Bill Text: NJ SCR136 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges federal government to take action to require manufacturers of single-use plastic products to assume responsibility for pollution caused by those products.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-11-26 - Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee [SCR136 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-SCR136-Introduced.html
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 136
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED SEPTEMBER 17, 2018
Sponsored by:
Senator BOB SMITH
District 17 (Middlesex and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Urges federal government to take action to require manufacturers of single-use plastic products to assume responsibility for pollution caused by those products.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution urging the federal government to take all available actions to hold manufacturers of single-use plastic products responsible for pollution caused by those products.
Whereas, Single-use plastics can be defined as plastic packaging and other consumer products that are designed to be used once and discarded, and include, but are not limited to, bags, bottles, cups, lids, straws, stirrers, and utensils, as well as plastic film wraps and packaging; and
Whereas, Single-use plastics are certainly convenient; however, after they serve their original purpose and are discarded, they have significant negative impacts on the environment and public health; and
Whereas, While some single-use plastics may be recycled, plastic bag recycling is highly specialized, and significant volumes of single-use plastics are disposed of as trash, ending up in landfills or at incinerators, or become litter, blocking drainage systems, polluting waterways and marine waters, and endangering fish, wildlife, and human health; and
Whereas, Because plastic products typically do not biodegrade, but instead break into smaller pieces, these materials continue to accumulate in the natural environment, and in the marine environment as single-use plastic products break down, they degrade into smaller and smaller pieces, referred to as microplastics, which in are eaten by fish and other marine life, which then can enter the human food chain; and
Whereas, When plastic bags are put into most conventional recycling bins, the bags jam and damage the recycling machinery increasing labor costs, requiring expensive machinery repairs, and increasing the costs of the recycling process for more profitable materials; and
Whereas, When plastic bags are thrown away and end up in landfills, they negatively impact the environment by taking up valuable space, not decomposing effectively, and becoming unsightly airborne rubbish at the landfill, requiring special covering or fencing to try to capture them to prevent them from becoming unsightly litter that can end up in waterways; and
Whereas, When plastic bags reach the ocean or other sensitive environments, they impact tourism, fishing, and shipping industries, endanger or kill wildlife, and degrade water quality; and
Whereas, In New Jersey alone, approximately one million tons of plastic waste is generated annually, of which approximately 58 percent goes to landfills and 28 percent is incinerated; and
Whereas, Plastic manufacture is the third largest manufacturing industry in the country, and manufacturers of single-use plastic products enjoy the financial benefits from the sale of these products but do not assume any of the costs or responsibility associated with the after-life of, or the environmental damage caused by, the products; and
Whereas, Manufacturers should be held responsible for the environmental and economic costs associated with their products and be required to develop a waste management approach that promotes sustainability, efficient resource management, and mitigation of climate change; and
Whereas, Strong action at the federal level would assist states throughout the country in dealing with the significant environmental and public health issues associated with single-use plastic products; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):
1. The federal government is urged to take all available action to hold manufacturers of single-use plastic products responsible for pollution caused by the use and disposal of those plastic products.
a. The Congress and President of the United States are urged to enact federal legislation requiring manufacturer responsibility for single-use plastic products.
b. The Attorney General of the United States is urged to take action to institute litigation against manufacturers of single-use plastic products to recoup clean-up costs, water filtration expenses, and damages to natural resources caused by discarded single-use plastic products.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the President and Vice-President of the United States, the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, the United States Attorney General, the Administrator of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Governor and Attorney General of the State of New Jersey, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and every member of Congress elected from the State of New Jersey.
STATEMENT
This concurrent resolution urges the federal government to take all available action to hold manufacturers of single-use plastic products responsible for the pollution caused by the use and disposal of those plastic products. The Congress and President of the United States are urged to enact federal legislation requiring manufacturer responsibility for single-use plastic products. Further, the Attorney General of the United States is urged, where appropriate, to take action to institute litigation against manufacturers of single-use plastic products to recoup clean-up costs, water filtration expenses, and damages to natural resources caused by discarded single-use plastic products.
