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Letter to Adam Smith, Chairman, House Armed Service Committee - 162 Bipartisan House Members Ask NDAA Conferees to Retain PFAS Provisions in Conference Bill

Letter

By: Andy Levin, Ann Kirkpatrick, Zoe Lofgren, Gil Cisneros, John Larson, Hank Johnson, Jr., Bill Foster, Anthony Brown, Betty McCollum, Albio Sires, Jerry Nadler, Joyce Beatty, Mike Doyle, Jr., Bobby Scott, Gwen Moore, Brad Sherman, Lisa Blunt Rochester, David Trone, Mikie Sherrill, Joe Morelle, Mike Thompson, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Ruben Gallego, Salud Carbajal, Nanette Barragán, Eleanor Norton, Bobby Rush, Richard Neal, Chellie Pingree, David Rouzer, Don Payne, Jr., Adriano Espaillat, Earl Blumenauer, Steve Cohen, Don Beyer, Jr., Judy Chu, Jahana Hayes, John Sarbanes, Chris Smith, Anthony Brindisi, Dan Lipinski, Ami Bera, Tony Cárdenas, Harley Rouda, Ted Deutch, Sean Casten, Ayanna Pressley, Debbie Dingell, Andy Kim, Kathleen Rice, Sean Maloney, Brendan Boyle, Sheila Jackson Lee, Pramila Jayapal, Jimmy Gomez, Kathy Castor, Haley Stevens, Lee Zeldin, Suzanne Bonamici, Barbara Lee, José Serrano, Jared Huffman, Katie Hill, Katie Porter, Darren Soto, Chuy Garcia, Jim McGovern, Dan Kildee, Chris Pappas, Deb Haaland, Eliot Engel, Peter DeFazio, Al Green, Gerry Connolly, Eric Swalwell, Joe Courtney, Lori Trahan, Donald Norcross, Raul Grijalva, T.J. Cox, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Rosa DeLauro, Tulsi Gabbard, Cheri Bustos, Jamie Raskin, Emanuel Cleaver II, Bill Pascrell, Jr., Carolyn Maloney, Marcia Fudge, David Cicilline, Donald McEachin, Jimmy Panetta, Jim Himes, Katherine Clark, Jeff Van Drew, Paul Tonko, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Peter Welch, Ro Khanna, Grace Napolitano, Diana DeGette, Donna Shalala, Danny Davis, Bill Keating, Brenda Lawrence, Joshua Gottheimer, Gregory Meeks, Antonio Delgado, Madeleine Dean, Lloyd Doggett II, Denny Heck, Karen Bass, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, Rashida Tlaib, Thomas Suozzi, Joaquin Castro, Susan Davis, Dwight Evans, Pete Aguilar, Val Demings, Jared Golden, Dina Titus, Doris Matsui, Julia Brownley, Alan Lowenthal, Alcee Hastings, Sr., Mike Quigley, Joe Kennedy III, Elissa Slotkin, Annie Kuster, Ben Luján, Jr., Nita Lowey, Brian Fitzpatrick, Veronica Escobar, Derek Kilmer, Tim Ryan, André Carson, Anna Eshoo, Ted Lieu, Joe Neguse, Sanford Bishop, Jr., Jan Schakowsky, Dutch Ruppersberger, Dean Phillips, Tom Malinowski, Grace Meng, Brian Higgins, Conor Lamb, Elaine Luria, Mark Pocan, Jackie Speier, Juan Vargas, Lauren Underwood, Kilili Sablan, Nydia Velázquez, Jennifer Wexton, Donald Young, Stephen Lynch, Hakeem Jeffries, Suzan DelBene, Jason Crow, Susan Wild
Date: Sept. 4, 2019
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Health and Health Care

Dear Chairman Smith, Chairman Inhofe, Ranking Member Thornberry, and Ranking Member Reed:

As you work to finalize a conference agreement on the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), we urge you to retain provisions that ensure our military is equipped to confront the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination challenges present at military bases and surrounding communities nationwide. These provisions would help to better understand the scope of contamination through reporting and monitoring, reduce or eliminate sources of PFAS pollution, and remediate PFAS contamination in military communities.

PFAS present a serious danger to our servicemembers and communities across the United States. They have been linked to cancer and damage to both reproductive and immune systems. Animal studies suggest that exposure to some PFAS above certain levels may be associated with developmental issues; changes in liver, immune, and thyroid function; and increased risk of certain cancers.[1],[2]

The military is using, storing, and planning to destroy millions of gallons of materials that contain PFAS, threatening the health of military personnel and Americans living near military facilities.[3],[4] The FY2020 NDAA can help chart a new course that protects military personnel and surrounding communities from further exposure to harmful PFAS. That is why both chambers of Congress supported PFAS-related provisions in the underlying bill and in amendments. Critical PFAS provisions in the House or Senate NDAAs include provisions that would:

Quickly phase out military use of PFAS in firefighting foam;
End the use of PFAS firefighting foams in training exercises;
End the use of PFAS in military food packaging;
Require ground and drinking water quality monitoring for PFAS;
Require reporting of industrial discharges of PFAS;
Ensure proper incineration of military PFAS wastes;
Provide guidance on the destruction and disposal of PFAS wastes;
Accelerate PFAS cleanups at military facilities through the use of cooperative agreements;
Designate PFAS as "hazardous substances" under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, also known as the Superfund law;
Require permits for PFAS discharges under the Clean Water Act;
Require the Government Accountability Office to examine the Department of Defense's PFAS cleanup efforts;
Provide funding for additional studies, data sharing, and remediation;
Require EPA to set a sufficiently protective drinking water standard for PFAS compounds; and
Require Department of Defense to treat and clean PFAS-contaminated water used for agricultural purposes.

By retaining these critical measures in a conference agreement, Congress can protect Americans' health and protect our servicemembers from the dangers of PFAS. We respectfully request that you include a strong package of PFAS-related provisions in the FY2020 NDAA conference agreement.


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