I
118TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 7944
To exempt certain entities from liability under the Comprehensive Environ- mental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 with respect to releases of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
APRIL 11, 2024
Mr. C URTIS (for himself and Ms. P EREZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consider- ation of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To exempt certain entities from liability under the Com- prehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 with respect to releases of
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for
other purposes.
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 ‘‘Water Systems PFAS 4
Liability Protection Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. EXEMPTION OF WATER AND WASTEWATER TREAT-1
MENT FACILITIES FROM CERCLA LIABILITY 2
FOR RELEASES OF PFAS. 3
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 4
(1) C OVERED PERFLUOROALKYL OR 5
POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCE .—The term ‘‘cov-6
ered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance’’ 7
means a non-polymeric perfluoroalkyl or 8
polyfluoroalkyl substance that contains at least 2 se-9 quential fully fluorinated carbon atoms, excluding 10
gases and volatile liquids, that is a hazardous sub-11
stance (as defined in section 101 of the Comprehen-12
sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 13
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601)). 14
(2) I NDIAN TRIBE .—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 15
has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 16
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 17
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 18
(3) P ROTECTED ENTITY .—The term ‘‘protected 19
entity’’ means— 20
(A) a public water system (as defined in 21
section 1401 of the Safe Drinking Water Act 22
(42 U.S.C. 300f)); 23
(B) a publicly or privately owned or oper-24
ated treatment works (as defined in section 212 25
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of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 1
U.S.C. 1292)); 2
(C) a municipality to which a permit under 3
section 402 of the Federal Water Pollution 4
Control Act (33 U.S.C. 1342) is issued for 5
stormwater discharges; 6
(D) a political subdivision of a State or a 7
special district of a State acting as a wholesale 8
water agency; and 9
(E) a contractor performing the manage-10
ment or disposal activities described in sub-11
section (c) for an entity described in any of sub-12
paragraphs (A) through (D). 13
(b) E XEMPTION.—Subject to subsection (c), no per-14
son (including the United States, any State, or an Indian 15 Tribe) may recover costs or damages from a protected en-16 tity under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 17 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 18 et seq.) for costs arising from a release to the environment 19 of a covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance. 20 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Subsection (b) shall only apply 21
if a protected entity transports, treats, disposes of, or ar-22 ranges for the transport, treatment, or disposal of a cov-23 ered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance— 24
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(1) in a manner consistent with all applicable 1
laws at the time the activity is carried out; and 2
(2) during and following the conveyance or 3
treatment of water under Federal or State law, in-4
cluding through— 5
(A) the management or disposal of bio-6
solids consistent with section 405 of the Fed-7
eral Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 8
1345); 9
(B) the discharge of effluent in accordance 10
with a permit issued under section 402 of the 11
Federal Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 12
1342); 13
(C) the release or disposal of water treat-14
ment residuals or any other byproduct of drink-15
ing water or wastewater treatment activities, 16
such as granulated activated carbon, filter 17
media, and processed waste streams; or 18
(D) the conveyance or storage of water for 19
the purpose of conserving or reclaiming the 20
water for water supply. 21
(d) S AVINGS PROVISION.—Nothing in this section 22
precludes liability for damages or costs associated with the 23 release of a covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl sub-24 stance by a protected entity if that protected entity acted 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Apr 23, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7944.IH H7944kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 7944 IH
with gross negligence or willful misconduct in the dis-1 charge, disposal, management, conveyance, or storage of 2 the covered perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance. 3 Æ
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