As the National Park Service inks a new deal for plastic bottle concessions, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility say the agency is dragging its feet
The National Park Service’s (NPS) new plan to eliminate single-use plastics is needlessly protracted, encumbered by red tape, and dependent for implementation upon a notoriously ineffective NPS Washington Office, according to an analysis by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). As a result, NPS’ plan is weaker than any proposed by Interior Department agencies and would not produce visible progress until late this decade.
In June 2021, PEER, GreenLatinos, and Beyond Plastics submitted a rule-making petition for a park-system-wide ban on single-use plastic water bottles and a 75% systemwide reduction in plastics use by 2026. NPS has yet to respond formally to this petition. Instead, the Interior Department ordered NPS and its other agencies to develop plans for phasing out the purchase, distribution, and sale of single-use plastics by 2032.