No. HB 855
Filed under Environment & Water.
Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances; Provides for ratification of certain rules for cleanup target levels for PFAS compounds; authorizes DEP to update statewide cleanup target levels as necessary; requires such updates to be ratified by Legislature; requires department to adopt interim screening values until United States Environmental Protection Agency establishes final standards for additional PFAS compounds; provides eligibility requirements to apply for prospective purchaser protection; requires department to review applications for completeness within specified timeframe; provides that application is deemed approved; specifies timeframe in which liability protection is effective; provides liability protection for certain contaminations; authorizes department or other parties to pursue cost recovery; requires department to issue completion letters; specifies circumstances under which prospective purchaser forfeits liability protection; requires department & DOR to ensure eligibility to financial assistance for certain sites; prohibits fire service providers from using certain Class B firefighting foam after specified date except.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDCreates a legal shield for buyers of PFAS-contaminated property. Anyone who investigates a site, signs a participation agreement with the state, and meets ongoing conditions is not liable for contamination that existed before they bought it.
The department must review these applications within 30 days, and an application is automatically approved if the department has not denied it within 120 days. Willfully violating the agreement forfeits the protection.
Ratifies the department's existing PFAS cleanup standards and lets the department update them to match new federal guidance, subject to legislative ratification. It also drops an earlier shield that protected utilities from rehabilitation lawsuits, and a tolling rule extending governments' time to sue.
Beginning January 1, 2027, fire departments cannot discharge PFAS-containing Class B foam for training or testing. Actual emergency firefighting and fire prevention work is exempt, and the foam can still be manufactured, sold, and stored.
AIA prospective purchaser who investigates a site for PFAS, has no affiliation with the polluter, and signs a site participation agreement with the department is not liable for contamination that existed before the purchase.
AIThe department must check a site participation agreement application for completeness within 30 days. If it does not deny the application within 120 days of receipt, the application is automatically approved.
AIConverts a rule that would take effect only after future legislative ratification into an immediate ratification of the department's existing statewide PFAS cleanup target levels.
AIDeletes the clause that kept governmental entities and private water suppliers from being sued or fined over a PFAS constituent until the department's cleanup rule for it was ratified; no equivalent replacement appears.
AIRemoves the rule that paused the clock on state and local governments' time to sue over PFAS contamination from June 20, 2022 until cleanup was finished or rules were ratified. In its place, the department must adopt interim screening values for newly identified PFAS.
AIBeginning January 1, 2027, fire service providers may not discharge or use Class B firefighting foam containing intentionally added PFAS chemicals, except during actual fire prevention work or an emergency firefighting operation; manufacture and sale remain legal.
AIA prospective purchaser who willfully violates the site participation agreement, or fails to maintain the ongoing conditions the department set, forfeits the liability protection this bill creates.
AIThe department may revise statewide PFAS cleanup target levels as EPA risk assessments or health advisories change, but any update must go back to the Legislature for ratification.