Today, the House of Representatives passed a bipartisan amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to address widespread per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination impacting military bases and local communities across the country. The amendment includes important provisions like the closure of a major loophole in the Toxics Release Inventory reporting process for certain PFAS, which has allowed manufacturers to significantly underreport their releases, and a prohibition on the incineration of PFAS waste by the Department of Defense until it adheres to requirements set by the 2020 NDAA.

The following is a statement from Christine Santillana, legislative counsel for Healthy Communities:

“This critical amendment incorporates important steps to address the growing PFAS crisis. For too long, the Department of Defense and polluting industries have turned a blind eye to contamination of communities by these ‘forever chemicals’ that continue to negatively impact the health and well-being of our children and families. We applaud all our congressional champions like Reps. Delgado and Levin for recognizing the urgency of this situation. We urge the Senate to include these key provisions in their bill and take timely action to keep our communities safe.”