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Plastic Pollution Control Act of 1987

Public Law 100-556 · S. 1986 · 100th Congress · began in the Senate

Signed by Ronald Reagan (R) on Oct 28, 1988 · Environmental Protection

Sponsor: Sen. Quentin Burdick (D-ND)

Cosponsors: None

Passage votes

  • HouseVoice vote
  • SenateVoice vote
Data notes

The final version of the law, as each chamber passed it. A chamber that passed it by voice vote or unanimous consent has no count. “Method not stated” means the record does not say how the chamber voted. Where the record has a member-by-member vote, the “Who voted for it” section shows who voted yea.

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Summary

The Congressional Research Service’s plain-language summary of what the law does.

Title I: Degradable Plastic Ring Carriers - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to require, within two years of this Act's enactment, if feasible, that plastic ring carriers (such as those on canned beverage six-packs) which are capable, when discarded, of becoming entangled with fish or wildlife be made of naturally degradable material.

Title II: San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge - Amends Federal law establishing the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge to expand the boundaries of such refuge to include specified additional lands, marshes, tidal flats, salt ponds, submerged lands, and open waters in the San Francisco Bay Area. Authorizes appropriations for such expansion.

Committees

The committees the bill was sent to, and what each did with it.

  • Energy and Commerce Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Transportation, Tourism, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee
  • Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee · House · discharged from, referred toSubcommittee: Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment Subcommittee
  • Environment and Public Works Committee · Senate · reported original measure
Data notes

A committee links to its page only where it exists in the current Congress; older and renamed committees are named without a link.

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Timeline

From introduction to signing, newest first: the committees, the floor and the president. 17 actions.

  1. Oct 28, 1988Became lawBecame law · Became Public Law No: 100-556.
  2. Became lawBecame law · Signed by President.
  3. Oct 20, 1988PresidentPresident · Presented to President.
  4. Oct 14, 1988Resolving differencesResolving differences · Senate agreed to the House amendments by Voice Vote.
  5. Oct 4, 1988FloorFloor · Passed House (Amended) by Voice Vote.
  6. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Energy and Commerce Committee
  7. CommitteeCommittee · Discharged from House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  8. Jul 26, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Transportation, Tourism, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  9. CommitteeCommittee · Hearings by Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  10. May 26, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation and the Environment Subcommittee of the House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  11. May 24, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to Transportation, Tourism, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
  12. May 17, 1988CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Energy and Commerce Committee
  13. CommitteeCommittee · Referred to House Merchant Marine and Fisheries Committee
  14. May 13, 1988FloorFloor · Passed Senate with an amendment by Voice Vote.
  15. FloorFloor · Measure laid before Senate by unanimous consent.
  16. Dec 21, 1987CommitteeCommittee · Reported original measure by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee
  17. IntroducedIntroduced · Introduced in the Senate
Data notes

Shows the introduction, each committee and subcommittee step the source dates (referral, hearings, markup, report, discharge), and the floor, conference, presidential and became-law steps. Calendar placements, messages between the chambers, amendments and committee report numbers are not shown for laws before the 108th Congress. Two entries the source lists twice are shown once.

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Official record

The bill’s full text and every action, including introduction and committee steps, are on Congress.gov. Data through Oct 7, 2026.