1. Short title This Act may be cited as the Protecting Communities from Plastics Act of 2024 . 2. Findings Congress finds that— (1) plastics production is exacerbating the climate crisis and driving environmental injustice in vulnerable communities located near petrochemical facilities; (2) plastics production is on track to double in the decade beginning on the date of enactment of this Act, locking in harmful emissions for decades; (3) plastics and other petrochemicals are forecasted to become the largest driver of oil and hydraulically fractured gas demand by 2050; (4) some studies have projected that the plastics industry will emit more greenhouse gas emissions than coal plants in the United States by 2030; (5) petrochemical facilities that produce plastics are more likely to be located in low-income communities and communities of color, disproportionately exposing those communities to harmful pollutants; (6) plastics production and certain disposal facilities pollute surrounding communities with chemicals that are known to cause cancer, birth defects, and other serious illnesses; (7) transitioning from the use of fossil fuels for power generation and transportation only to replace that demand with more fossil fuel-based plastics production— (A) is not a viable strategy; and (B) fails to protect communities; (8) plastics carry impacts throughout the lifecycle, including the impacts of— (A) oil and gas extraction; (B) plastics refining, manufacturing, and certain methods of disposal; and (C) resulting plastics pollution in communities and the environment, where the degrading plastics— (i) leach chemical additives; and (ii) emit greenhouse gases; (9) addressing the plastics crisis requires a shift away from single-use plastics in nonessential settings; (10) technologies that convert plastics to fuel, use plastics for energy generation, generate feedstocks for the chemical industry, or produce hazardous waste and toxic air pollution are not a sustainable solution to the plastics crisis