Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 101 Part 3.djvu/168

 101 STAT. 1466

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PUBLIC LAW 100-220—DEC. 29, 1987

and by standardizing types of plastic materials, taking into account trade secrets and protection of public health; (C) incentives, including deposits on plastic containers, to increase the supply of plastic material for recycling and to decrease the amount of plastic debris, especially in the marine environment; (D) the effect of existing tax laws on the manufacture and distribution of virgin plastic materials as compared with recycled plastic materials; and (E) recommendations on incentives and other measures to promote new uses for recycled plastic articles and to encours^e or require manufacturers of plastic articles to consider re-use and recycling in product design. (6) An evaluation of the feasibility of making the articles identified under paragraph (1) from degradable plastics materials, taking into account— (A) the risk to humsui health and the environment that may be presented by fragments of degradable plastic articles and the properties of the end-products of the degradation, including biotoxicity, bioaccumulation, persistence, and environmental fate; (B) the efficiency and variability of degradation due to differing environmental and biological conditions; and (C) the cost and benefits of using degradable articles, including the duration for which such articles were designed to remain intact. (c) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the study required by this section, the Administrator shall consult with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, representatives of affected industries, consumer and environment interest groups, and the public. (d) REPORT.—Within 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall report to the Congress the results of the study required by this section, including recommendations in connection therewith. SEC. 2203. EFFECTS OF PLASTIC ENVIRONMENT.

MATERIALS

ON

THE

MARINE

Reports.

Not later than September 30, 1988, the Secretary of Commerce shall submit to the Congress a report on the effects of plastic materials on the marine environment. The report shall— (1) identify and quantify the harmful effects of plastic materials on the marine environment; (2) assess the specific effects of plastic materials on living marine resources in the marine environment; (3) identify the types and classes of plastic materials that pose the greatest potential hazard to living marine resources; (4) Emalyze, in consultation with the Director of the National Bureau of Standards, plastic materials which are claimed to be capable of reduction to environmentally benign submits under the action of normal environmental forces (including biological decomposition, photodegradation, and hydrolysis); and (5) recommend legislation which is necessary to prohibit, tax, or regulate sources of plastic materials that enter the marine environment.

42 USC 6981

SEC. 2204. PLASTIC POLLUTION PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM.

(a) OUTREACH PROGRAM.—

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