I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2751 

To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to codify a Federal cause of 

action and a type of remedy available for individuals significantly exposed 

to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, to encourage research and accountability for irresponsible discharge of those substances, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 22, 2021 

Ms. DEAN (for herself, Mr. KILDEE, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BRENDAN

F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Ms. STRICKLAND, Mrs. DINGELL, Ms. NEWMAN, and Mr. SEAN PATRICK MALONEY of New York) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, 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 amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to codify a 

Federal cause of action and a type of remedy available 

for individuals significantly exposed to per- and 

polyfluoroalkyl substances, to encourage research and accountability for irresponsible discharge of those substances, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PFAS Accountability 

3 Act of 2021’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds that— 

6 (1) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven7 tion has detected numerous perfluoroalkyl and 

8 polyfluoroalkyl substances (referred to in this Act as 

9 ‘‘PFAS’’) in the blood serum of individuals in the 

10 United States, all of which come from manufac11 turing and use of PFAS by humans, as there is no 

12 natural source of PFAS in human blood; 

13 (2) peer-reviewed studies by other organizations 

14 have detected PFAS in the drinking water of at 

15 least 200,000,000 individuals in the United States; 

16 (3) PFAS are introduced into the market every 

17 year, and little research is conducted to ensure the 

18 safety of PFAS for individuals; 

19 (4) as of the day before the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, a Federal statutory cause of action does 

21 not exist for individuals harmed by the long-term ef22 fects of PFAS exposure; and 

23 (5) PFAS exposure, even at low levels, has been 

24 linked to chronic diseases, including cancer, repro25 ductive and developmental harms, and harms to the 

26 immune system. 


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1 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

2 The purposes of this Act are— 

3 (1) to encourage PFAS research and provide 

4 accountability for irresponsible PFAS manufacturing 

5 and irresponsible use of PFAS in manufacturing by 

6 codifying— 

7 (A) a Federal cause of action for individ8 uals significantly exposed to PFAS; and 

9 (B) a medical monitoring remedy for those 

10 individuals; 

11 (2) to help address harm to individuals signifi12 cantly exposed to PFAS by— 

13 (A) codifying that harm as an injury at 

14 law and equity; and 

15 (B) shifting the costs of medical moni16 toring from those individuals to the parties re17 sponsible for the exposure; and 

18 (3) to provide incentives for industry to fund 

19 PFAS safety research. 

20 SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION AND REMEDIES. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Toxic Substances Control Act 

22 is amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2623) 

23 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 25. INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO PERFLUOROALKYL 

2 AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PFAS.—In this section, the 

4 term ‘PFAS’ means a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl 

5 substance with at least 1 fully fluorinated carbon atom. 

6 ‘‘(b) CAUSE OF ACTION.—An individual who is sig7 nificantly exposed to PFAS or has reasonable grounds to 

8 suspect that the individual was significantly exposed to 

9 PFAS may bring a claim, individually or on behalf of a 

10 class of similarly situated individuals, in any district court 

11 of the United States for appropriate legal and equitable 

12 relief against any person that— 

13 ‘‘(1) engaged in any portion of a manufacturing 

14 process that created the PFAS to which the indi15 vidual was significantly exposed, including any 

16 telomer, fluorosurfactant, or toll manufacturing 

17 process leading to the creation of the PFAS to 

18 which the individual was significantly exposed; and 

19 ‘‘(2) foresaw or reasonably should have foreseen 

20 that the creation or use of PFAS would result in 

21 human exposure to PFAS. 

22 ‘‘(c) MEDICAL MONITORING.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A court may award medical 

24 monitoring to an individual or class of individuals 

25 bringing a claim under subsection (b) if— 


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1 ‘‘(A) the individual or class has been sig2 nificantly exposed to PFAS; 

3 ‘‘(B) as a result of that exposure, the indi4 vidual or class has suffered an increased risk of 

5 developing a disease associated with exposure to 

6 PFAS; 

7 ‘‘(C) as a result of that increased risk, 

8 there is a reasonable basis for the individual or 

9 class to undergo periodic diagnostic medical ex10 aminations of a nature or frequency that is dif11 ferent from or additional to what would be pre12 scribed in the absence of the exposure; and 

13 ‘‘(D) those medical examinations are effec14 tive in detecting a disease associated with expo15 sure to PFAS. 

