Congressman Fred Upton and Congresswoman Debbie Dingell are applauding the passage of their bill to protect all Americans and our environment from harmful forever chemicals known as PFAS in the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup. The full House will soon take up the PFAS Action Act. Upton says what happened in Parchment a few years ago is “proof that we need an all-hands-on-deck effort to protect both human health and our environment.” He notes clean drinking water is a top priority in southwest Michigan and the country. Dingell adds we can’t wait any longer to address the chemicals, as the number of contamination sites across the nation is growing at an alarming rate.
PFAS has so far been found in drinking water in more than 2,000 communities. The PFAS Action Act establishes a national drinking water standard for select PFAS chemicals, and designates as hazardous to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up contaminated sites in Michigan and across the country, as well as list under the Clean Water Act. It also designates PFAS as a hazardous air pollutant, limits industrial discharges, requires comprehensive PFAS health testing, creates a voluntary label for PFAS in cookware, and provides $200 million annually to assist water utilities and wastewater treatment.
