FPA Government Affairs Update: Washington Policy Update & Legislative Roundup

Source: Flexible Packaging Association Government Affairs newsletter. This update covers federal and state policy developments affecting packaging, manufacturing, environmental compliance, and related supply chain issues.

Washington Policy Update & Legislative Roundup

Hill Status and Legislative Outlook

State-of-Play and Shrinking Margins

Legislative productivity on Capitol Hill is heavily constrained by historically narrow majorities and mounting intra-party friction. With tight margins complicating routine floor action, leadership in both chambers faces steep hurdles to advance major legislative packages without triggering procedural stalemates or defections within their own caucuses.

August & September Schedule

August Recess:

The House left town for its district work period/extended recess on July 22 and is not expected to reconvene until Sept. 2. The Senate is still scheduled to be in session until the end of next week. After that, they will not return to DC until Sept. 14.

The September Crunch:

Lawmakers face an extremely compressed calendar upon returning in September, leaving only 11 legislative days when both Chambers are in session to negotiate stopgap funding and avert a late-September fiscal crisis before attention shifts heavily to the midterm campaign cycle.

Budget Reconciliation Dynamics

Reconciliation 3.0:

Before the House left town, it passed a budget resolution that officially kicks off consideration of the proposed $95 billion Reconciliation 3.0 bill. The funding would go to defense (about $73 billion), aid for farmers (about $12 billion), and funding for states to implement more voting restrictions (about $10 billion). Notably, there are no corresponding statutory offsets, which could be challenging for the Senate. Additionally, the White House indicated that it wants Senate Republicans to broaden the House’s budget framework and potentially include a debt-limit hike covering the rest of Trump’s presidency, which would create a whole new set of problems.

Reconciliation 4.0 (In Discussion):

Because comprehensive tax provisions and major revenue adjustments were excluded in earlier reconciliation vehicles, early discussions are underway regarding a potential "Recon 4.0" package to address broader tax policy down the road. Outlook for a 4.0 package, however, is still TBD.

Fiscal Year 2027 Appropriations and Shutdown Risk

The September 30 Deadline:

The federal fiscal year closes on September 30, leaving Congress a compressed window to enact all 12 annual appropriations bills. Before leaving town for the recess, the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the federal government through Dec. 4. Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Susan Collins (R-ME) said she expects to clear a bipartisan CR before the recess, which would alleviate the threat of a government shutdown before the midterm elections.

Senate Passes Russian Sanctions Package

On July 29, the Senate overwhelmingly voted 86-12 to advance the Russia sanctions bill, championed by and honoring the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy watched the vote from the Senate gallery after addressing Senators and attending Graham’s memorial services. The package would also allow the Administration to impose up to 100 percent tariffs on the top five purchasers of Russian oil and natural gas, among other penalties.

House Energy & Commerce Committee Hearing: PACK Act and RMAA Progress

Following recent Government Affairs Committee (GAC) discussions, FPA provides the following update on the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade hearing held on July 22, 2026, which covered the PACK Act (H.R. 6832) and the Recycled Materials Attribution Act (RMAA, H.R. 7502).

Hearing Overview:

The session evaluated a dozen separate legislative proposals, which limited deep-dive discussions on individual bills. However, committee leadership delivered strong, supportive statements for both the PACK Act and RMAA.

Key Congressional Support:

Favorable remarks were registered by key panel leaders, including Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), full E&C Committee Chairman Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee Vice Chair Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-ID). Additionally, committee staff confirmed that FPA’s formal written statement was successfully entered into the official hearing record.

Industry Recognition:

Near the conclusion of the hearing, Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX), author of the PACK Act, specifically thanked the broader coalition of food manufacturers, packaging associations, and consumer advocates for their ongoing backing of the legislation.

Opposition:

Primary pushback during the hearing came from witness John Breyault of the National Consumers League (NCL), who voiced opposition to federal preemption provisions for state packaging/labeling laws and the inclusion of mass-balance accounting under the RMAA framework.

