Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S2723 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2723
2	2	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
3	3	_______________
4	4	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
5	5	(2023-2024)
6	6	_______________
7	7	SENATE, April 16, 2024.
8	8	The committee on Environment and Natural Resources, to whom was referred the
9	9	petitions (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 588) of John C. Velis and Kelly W. Pease for
10	10	legislation to study the effect of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercial products,
11	11	report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 2723).
12	12	For the committee,
13	13	Rebecca L. Rausch 1 of 2
14	14	FILED ON: 4/8/2024
15	15	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2723
16	16	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
17	17	_______________
18	18	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
19	19	(2023-2024)
20	20	_______________
21	21	An Act studying the effect of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercial products.
22	22	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
23	23	of the same, as follows:
24	24	1 SECTION 1. used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly
25	25	2requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—
26	26	3 “Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”, a class of fluorinated organic
27	27	4chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
28	28	5 “Agricultural products”, any vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, fish, and poultry, and
29	29	6agricultural inputs, such as, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, pesticides, produced and
30	30	7sold commercially in Massachusetts.
31	31	8 SECTION 2. The department of public health, in consultation with department of
32	32	9environmental protection and the department of agricultural resources, shall procure or otherwise
33	33	10employ an external research organization, which has the capacity to study per- and
34	34	11polyfluoroalkyl substances and the effect PFAS has on agricultural products produced and sold
35	35	12in the commonwealth; provided, that the research organization shall have: (1) extensive
36	36	13experience with a wide variety of agricultural products and environmental matrices, including, 2 of 2
37	37	14but not limited to, plants and animals; (2) a current QAPP (“Quality Assurance Project Plan”)
38	38	15through the United States Environmental Protection Agency; (3) current sampling and chain of
39	39	16custody protocols; (4) experience handling complex agricultural matrices; and (5) access to state-
40	40	17of-the art mass spectrometers. The study shall include findings on the levels of PFAS found in:
41	41	18(1) in agricultural products sold in Massachusetts stores; (2) locally sourced agricultural
42	42	19products; and (3) agricultural inputs including, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, and
43	43	20pesticides. The department shall make said report publicly available with the department’s
44	44	21findings on the department’s website.
45	45	22 The commissioner shall file a progress report in writing of the findings, including food
46	46	23and agricultural sources of contamination, within 365 days of the passage of this act; provided,
47	47	24that the report shall be filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint
48	48	25committee on environment and natural resources, the joint committee on public health, and the
49	49	26joint committee on agriculture on or before August 31, 2025.
50	50	27 SECTION 3. This act shall take effect no later than 180 days after passage of this act.