The Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee on June 19 unanimously approved a bipartisan package of legislation to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. The package, which was approved as a substitute amendment to an earlier PFAS bill (S. 1507), would direct EPA to issue a final drinking water regulation for PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS – within two years, while requiring the nation’s water systems to engage in expanded monitoring for other PFAS.
In addition to requiring the PFOA and PFOS regulations, the new bill would effectively create an expedited process under the Safe Drinking Water Act for EPA to issue regulations for other PFAS. Under the plan, water systems would be required to monitor for multiple other PFAS during the next round of screening carried out pursuant to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, though the federal government would be responsible for the cost of the PFAS monitoring. For any PFAS placed on EPAs Contaminant Candidate List at any point in the future, EPA would be required to make a regulatory determination for that substance within 18 months – potentially establishing an ongoing cycle of regulatory determinations for a series of PFAS. Following an EPA decision to regulate an additional PFAS in drinking water, the proposal would require the agency to propose the regulation within 18 months and finalize within one year after that – a quicker timeframe that the statute applies to other contaminants (where EPA has 24 months to collect public comment and scientific data between determination and proposal, and 18 months from proposal to finalization). The plan would authorize funding to help water systems address PFAS and other emerging contaminants, though the actual amount of money available would depend on future congressional appropriations.
The proposal appears to establish a pathway for EPA to regulate entire classes of PFAS. When conducting a required health risk and cost analysis for an individual PFAS, the plan allows EPA to “extrapolate reasoned conclusions” of the health risks and effects of a class of PFAS for which the individual chemical is a part. However, EPA would not be similarly directed to extrapolate conclusions about the costs associated with regulating entire classes of PFAS, so the procedure could make it easier for EPA to expand the number of individual chemicals subject to a single regulation.
Finally, the proposal would require EPA to issue a lifetime drinking water health advisory for any PFAS or class of PFAS for which EPA finalizes a toxicity value and testing procedure, unless EPA determines the substance is unlikely to appear in drinking water. In practice, this could lead to a convoy of future health advisories for unregulated PFAS as information on them is developed.
EPW Committee members largely developed the final PFAS legislation behind closed doors, so stakeholder opportunities for engagement were limited. Prior to the committee’s approval of the bill, AMWA and the American Water Works Association wrote to committee members to praise the bipartisan nature of the agreement, but reiterating support for the Safe Drinking Water Act’s existing regulatory process and offering assistance to help in improving the bill going forward. This followed written testimony that AMWA submitted to the committee in May ahead of a hearing on PFAS.
Other components of the EPW Committee’s PFAS legislation include:
- The text of S. 1251, legislation authored by Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) that would expand federal research into the human health effects of PFAS and other emerging drinking water contaminants. AMWA worked with Sen. Shaheen’s staff to develop that legislation and last month organized a letter in support of that proposal.
- A requirement that EPA finalize a significant new use rule for PFAS under the Toxic Substances Control Act within one year, which could potentially lead to restrictions on new uses of the toxic chemicals. It would further require PFAS manufacturers to provide data to EPA on their manufacturing and processing of the chemicals.
- A requirement that EPA list more than 200 PFAS chemicals on the Toxics Release Inventory, which would require facilities to publicly report on their air and water emissions of the chemicals, regardless of whether they are specifically regulated.
Absent from the EPW bill is a mandate that EPA designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the Superfund law. A number of lawmakers have endorsed proposals to force this designation, as it would compel responsible parties to pay for environmental cleanup costs. But some have raised concerns that such a designation could ensnare wastewater treatment facilities whose effluent discharges include trace amounts of PFAS.
The PFAS language is expected to be added as an amendment to the Senate’s National Defense Authorization Act, which likely will pass the chamber before the end of the month. Adding this amendment would give the PFAS provisions a fast track through the Senate, though a final defense bill would still have to be negotiated with the House.