Legislative Proposals to Strengthen

Consumer Protection in a Changing Marketplace

This video records the full House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing examining the PACK Act, the Recycled Materials Attribution Act, and ten other consumer protection bills.

National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)

After initial procedural hurdles and an early recess break earlier in July, the House successfully rallied to pass its version of the new federal fiscal year National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) by a 216–212 vote. The massive defense policy package, authorizing roughly $1.15 trillion, faced stark partisan divisions over overall spending levels, military funding tied to ongoing operations regarding Iran, and attached legislative provisions.

FPA Note:

The NDAA remains a focus for the association due to its environmental provisions, particularly those concerning PFAS, and its sweeping defense supply chain impacts. With the bill now moving to the Senate, it faces a tough road ahead given the chamber's 60-vote threshold and existing friction over foreign policy and defense priorities.

Senate Agriculture Committee Advances Farm Bill Text

Following the House's passage of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026 , Senate Agriculture Committee leadership formally released the draft text for the Senate's version of the Farm Bill . More information is available here.

FPA Note:

We are actively reviewing both legislative packages to identify provisions of direct interest to FPA membership, specifically monitoring sections addressing food waste, advanced food packaging, and bio-based programs.

White House Unveils National Resilience Strategy

The administration's National Resilience Strategy establishes a centralized federal framework built on four core guiding principles: prioritize, modernize, distribute, and simplify, across national security, economic systems, public health, and critical infrastructure. The strategy emphasizes a risk-informed posture to upgrade legacy systems, secure digital and physical infrastructure against disruptions, and foster a return to federalism by aligning federal, state, local, and private sector responsibilities.

FPA Note:

The strategy explicitly focuses on strengthening domestic manufacturing capabilities and securing critical supply chains to ensure industrial surge capacity during national needs. For the association, this framework underscores a broader administration push toward localized sourcing, material safety, and industrial independence, all of which directly intersect with our member operations.

Energy and Environment

CRS Report Highlights Food Additives and GRAS Legal Framework

On June 29, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a legal report titled “Food Additives and GRAS Substances: A Legal Framework.” The report outlines the statutory background of Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) determinations and summarizes pending legislative proposals addressing food safety oversight within the 119th Congress. The report is available here.

TSCA Reform Discussions

Discussions regarding potential legislative reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) have continued within the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, though formal markup scheduling remains constrained by the limited remaining legislative days on the calendar.

Congressional Pushback on EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD)

On June 25, multiple Republican Committee Chairmen sent a letter to EU Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupsiene expressing opposition to the European Union's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) . The letter raises concerns that the directive imposes extraterritorial compliance burdens on international businesses outside the EU bloc without demonstrating commensurate regulatory benefits. The letter is available here.

FPA Note:

Regulatory compliance pressures stemming from international supply chain mandates, such as the CSDDD, are attracting increased scrutiny at the U.S. federal level.

Executive Order on Agriculture and Farm Resilience

On June 25, the administration issued an Executive Order titled “Advancing Regenerative Agriculture and Strengthening American Farm Resilience.”

Key provisions include:

Product Labeling:

Directs agencies to review available data on registered pre-harvest desiccation uses to ensure alignment with applicable safety standards and accurate chemical product labeling.

New Approach Methodologies (NAMs):

Directs the USDA, HHS, and EPA to expedite the development of a research framework addressing cumulative chemical exposures in the food supply using NAMs to evaluate human health and environmental risks. A White House fact sheet on the EO is available here.

FPA Note:

Implementation of this Executive Order warrants close monitoring, as policies governing chemical products and cumulative exposure metrics could carry regulatory implications that extend over into food packaging and GRAS-related issues.

HON Rule Exemption Presidential Proclamation

– On July 13, the White House released a Presidential proclamation titled, “Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Chemical Manufacturing Security” that grants “two years of regulatory relief from stringent Biden-era regulations that have hampered sectors vital to national security. The proclamations cover certain chemical manufacturers that produce chemicals used in semiconductor production, medical device sterilization, advanced manufacturing, and national defense systems.” More information is available here.