16 ‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION OF SIGNIFICANT EXPO17 SURE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) INDIVIDUALS.—An individual plain19 tiff shall be presumed to have been significantly 

20 exposed to PFAS under paragraph (1)(A) if the 

21 individual— 

22 ‘‘(i) demonstrates that— 

23 ‘‘(I) the defendant engaged in 

24 any portion of a manufacturing proc25 ess that created the PFAS to which 


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1 the individual was significantly ex2 posed, including any telomer, fluoro3 surfactant, or toll manufacturing 

4 process leading to the creation of the 

5 PFAS to which the individual was sig6 nificantly exposed; and 

7 ‘‘(II) the PFAS described in sub8 clause (I) were released into 1 or 

9 more areas where the individual would 

10 have been exposed for a cumulative 

11 period of not less than 1 year; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) offers testing results that dem13 onstrate that PFAS or metabolites of 

14 PFAS have been or are currently detected 

15 in the body or blood serum of the indi16 vidual. 

17 ‘‘(B) CLASS ACTIONS.—In a class action, a 

18 presumption of significant exposure to PFAS 

19 under paragraph (1)(A) shall be established for 

20 the class by— 

21 ‘‘(i) demonstrating that— 

22 ‘‘(I) the defendant engaged in 

23 any portion of a manufacturing proc24 ess that created the PFAS to which 

25 the class members were significantly 


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1 exposed, including any telomer, 

2 fluorosurfactant, or toll manufac3 turing process leading to the creation 

4 of the PFAS to which the class mem5 bers were significantly exposed; and 

6 ‘‘(II) the PFAS described in sub7 clause (I) were released into 1 or 

8 more areas where a representative 

9 portion of the class members would 

10 have been exposed for a cumulative 

11 period of not less than 1 year; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) offering testing results that dem13 onstrate that PFAS or metabolites of 

14 PFAS have been or are currently detected 

15 in the bodies of a representative portion of 

16 class members that share sufficient com17 mon exposure characteristics with the 

18 class. 

19 ‘‘(3) REBUTTING THE PRESUMPTION.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A defendant may 

21 rebut a presumption of significant exposure 

22 with respect to an individual plaintiff or class 

23 member for which testing results are not of24 fered under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of 


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1 paragraph (2) by offering results for that indi2 vidual or class member of testing that— 

3 ‘‘(i) uses a generally accepted method 

4 for detecting the particular PFAS or me5 tabolites of PFAS at issue; 

6 ‘‘(ii) is performed by an independent 

7 provider agreed on by both parties; and 

8 ‘‘(iii) confirms that the relevant PFAS 

9 or metabolites of PFAS likely were not 

10 present in the body of the individual or 

11 class member at the relevant time in a suf12 ficient quantity to qualify as significant ex13 posure under paragraph (1)(A). 

14 ‘‘(B) COSTS.—A defendant shall be re15 sponsible for the costs of testing under subpara16 graph (A). 

17 ‘‘(C) INDEPENDENT PROVIDER.—If both 

18 parties cannot agree on an independent pro19 vider under subparagraph (A)(ii), the court 

20 shall appoint an independent provider. 

21 ‘‘(4) INCREASED RISK OF DEVELOPING DIS22 EASE.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If there is insufficient 

24 toxicological data to reasonably determine 

25 whether an individual or class has suffered an 


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1 increased risk of developing a disease associated 

2 with exposure to any individual PFAS or group 

3 of PFAS under paragraph (1)(B), a court may 

4 lower the standard for scientific proof with re5 gard to the increased risk of developing that 

6 disease until independent and reliable toxi7 cological data is available with respect to that 

8 individual PFAS or group of PFAS. 

9 ‘‘(B) ORDERING STUDIES.—To make avail10 able independent and reliable toxicological data 

11 described in subparagraph (A) with respect to 

12 an individual PFAS or group of PFAS, a court 

13 may order new or additional epidemiological, 

14 toxicological, or other studies or investigations 

15 of that individual PFAS or group of PFAS as 

16 part of a medical monitoring remedy awarded 

17 under paragraph (1). 

18 ‘‘(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con19 gress that courts should encourage more reliable and inde20 pendent research into the latent health effects of PFAS. 

21 ‘‘(e) EFFECT ON STATE LAW CLAIMS AND REM22 EDIES.—Nothing in this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) preempts, alters, bars, or precludes any 

24 State law claims or remedies, including any State 


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1 law claims or remedies for an injury addressed by 

2 this section; or 

3 ‘‘(2) provides an exclusive claim or remedy.’’. 

4 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

5 for the Toxic Substances Control Act (Public Law 94– 

6 469; 90 Stat. 2003) is amended by inserting after the item 

7 relating to section 24 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 25. Individuals exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.’’. 

Æ 


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