II 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 5070 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to States to 

address contamination by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances 

on farms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 11, 2022 

Mr. KING (for Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. KING)) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants 

to States to address contamination by perfluoroalkyl and 

polyfluoroalkyl substances on farms, 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 ‘‘Relief for Farmers Hit 

5 with PFAS Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) AGRICULTURAL LAND.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘agricultural 

2 land’’ means any land that is used, or capable 

3 of use without substantial modification, for pro4 duction of farm products. 

5 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘agricultural 

6 land’’ includes irrigation water and ground7 water on or associated with land described in 

8 subparagraph (A). 

9 (2) COMMERCIAL FARM.—The term ‘‘commer10 cial farm’’ means a farm on which a person pro11 duces any farm product with the intent that the 

12 farm product be sold or otherwise disposed of to 

13 generate income. 

14 (3) FARM PRODUCT.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘farm prod16 uct’’ means any plant or animal that is useful 

17 to humans. 

18 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘farm prod19 uct’’ includes— 

20 (i) forages; 

21 (ii) sod crops; 

22 (iii) grains; 

23 (iv) food crops; 

24 (v) dairy products; 

25 (vi) poultry and poultry products; 


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1 (vii) bees; 

2 (viii) livestock and livestock products; 

3 (ix) fruits; 

4 (x) berries; 

5 (xi) vegetables; 

6 (xii) flowers; 

7 (xiii) seeds; 

8 (xiv) grasses; 

9 (xv) Christmas trees; and 

10 (xvi) other similar products. 

11 (4) PFAS.—The term ‘‘PFAS’’ means any 

12 member of the class of fluorinated organic chemicals 

13 containing at least 1 fully fluorinated carbon atom. 

14 (5) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

15 the program established under section 3(a). 

16 (6) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

17 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (7) SEPTAGE.—The term ‘‘septage’’ means 

19 waste, refuse, effluent, sludge, and any other mate20 rials from septic tanks, cesspools, or any other simi21 lar facilities. 

22 (8) SLUDGE.—The term ‘‘sludge’’ means— 

23 (A) nonhazardous solid, semisolid, or liquid 

24 waste generated from a municipal, commercial, 

25 or industrial— 


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1 (i) wastewater treatment plant; 

2 (ii) water supply treatment plant; or 

3 (iii) wet process air pollution control 

4 facility; and 

5 (B) any other waste having similar charac6 teristics and effect. 

7 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

9 program under which the Secretary shall provide grants 

10 to States for the purposes described in section 4. 

11 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

12 under the program, a State shall contain— 

13 (1) agricultural land that contains any soil with 

14 levels above 0.3 parts per billion of PFAS; or 

15 (2) water used for the production of farm prod16 ucts that is above the less stringent of— 

17 (A) the most recent advisory level for 

18 PFAS established by the Administrator of the 

19 Environmental Protection Agency pursuant to 

20 section 1412(b)(1)(F) of the Safe Drinking 

21 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(1)(F)); and 

22 (B) the most recent advisory level for 

23 PFAS established by that State, if applicable. 

24 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—To receive a grant under the 

2 program, the department of agriculture or similar 

3 agency of a State shall submit to the Secretary an 

4 application at such time, in such manner, and con5 taining such information as the Secretary may re6 quire. 

7 (2) SPEND PLAN.—An application submitted 

8 under paragraph (1) shall contain a plan describing 

9 how the State will administer the funding received 

10 under the program, including funding priorities and 

11 oversight. 

12 (d) SET-ASIDE.—The Secretary shall provide not less 

13 than 30 percent of the total amount of grants provided 

14 under the program to 1 or more States with a population 

15 of less than 3,000,000. 

16 SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 

17 A State may use a grant received under the program 

18 to provide funding for any of the following purposes: 

19 (1) Monitoring the health of a person, and 

20 members of the household of that person, whose ag21 ricultural land is found to be contaminated by 

22 PFAS, including blood serum testing. 

23 (2) Providing medical care to a person who— 

24 (A) works or lives on— 


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1 (i) agricultural land that is found to 

2 be contaminated by PFAS; or 

3 (ii) land adjacent to land described in 

4 clause (i); or 

5 (B) is found to have— 

6 (i) blood levels of PFAS greater than 

7 the general population of the United 

8 States; or 

9 (ii) health effects associated with ex10 posure to PFAS. 

11 (3) Relocating— 

12 (A) agricultural land that is found to be 

13 contaminated by PFAS; or 

14 (B) a commercial farm any agricultural 

15 land of which is found to be contaminated by 

16 PFAS. 

17 (4) Buying, selling, or providing compensation 

18 for agricultural land or farm products found to be 

19 contaminated by PFAS, including costs associated 

20 with the depopulation or disposal of farm products, 

21 premortem or postmortem. 

