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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, bipartisan legislation to address PFAS contamination by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (D-MI) cleared a key hurdle by passing the Environment and Climate Change Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

“PFAS is a clear threat to human health and our environment,” said Dingell. “It’s critical we work together to address contamination. Our bipartisan bills lists all PFAS as the hazardous substance we know they are and ensures the federal government is partner in cleaning up contaminated sites. It’s critical we get these passed to protect Americans, our drinking water, and public health.”

The PFAS Action Act would simply require the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to list all PFAS chemicals, including PFOA, PFOS, GenX, and many other chemicals, as hazardous substances under the Superfund program and direct federal resources to clean up contaminated sites and limit the spread of these dangerous substances.

Also passed by the Subcommittee is legislation Dingell co-led with Congressman Fred Upton (R-MI). The PFAS Federal Facility Accountability Act, that requires federal agencies to cooperate with states as PFAS contamination is detected in communities near federal installations such as active military installations, former military installations, or National Guard facilities.

Video of Dingell at today’s Subcommittee markup is available here.

According to the Environmental Working Group, 297 military sites across the United States have PFAS contamination. In July, the House passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) which includes three amendments by Dingell to address PFAS contamination. The amendments designate PFAS as a hazardous substance for the purpose of clean up under the EPA’s Superfund Program, ban the use of PFAS in materials used to produce MRE’s consumed by service men and women in the field and during training, and require military instillations to cooperate with states as PFAS contamination is detected near these facilities.

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