PFAS Detection Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1976 To require the Director of the United States Geological Survey to perform a nationwide survey of perfluorinated compounds, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 28, 2019 Mr. KILDEE (for himself, Mr. BERGMAN, Mr. BRENDAN F. BOYLE of Penn- sylvania, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Ms. DEAN, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. STEVENS, Mr. WELCH, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. DELGADO, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, and Ms. TLAIB) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources A BILL To require the Director of the United States Geological Sur- vey to perform a nationwide survey of perfluorinated compounds, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PFAS Detection Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •HR 1976 IH (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 1 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 2 mental Protection Agency. 3 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 4 the Director of the United States Geological Survey. 5 (3) PERFLUORINATED COMPOUND.— 6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term 7 ‘‘perfluorinated compound’’ means a 8 perfluoroalkyl substance or a polyfluoroalkyl 9 substance that is manmade with at least 1 fully 10 fluorinated carbon atom. 11 (B) DEFINITIONS.—In this definition: 12 (i) FULLY FLUORINATED CARBON 13 ATOM.—The term ‘‘fully fluorinated carbon 14 atom’’ means a carbon atom on which all 15 the hydrogen substituents have been re- 16 placed by fluorine. 17 (ii) NON-FLUORINATED CARBON 18 ATOM.—The term ‘‘nonfluorinated carbon 19 atom’’ means a carbon atom on which no 20 hydrogen substituents have been replaced 21 by fluorine. 22 (iii) PARTIALLY FLUORINATED CAR- 23 BON ATOM.—The term ‘‘partially 24 fluorinated carbon atom’’ means a carbon 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •HR 1976 IH atom on which some, but not all, of the hy- 1 drogen substituents have been replaced by 2 fluorine. 3 (iv) PERFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCE.— 4 The term ‘‘perfluoroalkyl substance’’ 5 means a manmade chemical of which all of 6 the carbon atoms are fully fluorinated car- 7 bon atoms. 8 (v) POLYFLUOROALKYL SUB- 9 STANCE.—The term ‘‘polyfluoroalkyl sub- 10 stance’’ means a manmade chemical con- 11 taining a mix of fully fluorinated carbon 12 atoms, partially fluorinated carbon atoms, 13 and nonfluorinated carbon atoms. 14 SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE STANDARD FOR THE DETECTION 15 OF PERFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS. 16 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a per- 17 formance standard for the detection of perfluorinated 18 compounds. 19 (b) EMPHASIS.— 20 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the perform- 21 ance standard under subsection (a), the Director 22 shall emphasize the ability to detect as many 23 perfluorinated compounds present in the environ- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •HR 1976 IH ment as possible using analytical methods that are 1 as sensitive as is feasible and practicable. 2 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the per- 3 formance standard under subsection (a), the Direc- 4 tor may— 5 (A) develop quality assurance and quality 6 control measures to ensure accurate sampling 7 and testing; 8 (B) develop a training program with re- 9 spect to the appropriate method of sample col- 10 lection and analysis of perfluorinated com- 11 pounds; and 12 (C) coordinate as necessary with the Ad- 13 ministrator to develop methods to detect indi- 14 vidual and different perfluorinated compounds 15 simultaneously. 16 SEC. 4. NATIONWIDE SAMPLING. 17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out a na- 18 tionwide sampling to determine the concentration of 19 perfluorinated compounds in estuaries, lakes, streams, 20 springs, wells, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and soil using the 21 performance standard developed under section 3(a). 22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the sampling 23 under subsection (a), the Director shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •HR 1976 IH (1) first carry out the sampling at sources of 1 drinking water near locations with known or sus- 2 pected releases of perfluorinated compounds; 3 (2) when carrying out sampling of sources of 4 drinking water under paragraph (1), carry out the 5 sampling prior to any treatment of the water; 6 (3) survey for ecological exposure to 7 perfluorinated compounds, with a priority in deter- 8 mining direct human exposure through drinking 9 water; and 10 (4) consult with— 11 (A) States to determine areas that are a 12 priority for sampling; and 13 (B) the Administrator— 14 (i) to enhance coverage of the sam- 15 pling; and 16 (ii) to avoid unnecessary duplication. 17 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the com- 18 pletion of the sampling under subsection (a), the Director 19 shall prepare a report describing the results of the sam- 20 pling and submit the report to— 21 (1) the Committee on Environment and Public 22 Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural 23 Resources of the Senate; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •HR 1976 IH (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 1 the House of Representatives; 2 (3) the Senators of each State in which the Di- 3 rector carried out the sampling; and 4 (4) each Member of the House of Representa- 5 tives that represents a district in which the Director 6 carried out the sampling. 7 SEC. 5. DATA USAGE. 8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide the 9 sampling data collected under section 4 to— 10 (1) the Administrator of the Environmental 11 Protection Agency; and 12 (2) other Federal and State regulatory agencies 13 on request. 14 (b) USAGE.—The sampling data provided under sub- 15 section (a) shall be used to inform and enhance assess- 16 ments of exposure, likely health and environmental im- 17 pacts, and remediation priorities. 18 SEC. 6. COLLABORATION. 19 In carrying out this Act, the Director shall collabo- 20 rate with— 21 (1) appropriate Federal and State regulators; 22 (2) institutions of higher education; 23 (3) research institutions; and 24 (4) other expert stakeholders. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •HR 1976 IH SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 1 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc- 2 tor to carry out this Act— 3 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 4 (2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 5 through 2024. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 06:35 Apr 11, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1976.IH H1976 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS