Hearing Information
Amendment Deadline
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - 10:00am H-313, the Capitol View Announcement »
Meeting Information
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 - 5:00pm H-313, the Capitol View Announcement »
H.R. 535 - PFAS Action Act of 2019
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Bill Text
Hearing Documents
Rule Information
COMMITTEE ACTION:
REPORTED BY A RECORD VOTE OF 9-4 on Tuesday, January 7, 2020.
FLOOR ACTION ON H. RES. 779:
Agreed to by record vote of 217-199, after agreeing to the previous question by record vote of 225-193, on Wednesday, January 8, 2020.
MANAGERS: Scanlon/Lesko
1. Structured rule.
2. Provides one hour of general debate on the bill equally divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
3. Waives all points of order against consideration of the bill.
4. Provides that an amendment in the nature of a substitute consisting of the text of Rules Committee Print 116-45, modified by the amendment printed in Part A of the Rules Committee report, shall be considered as adopted and the bill, as amended, shall be considered as read.
5. Waives all points of order against provisions in the bill, as amended.
6. Makes in order only those further amendments printed in Part B of the Rules Committee report. Each such amendment may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the question.
7. Waives all points of order against the amendments printed in Part B of the report.
8. Provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions.
Amendments (click headers to sort)
| # | Version # | Sponsor(s) | Party | Summary | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Version 2 | Moore (WI) | Democrat | Revised Requires states to describe in their Drinking Water State Revolving Funds intended use plans how funds will be used to address PFAS, including outlining efforts to include vulnerable communities in the decision-making process. | Revised |
| 2 | Version 1 | Moore (WI) | Democrat | Authorizes $10,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2024 for a grant program at the EPA to support the development of innovative new technology that can help monitor and address PFAS contamination in public water systems. | Submitted |
| 3 | Version 1 | Rice, Kathleen (NY), King, Peter (NY), Fitzpatrick (PA), Grijalva (AZ), Suozzi (NY), Cisneros (CA), Stevens (MI) | Bi-Partisan | Increases authorization of appropriations for the PFAS Infrastructure Grant Program by 25 percent and designates the increase for reimbursing affected community water systems that have previously implemented eligible treatment technologies. | Made in Order |
| 4 | Version 1 | Barragán (CA) | Democrat | Amends the Priority For Funding subsection of the newly established PFAS community water systems grants program to include prioritization for water systems whose populations are experiencing disproportionate environmental harms from pollution. | Submitted |
| 5 | Version 1 | Garamendi (CA) | Democrat | Prohibits any U.S. Department of Transportation or FEMA funding for firefighting foam with PFAS over specified parts per billion level, exempting ocean-going vessels, same as enacted language in FY2020 NDAA (Public Law 116-92). | Submitted |
| 6 | Version 2 | Garamendi (CA) | Democrat | Revised Requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to publicly disclose testing for PFAS contamination, including for non-drinking water and soil not otherwise required to be disclosed under the new Safe Drinking Water Act standard set under Section 5. | Revised |
| 7 | Version 1 | Garamendi (CA) | Democrat | Clarifies that Section 14 does not require redundant cooperative agreements for those current or former military installations covered by existing cooperative agreements under the FY2020 NDAA (Public Law 116-92). | Submitted |
| 8 | Version 1 | Burgess (TX) | Republican | Strikes Section 2, which directs the EPA to designate PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. | Made in Order |
| 9 | Version 1 | Cunningham (SC) | Democrat | Requires the EPA to conduct a study on wild fish in PFAS-contaminated waters and the risks of consuming such fish to humans and natural predators. | Submitted |
| 10 | Version 1 | Lawrence (MI) | Democrat | Requires the EPA to make publicly available on its website, the results of a determination under subsection 2(b) no later than 60 days after such determination is made. | Made in Order |
| 11 | Version 1 | Kim (NJ) | Democrat | Requires the EPA Administrator to offer for public comment those technologies deemed as effective at removing detectable amounts of PFAS from drinking water. | Made in Order |
| 12 | Version 1 | Pappas (NH), Rouda (CA), Delgado (NY), Fitzpatrick (PA), Kuster (NH), Cisneros (CA), Kildee (MI) | Bi-Partisan | Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to review and develop effluent standards, pretreatment standards, and water quality criteria for PFAS under the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. Authorizes $100,000,000 in federal grants for each of the fiscal years 2021 through 2025, to publicly owned treatment works to implement pretreatment standards. | Made in Order |
