Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress House Bill HB1267 Compare Versions

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22 119THCONGRESS
33 1
44 STSESSION H. R. 1267
55 To exempt certain entities from liability under the Comprehensive Environ-
66 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 with respect
77 to releases of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other
88 purposes.
99 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
1010 FEBRUARY12, 2025
1111 Ms. P
1212 EREZ(for herself and Ms. MALOY) introduced the following bill; which
1313 was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition
1414 to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to
1515 be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider-
1616 ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee
1717 concerned
1818 A BILL
1919 To exempt certain entities from liability under the Com-
2020 prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
2121 Liability Act of 1980 with respect to releases of
2222 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for
2323 other purposes.
2424 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
2525 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
2626 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
2727 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Water Systems PFAS 4
2828 Liability Protection Act’’. 5
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3232 SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF WATER AND WASTEWATER TREAT-1
3333 MENT FACILITIES FROM CERCLA LIABILITY 2
3434 FOR RELEASES OF PFAS. 3
3535 (a) D
3636 EFINITIONS.—In this section: 4
3737 (1) C
3838 OVERED PERFLUOROALKYL OR 5
3939 POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCE .—The term ‘‘cov-6
4040 ered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance’’ 7
4141 means a non-polymeric perfluoroalkyl or 8
4242 polyfluoroalkyl substance that contains at least 2 se-9
4343 quential fully fluorinated carbon atoms, excluding 10
4444 gases and volatile liquids, that is a hazardous sub-11
4545 stance (as defined in section 101 of the Comprehen-12
4646 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 13
4747 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601)). 14
4848 (2) I
4949 NDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 15
5050 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 16
5151 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 17
5252 Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 18
5353 (3) P
5454 ROTECTED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘protected 19
5555 entity’’ means— 20
5656 (A) a public water system (as defined in 21
5757 section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act 22
5858 (42 U.S.C. 300f)); 23
5959 (B) a publicly or privately owned or oper-24
6060 ated treatment works (as defined in section 212 25
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6363 •HR 1267 IH
6464 of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 1
6565 U.S.C. 1292)); 2
6666 (C) a municipality to which a permit under 3
6767 section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution 4
6868 Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is issued for 5
6969 stormwater discharges; 6
7070 (D) a political subdivision of a State or a 7
7171 special district of a State acting as a wholesale 8
7272 water agency; and 9
7373 (E) a contractor performing the manage-10
7474 ment or disposal activities described in sub-11
7575 section (c) for an entity described in any of sub-12
7676 paragraphs (A) through (D). 13
7777 (b) E
7878 XEMPTION.—Subject to subsection (c), no per-14
7979 son (including the United States, any State, or an Indian 15
8080 Tribe) may recover costs or damages from a protected en-16
8181 tity under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 17
8282 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 18
8383 et seq.) for costs arising from a release to the environment 19
8484 of a covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance. 20
8585 (c) R
8686 EQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (b) shall only apply 21
8787 if a protected entity transports, treats, disposes of, or ar-22
8888 ranges for the transport, treatment, or disposal of a cov-23
8989 ered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance— 24
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9393 (1) in a manner consistent with all applicable 1
9494 laws at the time the activity is carried out; and 2
9595 (2) during and following the conveyance or 3
9696 treatment of water under Federal or State law, in-4
9797 cluding through— 5
9898 (A) the management or disposal of bio-6
9999 solids consistent with section 405 of the Fed-7
100100 eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 8
101101 1345); 9
102102 (B) the discharge of effluent in accordance 10
103103 with a permit issued under section 402 of the 11
104104 Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 12
105105 1342); 13
106106 (C) the release or disposal of water treat-14
107107 ment residuals or any other byproduct of drink-15
108108 ing water or wastewater treatment activities, 16
109109 such as granulated activated carbon, filter 17
110110 media, and processed waste streams; or 18
111111 (D) the conveyance or storage of water for 19
112112 the purpose of conserving or reclaiming the 20
113113 water for water supply. 21
114114 (d) S
115115 AVINGSPROVISION.—Nothing in this section 22
116116 precludes liability for damages or costs associated with the 23
117117 release of a covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub-24
118118 stance by a protected entity if that protected entity acted 25
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122122 with gross negligence or willful misconduct in the dis-1
123123 charge, disposal, management, conveyance, or storage of 2
124124 the covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance. 3
125125 Æ
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