WRDA Advanced by Senate EPW

– On July 15, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee “voted unanimously to pass the bipartisan Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2026.” A summary of the bill is available here.

GAO Microplastics Report

– On July 15, the GAO released a report titled, “ Science & Tech Spotlight: Microplastics in the Body and Environment (GAO-26-109098).” The short report highlights some of the federal government efforts to address help address “knowledge gaps” regarding microplastics exposure. The report is available here.

CRS Report on Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding

– On July 7, CRS issued a report titled, “Clean Air Act: EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Endangerment Finding and Repeal.” The report is available here.

State Legislation & Regulations

PRIORITY STATES

New York

The New York State Legislature has passed S.1239-F / A.1556-G (the "Food Safety and Chemical Disclosure Act"), sending the measure to Governor Kathy Hochul. The legislation represents a first-of-its-kind state-level mandate requiring public disclosure and safety reporting for substances classified as "Generally Recognized as Safe" (GRAS). Crucially, the bill extends these reporting mandates not only to direct food ingredients but also to indirect additives, including food contact and packaging materials.

FPA Position:

FPA, alongside a broad coalition of manufacturing and industry stakeholders, has formally urged Governor Hochul to veto the legislation.

Core Concerns and Reasons for Opposition:

Supply Chain Disruption and Increased Consumer Costs:

By establishing a fragmented, New York-only compliance structure, the bill introduces severe friction into national packaging and food-contact supply chains. To comply, manufacturers would be forced to absorb extensive legal, scientific, and recordkeeping expenses, costs that would ultimately be passed down to New York families through higher prices, reduced product options, and potential stock availability disruptions for everyday items like beverage bottles, flexible pouches, and food containers.

Undermining Consumer Confidence:

Publicly cataloging safety data for substances already vetted under rigorous federal standards risks mischaracterizing safe materials and unfairly stigmatizing lawful packaging components essential to food preservation and safety.

Duplicative State-Level Oversight:

Food and packaging safety is already comprehensively regulated at the federal level by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) via established GRAS and food additive frameworks. Layering a conflicting state mandate over uniform federal standards creates regulatory unpredictability for interstate commerce.

Protection of Confidential Business Information:

The bill's requirement to publish extensive manufacturing specifications, exposure metrics, and proprietary safety narratives exposes sensitive commercial data to risks of reverse-engineering, threatening industry innovation and competitiveness.

California

FPA is actively monitoring several key legislative proposals moving through the California State Legislature as lawmakers

hit the home stretch of the session:

AB 2253 | Mass Balance Restrictions

FPA Position:

OPPOSE

Status:

Passed Assembly; amended and re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Update:

The bill continues to advance, posing ongoing concerns by seeking to restrict environmental marketing claims to only those where physical recycled molecules are present, threatening credit-based mass-balance accounting.

SB 1180 | Expansion of California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund

FPA Position:

OPPOSE (Unless Amended)

Status:

Passed Senate; re-referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee .

Update:

Continues to face opposition from industry coalitions over its provisions targeting chemical additives and microplastics funding via the California Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund established under SB 54, the state's packaging EPR law.

AB 1812 and SB 1031 | Compostability Overhaul

FPA Position:

MONITOR

Status:

AB 1812 amended and re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee ; SB 1031 passed the Senate and was referred to Assembly Natural Resources.

Update:

Both measures remain heavily tracked for their potential impacts on compostable polymer labeling and packaging definitions.

AB 1148 | Food Packaging: Hazardous Chemicals (Safer Food Packaging Act)

FPA Position:

OPPOSE

Status:

Amended and re-referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee .

Update:

Continues to move forward, aiming to prohibit intentionally added bisphenols, ortho-phthalates, and antimony trioxide in a wide range of food packaging formats by January 1, 2027.

