Members of the Congress this month introduced a slew of measures targeting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as lawmakers ratcheted up their oversight of the contaminant.
Aside from a pair of measures (H.R. 2377/S. 1473) that would require EPA to promulgate a national primary drinking water regulation for total PFAS within two years, other PFAS-focused bills introduced this month include:
- H.R. 2533 (the PFAS Drinking Water Act), which would create a five-year, $2.5 billion grant program to help community water systems install new treatment technologies to remove PFAS;
- H.R. 2570 (the PFAS User Fee Act), which would require PFAS manufacturers to pay into a new trust fund that would offer grants to communities battling PFAS contamination;
- H.R. 2600, which would regulate PFAS under the Toxic Substances Control Act (H.R. 2600)
- H.R. 2591, which would ban the waste incineration of PFAS;
- H.R. 2577, which would add PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory; and
- A measure that would require water systems to monitor for at least 30 PFAS chemicals in drinking water (H.R. 2800).
A number of these proposals were referenced during a House subcommittee’s May 15 hearing on PFAS legislation, but committee leaders have not yet indicated when they might markup any of the bills.