Senate Environmental Committee Meets Oct. 23 On Bills Responding To PFAS Contamination

The Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee is scheduled to meet on October 23 on bills to eliminate PFAS chemicals from firefighting foams and using local funds to clean up PFAS contamination.  The bills include--

-- PFAS Firefighting Foams:  Senate Bill 919 (Yaw-R-Lycoming) establish statewide uniform requirements restricting the use of Class B firefighting foams containing added PFAS chemistries for training, restricting their use in testing, while also allowing for continued sale and use against real-world fires (sponsor summary).
“Firefighters can face an extremely higher level of PFAS exposure compared to other emergency responders,” Sen. Gene Yaw said. “PFAS contamination is a national public health challenge, and this bill is a commonsense response, which has already been adopted by many states. This bill will undoubtedly protect firefighters moving forward, while also safeguarding our ground and surface water from contamination.”

-- Use Local Funds To Pay PFAS Cleanup Costs: House Bill 1410 (Stephens-R-Montgomery) would use local funds which would otherwise pay state taxes for cleaning up PFAS contamination, rather than relying on responsible parties to pay for cleanups (House Fiscal Note & Summary). 

The meeting will be held in the Rules Room and will be called Off the Floor, meaning there is no set time for the meeting.

Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming) serves as Majority Chair of the Senate Environmental Committee and can be contacted by calling 717-787-3280 or sending email to: gyaw@pasen.gov.   Sen. John Yudichak (D-Luzerne) serves as Minority Chair and can be contacted by calling 717-787-7105 or sending email to: yudichak@pasenate.com.

[Posted: October 22, 2019]  www.PaEnvironmentDigest.com