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Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act
To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate certain limitations with respect to pre-production plastic pellet pollution, and for other purposes.
Summary
This bill requires the Environmental Protection Agency to issue regulations within 60 days that prohibit the discharge of plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic materials into wastewater and runoff from facilities that produce, use, package, or transport these materials. The regulations must apply to plastic polymer production facilities, plastic molding facilities, and other point sources that handle pre-production plastics. The prohibition must be included in all water discharge permits issued under the Clean Water Act and in all applicable performance standards for such facilities. The bill aims to prevent plastic pellets from entering waterways from industrial sources that handle these materials.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
- Rep. Levin, Mike [D-CA-49] (D-CA)
63 cosponsors
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC)
- Rep. Barragán, Nanette Diaz [D-CA-44] (D-CA)
- Rep. Bonamici, Suzanne [D-OR-1] (D-OR)
- Rep. Carbajal, Salud O. [D-CA-24] (D-CA)
- Rep. Carson, André [D-IN-7] (D-IN)
- Rep. Carter, Troy A. [D-LA-2] (D-LA)
- Rep. Casten, Sean [D-IL-6] (D-IL)
- Rep. Castor, Kathy [D-FL-14] (D-FL)
- Rep. Castro, Joaquin [D-TX-20] (D-TX)
- Rep. Chu, Judy [D-CA-28] (D-CA)
- Rep. Cohen, Steve [D-TN-9] (D-TN)
- Rep. Crockett, Jasmine [D-TX-30] (D-TX)
- Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] (D-KS)
- Rep. Dean, Madeleine [D-PA-4] (D-PA)
- Rep. DeSaulnier, Mark [D-CA-10] (D-CA)
- Rep. Evans, Dwight [D-PA-3] (D-PA)
- Rep. García, Jesús G. "Chuy" [D-IL-4] (D-IL)
- Rep. Horsford, Steven [D-NV-4] (D-NV)
- Rep. Huffman, Jared [D-CA-2] (D-CA)
- Rep. Jacobs, Sara [D-CA-51] (D-CA)
- Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7] (D-WA)
- Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37] (D-CA)
- Rep. Keating, William R. [D-MA-9] (D-MA)
- Rep. Kennedy, Timothy M. [D-NY-26] (D-NY)
- Rep. Krishnamoorthi, Raja [D-IL-8] (D-IL)
- Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1] (D-CT)
- Rep. Lieu, Ted [D-CA-36] (D-CA)
- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA)
- Rep. Lynch, Stephen F. [D-MA-8] (D-MA)
- Rep. Magaziner, Seth [D-RI-2] (D-RI)
- Rep. Matsui, Doris O. [D-CA-7] (D-CA)
- Rep. McClellan, Jennifer L. [D-VA-4] (D-VA)
- Rep. McCollum, Betty [D-MN-4] (D-MN)
- Rep. McGovern, James P. [D-MA-2] (D-MA)
- Rep. Min, Dave [D-CA-47] (D-CA)
- Rep. Moskowitz, Jared [D-FL-23] (D-FL)
- Rep. Moulton, Seth [D-MA-6] (D-MA)
- Rep. Mullin, Kevin [D-CA-15] (D-CA)
- Rep. Neguse, Joe [D-CO-2] (D-CO)
- Rep. Pallone, Frank [D-NJ-6] (D-NJ)
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME)
- Rep. Quigley, Mike [D-IL-5] (D-IL)
- Rep. Ramirez, Delia C. [D-IL-3] (D-IL)
- Rep. Ruiz, Raul [D-CA-25] (D-CA)
- Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR)
- Rep. Sánchez, Linda T. [D-CA-38] (D-CA)
- Rep. Scanlon, Mary Gay [D-PA-5] (D-PA)
- Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] (D-IL)
- Rep. Scholten, Hillary J. [D-MI-3] (D-MI)
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA)
- Rep. Simon, Lateefah [D-CA-12] (D-CA)
- Rep. Smith, Adam [D-WA-9] (D-WA)
- Rep. Stansbury, Melanie A. [D-NM-1] (D-NM)
- Rep. Thompson, Mike [D-CA-4] (D-CA)
- Rep. Tlaib, Rashida [D-MI-12] (D-MI)
- Rep. Tokuda, Jill N. [D-HI-2] (D-HI)
- Rep. Tonko, Paul [D-NY-20] (D-NY)
- Rep. Torres, Ritchie [D-NY-15] (D-NY)
- Rep. Vargas, Juan [D-CA-52] (D-CA)
- Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)
- Rep. Walkinshaw, James R. [D-VA-11] (D-VA)
- Rep. Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [D-FL-25] (D-FL)
- Rep. Watson Coleman, Bonnie [D-NJ-12] (D-NJ)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Mike Levin’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- NULL $64,547
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO $18,365
- GOOGLE $14,450
- CHEMBRIDGE CORP $13,200
- PIMCO $13,200
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Mike Levin → · Outside spending →
Actions (3)
- Feb 13, 2026 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. · house
- Feb 12, 2026 Referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. · house
- Feb 12, 2026 Introduced in House
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
February 12, 2026
Mr. Levin (for himself, Ms. Scholten, Ms. Davids of Kansas, Ms. Bonamici, Mr. Kennedy of New York, Mr. Mullin, Ms. Castor of Florida, Mr. Magaziner, Mr. Moulton, Mr. Moskowitz, Mr. Tonko, Mr. Carbajal, Ms. Sanchez, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Cohen, Ms. McClellan, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. Pingree, Mr. Lynch, Mr. McGovern, Ms. Jayapal, Mrs. Ramirez, Mr. Keating, Mr. Carson, Mr. Krishnamoorthi, Ms. Schakowsky, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Carter of Louisiana, Mr. Quigley, Ms. Chu, Ms. Matsui, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Evans of Pennsylvania, and Mr. DeSaulnier) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
A BILL
To require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate certain limitations with respect to pre-production plastic pellet pollution, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the “Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act”.
SEC. 2. EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS FOR WASTEWATER, SPILLS, AND RUNOFF FROM PLASTIC POLYMER PRODUCTION FACILITIES, PLASTIC MOLDING AND FORMING FACILITIES, AND OTHER POINT SOURCES ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRANSPORT AND PACKAGING OF PLASTIC PELLETS OR OTHER PRE-PRODUCTION PLASTIC MATERIALS.
Not later than 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (referred to in this section as the “Administrator”) shall promulgate a final rule to ensure that—
(1) the discharge of plastic pellets or other pre- production plastic materials (including discharge into wastewater and other runoff) from facilities regulated under part 414 or 463 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of this Act), is prohibited;
(2) the discharge of plastic pellets or other pre- production plastic materials (including discharge into wastewater and other runoff) from a point source (as defined in section 502 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)) that makes, uses, packages, or transports those plastic pellets and other pre-production plastic materials is prohibited; and
(3) the requirements under paragraphs (1) and (2) are reflected in—
(A) all wastewater, stormwater, and other permits issued by the Administrator and State-delegated programs under section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) to facilities and other point sources (as defined in section 502 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)) that make, use, package, or transport plastic pellets or other pre-production plastic materials, as determined by the Administrator, in addition to other applicable limits and standards; and
(B) all standards of performance promulgated under section 312(p) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1322(p)) that are applicable to point sources (as defined in section 502 of that Act (33 U.S.C. 1362)) that make, use, package, or transport plastic pellets or other pre-production plastic materials, as determined by the Administrator. <all>
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