SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘PFAS Accountability 
Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven-
tion has detected numerous perfluoroalkyl and 
polyfluoroalkyl substances (referred to in this Act as 
‘‘PFAS’’) in the blood serum of individuals in the 
United States, all of which come from manufac-
turing and use of PFAS by humans, as there is no 
natural source of PFAS in human blood; 
(2) peer-reviewed studies by other organizations 
have detected PFAS in the drinking water of at 
least 200,000,000 individuals in the United States; 
(3) PFAS are introduced into the market every 
year, and little research is conducted to ensure the 
safety of PFAS for individuals; 
(4) as of the day before the date of enactment 
of this Act, a Federal statutory cause of action does 
not exist for individuals harmed by the long-term ef-
fects of PFAS exposure; and 
(5) PFAS exposure, even at low levels, has been 
linked to chronic diseases, including cancer, repro-
ductive and developmental harms, and harms to the 
immune system. 
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SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 
The purposes of this Act are— 
(1) to encourage PFAS research and provide 
accountability for irresponsible PFAS manufacturing 
and irresponsible use of PFAS in manufacturing by 
codifying— 
(A) a Federal cause of action for individ-
uals significantly exposed to PFAS; and 
(B) a medical monitoring remedy for those 
individuals; 
(2) to help address harm to individuals signifi-
cantly exposed to PFAS by— 
(A) codifying that harm as an injury at 
law and equity; and 
(B) shifting the costs of medical moni-
toring from those individuals to the parties re-
sponsible for the exposure; and 
(3) to provide incentives for industry to fund 
PFAS safety research. 
SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION AND REMEDIES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Toxic Substances Control Act 
is amended by inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2623) 
the following: 
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‘‘SEC. 25. INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO PERFLUOROALKYL 
AND POLYFLUOROALKYL SUBSTANCES. 
‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF PFAS.—In this section, the 
term ‘PFAS’ means a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl 
substance with at least 1 fully fluorinated carbon atom. 
‘‘(b) CAUSE OF ACTION.—An individual who is sig-
nificantly exposed to PFAS or has reasonable grounds to 
suspect that the individual was significantly exposed to 
PFAS may bring a claim, individually or on behalf of a 
class of similarly situated individuals, in any district court 
of the United States for appropriate legal and equitable 
relief against any person that— 
‘‘(1) engaged in any portion of a manufacturing 
process that created the PFAS to which the indi-
vidual was significantly exposed, including any 
telomer, fluorosurfactant, or toll manufacturing 
process leading to the creation of the PFAS to 
which the individual was significantly exposed; and 
‘‘(2) foresaw or reasonably should have foreseen 
that the creation or use of PFAS would result in 
human exposure to PFAS. 
‘‘(c) MEDICAL MONITORING.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—A court may award medical 
monitoring to an individual or class of individuals 
bringing a claim under subsection (b) if— 
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‘‘(A) the individual or class has been sig-
nificantly exposed to PFAS; 
‘‘(B) as a result of that exposure, the indi-
vidual or class has suffered an increased risk of 
developing a disease associated with exposure to 
PFAS; 
‘‘(C) as a result of that increased risk, 
there is a reasonable basis for the individual or 
class to undergo periodic diagnostic medical ex-
aminations of a nature or frequency that is dif-
ferent from or additional to what would be pre-
scribed in the absence of the exposure; and 
‘‘(D) those medical examinations are effec-
tive in detecting a disease associated with expo-
sure to PFAS. 
‘‘(2) PRESUMPTION
OF
SIGNIFICANT
EXPO-
SURE.— 
‘‘(A) INDIVIDUALS.—An individual plain-
tiff shall be presumed to have been significantly 
exposed to PFAS under paragraph (1)(A) if the 
individual— 
‘‘(i) demonstrates that— 
‘‘(I) the defendant engaged in 
any portion of a manufacturing proc-
ess that created the PFAS to which 
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the individual was significantly ex-
posed, including any telomer, fluoro-
surfactant, 
or 
toll 
manufacturing 
process leading to the creation of the 
PFAS to which the individual was sig-
nificantly exposed; and 
‘‘(II) the PFAS described in sub-
clause (I) were released into 1 or 
more areas where the individual would 
have been exposed for a cumulative 
period of not less than 1 year; or 
‘‘(ii) offers testing results that dem-
onstrate that PFAS or metabolites of 
PFAS have been or are currently detected 
in the body or blood serum of the indi-
vidual. 
