PIRCS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7931 To direct the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy to establish an interagency working group to coordinate Federal activities to advance research and development needed to address PFAS. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AUGUST 4, 2020 Ms. HOULAHAN (for herself, Ms. DEAN, Mr. LAMBORN, and Mr. FITZPATRICK) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology A BILL To direct the Director of the Office of Science and Tech- nology Policy to establish an interagency working group to coordinate Federal activities to advance research and development needed to address PFAS. 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 Interagency Re- 4 search Coordination Strategy Act’’ or the ‘‘PIRCS Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7931 IH SEC. 2. INTERAGENCY BODY ON RESEARCH RELATED TO 1 PER- AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES. 2 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of the Office of 3 Science and Technology Policy, acting through the Na- 4 tional Science and Technology Council, shall establish an 5 interagency working group to coordinate Federal activities 6 to advance research and development needed to address 7 PFAS. 8 (b) AGENCY PARTICIPATION.—The interagency work- 9 ing group shall include a representative of each— 10 (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; 11 (2) the National Institute of Environmental 12 Health Sciences; 13 (3) the Agency for Toxic Substances and Dis- 14 ease Registry; 15 (4) the National Science Foundation; 16 (5) the Department of Defense; 17 (6) the National Institutes of Health; 18 (7) the National Institute of Standards and 19 Technology; 20 (8) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad- 21 ministration; 22 (9) the Department of the Interior; 23 (10) the Department of Transportation; 24 (11) the Department of Homeland Security; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:50 Aug 27, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7931 IH (12) the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 1 ministration; 2 (13) the National Toxicology Program; 3 (14) the Department of Agriculture; 4 (15) the Geological Survey; 5 (16) the Department of Commerce; 6 (17) the Department of Energy; 7 (18) the Office of Information and Regulatory 8 Affairs; 9 (19) the Office of Management and Budget; 10 and 11 (20) any such other Federal department or 12 agency as the President considers appropriate. 13 (c) CO-CHAIRS.—The interagency working group 14 shall be co-chaired by the Director of the Office of Science 15 and Technology Policy and a representative from one or 16 more agencies, selected by the Director of the Office of 17 Science and Technology Policy from the list of agencies 18 under subsection (b). 19 (d) RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE WORKING GROUP.— 20 The interagency working group established under sub- 21 section (a) shall— 22 (1) provide for interagency coordination of fed- 23 erally funded PFAS research and development; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7931 IH (2) not later than 12 months after the date of 1 the enactment of this Act and every 2 years subse- 2 quent, develop or update a strategic plan for Federal 3 support for PFAS research and development that— 4 (A) with respect to the fiscal year for 5 which such strategic plan is to be developed, 6 identifies, by agency, the federally funded 7 PFAS research and development, including the 8 nature and scope of such research and develop- 9 ment and the amount of funding associated 10 with such research and development for such 11 fiscal year; 12 (B) identifies scientific and technological 13 challenges that must be addressed to under- 14 stand and to significantly reduce the environ- 15 mental and human health impacts of PFAS and 16 to identify cost-effective— 17 (i) alternatives to PFAS that are de- 18 signed to be safer and more environ- 19 mentally friendly; 20 (ii) methods for removal of PFAS 21 from the environment; and 22 (iii) methods to safely destroy or de- 23 grade PFAS; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7931 IH (C) establishes goals, priorities, and 1 metrics for federally funded PFAS research and 2 development that takes into account the 3 progress of the research and development iden- 4 tified in paragraph (A) and the challenges iden- 5 tified in paragraph (B); and 6 (D) develops an implementation plan for 7 Federal agencies. 8 (e) CONSULTATION.—In developing the strategic plan 9 under subsection (d), the interagency working group shall 10 consult with States, Indian Tribes, territories, local gov- 11 ernments, appropriate industries, institutions of higher 12 education, and nongovernmental organizations with exper- 13 tise in PFAS research and development, treatment, man- 14 agement, and alternative development. 15 (f) ANNUAL REPORT.—For each fiscal year begin- 16 ning with fiscal year 2022, not later than 90 days after 17 submission of the President’s annual budget request for 18 such fiscal year, the interagency working group shall pre- 19 pare and submit to Congress a report that includes— 20 (1) a summary of federally funded PFAS re- 21 search and development for such fiscal year and the 22 preceding fiscal year, including a disaggregation of 23 spending for any agency that has funded PFAS re- 24 search; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 7931 IH (2) a description of how the Federal agencies 1 under paragraph (1) are implementing the strategic 2 plan described in subsection (d). 3 (g) SUNSET.—The interagency working group estab- 4 lished under subsection (a) shall terminate 6 years after 5 the date on which such working group is established. 6 (h) PFAS RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.—The 7 term ‘‘PFAS research and development’’ includes any re- 8 search or project that has the goal of accomplishing the 9 following: 10 (1) The removal of PFAS from the environ- 11 ment. 12 (2) The safe destruction or degradation of 13 PFAS. 14 (3) The development and deployment of safer 15 and more environmentally friendly alternative sub- 16 stances that are functionally similar to those made 17 with PFAS. 18 (4) The understanding of sources of environ- 19 mental PFAS contamination and pathways to expo- 20 sure for the public. 21 (5) The understanding of the toxicity of PFAS 22 to humans and animals. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 7931 IH (6) Any other research project or goal that the 1 Director determines appropriate. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:39 Aug 22, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7931.IH H7931 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS