable  
plastic products  ,with respect to a    
unit of the ,national ,park ,system that
 did not offer for sale water in        
disposable plastic products before the  
date of the enactment of this ,act1 the 
applicable superintendent of the        
relevant unit may continue to not offer 
for sale water in disposable plastic    
bottles4  7c7  ,proactive visitor       
education strategy  ,each regional      
director concerned shall develop for the
 relevant unit of the ,national ,park   
,system a proactive visitor education   
strategy to address visitor expectations
 of water availability and explain the  
rationale for the program and its       
implementation in the relevant unit4    
7d7  ,continuity within unit of the     
,,nps  ,each regional director concerned
 shall1 to the extent possible1         

implement the program in a manner that  
is consistent throughout the relevant   
unit of the ,national ,park ,system1    
including incorporation of such program 
into any agreement with an organization 
operating within the relevant unit1     
including a concessioner operating plan 
and cooperating association scope of    
sales4  7e7  ,biennial evaluation  ,each
 regional director concerned shall1 not 
less than once every #b years--  7#a7   
conduct an evaluation of the program for
 the relevant unit of the ,national     
,park ,system1 including--  7,a7 public 
response to the program2  7,b7 visitor  
satisfaction with the availability of   
water2  7,c7 buying behavior with       
respect to products sold in disposable  
plastic products2  7,d7 public safety   
including information on cases of       
dehydration or exposure to disease from 
drinking from surface water2 and  7,e7  
disposable plastic bottle collection    
rates2 and  7#b7 submit the evaluation  
to the ,director and the ,secretary of  

the ,interior4  7f7  ,definitions  ,for 
the purposes of this ,act-- 7#a7 the    
term ,director means the ,director of   
the ,national ,park ,service2  7#b7 the 
term disposable plastic products        
includes--  7,a7 disposable plastic     
beverage bottles2  7,b7 carryout bags   
made from film plastic2  7,c7 plastic   
food ware1 including plastic food ware  
products marketed as compostable or     
biodegradable2 and  7,d7 expanded       
polystyrene products2  7#c7 the term    
program means the program for recycling 
and reduction of disposable plastic     
products established under subsection   
7a72 and  7#d7 the term regional        
director concerned means1 with respect  
to a unit of the ,national ,park        
,system1 the regional director of the   
region of the ,national ,park ,system in
 which the relevant unit is located1    
working in coordination with the        
superintendent of such unit4