II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 950 

To require the Director of the United States Geological Survey to perform 

a nationwide survey of perfluorinated compounds, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 28, 2019 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. ROUNDS, Mr. PETERS, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. 

BURR, and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Director of the United States Geological Survey to perform a nationwide survey of perfluorinated 

compounds, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PFAS Detection Act 

5 of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis2 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ3 mental Protection Agency. 

4 (2) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 

5 the Director of the United States Geological Survey. 

6 (3) PERFLUORINATED COMPOUND.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term 

8 ‘‘perfluorinated compound’’ means a 

9 perfluoroalkyl substance or a polyfluoroalkyl 

10 substance that is manmade with at least 1 fully 

11 fluorinated carbon atom. 

12 (B) DEFINITIONS.—In this definition: 

13 (i) FULLY FLUORINATED CARBON

14 ATOM.—The term ‘‘fully fluorinated carbon 

15 atom’’ means a carbon atom on which all 

16 the hydrogen substituents have been re17 placed by fluorine. 

18 (ii) NONFLUORINATED CARBON

19 ATOM.—The term ‘‘nonfluorinated carbon 

20 atom’’ means a carbon atom on which no 

21 hydrogen substituents have been replaced 

22 by fluorine. 

23 (iii) PARTIALLY FLUORINATED CAR24 BON ATOM.—The term ‘‘partially 

25 fluorinated carbon atom’’ means a carbon 


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1 atom on which some, but not all, of the hy2 drogen substituents have been replaced by 

3 fluorine. 

4 (iv) PERFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCE.— 

5 The term ‘‘perfluoroalkyl substance’’ 

6 means a manmade chemical of which all of 

7 the carbon atoms are fully fluorinated car8 bon atoms. 

9 (v) POLYFLUOROALKYL SUB10 STANCE.—The term ‘‘polyfluoroalkyl sub11 stance’’ means a manmade chemical con12 taining a mix of fully fluorinated carbon 

13 atoms, partially fluorinated carbon atoms, 

14 and nonfluorinated carbon atoms. 

15 SEC. 3. PERFORMANCE STANDARD FOR THE DETECTION 

16 OF PERFLUORINATED COMPOUNDS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall establish a per18 formance standard for the detection of perfluorinated 

19 compounds. 

20 (b) EMPHASIS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—In developing the perform22 ance standard under subsection (a), the Director 

23 shall emphasize the ability to detect as many 

24 perfluorinated compounds present in the environVerDate Sep 11 2014 03:05 Apr 05, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S950.IS S950

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1 ment as possible using analytical methods that are 

2 as sensitive as is feasible and practicable. 

3 (2) REQUIREMENT.—In developing the per4 formance standard under subsection (a), the Direc5 tor may— 

6 (A) develop quality assurance and quality 

7 control measures to ensure accurate sampling 

8 and testing; 

9 (B) develop a training program with re10 spect to the appropriate method of sample col11 lection and analysis of perfluorinated com12 pounds; and 

13 (C) coordinate as necessary with the Ad14 ministrator to develop methods to detect indi15 vidual and different perfluorinated compounds 

16 simultaneously. 

17 SEC. 4. NATIONWIDE SAMPLING. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall carry out a na19 tionwide sampling to determine the concentration of 

20 perfluorinated compounds in estuaries, lakes, streams, 

21 springs, wells, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, and soil using the 

22 performance standard developed under section 3(a). 

23 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out the sampling 

24 under subsection (a), the Director shall— 


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1 (1) first carry out the sampling at sources of 

2 drinking water near locations with known or sus3 pected releases of perfluorinated compounds; 

4 (2) when carrying out sampling of sources of 

5 drinking water under paragraph (1), carry out the 

6 sampling prior to any treatment of the water; 

7 (3) survey for ecological exposure to 

8 perfluorinated compounds, with a priority in deter9 mining direct human exposure through drinking 

10 water; and 

11 (4) consult with— 

12 (A) States to determine areas that are a 

13 priority for sampling; and 

14 (B) the Administrator— 

15 (i) to enhance coverage of the sam16 pling; and 

17 (ii) to avoid unnecessary duplication. 

18 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the com19 pletion of the sampling under subsection (a), the Director 

20 shall prepare a report describing the results of the sam21 pling and submit the report to— 

22 (1) the Committee on Environment and Public 

23 Works and the Committee on Energy and Natural 

24 Resources of the Senate; 


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1 (2) the Committee on Energy and Commerce of 

2 the House of Representatives; 

3 (3) the Senators of each State in which the Di4 rector carried out the sampling; and 

5 (4) each Member of the House of Representa6 tives that represents a district in which the Director 

7 carried out the sampling. 

8 SEC. 5. DATA USAGE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director shall provide the 

10 sampling data collected under section 4 to— 

11 (1) the Administrator of the Environmental 

12 Protection Agency; and 

13 (2) other Federal and State regulatory agencies 

14 on request. 

15 (b) USAGE.—The sampling data provided under sub16 section (a) shall be used to inform and enhance assess17 ments of exposure, likely health and environmental im18 pacts, and remediation priorities. 

19 SEC. 6. COLLABORATION. 

20 In carrying out this Act, the Director shall collabo21 rate with— 

22 (1) appropriate Federal and State regulators; 

23 (2) institutions of higher education; 

24 (3) research institutions; and 

25 (4) other expert stakeholders. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc3 tor to carry out this Act— 

4 (1) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; and 

5 (2) $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2021 

6 through 2024. 

Æ 


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