Massachusetts

S. 3050 / S. 3064 / H. 5510 | Mass Ready Act (Environmental Bond Bill)

FPA Position:

OPPOSE

Status:

Passed Senate (as S. 3050/S. 3064 on April 15, 2026); Passed House with substitute amendment as H. 5510 (June 17, 2026). Currently sequestered in a conference committee as lawmakers work to bridge major differences between the two versions before the end of the formal session.

Update:

Originally introduced by Governor Maura Healey, the sweeping environmental bond bill authorizes billions in state borrowing for climate resilience, infrastructure, and environmental mitigation. The chambers remain at loggerheads over packaging provisions: while the Senate-passed version included contentious policy riders (such as a retail single-use plastic bag ban, paper bag fees, a black plastic foodservice ware ban, and a state agency purchase ban on small plastic water bottles), the House Ways and Means Committee stripped those policy measures from H. 5510 to focus purely on infrastructure funding and PFAS remediation. Meanwhile, a proposed floor amendment to explicitly ban PFAS in food packaging failed during Senate debates.

Amendment S.3178-244 | PFAS in Food Packaging

FPA Position:

OPPOSE

Status:

Filed and actively debated during late-July Senate deliberations on the economic development omnibus legislation.

Update:

FPA issued formal opposition to Amendment S.3178-244, which seeks to ban food packaging to which PFAS has been "intentionally added in any amount" beginning January 1, 2027. While supporting public health goals, FPA raised serious concerns about the amendment's absolute-threshold language, noting that the lack of a clear de minimis definition or distinction for trace background presence (such as unavoidable mechanical contact from manufacturing-line O-rings or lubricants) threatens severe supply chain disruptions. Furthermore, industry stakeholders are pushing back against the compressed 90-day compliance certificate mandate and urging alignment with workable, established state frameworks like those in Connecticut or Colorado that account for technical thresholds and functional effect.

FPA 2026 FlexForward® Conference

Tuesday, September 15 – Thursday, September 17, 2026 | Milwaukee, WI Taking place this September in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the conference serves as the strategic vantage point for packaging professionals across the value chain to explore the trends, market shifts, and legislative pressures redefining our industry. The event is open to both FPA members and non-members, bringing together converters, suppliers, brand owners, recyclers, and key industry partners.

Key Program & Discussion Topics

This year's educational sessions feature high-level industry updates and collaborative panel discussions with brand owners

and fellow trade associations, focusing heavily on:

The State of the U.S. Flexible Packaging Industry Federal and State Policy Panels and Updates Advanced Recycling, Credit-Based Mass Balance, and PCR Mandates Eco-Modulation and Flexible Packaging Circular Design Microplastics and Content Safety Frameworks Polyethylene and Polypropylene Markets Update

Venue & Accommodations

The conference will be hosted at the historic Pfister Hotel (424 E Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53202), a venue nestled in a city built on manufacturing and innovation.

Important Housing Note:

A dedicated FPA room block has been secured at a special rate of $239/night . Hotel booking details will be sent automatically via your registration confirmation email. Please do not attempt to book rooms prior to registering , as independent bookings are subject to cancellation. The group rate is available until the block sells out or Friday, August 21, 2026 .

Networking Highlights

In addition to the core sessions, attendees will have extensive opportunities to connect with supply chain executives and discover breakthrough technologies at our interactive exhibits. Highlighting the networking agenda are a special Welcome Reception at the legendary Harley-Davidson Museum on Tuesday evening and a dedicated FlexImpact Community Service Project scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Government Affairs Committee Meeting

Date:

Thursday, September 17th

Time:

12:15 PM CDT (Working Lunch)

Details:

The Government Affairs Committee will host an in-person working lunch to discuss key policy updates, advocacy priorities, and ongoing initiatives. All committee members are encouraged to attend.

For more details or to register, please go here:

FPA 2026 FlexForward® Conference