Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LISA SWAIN
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman P. CHRISTOPHER TULLY
District 38 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Benson, Stanley, Conaway, Assemblywomen Murphy, Lampitt and Assemblyman McKeon
SYNOPSIS
Requires DEP and Drinking Water Quality Institute to perform study concerning regulation and treatment of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and supplementing P.L.1977, c.224 (C.58:12A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Environmental Protection, in consultation with the Drinking Water Quality Institute established pursuant to section 10 of P.L.1983, c.443 (C.58:12A-20), shall conduct a study on the regulation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water. The study shall include an assessment of the feasibility of establishing a maximum contaminant level or other standard for the entire class, or for certain subclasses or mixtures, of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in drinking water, rather than for each individual substance. The study shall also include an assessment of treatment technologies that may be effective in removing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances from drinking water or wastewater.
b. No later than 24 months after the effective date of this section, the department shall submit a written report containing its findings to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee and the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, or their successors, and the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The department shall also publish its findings in the New Jersey Register and post the findings on the department’s Internet website.
c. As used in this section, "perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance" means any member of the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would require the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), in consultation with the Drinking Water Quality Institute, to conduct a study on the regulation of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water.
The study would include an assessment of the feasibility of establishing a maximum contaminant level or other standard for the entire class, or for certain subclasses or mixtures, of PFAS in drinking water, rather than for each individual substance. The study would also include an assessment of treatment technologies that may be effective in removing PFAS from drinking water or wastewater. The bill would require the DEP to publish the report no later than 24 months after the bill's enactment.
PFAS are man-made chemical compounds that have multiple fluorine atoms bonded to a chain of carbon atoms. Since the 1930s, PFAS have been widely used in countless consumer products because they repel oil, water, and grease. The carbon-fluorine bond that forms PFAS is one of the strongest chemical bonds found in nature and does not break down under typical environmental conditions. As a result, the presence of PFAS in the environment is widespread. There are over 12,000 different types of PFAS, and new types are continually being developed and used in commerce.
Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) were first developed in the 1940’s and are the two most commonly found PFAS in the environment and are also the two most studied and regulated PFAS. In 2018, the DEP adopted amendments to its Safe Drinking Water Act regulations to establish drinking water standards for another common PFAS, perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), at a maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 13 parts per trillion. In 2020, the DEP adopted additional drinking water standards for PFOA at a MCL of 14 parts per trillion and for PFOS at a MCL of 13 parts per trillion.