I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1517 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to States, territories, and Indian Tribes to address contamination by perfluoroalkyl 

and polyfluoroalkyl substances on farms, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 9, 2023 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, and Ms. LEGER

FERNANDEZ) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants 

to States, territories, and Indian Tribes 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) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘agricultural 

6 land’’ includes irrigation water, livestock water, 

7 surface water, groundwater, and agricultural in8 puts on or associated with land described in 

9 subparagraph (A). 

10 (2) COMMERCIAL FARM.—The term ‘‘commer11 cial farm’’ means a farm on which a person pro12 duces any farm product with the intent that the 

13 farm product be sold or otherwise disposed of to 

14 generate income. 

15 (3) ELIGIBLE GOVERNMENT.—The term ‘‘eligi16 ble government’’ means— 

17 (A) a State; 

18 (B) the District of Columbia; 

19 (C) a territory of the United States; and 

20 (D) an Indian Tribe. 

21 (4) FARM PRODUCT.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘farm prod23 uct’’ means any plant or animal that is useful 

24 to humans. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘farm prod2 uct’’ includes— 

3 (i) forages; 

4 (ii) sod crops; 

5 (iii) grains; 

6 (iv) food crops; 

7 (v) dairy products; 

8 (vi) poultry and poultry products; 

9 (vii) bees; 

10 (viii) livestock and livestock products; 

11 (ix) products of aquaculture; 

12 (x) fruits; 

13 (xi) berries; 

14 (xii) vegetables; 

15 (xiii) flowers; 

16 (xiv) seeds; 

17 (xv) grasses; 

18 (xvi) Christmas trees; and 

19 (xvii) other similar products, as deter20 mined by the Secretary. 

21 (5) PERFLUOROALKYL OR POLYFLUOROALKYL

22 SUBSTANCE; PFAS.—The term ‘‘perfluoroalkyl or 

23 polyfluoroalkyl substance’’ or ‘‘PFAS’’ means a 

24 chemical that— 

25 (A) contains at least one of— 


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1 (i) R–(CF2)–CF(R′)R′′, where both 

2 the CF2 and CF moieties are saturated 

3 carbons, and none of the R groups can be 

4 hydrogen; 

5 (ii) R–CF2OCF2–R′, where both the 

6 CF2 moieties are saturated carbons, and 

7 none of the R groups can be hydrogen; or 

8 (iii) CF3C(CF3)RR′, where all the 

9 carbons are saturated, and none of the R 

10 groups can be hydrogen; or 

11 (B) is covered by the most recent working 

12 definition of PFAS issued by the Administrator 

13 of the Environmental Protection Agency. 

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

15 the program established under section 3(a). 

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

17 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

18 (8) 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 (9) SLUDGE.—The term ‘‘sludge’’ means— 

23 (A) solid, semisolid, or liquid waste gen24 erated from a municipal, commercial, or indus25 trial— 


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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 eligible governments for the purposes described in sec11 tion 4(a). 

12 (b) ELIGIBILITY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive a 

14 grant under the program, the territory of an eligible 

15 government shall contain— 

16 (A) agricultural land that contains any soil 

17 with levels of PFAS that the Secretary, in co18 ordination with the Administrator of the Envi19 ronmental Protection Agency, determines to be 

20 unsafe; or 

21 (B) water used for the production of farm 

22 products with levels of PFAS that the Adminis23 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

24 in coordination with the Secretary, determines 

25 to be unsafe. 


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1 (2) CONSIDERATION.—In determining the eligi2 bility of an eligible government for a grant under the 

3 program, the Secretary, in consultation with the Ad4 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, 

5 shall consider State standards and limitations relat6 ing to soil and water. 

7 (c) APPLICATIONS.— 

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

9 program, the department of agriculture or similar 

10 agency of an eligible government shall submit to the 

11 Secretary an application at such time, in such man12 ner, and containing such information as the Sec13 retary may require. 

14 (2) SPEND PLAN.—An application submitted 

15 under paragraph (1) shall contain a plan describing 

16 how the eligible government will administer the 

17 funding received under the program, including fund18 ing priorities and oversight. 

19 (d) SET-ASIDE.—Each year, the Secretary shall pro20 vide not less than 30 percent of the total funding provided 

21 under the program to 1 or more eligible governments with 

22 a population of less than 3,000,000. 


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1 SEC. 4. PURPOSES. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—An eligible government may use 

3 a grant received under the program to provide funding for 

4 any of the following purposes: 

5 (1) Monitoring (including through blood serum 

6 testing) the PFAS-related health complications of a 

7 person, and members of the household of that per8 son, if agricultural land the person lives or works on 

9 is found to be contaminated by PFAS. 

10 (2) Buying, selling, or providing compensation 

11 for agricultural land or farm products found, 

12 through test results provided to the eligible govern13 ment, to be contaminated by PFAS, including costs 

14 associated with the depopulation or disposal of farm 

15 products, premortem or postmortem. 

