Clean Water Standards for PFAS Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2980 To require the promulgation of certain standards for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES DECEMBER 4, 2019 Mrs. GILLIBRAND (for herself, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. BLUMENTHAL, and Mr. MARKEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To require the promulgation of certain standards for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Clean Water Standards 4 for PFAS Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 2980 IS SEC. 2. CLEAN WATER ACT EFFLUENT STANDARDS, 1 PRETREATMENT STANDARDS, AND WATER 2 QUALITY CRITERIA FOR PFAS. 3 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 5 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 6 mental Protection Agency. 7 (2) COVERED PERFLUOROALKYL OR 8 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCE OR CLASS.—The 9 term ‘‘covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 10 stance or class’’ means a measurable chemical sub- 11 stance, or class of chemical substances, that is— 12 (A) perfluorooctanoic acid or 13 perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, a salt associated 14 with perfluorooctanoic acid or perfluorooctane 15 sulfonic acid, or a substance that degrades to 16 perfluorooctanoic acid or perfluorooctane sul- 17 fonic acid; 18 (B) a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 19 stance or class of perfluoroalkyl or 20 polyfluoroalkyl substances that is— 21 (i) identified in section 721.9582 or 22 721.10536 of title 40, Code of Federal 23 Regulations (as in effect on the date of en- 24 actment of this Act); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 2980 IS (ii) listed as an active chemical sub- 1 stance in the February 2019 update to the 2 inventory published under section 8(b)(1) 3 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 4 U.S.C. 2607(b)(1)); or 5 (C) a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 6 stance or class of perfluoroalkyl or 7 polyfluoroalkyl substances for which the Admin- 8 istrator has established a draft toxicity value 9 under the Integrated Risk Information System 10 program of the Environmental Protection Agen- 11 cy. 12 (3) EFFLUENT LIMITATION.—The term ‘‘efflu- 13 ent limitation’’ means an effluent limitation estab- 14 lished under section 301(b) of the Federal Water 15 Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1311(b)). 16 (4) MEASURABLE.—The term ‘‘measurable’’, 17 with respect to a chemical substance or class of 18 chemical substances, means capable of being meas- 19 ured using— 20 (A) test procedures established under sec- 21 tion 304(h) of the Federal Water Pollution 22 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1314(h)); or 23 (B) any other analytical method developed 24 by the Administrator. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 2980 IS (5) PERFLUOROALKYL OR POLYFLUOROALKYL 1 SUBSTANCE.—The term ‘‘perfluoroalkyl or 2 polyfluoroalkyl substance’’ means a perfluoroalkyl 3 substance or a polyfluoroalkyl substance that is— 4 (A) manmade; and 5 (B) has at least 1 fully fluorinated carbon 6 atom. 7 (6) PRETREATMENT STANDARD.—The term 8 ‘‘pretreatment standard’’ means a pretreatment 9 standard promulgated under section 307(b) of the 10 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 11 1317(b)). 12 (7) PRIORITY INDUSTRY CATEGORY.—The term 13 ‘‘priority industry category’’ means the following 14 point source categories: 15 (A) Organic chemicals, plastics, and syn- 16 thetic fibers, as identified in part 414 of title 17 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor 18 regulations). 19 (B) Pulp, paper, and paperboard, as iden- 20 tified in part 430 of title 40, Code of Federal 21 Regulations (or successor regulations). 22 (C) Textile mills, as identified in part 410 23 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 24 cessor regulations). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 2980 IS (8) TREATMENT WORKS.—The term ‘‘treatment 1 works’’ has the meaning given the term in section 2 212 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 3 U.S.C. 1292). 4 (9) WATER QUALITY CRITERIA.—The term 5 ‘‘water quality criteria’’ means criteria for water 6 quality published under section 304(a)(1) of the 7 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 8 1314(a)(1)). 9 (b) REVIEW AND REGULATION OF SUBSTANCES AND 10 SOURCES.— 11 (1) REVIEW.—As soon as practicable, but not 12 later than June 1, 2021, the Administrator shall 13 publish in the Federal Register a description of the 14 results of a review of the classes and categories of 15 point sources (other than publicly owned treatment 16 works) that discharge perfluoroalkyl and 17 polyfluoroalkyl substances. 18 (2) REGULATION.