| 13 | Version 1 | Lamb (PA) | Democrat | Requires the National Firefighter Registry to collect data on the use of firefighting foam or other related equipment containing PFAS. | Submitted |
| 14 | Version 1 | Woodall (GA), DeSaulnier (CA) | Bi-Partisan | Amends Section 18 to ensure the FAA and State and local building code inspectors and fire marshals are at the guidance-making table. This will result in a broader collaborative dialogue that includes the risks posed by the use of foam suppression systems in aviation hangars. | Made in Order |
| 15 | Version 1 | Hudson (NC), Rouzer (NC) | Republican | Directs the EPA to investigate methods to prevent contamination by GenX of surface waters, including source waters used for drinking water purposes. | Made in Order |
| 16 | Version 2 | Hudson (NC), Rouzer (NC) | Republican | Revised Clarifies that communities impacted by contamination of the chemical GenX are eligible for grants under this section. | Made in Order |
| 17 | Version 1 | Houlahan (PA) | Democrat | Authorizes the Director of the National Science Foundation to award research grants to increase the understanding of methods to safely and completely break down or destroy PFAS and authorizes $2,000,000 to be appropriated for this purpose. | Submitted |
| 18 | Version 1 | Escobar (TX) | Democrat | Withdrawn Directs the Environmental Protection Agency to provide for a Safer Choice label for food contact substance and food packaging that do not contain PFAS under the Safer Choice Standard. | Withdrawn |
| 19 | Version 2 | Brown (MD) | Democrat | Revised Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a national risk-communication strategy to inform the public about the hazards of PFAS substances. | Made in Order |
| 20 | Version 1 | Bucshon (IN) | Republican | Exempts FDA approved or cleared products from liability under sec. 107 of CERCLA, with respect to PFAS. | Submitted |
| 21 | Version 1 | Johnson, Eddie Bernice (TX) | Democrat | Expresses the Sense of Congress that communities of color, indigenous communities, and fenceline communities are disproportionately exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. | Submitted |
| 22 | Version 1 | Pallone (NJ) | Democrat | MANAGER’S AMENDMENT Makes technical changes in recognition of the fact that several sections of the bill have already been enacted into law and creates an exemption from liability for federally required uses of PFAS at airports, so long as such use follows FAA standards and guidance. | Considered as Adopted |
| 23 | Version 1 | Dingell (MI), Pingree (ME) | Democrat | Requires GAO to study and report to Congress on the use of PFAS in food containers. | Submitted |
| 24 | Version 1 | Pingree (ME), Spanberger (VA) | Democrat | Expands EPA’s Safer Choice Program to include carpets, rugs, clothing, and upholstered furniture that do not contain PFAS. | Made in Order |
| 25 | Version 1 | Kildee (MI), Kind (WI), Gallagher (WI) | Bi-Partisan | Creates a tool on EPA’s website to help people understand testing results for their well water and connect them to local health and government resources and authorizes $1 million to be appropriated for fiscal year 2021 to carry this out. | Made in Order |
| 26 | Version 2 | Malinowski (NJ) | Democrat | Revised Adds stain resistant, water resistant, and grease resistant coatings that are not subject to requirements under section 409 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to the list of products eligible for a voluntary label indicating an absence of PFAS. | Made in Order |
| 27 | Version 1 | Delgado (NY), Pappas (NH), Rouda (CA), Fitzpatrick (PA), Cisneros (CA), Kildee (MI) | Bi-Partisan | Makes it illegal for an industrial facility to introduce PFAS into a sewage treatment system without first disclosing information about that substance. | Made in Order |
| 28 | Version 1 | Balderson (OH) | Republican | Prevents implementation of the underlying bill until after the EPA Administrator certifies that its own PFAS Action Plan is completed. | Made in Order |
| 29 | Version 1 | Slotkin (MI) | Democrat | Requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to account for PFAS exposure levels in dairy milk when implementing any national primary drinking water regulation for PFAS. | Submitted |
| 30 | Version 1 | Slotkin (MI) | Democrat | Requires the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to submit a report to Congress on scientifically viable methods to determine the level or class of a PFAS substance found in dairy milk. | Submitted |
| 31 | Version 3 | Slotkin (MI) | Democrat | Revised Requires the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in consultation with other relevant government agencies, to report to Congress on efforts to identify viable alternatives to firefighting foam and other related equipment containing PFAS. | Made in Order |