‘‘(B) CLASS ACTIONS.—In a class action, a 
presumption of significant exposure to PFAS 
under paragraph (1)(A) shall be established for 
the class by— 
‘‘(i) demonstrating that— 
‘‘(I) the defendant engaged in 
any portion of a manufacturing proc-
ess that created the PFAS to which 
the class members were significantly 
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exposed, 
including 
any 
telomer, 
fluorosurfactant, or toll manufac-
turing process leading to the creation 
of the PFAS to which the class mem-
bers were significantly exposed; and 
‘‘(II) the PFAS described in sub-
clause (I) were released into 1 or 
more areas where a representative 
portion of the class members would 
have been exposed for a cumulative 
period of not less than 1 year; or 
‘‘(ii) offering testing results that dem-
onstrate that PFAS or metabolites of 
PFAS have been or are currently detected 
in the bodies of a representative portion of 
class members that share sufficient com-
mon exposure characteristics with the 
class. 
‘‘(3) REBUTTING THE PRESUMPTION.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—A defendant may 
rebut a presumption of significant exposure 
with respect to an individual plaintiff or class 
member for which testing results are not of-
fered under subparagraph (A)(ii) or (B)(ii) of 
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paragraph (2) by offering results for that indi-
vidual or class member of testing that— 
‘‘(i) uses a generally accepted method 
for detecting the particular PFAS or me-
tabolites of PFAS at issue; 
‘‘(ii) is performed by an independent 
provider agreed on by both parties; and 
‘‘(iii) confirms that the relevant PFAS 
or metabolites of PFAS likely were not 
present in the body of the individual or 
class member at the relevant time in a suf-
ficient quantity to qualify as significant ex-
posure under paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(B) COSTS.—A defendant shall be re-
sponsible for the costs of testing under subpara-
graph (A). 
‘‘(C) INDEPENDENT
PROVIDER.—If both 
parties cannot agree on an independent pro-
vider under subparagraph (A)(ii), the court 
shall appoint an independent provider. 
‘‘(4) INCREASED
RISK
OF
DEVELOPING
DIS-
EASE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If there is insufficient 
toxicological data to reasonably determine 
whether an individual or class has suffered an 
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increased risk of developing a disease associated 
with exposure to any individual PFAS or group 
of PFAS under paragraph (1)(B), a court may 
lower the standard for scientific proof with re-
gard to the increased risk of developing that 
disease until independent and reliable toxi-
cological data is available with respect to that 
individual PFAS or group of PFAS. 
‘‘(B) ORDERING STUDIES.—To make avail-
able independent and reliable toxicological data 
described in subparagraph (A) with respect to 
an individual PFAS or group of PFAS, a court 
may order new or additional epidemiological, 
toxicological, or other studies or investigations 
of that individual PFAS or group of PFAS as 
part of a medical monitoring remedy awarded 
under paragraph (1). 
‘‘(d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con-
gress that courts should encourage more reliable and inde-
pendent research into the latent health effects of PFAS. 
‘‘(e) EFFECT ON STATE LAW CLAIMS AND REM-
EDIES.—Nothing in this section— 
‘‘(1) preempts, alters, bars, or precludes any 
State law claims or remedies, including any State 
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law claims or remedies for an injury addressed by 
this section; or 
‘‘(2) provides an exclusive claim or remedy.’’. 
(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 
for the Toxic Substances Control Act (Public Law 94– 
469; 90 Stat. 2003) is amended by inserting after the item 
relating to section 24 the following: 
‘‘Sec. 25. Individuals exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl sub-
stances.’’. 
Æ 
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