22 (5) Investing in equipment, facilities, and infra23 structure to ensure that agricultural land that, or a 

24 commercial farm any agricultural land of which, is 

25 found to be contaminated by PFAS maintains profVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:28 Oct 20, 2022 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S5070.IS S5070

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1 itability while the producers on the agricultural land 

2 or commercial farm, in response to the PFAS con3 tamination— 

4 (A) transition to an alternative cropping 

5 system; or 

6 (B) implement remediation strategies (in7 cluding disposal), technological adaptations, 

8 solar energy development, or other modifica9 tions to the operations of the agricultural land 

10 or commercial farm. 

11 (6) Assisting the producers on agricultural land 

12 that, or a commercial farm any agricultural land of 

13 which, is found to be contaminated by PFAS in de14 veloping an enterprise budget for— 

15 (A) alternative cropping systems; 

16 (B) remediation strategies; 

17 (C) technological adaptations; or 

18 (D) transitioning to an alternative revenue 

19 stream, including a land-use system that com20 bines agricultural use of the land with solar en21 ergy production. 

22 (7) Providing financial assistance to a person 

23 the commercial farm of which is found to be con24 taminated by PFAS, including income replacement 

25 and mortgage payments. 


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1 (8) Evaluating and expanding the capacity of 

2 PFAS testing and data management in the State. 

3 (9) Conducting research that— 

4 (A) supports short-term farm management 

5 decisions with respect to agricultural land that 

6 has been contaminated by PFAS; and 

7 (B) assesses future options for viable uses 

8 of agricultural land that has been contaminated 

9 by PFAS. 

10 (10) Conducting research that quantifies the 

11 impact of PFAS on commercial farms and agricul12 tural communities in the State. 

13 (11) Conducting research on— 

14 (A) soil and water remediation systems; 

15 and 

16 (B) the viability of those systems for com17 mercial farms. 

18 (12) Conducting research on— 

19 (A) implementing alternative cropping sys20 tems in response to PFAS contamination; 

21 (B) the PFAS uptake of various crops; 

22 (C) the use of livestock systems to mitigate 

23 exposure to, and for remediation of, PFAS; and 

24 (D) food safety criteria for food products 

25 relating to PFAS contamination. 


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1 (13) Developing and implementing educational 

2 programs for owners of agricultural land, including 

3 determining best practices for— 

4 (A) informing residents about the potential 

5 of being near or on a site on which sludge or 

6 septage application was licensed or permitted by 

7 the State or the Federal Government; and 

8 (B) providing information and guidance on 

9 buying or selling agricultural land on which 

10 sludge or septage was applied. 

11 (14) Long-term monitoring of agricultural land 

12 sites contaminated by PFAS and establishing a cor13 responding centralized data repository. 

14 (15) Assisting commercial farms and other per15 sons in the agricultural sector not directly affected 

16 by PFAS contamination with marketing efforts 

17 whose branding and marketing may be affected by 

18 the public perception of PFAS contamination in the 

19 State. 

20 (16) Regional planning with other States and 

21 the Federal Government to protect the food supply 

22 and farmers in the State from out-of-State PFAS 

23 contamination. 


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1 (17) Testing of farm products, agricultural 

2 land, or other locations that are suspected to be con3 taminated with PFAS. 

4 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

5 Not later than March 31 following each year of the 

6 period of a grant received under the program, the depart7 ment of agriculture or similar agency of a State shall sub8 mit to the Secretary a report describing— 

9 (1) the uses of the grant during the previous 

10 year, including— 

11 (A) the purposes described in section 4 for 

12 which the grant was used; 

13 (B) the amount of the grant allocated to 

14 each purpose described in section 4; and 

15 (C) the extent to which the funding re16 ceived under the program, including funding 

17 priorities and oversight, was administered in ac18 cordance with the plan described in section 

19 3(c)(2); and 

20 (2) any additional needs identified by agricul21 tural producers in the State. 

22 SEC. 6. TASK FORCE. 

23 The Secretary shall establish a task force composed 

24 of officers or employees of the Department of Agri25 culture— 


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1 (1) to provide advice to the Secretary relating 

2 to whether addressing PFAS contamination should 

3 be added as an eligible activity under each program 

4 of the Department of Agriculture; and 

5 (2) to provide technical assistance to States in 

6 addressing PFAS contamination. 

7 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

8 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec9 retary to carry out this Act $500,000,000 for the period 

10 of fiscal years 2023 through 2027. 

Æ 


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