WASHINGTON – On Thursday night, the House of Representatives passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023, a must-pass defense spending bill that contains several amendments tackling the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS.
The PFAS amendments were championed by Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), Andy Levin (D-Mich.), Annie Kuster (D-N.H.), Deborah Ross (D-N.C.), Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) and Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and added to the final bill.
“EWG applauds these champions for offering these amendments and fighting to protect service members and military communities from toxic PFAS, holding the Pentagon accountable for cleaning up PFAS contamination, and speeding up regulations of industrial discharges of PFAS,” said Scott Faber, EWG senior vice president for government affairs.
The amendments would:
- Force the Environmental Protection Agency to quickly publish water quality criteria and set industrial discharge limits for certain industrial users of PFAS.
- Require the Department of Defense to test and reduce PFAS in drinking water in schools operated by the DOD.
- Require the DOD to report on PFAS destruction technologies other than incineration, create a guide to best practices, and extend a pause on PFAS incineration.
- Require the DOD to report to Congress on progress toward replacing PFAS in firefighting foam, and report on other sources of PFAS contamination at military installations.
- Clarify the scope of PFAS data reporting to the EPA.
- Alert service members and their families about their exposure to PFAS and the health risks they face.
- Track service member and veteran health problems caused by PFAS, and to notify veterans about health effects studies.
The amendments follow a requirement that the DOD buy firefighter turnout gear without PFAS. That requirement was included in the original NDAA, released in June by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith (D-Wash.).
Other important PFAS provisions were added during the committee’s final negotiations over the original House NDAA. These provisions were championed by Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.) and would:
- Require the military to buy certain everyday products without PFAS.
- Follow state cleanup standards when addressing PFAS contamination.
- Expand a PFAS health study in communities near military bases.
- Provide blood testing to service members exposed to PFAS.
- Require the DOD to issue a report identifying uses of PFAS where safer alternatives are not available.
- Offer prizes for research into safer alternatives to PFAS in firefighter turnout gear.
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The Environmental Working Group is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization that empowers people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment. Through research, advocacy and unique education tools, EWG drives consumer choice and civic action.
