I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1567 

To authorize the Department of Defense to temporarily provide water 

uncontaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane 

sulfonate (PFOS) for agricultural purposes to areas affected by contamination from military installations, and to authorize the Secretary of 

the Air Force to acquire real property to extend the contiguous geographic footprint of any Air Force base that has shown signs of contamination from PFOA and PFOS due to activities on the base, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2019 

Mr. LUJA ́N (for himself, Ms. HAALAND, and Ms. TORRES SMALL of New Mexico) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Armed Services, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and 

Commerce, and Transportation and Infrastructure, for a period to be 

subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 

of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To authorize the Department of Defense to temporarily provide water uncontaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid 

(PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) for agricultural purposes to areas affected by contamination 

from military installations, and to authorize the Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property to extend 

the contiguous geographic footprint of any Air Force 

base that has shown signs of contamination from PFOA 


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and PFOS due to activities on the base, 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 ‘‘Prompt and Fast Ac5 tion to Stop Damages Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) PFAS.—The term ‘‘PFAS’’ means 

9 perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. 

10 (2) PFOA.—The term ‘‘PFOA’’ means 

11 perfluorooctanoic acid. 

12 (3) PFOS.—The term ‘‘PFOS’’ means 

13 perfluorooctane sulfonate. 

14 SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

15 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

16 (1) PFAS have been manufactured and used in 

17 a variety of industries around the world, including in 

18 the United States since the 1940s. 

19 (2) PFAS are found in many consumer prod20 ucts like cookware, food packaging, and stain 

21 repellants. 

22 (3) PFAS manufacturing and processing facili23 ties and airports and military installations that use 

24 firefighting foams are some of the main sources of 


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1 PFAS contamination in large concentrations that 

2 can lead to human exposure. 

3 (4) There is evidence that exposure to PFAS 

4 can lead to adverse health effects in humans. 

5 (5) PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals 

6 that includes PFOA and PFOS. 

7 (6) PFOA and PFOS have been the most ex8 tensively produced and studied of the PFAS chemi9 cals. 

10 (7) PFOA and PFOS are very persistent in the 

11 environment and in the human body, meaning they 

12 do not break down and can accumulate over time. 

13 (8) Studies indicate that PFOA and PFOS can 

14 cause reproductive and developmental, liver and kid15 ney, and immunological effects in laboratory ani16 mals. 

17 (9) The Environmental Protection Agency is be18 ginning the necessary steps— 

19 (A) to propose designating PFOA and 

20 PFOS as hazardous substances through one of 

21 the available statutory mechanisms, including 

22 section 102 of the Comprehensive Environ23 mental Response, Compensation, and Liability 

24 Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9602); and 


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1 (B) to set a maximum contaminant level 

2 under the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 300f et seq.). 

4 (10) In the 1970s, the Air Force began pur5 chasing and using aqueous film-forming foam con6 taining PFOA and PFOS for extinguishing petro7 leum fires and during firefighting training activities. 

8 (11) The Air Force has used a proactive, com9 prehensive approach to identify installations where 

10 aqueous film-forming foam containing PFOA or 

11 PFOS has been used and there is a suspected re12 lease that may impact drinking water and expose 

13 humans to PFOA and PFOS. 

14 (12) The Air Force uses authorities granted 

15 under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

16 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

17 9601 et seq.) and the Defense Environmental Res18 toration Program under chapter 160 of title 10, 

19 United States Code, to ensure that no one is drink20 ing water containing unacceptable levels of PFOA or 

21 PFOS due to Air Force activities. 

22 (13) The Air Force provides alternative sources 

23 of drinking water, including filters or connections to 

24 public utilities, to provide longer-term assurances 


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1 that individuals are not drinking water containing 

2 unacceptable levels of PFOA or PFOS. 

3 (14) The Air Force asserts that authorities 

4 under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

5 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 

6 9601 et seq.) do not extend to the provision of clean 

7 water for livestock or agricultural purposes. 

8 (15) Livestock and agriculture are produced for 

9 human consumption in items such as milk and dairy 

10 and provide a direct pathway for human exposure to 

11 PFOA and PFOS. 

12 (16) Under section 634 of the Departments of 

13 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and 

14 Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public 

15 Law 105–119; 111 Stat. 2525), the Department of 

16 Defense was authorized to use available funds to 

17 compensate cranberry growers adjacent to the Mas18 sachusetts Military Reservation, Cape Code, Massa19 chusetts, for commercial loss of crops in 1997 due 

20 to the presence of ethylene dibromide in ground21 water, demonstrating previous recognition by Con22 gress of the need to provide compensation for dam23 ages associated with chemical releases at military in24 stallations. 


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1 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con2 gress that Congress— 

3 (1) supports temporary, explicit, authority for 

4 the Department of Defense to address indirect path5 ways to human exposure from PFOA and PFOS 

6 until such time as the Federal agencies with over7 sight over agricultural products and food have estab8 lished regulatory standards; and 

9 (2) supports the designation by the Environ10 mental Protection Agency of PFAS as hazardous 

11 chemicals. 

12 SEC. 4. PROVISION OF WATER UNCONTAMINATED WITH 

13 PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID (PFOA) AND 

14 PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONATE (PFOS) FOR 

15 AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. 

16 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—Using amounts appropriated 

18 or otherwise made available for operation and main19 tenance for the military department concerned, or 

20 for operation and maintenance Defense-wide in the 

21 case of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary con22 cerned may provide water sources uncontaminated 

23 with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, 

24 including PFOA and PFOS, or treatment of con25 taminated waters, for agricultural purposes used to 


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1 produce products destined for human consumption 

2 in an area in which a water source has been deter3 mined pursuant to paragraph (2) to be contaminated 

4 with such compounds by reason of activities on a 

5 military installation under the jurisdiction of the 

6 Secretary concerned. 

7 (2) APPLICABLE STANDARD.—For purposes of 

8 paragraph (1), an area is determined to be contami9 nated with PFOA or PFOS if— 

10 (A) the level of contamination is above the 

11 Lifetime Health Advisory for contamination 

12 with such compounds issued by the Environ13 mental Protection Agency and printed in the 

14 Federal Register on May 25, 2016; or 

15 (B) on or after the date the Food and 

16 Drug Administration sets a standard for PFOA 

17 and PFOS in raw agricultural commodities and 

18 milk, the level of contamination is above such 

19 standard. 

20 (b) SECRETARY CONCERNED DEFINED.—In this sec21 tion, the term ‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means the following: 

22 (1) The Secretary of the Army, with respect to 

23 the Army. 


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1 (2) The Secretary of the Navy, with respect to 

2 the Navy, the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard 

3 (when it is operating as a service in the Navy). 

4 (3) The Secretary of the Air Force, with re5 spect to the Air Force. 

6 (4) The Secretary of Defense, with respect to 

7 the Defense Agencies. 

8 SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY BY AIR FORCE. 

9 (a) AUTHORITY.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Air 

11 Force may acquire one or more parcels of real prop12 erty within the vicinity of an Air Force base that 

13 has shown signs of contamination from PFOA and 

14 PFOS due to activities on the base and which would 

15 extend the contiguous geographic footprint of the 

16 base and increase the force protection standoff near 

17 critical infrastructure and runways. 

18 (2) IMPROVEMENTS AND PERSONAL PROP19 ERTY.—The authority under paragraph (1) to ac20 quire real property described in that paragraph in21 cludes the authority to purchase improvements and 

22 personal property located on that real property. 

23 (3) RELOCATION EXPENSES.—The authority 

24 under paragraph (1) to acquire real property de25 scribed in that paragraph shall include the authority 


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1 to provide Federal financial assistance for moving 

2 costs, relocation benefits, and other expenses in3 curred in accordance with the Uniform Relocation 

4 Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies 

5 Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. 4601 et seq.). 

6 (b) ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVITIES.—The Air Force 

7 shall conduct such activities at a parcel or parcels of real 

8 property acquired under subsection (a) as are necessary 

9 to remediate contamination from PFOA and PFOS re10 lated to activities at the Air Force base. 

11 (c) FUNDING.—Funds for the land acquisitions au12 thorized under subsection (a) shall be derived from 

13 amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2020 for military 

14 construction or unobligated balances available for military 

15 construction. 

16 (d) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The authority under 

17 this section constitutes authority to carry out land acquisi18 tions for purposes of section 2802 of title 10, United 

19 States Code. 

20 SEC. 6. REMEDIATION PLAN. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

22 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

23 shall submit to Congress a remediation plan for cleanup 

24 of all water at or adjacent to a military base that is con25 taminated with PFOA or PFOS. 


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1 (b) STUDY.—In preparing the remediation plan 

2 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall conduct a study 

3 on the contamination of water at military bases with 

4 PFOA or PFOS. 

5 (c) BUDGET AMOUNT.—The Secretary shall ensure 

6 that each budget of the President submitted to Congress 

7 under section 1105(a) of title 31, United States Code, re8 quests funding in amounts necessary to address remedi9 ation efforts under the remediation plan submitted under 

10 subsection (a). 

Æ 


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