U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) joined his House Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues on Wednesday in a bipartisan vote against microbead products that are polluting the Great Lakes.
Upton is an original cosponsor of the bipartisan H.R. 1321 – the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 – along with Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ).
“Microbeads may be tiny plastic – but they are big time pollution, especially for our Great Lakes,” Upton, the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, said. “Today’s unanimous approval of this critical bipartisan bill will protect Lake Michigan and all of our waters from these pesky pieces of plastic. On their own, microbeads are nearly invisible, but once they’ve been flushed down the drain is where the trouble begins. Microbeads are causing mega-problems, and we’re going to fix it.”
Under H.R. 1321, microbeads that rinse off from cosmetic products would be banned starting on July 1, 2017, with a ban on the manufacture of over-the-counter drugs and on sales of cosmetics with microbeads beginning on July 1, 2018. A ban on the sale of over-the-counter drugs with microbeads would take effect on July 1, 2019.
The legislation is expected to be taken up for consideration on the House floor in the near future.
The act is also supported by the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
“This legislation will protect the Great Lakes from plastic microbeads that are fouling our waters and contaminating fish,” Vice President of Policy at the Alliance for the Great Lakes Molly M. Flanagan said. “Thank you to Congressmen Pallone and Upton for their leadership in solving this national problem.”