# Understanding the Reducing Waste in National Parks Act

This bill asks the National Park Service to cut down on single-use plastic products in America's national parks. Specifically, it targets items like plastic water bottles, plastic bags, foam food containers, and plastic plates and utensils that parks currently sell or give out to visitors. The goal is to reduce the amount of trash ending up in these natural areas while encouraging visitors to bring their own reusable containers.

The bill doesn't ban these products outright, but instead requires park officials to figure out the best way to phase them out in each park. When making these decisions, they need to consider practical concerns like whether the park has enough water refill stations, what it would cost to install and maintain them, how it might affect the businesses that operate concessions in the parks, and whether visitors would have safe access to drinking water. Parks that have already stopped selling bottled water can continue doing so, while others get flexibility to move at their own pace based on their specific situation.

To make this work smoothly, parks would need to educate visitors before they arrive about bringing their own water bottles and explain why the park is making this change. Every two years, parks would evaluate how the program is going by checking visitor satisfaction, tracking whether people are actually buying fewer plastic products, and making sure no one is getting sick from lack of access to clean water. The bill essentially tries to balance environmental goals with practical concerns about visitor safety and the economics of running a national park.

Reducing Waste in National Parks Act

Quigley, Mike

Reducing Waste in National Parks Act This bill directs the National Park Service to establish a program for the National Park System to reduce disposable plastic products and, if applicable, eliminate the sale and distribution of disposable plastic products. Each regional office of the National Park Service must eliminate the sale of water in disposable plastic products and the sale and distribution of other disposable plastic products after consideration of several specified factors (e.g., the costs and benefits to overall operations). Each regional office must develop a proactive visitor education strategy to address visitor expectations of water availability and explain the rationale for the program and its implementation.