[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 675 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 675
To authorize the Department of Defense to temporarily provide water
uncontaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane
sulfonate (PFOS) for agricultural purposes to areas affected by
contamination from military installations, and to authorize the
Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property to extend the
contiguous geographic footprint of any Air Force base that has shown
signs of contamination from PFOA and PFOS due to activities on the
base, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
March 6, 2019
Mr. Udall (for himself and Mr. Heinrich) introduced the following bill;
which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Department of Defense to temporarily provide water
uncontaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane
sulfonate (PFOS) for agricultural purposes to areas affected by
contamination from military installations, and to authorize the
Secretary of the Air Force to acquire real property to extend the
contiguous geographic footprint of any Air Force base that has shown
signs of contamination from PFOA and PFOS due to activities on the
base, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Prompt and Fast Action to Stop
Damages Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) PFAS.--The term ``PFAS'' means perfluoroalkyl and
polyfluoroalkyl substances.
(2) PFOA.--The term ``PFOA'' means perfluorooctanoic acid.
(3) PFOS.--The term ``PFOS'' means perfluorooctane
sulfonate.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.
(a) Findings.--Congress finds the following:
(1) PFAS have been manufactured and used in a variety of
industries around the world, including in the United States
since the 1940s.
(2) PFAS are found in many consumer products like cookware,
food packaging, and stain repellants.
(3) PFAS manufacturing and processing facilities and
airports and military installations that use firefighting foams
are some of the main sources of PFAS contamination in large
concentrations that can lead to human exposure.
(4) There is evidence that exposure to PFAS can lead to
adverse health effects in humans.
(5) PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals that includes
PFOA and PFOS.
(6) PFOA and PFOS have been the most extensively produced
and studied of the PFAS chemicals.
(7) PFOA and PFOS are very persistent in the environment
and in the human body, meaning they do not break down and can
accumulate over time.
(8) Studies indicate that PFOA and PFOS can cause
reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and
immunological effects in laboratory animals.
(9) The Environmental Protection Agency is beginning the
necessary steps--
(A) to propose designating PFOA and PFOS as
hazardous substances through one of the available
statutory mechanisms, including section 102 of the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9602); and
(B) to set a maximum contaminant level under the
Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300f et seq.).
(10) In the 1970s, the Air Force began purchasing and using
aqueous film-forming foam containing PFOA and PFOS for
extinguishing petroleum fires and during firefighting training
activities.
(11) The Air Force has used a proactive, comprehensive
approach to identify installations where aqueous film-forming
foam containing PFOA or PFOS has been used and there is a
suspected release that may impact drinking water and expose
humans to PFOA and PFOS.
(12) The Air Force uses authorities granted under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) and the Defense
Environmental Restoration Program under chapter 160 of title
10, United States Code, to ensure that no one is drinking water
containing unacceptable levels of PFOA or PFOS due to Air Force
activities.
(13) The Air Force provides alternative sources of drinking
water, including filters or connections to public utilities, to
provide longer-term assurances that individuals are not
drinking water containing unacceptable levels of PFOA or PFOS.
(14) The Air Force asserts that authorities under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act of 1980 (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) do not extend to
the provision of clean water for livestock or agricultural
purposes.
(15) Livestock and agriculture are produced for human
consumption in items such as milk and dairy and provide a
direct pathway for human exposure to PFOA and PFOS.
(16) Under section 634 of the Departments of Commerce,
Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies
Appropriations Act, 1998 (Public Law 105-119; 111 Stat. 2525),
the Department of Defense was authorized to use available funds
to compensate cranberry growers adjacent to the Massachusetts
Military Reservation, Cape Code, Massachusetts, for commercial
loss of crops in 1997 due to the presence of ethylene dibromide
in groundwater, demonstrating previous recognition by Congress
of the need to provide compensation for damages associated with
chemical releases at military installations.
(b) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that Congress--
(1) supports temporary, explicit, authority for the
Department of Defense to address indirect pathways to human
exposure from PFOA and PFOS until such time as the Federal
agencies with oversight over agricultural products and food
have established regulatory standards; and
(2) supports the designation by the Environmental
Protection Agency of PFAS as hazardous chemicals.
SEC. 4. PROVISION OF WATER UNCONTAMINATED WITH PERFLUOROOCTANOIC ACID
(PFOA) AND PERFLUOROOCTANE SULFONATE (PFOS) FOR
AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES.
(a) Authority.--
(1) In general.--Using amounts appropriated or otherwise
made available for operation and maintenance for the military
department concerned, or for operation and maintenance Defense-
wide in the case of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary
concerned may provide water sources uncontaminated with
perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including PFOA
and PFOS, or treatment of contaminated waters, for agricultural
purposes used to produce products destined for human
consumption in an area in which a water source has been
determined pursuant to paragraph (2) to be contaminated with
such compounds by reason of activities on a military
installation under the jurisdiction of the Secretary concerned.
(2) Applicable standard.--For purposes of paragraph (1), an
area is determined to be contaminated with PFOA or PFOS if--
(A) the level of contamination is above the
Lifetime Health Advisory for contamination with such
compounds issued by the Environmental Protection Agency
and printed in the Federal Register on May 25, 2016; or
(B) on or after the date the Food and Drug
Administration sets a standard for PFOA and PFOS in raw
agricultural commodities and milk, the level of
contamination is above such standard.
(b) Secretary Concerned Defined.--In this section, the term
``Secretary concerned'' means the following:
(1) The Secretary of the Army, with respect to the Army.
(2) The Secretary of the Navy, with respect to the Navy,
the Marine Corps, and the Coast Guard (when it is operating as
a service in the Navy).
(3) The Secretary of the Air Force, with respect to the Air
Force.
(4) The Secretary of Defense, with respect to the Defense
Agencies.
SEC. 5. ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY BY AIR FORCE.
(a) Authority.--
(1) In general.--The Secretary of the Air Force may acquire
one or more parcels of real property within the vicinity of an
Air Force base that has shown signs of contamination from PFOA
and PFOS due to activities on the base and which would extend
the contiguous geographic footprint of the base and increase
the force protection standoff near critical infrastructure and
runways.
(2) Improvements and personal property.--The authority
under paragraph (1) to acquire real property described in that
paragraph shall include the authority to purchase improvements
and personal property located on that real property.
(3) Relocation expenses.--The authority under paragraph (1)
to acquire real property described in that paragraph shall
include the authority to provide Federal financial assistance
for moving costs, relocation benefits, and other expenses
incurred in accordance with the Uniform Relocation Assistance
and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C.
4601 et seq.).
(b) Environmental Activities.--The Air Force shall conduct such
activities at a parcel or parcels of real property acquired under
subsection (a) as are necessary to remediate contamination from PFOA
and PFOS related to activities at the Air Force base.
(c) Funding.--Funds for the land acquisitions authorized under
subsection (a) shall be derived from amounts appropriated for fiscal
year 2020 for military construction or unobligated balances available
for military construction.
(d) Rule of Construction.--The authority under this section
constitutes authority to carry out land acquisitions for purposes of
section 2802 of title 10, United States Code.
SEC. 6. REMEDIATION PLAN.
(a) In General.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to
Congress a remediation plan for cleanup of all water at or adjacent to
a military base that is contaminated with PFOA or PFOS.
(b) Study.--In preparing the remediation plan under subsection (a),
the Secretary shall conduct a study on the contamination of water at
military bases with PFOA or PFOS.
(c) Budget Amount.--The Secretary shall ensure that each budget of
the President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31,
United States Code, requests funding in amounts necessary to address
remediation efforts under the remediation plan submitted under
subsection (a).
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