[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5070 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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117th CONGRESS
2d Session
S. 5070
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to States
to address contamination by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
substances on farms, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
October 11, 2022
Mr. King (for Ms. Collins (for herself and Mr. King)) introduced the
following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to States
to address contamination by perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
substances on farms, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Relief for Farmers Hit with PFAS
Act''.
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
In this Act:
(1) Agricultural land.--
(A) In general.--The term ``agricultural land''
means any land that is used, or capable of use without
substantial modification, for production of farm
products.
(B) Inclusion.--The term ``agricultural land''
includes irrigation water and groundwater on or
associated with land described in subparagraph (A).
(2) Commercial farm.--The term ``commercial farm'' means a
farm on which a person produces any farm product with the
intent that the farm product be sold or otherwise disposed of
to generate income.
(3) Farm product.--
(A) In general.--The term ``farm product'' means
any plant or animal that is useful to humans.
(B) Inclusions.--The term ``farm product''
includes--
(i) forages;
(ii) sod crops;
(iii) grains;
(iv) food crops;
(v) dairy products;
(vi) poultry and poultry products;
(vii) bees;
(viii) livestock and livestock products;
(ix) fruits;
(x) berries;
(xi) vegetables;
(xii) flowers;
(xiii) seeds;
(xiv) grasses;
(xv) Christmas trees; and
(xvi) other similar products.
(4) PFAS.--The term ``PFAS'' means any member of the class
of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least 1 fully
fluorinated carbon atom.
(5) Program.--The term ``program'' means the program
established under section 3(a).
(6) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Agriculture.
(7) Septage.--The term ``septage'' means waste, refuse,
effluent, sludge, and any other materials from septic tanks,
cesspools, or any other similar facilities.
(8) Sludge.--The term ``sludge'' means--
(A) nonhazardous solid, semisolid, or liquid waste
generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial--
(i) wastewater treatment plant;
(ii) water supply treatment plant; or
(iii) wet process air pollution control
facility; and
(B) any other waste having similar characteristics
and effect.
SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish a program under
which the Secretary shall provide grants to States for the purposes
described in section 4.
(b) Eligibility.--To be eligible to receive a grant under the
program, a State shall contain--
(1) agricultural land that contains any soil with levels
above 0.3 parts per billion of PFAS; or
(2) water used for the production of farm products that is
above the less stringent of--
(A) the most recent advisory level for PFAS
established by the Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency pursuant to section 1412(b)(1)(F) of
the Safe Drinking Water Act (42 U.S.C. 300g-
1(b)(1)(F)); and
(B) the most recent advisory level for PFAS
established by that State, if applicable.
(c) Applications.--
(1) In general.--To receive a grant under the program, the
department of agriculture or similar agency of a State shall
submit to the Secretary an application at such time, in such
manner, and containing such information as the Secretary may
require.
(2) Spend plan.--An application submitted under paragraph
(1) shall contain a plan describing how the State will
administer the funding received under the program, including
funding priorities and oversight.
(d) Set-Aside.--The Secretary shall provide not less than 30
percent of the total amount of grants provided under the program to 1
or more States with a population of less than 3,000,000.
SEC. 4. PURPOSES.
A State may use a grant received under the program to provide
funding for any of the following purposes:
(1) Monitoring the health of a person, and members of the
household of that person, whose agricultural land is found to
be contaminated by PFAS, including blood serum testing.
(2) Providing medical care to a person who--
(A) works or lives on--
(i) agricultural land that is found to be
contaminated by PFAS; or
(ii) land adjacent to land described in
clause (i); or
(B) is found to have--
(i) blood levels of PFAS greater than the
general population of the United States; or
(ii) health effects associated with
exposure to PFAS.
(3) Relocating--
(A) agricultural land that is found to be
contaminated by PFAS; or
(B) a commercial farm any agricultural land of
which is found to be contaminated by PFAS.
(4) Buying, selling, or providing compensation for
agricultural land or farm products found to be contaminated by
PFAS, including costs associated with the depopulation or
disposal of farm products, premortem or postmortem.
(5) Investing in equipment, facilities, and infrastructure
to ensure that agricultural land that, or a commercial farm any
agricultural land of which, is found to be contaminated by PFAS
maintains profitability while the producers on the agricultural
land or commercial farm, in response to the PFAS
contamination--
(A) transition to an alternative cropping system;
or
(B) implement remediation strategies (including
disposal), technological adaptations, solar energy
development, or other modifications to the operations
of the agricultural land or commercial farm.
(6) Assisting the producers on agricultural land that, or a
commercial farm any agricultural land of which, is found to be
contaminated by PFAS in developing an enterprise budget for--
(A) alternative cropping systems;
(B) remediation strategies;
(C) technological adaptations; or
(D) transitioning to an alternative revenue stream,
including a land-use system that combines agricultural
use of the land with solar energy production.
(7) Providing financial assistance to a person the
commercial farm of which is found to be contaminated by PFAS,
including income replacement and mortgage payments.
(8) Evaluating and expanding the capacity of PFAS testing
and data management in the State.
(9) Conducting research that--
(A) supports short-term farm management decisions
with respect to agricultural land that has been
contaminated by PFAS; and
(B) assesses future options for viable uses of
agricultural land that has been contaminated by PFAS.
(10) Conducting research that quantifies the impact of PFAS
on commercial farms and agricultural communities in the State.
(11) Conducting research on--
(A) soil and water remediation systems; and
(B) the viability of those systems for commercial
farms.
(12) Conducting research on--
(A) implementing alternative cropping systems in
response to PFAS contamination;
(B) the PFAS uptake of various crops;
(C) the use of livestock systems to mitigate
exposure to, and for remediation of, PFAS; and
(D) food safety criteria for food products relating
to PFAS contamination.
(13) Developing and implementing educational programs for
owners of agricultural land, including determining best
practices for--
(A) informing residents about the potential of
being near or on a site on which sludge or septage
application was licensed or permitted by the State or
the Federal Government; and
(B) providing information and guidance on buying or
selling agricultural land on which sludge or septage
was applied.
(14) Long-term monitoring of agricultural land sites
contaminated by PFAS and establishing a corresponding
centralized data repository.
(15) Assisting commercial farms and other persons in the
agricultural sector not directly affected by PFAS contamination
with marketing efforts whose branding and marketing may be
affected by the public perception of PFAS contamination in the
State.
(16) Regional planning with other States and the Federal
Government to protect the food supply and farmers in the State
from out-of-State PFAS contamination.
(17) Testing of farm products, agricultural land, or other
locations that are suspected to be contaminated with PFAS.
SEC. 5. REPORTS.
Not later than March 31 following each year of the period of a
grant received under the program, the department of agriculture or
similar agency of a State shall submit to the Secretary a report
describing--
(1) the uses of the grant during the previous year,
including--
(A) the purposes described in section 4 for which
the grant was used;
(B) the amount of the grant allocated to each
purpose described in section 4; and
(C) the extent to which the funding received under
the program, including funding priorities and
oversight, was administered in accordance with the plan
described in section 3(c)(2); and
(2) any additional needs identified by agricultural
producers in the State.
SEC. 6. TASK FORCE.
The Secretary shall establish a task force composed of officers or
employees of the Department of Agriculture--
(1) to provide advice to the Secretary relating to whether
addressing PFAS contamination should be added as an eligible
activity under each program of the Department of Agriculture;
and
(2) to provide technical assistance to States in addressing
PFAS contamination.
SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry
out this Act $500,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2023 through
2027.
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