| 32 | Version 1 | Golden (ME) | Democrat | Directs the EPA Administrator, in consultation with the U.S. Fire Administration, to submit an annual report to Congress on the effectiveness of the guidance required under Section 18 of the bill. The report shall include recommendations for congressional actions that the Administrator determines appropriate to assist efforts to reduce exposure to PFAS by firefighters and other first responders. | Made in Order |
| 33 | Version 3 | Tlaib (MI), Ocasio-Cortez (NY), Barragán (CA) | Democrat | Revised Adds the term “disproportionately exposed communities” to “disadvantaged communities.” Disproportionately exposed communities are defined as those in which climate change, pollution, or environmental destruction have exacerbated systemic racial, regional, social, environmental, and economic injustices by disproportionately affecting indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, women, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, or youth. | Made in Order |
| 34 | Version 1 | Speier (CA) | Democrat | Expands the safer choice provision (Section 17) to cover personal care products and cosmetic products in addition to kitchen products. | Submitted |
| 35 | Version 1 | Brindisi (NY), Gallagher (WI), Reed (NY) | Bi-Partisan | Late Requires the EPA, within 180 days, to issue a final rule listing PFOS and PFOA as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, while ensuring that EPA has access to the needed science before making regulatory decisions on other PFAS chemicals, to harmonize with other Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act provisions in the bill. | Made in Order |
| 36 | Version 1 | Lawrence (MI) | Democrat | Late Prioritizes underrepresented communities when awarding PFAS Infrastructure grants. Defines "underrepresented communities" as communities where indigenous people, people of color, migrants, low-income workers, women, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the youth are disproportionately impacted by the presence of PFAS, PFOS, and PFOA in their applicable community water system. | Submitted |
| 37 | Version 1 | Shimkus (IL) | Republican | Late Replaces section 5 of the Rules Committee Print with the same language except for the deletion of subparagraph (E) Health Protection, and subparagraph (H) Health Advisory. | Made in Order |
| 38 | Version 1 | Axne (IA) | Democrat | Late Authorizes the PFAS Infrastructure Grant Program for an additional three years. | Made in Order |
| 39 | Version 2 | Shimkus (IL) | Republican | Late Revised Strikes Section 2 through Section 18 of the bill, and replaces it with a provision mandating that EPA establish national primary drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS within 2 years, as well as expedite the setting of such regulations for other PFAS chemicals. | Revised |
| 40 | Version 3 | Levin, Andy (MI) | Democrat | Late Revised Requires within 5 years a study of EPA actions under CERCLA to clean up PFAS contamination sites. | Made in Order |
| 41 | Version 1 | Plaskett (VI) | Democrat | Late Makes U.S. territories eligible for additional Safe Drinking Water Act funding to address emerging contaminants including PFAS. | Made in Order |
| 42 | Version 1 | Carter, Buddy (GA) | Republican | Late Creates an exemption under CERCLA for any substances that the Administrator determines improves or provides a net benefit for environmental protection, which shall include lithium batteries for electric vehicles. | Submitted |
| 43 | Version 1 | Stefanik (NY) | Republican | Late Requires the Administrator to publish a list of eligible treatment technologies that the Administrator determines are effective at removing amounts of PFAS from drinking water 150 days after the date of enactment of this section and annually thereafter. | Submitted |
Committee Votes
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 225
Motion by Mr. Cole to report an open rule. Defeated: 4–9
Majority Member
Vote
Mr. Hastings
Nay
Mrs. Torres
Nay
Mr. Perlmutter
Nay
Mr. Raskin
Nay
Ms. Scanlon
Nay
Mr. Morelle
Nay
Ms. Shalala
Nay
Mr. DeSaulnier
Nay
Mr. McGovern, Chairman
Nay
Minority Member
Vote
Mr. Cole
Yea
Mr. Woodall
Yea
Mr. Burgess
Yea
Mrs. Lesko
Yea
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 226
Motion by Mr. Burgess to amend the rule to H.R. 535 to make in order amendment #39, offered by Rep. Shimkus (IL), which strikes Section 2 through Section 18 of the bill, and replaces it with a provision mandating that EPA establish national primary drinking water regulations for PFOA and PFOS within 2 years, as well as expedite the setting of such regulations for other PFAS chemicals. Defeated: 4–9
Majority Member
Vote
Mr. Hastings
Nay
Mrs. Torres
Nay
Mr. Perlmutter
Nay
Mr. Raskin
Nay
Ms. Scanlon
Nay
Mr. Morelle
Nay
Ms. Shalala
Nay
Mr. DeSaulnier
Nay
Mr. McGovern, Chairman
Nay
Minority Member
Vote
Mr. Cole
Yea
Mr. Woodall
Yea
Mr. Burgess
Yea
Mrs. Lesko
Yea
Rules Committee Record Vote No. 227
Motion by Ms. Scanlon to report the rule. Adopted: 9–4
Majority Member
Vote
Mr. Hastings
Yea
Mrs. Torres
Yea
Mr. Perlmutter
Yea
Mr. Raskin
Yea
Ms. Scanlon
Yea
Mr. Morelle
Yea
Ms. Shalala
Yea
Mr. DeSaulnier
Yea
Mr. McGovern, Chairman
Yea
Minority Member
Vote
Mr. Cole
Nay
Mr. Woodall
Nay
Mr. Burgess
Nay
Mrs. Lesko
Nay