PFAS User Fee Act of 2019

To ensure that polluters pay ongoing water treatment costs associated with contamination from perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other purposes. 1. Short title This Act may be cited as the PFAS User Fee Act of 2019 2. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances have emerged as pervasive contaminants in sources of drinking water and water to be treated by treatment works. (2) Such substances are not naturally occurring, but are present in water because of manufacturing and distribution of PFAS in commerce. (3) Such substances pose serious risks to health, including risks of cancer, reproductive and developmental effects, and effects on the immune system, liver, and kidneys. (4) Because of these risks, regulatory limits continue to be established for PFAS in drinking water and effluent from treatment works. (5) Removing PFAS from water results in significant ongoing operation and maintenance costs. (6) Those costs are currently borne by community water systems and treatment works, and in turn by ratepayers. (7) Those costs should rightly be borne by the manufacturers of PFAS, who are using community water systems and treatment works to remove their pollution from the environment. 3. Definitions In this Act: (1) Administrator The term Administrator (2) Affected facility The term affected facility (A) a community water system that has operation and maintenance costs associated with the removal of PFAS from water of the community water system; or (B) a treatment works that has operation and maintenance costs associated with the removal of PFAS from effluent prior to discharge from the treatment works. (3) Community water system The term community water system 42 U.S.C. 300f (4) Disadvantaged community The term disadvantaged community 42 U.S.C. 300j–12 (5) Manufacture The term manufacture 15 U.S.C. 2602 (6) PFAS The term PFAS (7) Treatment works The term treatment works 33 U.S.C. 1292 4. PFAS manufacturer user fee (a) In general The Administrator shall, by rule, establish fees for the manufacture of PFAS, which shall be assessed to each person manufacturing PFAS based on the amount of PFAS manufactured by the person. (b) Initial fee Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall establish fees under subsection (a) that are sufficient to ensure the collection of not less than $2,000,000,000 dollars per year. (c) Review and update Not less frequently than every 2 years, the Administrator shall review the fees established under subsection (a) and update such fees as necessary to ensure that the fee collections are sufficient to cover at least 25 percent of the operation and maintenance costs associated with the removal of PFAS by affected facilities. 5. PFAS Treatment Trust Fund (a) Establishment There is established in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the PFAS Treatment Trust Fund (b) Transfer to Trust Fund of amounts equivalent to user fees There are hereby appropriated to the PFAS Treatment Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the fees collected under section 4. (c) Expenditures from Trust Fund Amounts in the PFAS Treatment Trust Fund shall be available, without further appropriation, only for purposes of making expenditures to carry out section 6. 6. Support for operation and maintenance of community water systems and treatment works (a) Grants The Administrator shall make grants to affected facilities to pay for operation and maintenance costs associated with the removal of PFAS. (b) Applications (1) Guidance Not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Administrator shall publish guidance describing the form and timing for affected facilities to apply for grants under this section. (2) Required information The Administrator shall require an affected facility applying for a grant under this section to submit information showing the presence of PFAS in water at the facility. (c) Priority The Administrator shall prioritize for funding grants to affected facilities serving disadvantaged communities.

Summary: PFAS User Fee Act of 2019 This bill creates a fee to provide support for the treatment of drinking water contaminated with certain perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly referred to as PFAS. These substances are man-made and may have adverse human health effects. A variety of products contain the compounds, such as nonstick cookware or weatherproof clothing. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must establish a fee for the manufacture of PFAS. Revenue generated from the fees must be made available for a grant program. Under the program, the EPA must make grants to pay for the removal of PFAS from drinking water systems and wastewater treatment works.