On
September 1, 2026 the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade voted to advance the
PACK Act (H.R. 6832) to the full committee. An amendment from Rep. Russ Fulcher was adopted, clarifying the FTC’s guidance role and setting minimum requirements for third-party certifications and certification bodies. No roll call vote was reported. The bill has 17 cosponsors, 16 Republicans and one Democrat.
The PACK Act is a
labeling harmonization bill, not an EPR bill. It carries a preemption provision that would reach state labeling laws including California SB 343, whose enforcement is already preliminarily enjoined. The Recycled Materials Attribution Act (H.R. 7502) was forwarded to the full committee by voice vote at the same markup.
What this means for you: nothing changes for you today and no obligation arises from this. Clearing a subcommittee is an early step, the bill has no Senate companion, and a markup is not a law. Track it only if you sell labeled packaging into California, because it is the main federal route by which SB 343 could be displaced rather than merely enjoined. Source:
Resource Recycling, “House subcommittee advances PACK Act” (September 1, 2026); House Energy and Commerce Committee, subcommittee vote summary (September 1, 2026).
Correction (September 23, 2026): as first published this entry said the RMAA remained in committee with no action recorded. The committee’s own vote summary records H.R. 7502 forwarded to the full committee by voice vote on September 1, 2026; both bills were then reported to the full House on September 16, 2026. That summary does not itemize amendments, so the Fulcher amendment described above rests on trade press reporting.
Update, September 24, 2026: the committee’s own vote summary records H.R. 6832 forwarded to the full committee by voice vote, and the Library of Congress bill status records it forwarded “(Amended)”. Rep. Weber’s office says the amendment was a substitute offered by Rep. Russ Fulcher that clarified the role of FTC guidance and set minimum requirements for third-party certifications. On September 16, 2026 the full committee reported the PACK Act to the House, 25 to 18 (Energy and Commerce Committee release, September 16, 2026).