[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 37 (Thursday, February 28, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Page S1599]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. CARPER (for himself, Mrs. Capito, Mr. Peters, Mr. Tillis, 
        Ms. Stabenow, Mr. Rubio, Mr. Merkley, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Reed, 
        Ms. Murkowski, Mrs. Shaheen, Mr. Burr, Mr. Bennet, Mr. Manchin, 
        Mr. Schumer, Mr. Udall, Mr. Heinrich, Ms. Hassan, Mrs. 
        Gillibrand, and Ms. Baldwin):
  S. 638. A bill to require the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency to designate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as 
hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, 
Compensation, Liability Act of 1980, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on Environment and Public Works.
  Mr. CARPER. Mr. President, during the debate on the nomination of 
Andrew Wheeler to be Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency I came to the floor to express concerns on a number of issues, 
including EPA's regulation of per- and poly-fluorinated alkyl 
substances--PFAS.
  PFAS are a class of man-made chemicals developed in the 1940s. PFAS 
can be found across industries in many products, including food 
packaging, nonstick pans, clothing, furniture, and firefighting foam 
used by the military. These chemicals have a long and tragic history--
suffice it to say that their widespread use resulted too many Americans 
without access to safe drinking water.
  This very issue is a matter of some controversy as EPA has failed to 
provide meaningful and swift action on these chemicals under this 
administration. That is why I am here today to introduce a bipartisan 
bill to designate PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances under the 
Federal superfund law. The Carper-Capito-Peters-Tillis-Stabenow-Rubio-
Merkley-Gardner-Reed-Murkowski-Shaheen-Burr-Bennet-Manchin bill will 
force EPA to begin the rulemaking process to protecting Americans from 
overexposure to these harmful chemicals and hold polluters accountable. 
It is very similar to legislation that has already been introduced in 
the House of Representatives by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell.
  In his confirmation hearing, Andrew Wheeler said, and I quote:

       It is these Americans that President Trump and his 
     Administration are focused on, Americans without access to 
     safe drinking water or Americans living on or near hazardous 
     sites, often unaware of the health risks they and their 
     families face. Many of these sites have languished for years, 
     even decades. How can these Americans prosper if they cannot 
     live, learn, or work in healthy environments? The answer is 
     simple. They cannot. President Trump understands this and 
     that is why he is focused on putting Americans first.

  One would think those words might mean that there could be some 
common ground at least on addressing PFAS. After all, who wouldn't 
agree that we should be acting with urgency to address contamination 
from these hazardous chemicals?
  According to one 2017 study, drinking water supplies for 6 million 
U.S. residents have exceeded the EPA's lifetime health advisory for 
these chemicals.
  Another 2018 study performed by the Environmental Working Group 
reports that up to 110 million Americans could have PFAS-contaminated 
water.
  In 2016, the Department of Defense announced that it was assessing 
the risk of groundwater contamination from firefighting foam at dozens 
of fire and crash testing sites across the country. It is likely that 
they are all contaminated.
  Just last year, the town of Blades in my home State of Delaware 
alerted its 1,250 residents, as well as businesses and schools that use 
public water, to stop using public water for drinking an cooking 
because PFAS chemicals were present at nearly twice the Federal health 
advisory level. Reportedly, 36 of 67 sampled groundwater wells on Dover 
Air Force Base showed dangerously high levels of PFOA and PFOS. And it 
is not just Delaware--contamination is widespread, in red States and 
blue States, in small water systems and large ones, on military sites 
and in residential areas, from Maine to Alaska.
  It is essential that we legislate to require EPA to designate PFOA 
and PFOS as ``hazardous substances,'' which means that polluters could 
be held responsible for cleaning it up under the superfund law. In its 
recently released PFAS Action Plan, EPA has said again that it would 
issue this proposal in the future but did not indicate how long it will 
take to complete. Unfortunately, it has no sense of urgency to address 
these emerging contaminants and to protect American's from harmful 
levels of contamination.
  EPA had an opportunity to take action to address PFAS chemicals in a 
real and comprehensive way; however, time and again, it has failed to 
move in an expeditious and meaningful way. That is why this bill is so 
important. Designating these chemicals as hazardous substances will, at 
a minimum, start the process to getting these contaminated sites 
cleaned up. This not the silver bullet to the broader contamination 
problems, but it is a start.
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