Congress mandates 'Do Not Flush' labels on wipes to protect water systems
S. 1092 — WIPPES Act · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Mar 24, 2025 · Passed chamber
Your members of Congress
Enter a ZIP to see where your representative and both senators stood on this bill.
Looked up on this device — your ZIP is never stored on our servers.
What it does
This bill requires manufacturers of disposable wipes (baby wipes, cleaning wipes, personal care wipes) to label their products with a prominent 'Do Not Flush' warning symbol and text on packaging. The labeling must meet specific size, contrast, and visibility standards depending on package type. The Federal Trade Commission enforces compliance as an unfair or deceptive practice, and states cannot impose stricter labeling rules.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a mandatory labeling requirement for a specific consumer product category, enforced by the FTC as a consumer protection measure. It is straightforward product regulation, not a subsidy, immunity grant, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- Preemption clause prevents states from imposing stricter labeling standards, potentially limiting local environmental or public-health responses to wipe-flushing problems in specific regions.
- FTC guidance (due 180 days post-enactment) is explicitly non-binding and cannot form the basis of enforcement actions, creating potential ambiguity in compliance interpretation and reducing regulatory clarity.
- One-year implementation window may allow manufacturers to clear existing inventory before labeling requirements take effect, delaying real-world impact on consumer behavior.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Ordinary citizens benefit from clearer product labeling that reduces accidental flushing of wipes, which damages wastewater infrastructure and increases treatment costs borne by taxpayers. The bill imposes labeling costs on manufacturers (a minor compliance burden) rather than restricting consumer rights or creating new liabilities for individuals.
Who stands to gain
- wastewater treatment utilities (reduced infrastructure damage and treatment costs)
- municipal water systems (lower operational costs from fewer wipe-related clogs)
Named in the bill
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Association of the Nonwoven Fabrics Industry (INDA), European Disposables And Nonwovens Association (EDANA), Wipe manufacturers (Kimberly-Clark, Procter & Gamble, Edgewell, etc.)
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 7 Democrats, 1 Independents, 1 Republicans.
- Mar 24, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Mar 24, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation”
- May 21, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of…”
- Mar 22, 2026 — Passed the Senate · Congress.gov: “Passed Senate with an amendment by Unanimous Consent. (consideration: CR S1521-1522; text of amendment in the…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
20 lobbying clients named this bill on 27 disclosure filings across 3 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $3,201,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 6 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 97% of bills with at least one filing.
Jeff Merkley, the sponsor, reported $514,925 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Kimberly-clark Corporation — $730,000 on 1 filing
- The Procter and Gamble Company — $661,000 on 1 filing
- National Rural Water Association — $420,000 on 1 filing
- Association of California Water Agencies — $250,000 on 2 filings
- American Cleaning Institute (formerly Known As the Soap & Detergent Association) — $160,000 on 2 filings
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 22, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (10,216 characters) on Jul 10, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 22, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
“Congress mandates 'Do Not Flush' labels on wipes to protect water systems” QuorumCivic. https://share.quorumcivic.app/bill/119/s1092 Report an error
The week in bills
One email, Sunday: what Congress passed, what it changed, and who paid.
One link arrives to confirm the address. It is used for this email and nothing else, and every issue carries an unsubscribe link.