16 (3) Investing in agricultural equipment, facili17 ties, and infrastructure to ensure that agricultural 

18 land that, or a commercial farm any agricultural 

19 land of which, is found to be contaminated by PFAS 

20 maintains profitability while the producers on the 

21 agricultural land, in response to the PFAS contami22 nation— 

23 (A) transition to an alternative production 

24 system; or 

25 (B) implement remediation strategies (in26 cluding disposal), technological adaptations, or 


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1 other modifications to the operations of the ag2 ricultural land or commercial farm. 

3 (4) Assisting the producers on agricultural land 

4 that, or a commercial farm any agricultural land of 

5 which, is found to be contaminated by PFAS in de6 veloping an enterprise budget for— 

7 (A) alternative production systems; 

8 (B) remediation strategies; 

9 (C) technological adaptations; 

10 (D) transitioning to an alternative revenue 

11 stream; or 

12 (E) relocating a farming operation to new 

13 agricultural land. 

14 (5) Providing financial assistance to a person 

15 the commercial farm of which is found to be con16 taminated by PFAS, including income replacement. 

17 (6) Evaluating and expanding the capacity of 

18 PFAS testing and data management in the territory 

19 of the eligible government. 

20 (7) Conducting research that— 

21 (A) supports short-term farm management 

22 decisions with respect to agricultural land that 

23 has been contaminated by PFAS; and 

24 (B) assesses future options for viable uses 

25 of agricultural land and water used for agriculVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:52 Mar 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1517.IH H1517

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1 tural production that has been contaminated by 

2 PFAS. 

3 (8) Conducting research that quantifies the im4 pact of PFAS on commercial farms and agricultural 

5 communities in the territory of the eligible govern6 ment. 

7 (9) Conducting research on— 

8 (A) soil and water remediation systems; 

9 (B) the viability of those systems for 

10 PFAS-contaminated commercial farms; 

11 (C) the composting or disposal of PFAS12 contaminated crops or livestock; 

13 (D) implementing alternative production 

14 systems in response to PFAS contamination; 

15 (E) the PFAS uptake of various farm 

16 products; and 

17 (F) food safety relating to PFAS contami18 nation. 

19 (10) Developing and implementing educational 

20 programs for owners of agricultural land, including 

21 determining best practices for— 

22 (A) informing residents about the potential 

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

24 septage application was licensed or permitted by 


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1 the eligible government or the Federal Govern2 ment; and 

3 (B) providing information and guidance on 

4 buying or selling agricultural land on which 

5 sludge or septage was applied. 

6 (11) Long-term monitoring of agricultural land 

7 contaminated by PFAS and establishing a cor8 responding centralized data repository. 

9 (12) Assisting owners and operators of commer10 cial farms not directly affected by PFAS contamina11 tion with marketing efforts whose branding and 

12 marketing may be affected by the public perception 

13 of PFAS contamination in the territory of the eligi14 ble government. 

15 (13) Voluntary testing of farm products, agri16 cultural land, or other locations that are suspected 

17 to be contaminated with PFAS. 

18 (b) PRIORITY.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—In using funding received 

20 under the program, an eligible government shall 

21 prioritize purposes that directly assist producers who 

22 are experiencing financial losses due to agricultural 

23 PFAS contamination. 

24 (2) DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PRI25 ORITY.—In providing grants under the program, the 


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1 Secretary shall prioritize the provision of grants to 

2 eligible governments that will use the grant funds 

3 for the purposes described in paragraphs (3) 

4 through (5) of subsection (a). 

5 SEC. 5. REPORTS. 

6 Each year of the period of a grant received under 

7 the program, the department of agriculture or similar 

8 agency of an eligible government shall submit to the Sec9 retary and Congress a report describing— 

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

11 year, including— 

12 (A) the purposes described in section 4(a) 

13 for which the grant was used; 

14 (B) the amount of the grant allocated to 

15 each purpose described in section 4(a); and 

16 (C) the extent to which the funding re17 ceived under the program, including funding 

18 priorities and oversight, was administered in ac19 cordance with the plan described in section 

20 3(c)(2); 

21 (2) any additional needs identified by agricul22 tural producers in the territory of the eligible gov23 ernment; and 

24 (3) any additional information the Secretary de25 termines to be appropriate. 


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1 SEC. 6. TASK FORCE. 

2 The Secretary shall establish a task force composed 

3 of officers or employees of the Department of Agri4 culture— 

5 (1) to provide advice to the Secretary relating 

6 to whether addressing PFAS contamination should 

7 be added as an eligible activity under each program 

8 of the Department of Agriculture; 

9 (2) to evaluate necessary actions for farms al10 ready enrolled in a Department of Agriculture pro11 gram where PFAS is detected; and 

12 (3) to provide technical assistance to eligible 

13 governments in addressing PFAS contamination. 

14 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec16 retary to carry out this Act $500,000,000 for the period 

17 of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 

Æ 


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