—Based on the results of the 19 review conducted under paragraph (1) and in ac- 20 cordance with the requirements of the Federal 21 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et 22 seq.), the Administrator shall— 23 (A) in accordance with the description pub- 24 lished under paragraph (1), establish effluent 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 2980 IS limitations and pretreatment standards for the 1 discharge of measurable perfluoroalkyl and 2 polyfluoroalkyl substances and classes of 3 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances 4 from classes and categories of point sources 5 (other than publicly owned treatment works); 6 and 7 (B) not later than 1 year after the date on 8 which the description is published under para- 9 graph (1), publish water quality criteria for 10 measurable perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl 11 substances and classes of perfluoroalkyl and 12 polyfluoroalkyl substances. 13 (c) DEADLINES FOR CERTAIN SUBSTANCES.— 14 (1) COVERED PERFLUOROALKYL AND 15 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES AND CLASSES.— 16 (A) WATER QUALITY CRITERIA.—Not later 17 than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 18 section, the Administrator shall publish in the 19 Federal Register water quality criteria for each 20 covered perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl sub- 21 stance and class. 22 (B) EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS AND 23 PRETREATMENT STANDARDS FOR PRIORITY IN- 24 DUSTRY CATEGORIES.—As soon as practicable, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 2980 IS but not later than 4 years after the date of en- 1 actment of this section, the Administrator shall 2 publish in the Federal Register a final rule es- 3 tablishing, for each priority industry category, 4 effluent limitations and pretreatment standards 5 for each covered perfluoroalkyl and 6 polyfluoroalkyl substance and class. 7 (2) OTHER PERFLUOROALKYL AND 8 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES AND CLASSES.— 9 (A) WATER QUALITY CRITERIA.—Not later 10 than 180 days after the date on which a 11 perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance or 12 class of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 13 stances (other than a covered perfluoroalkyl or 14 polyfluoroalkyl substance or class) meets the 15 criteria described in subparagraph (C), the Ad- 16 ministrator shall publish in the Federal Reg- 17 ister— 18 (i) a determination, in accordance 19 with the requirements of the Federal 20 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 21 1251 et seq.), of whether to publish water 22 quality criteria for the perfluoroalkyl or 23 polyfluoroalkyl substance or class of 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 2980 IS perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 1 stances; and 2 (ii) as applicable based on the deter- 3 mination under clause (i), water quality 4 criteria. 5 (B) EFFLUENT LIMITATIONS AND 6 PRETREATMENT STANDARDS.—For each 7 perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance or 8 class of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub- 9 stances (other than a covered perfluoroalkyl or 10 polyfluoroalkyl substance or class) that meets 11 the criteria described in subparagraph (C), 12 after the date on which the Administrator de- 13 termines that the criteria are met, the Adminis- 14 trator shall publish in the Federal Register a 15 schedule for publishing final rules estab- 16 lishing— 17 (i) effluent limitations; and 18 (ii) pretreatment standards. 19 (C) CRITERIA DESCRIBED.—The criteria 20 referred to in subparagraphs (A) and (B), with 21 respect to each measurable perfluoroalkyl or 22 polyfluoroalkyl substance or class of 23 perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, are 24 that the Administrator has— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 2980 IS (i) made, by rule, a determination 1 under paragraph (2) of section 5(a) of the 2 Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 3 2604(a)) that a use of a chemical sub- 4 stance is a significant new use (other than 5 a determination described in paragraph 6 (3)(B) or (3)(C) of that section); or 7 (ii) published a draft toxicity value 8 under the Integrated Risk Information 9 System program of the Environmental 10 Protection Agency. 11 (d) NOTIFICATION.—The Administrator shall notify 12 the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure of 13 the House of Representatives and the Committee on Envi- 14 ronment and Public Works of the Senate of each publica- 15 tion made under this section. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:46 Dec 10, 2019 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2980.IS S2980 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS