II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1372 

To encourage Federal agencies to expeditiously enter into or amend cooperative agreements with States for removal and remedial actions to address 

PFAS contamination in drinking, surface, and ground water and land 

surface and subsurface strata, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2019 

Ms. STABENOW (for herself, Mr. RUBIO, Mr. CARPER, Mr. TILLIS, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. BURR, Mr. PETERS, Ms. HASSAN, Ms. BALDWIN, Ms. CANTWELL, and Mr. MANCHIN) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To encourage Federal agencies to expeditiously enter into 

or amend cooperative agreements with States for removal 

and remedial actions to address PFAS contamination 

in drinking, surface, and ground water and land surface 

and subsurface strata, 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 Accountability 

5 Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WITH STATES FOR RE2 MOVAL AND REMEDIAL ACTIONS TO AD3 DRESS DRINKING, SURFACE, AND GROUND 

4 WATER AND SOIL CONTAMINATION FROM 

5 PFAS. 

6 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 (1) FEDERAL FACILITY.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Federal fa9 cility’’ means a facility (as defined in section 

10 101 of the Comprehensive Environmental Re11 sponse, Compensation, and Liability Act of 

12 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601)) that is owned or oper13 ated by the Federal Government. 

14 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘Federal facil15 ity’’ includes— 

16 (i) a facility or site— 

17 (I) owned by, leased to, or other18 wise possessed by the United States; 

19 or 

20 (II) under the jurisdiction of the 

21 Secretary of Defense; 

22 (ii) a facility or site that, at the time 

23 of the actions leading to contamination or 

24 suspected contamination of drinking water, 

25 surface water, or groundwater or land surVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 May 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372

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1 face or subsurface strata from a 

2 perfluorinated compound, was— 

3 (I) owned by, leased to, or other4 wise possessed by the United States; 

5 or 

6 (II) under the jurisdiction of the 

7 Secretary of Defense; and 

8 (iii) land owned and operated by a 

9 State when the land is used for training 

10 the National Guard pursuant to chapter 5 

11 of title 32, United States Code, with funds 

12 provided by the Secretary of Defense or 

13 the Secretary of a military department, 

14 even though that land is not under the ju15 risdiction of the Secretary of Defense. 

16 (2) FULLY FLUORINATED CARBON ATOM.—The 

17 term ‘‘fully fluorinated carbon atom’’ means a car18 bon atom on which all the hydrogen substituents 

19 have been replaced by fluorine. 

20 (3) PERFLUORINATED COMPOUND.—The term 

21 ‘‘perfluorinated compound’’ means a perfluoroalkyl 

22 substance or a polyfluoroalkyl substance (or 

23 ‘‘PFAS’’) that is manmade with at least 1 fully 

24 fluorinated carbon atom. 


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1 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 101 of the Comprehen3 sive Environmental Response, Compensation, and 

4 Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601). 

5 (b) COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—On request by the Governor 

7 or chief executive of a State, a Federal department 

8 or agency shall work expeditiously to finalize a coop9 erative agreement for, or to amend an existing coop10 erative agreement to address, testing, monitoring, 

11 removal, and remedial actions to address contamina12 tion or suspected contamination of drinking water, 

13 surface water, or groundwater or land surface or 

14 subsurface strata from a perfluorinated compound 

15 originating from a Federal facility. 

16 (2) MINIMUM STANDARDS.—A cooperative 

17 agreement finalized or amended under paragraph 

18 (1) shall require the area subject to the cooperative 

19 agreement to meet or exceed the most stringent of 

20 the following standards for perfluorinated com21 pounds in any environmental media: 

22 (A) An enforceable State standard, in ef23 fect in that State, for drinking water, surface 

24 water, or groundwater or land surface or sub25 surface strata, as required under section 121(d) 


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1 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 

2 Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (42 

3 U.S.C. 9621(d)). 

4 (B) A health advisory under section 

5 1412(b)(1)(F) of the Safe Drinking Water Act 

6 (42 U.S.C. 300g–1(b)(1)(F)). 

7 (C) Any Federal standard, requirement, 

8 criterion, or limit, including a standard, re9 quirement, criterion, or limit issued under— 

10 (i) the Toxic Substances Control Act 

11 (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.); 

12 (ii) the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 

13 U.S.C. 300f et seq.); 

14 (iii) the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 7401 et seq.); 

16 (iv) the Federal Water Pollution Con17 trol Act (33 U.S.C. 1251 et seq.); 

18 (v) the Marine Protection, Research, 

19 and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 (commonly 

20 known as the ‘‘Ocean Dumping Act’’) (33 

21 U.S.C. 1401 et seq.); or 

22 (vi) the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 

23 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.). 

24 (3) OTHER AUTHORITY.—In addition to the re25 quirements for a cooperative agreement under paraVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:37 May 15, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 \\ALPHA3\E\BILLS\S1372.IS S1372

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1 graph (1), when otherwise authorized to expend 

2 funds for the purpose of addressing ground or sur3 face water contaminated by a perfluorinated com4 pound, the head of a Federal department or agency 

5 may, to expend those funds, enter into a grant 

6 agreement, cooperative agreement, or contract 

7 with— 

8 (A) the local water authority with jurisdic9 tion over the contamination site, including— 

10 (i) a public water system (as defined 

11 in section 1401 of the Safe Drinking 

12 Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f)); and 

13 (ii) a publicly owned treatment works 

14 (as defined in section 212 of the Federal 

15 Water Pollution Control Act (33 U.S.C. 

16 1292)); or 

17 (B) a State, local, or Tribal government. 

18 (c) NOTIFICATION REQUIREMENT.— 

19 (1) DEFINITION OF APPROPRIATE CONGRES20 SIONAL COMMITTEES.—In this subsection, the term 

21 ‘‘appropriate congressional committees’’ means— 

22 (A) the Committee on Environment and 

23 Public Works of the Senate; 

24 (B) the Committee on Homeland Security 

25 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 


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1 (C) the Committee on Energy and Com2 merce of the House of Representatives; and 

3 (D) the Committee on Oversight and Re4 form of the House of Representatives. 

5 (2) REPORT.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—If a cooperative agree7 ment is not finalized or amended under sub8 section (b) by the date that is 1 year after the 

9 date on which a request by the Governor or 

10 chief executive of a State was made, the Presi11 dent shall submit a report described in subpara12 graph (B) to— 

13 (i) the appropriate congressional com14 mittees; 

15 (ii) each Senator from the State af16 fected by the perfluorinated compound con17 tamination; and 

18 (iii) each member of Congress that 

19 represents a district affected by the 

20 perfluorinated compound contamination. 

21 (B) REPORT DESCRIBED.—The report re22 ferred to in subparagraph (A) shall include— 

23 (i) a detailed explanation of why a co24 operative agreement has not been finalized 

25 or amended, as applicable; and 


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1 (ii) a projected timeline for finalizing 

2 or amending a cooperative agreement, as 

3 applicable. 

Æ 


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