The House approved legislation Friday on a largely party-line vote that would force the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate “forever chemicals” known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
The chamber passed the bill 247-159. Two dozen Republicans, many from districts that have been facing PFAS contamination, voted with Democrats to pass the measure, including Michigan Republican Fred Upton.
Even so, the legislation is unlikely to become law this year, raising considerable questions about whether Congress will be able to make much more progress on the chemicals in the near term. That leaves the fate of the bill’s critical provisions largely in the hands of the Trump EPA’s regulatory process, which Democrats and environmentalists have criticized for moving too slowly.
Senate Republican leaders have indicated they aren’t likely to take up the bill, and the White House has already issued a veto threat, saying the measure is costly and that would both create “considerable litigation risk” and set “problematic and unreasonable” regulatory timelines.
The bill, known as the PFAS Action Act of 2019, combined a number of Democratic-led measures into a sweeping package. Among the bill’s most significant provisions is a requirement that the EPA designate all PFAS chemicals as hazardous within a year after enactment. The legislation also mandates that the EPA set national drinking water standards for certain PFAS chemicals within two years.
House Republican energy leaders, though, have argued the latter provision dealing with drinking water standards could have been resolved bipartisanly last year during negotiations over defense and appropriations legislation. Congressman John Shimkus of Illinois told reporters Wednesday there would have been a deal on the drinking water provisions and blamed House Democrats for ending negotiations in favor of jamming through more far-reaching requirements.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, though, blamed Senate Republicans for killing the talks. She also criticized the EPA for moving too slowly to deal with PFAS.
“The Trump administration’s EPA is breaking its own promises every day that it delays and puts polluters ahead of the American people,” Pelosi said in remarks before the vote.
She added that the EPA’s designation of PFAS chemicals as hazardous under the Superfund law would remove a “key barrier to cleaning up military and industrial sites.”
House Republican leaders, though, argue it would be unprecedented for Congress to require the EPA to designate all PFAS chemicals, which total in the thousands, as hazardous.
“The majority often likes to claim that they’re the party of science,” congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington said in remarks on the floor. “Unfortunately, this bill ignores science and facts for scoring political talking points by grouping together an entire class of PFAS chemicals.”
McMorris Rodgers added that some PFAS substances are essential to life-saving medical devices and cutting-edge aerospace equipment critical to national security.
“By ignoring scientific evidence, this bill would kill innovation that would help lift people’s standard of living and save lives,” she added.
