Pallone Introduces Bill to Eliminate PFAS from Americans’ Drinking Water

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 8, 2019



Washington, D.C. – Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, announced the introduction of H.R. 2533, the Providing Financial Assistance for Safe Drinking Water Act (“PFAS Drinking Water Act”) today. The new legislation delivers sweeping investments for water infrastructure, creating a grant program to upgrade the country’s drinking water systems with treatment technology that can remove perfluorinated compounds (PFAS). The funding will allow affected communities across the country to effectively and affordably filter the dangerous chemicals – and other hazardous pollutants – out of their drinking water.

PFAS are a class of industrial chemicals most commonly used in the production of products such as Teflon and Scotchguard, and used for decades by the Department of Defense in firefighting exercises. The toxic chemicals have been linked to cancer, immune system effects, liver failure and birth defects, and pose increasingly serious public health risks to communities throughout the country as their presence in drinking water has become more prevalent.

“The Trump EPA’s failure to regulate the manufacture, use and disposal of PFAS chemicals has put countless Americans’ health at risk, and left drinking water systems struggling to provide safe water. It is time for Congress to act,” said Pallone. “This bill will ensure communities across the country have the resources they need to eliminate the toxic chemicals from their water. Americans deserve to know their drinking water is safe.”

The bill would amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to require the EPA Administrator to establish, within 180 days of enactment, a program to award grants to PFAS-affected water systems to pay the capital costs associated with eligible treatment technologies. The legislation further directs the EPA Administrator to create a list of eligible treatment technologies, defined as those which can remove all detectable amounts of PFAS from drinking water.

Bill text is available here.

Pallone Unveils Comprehensive Infrastructure Package

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2017

LIFT America Act Invests in Infrastructure, Creates Jobs

& Protects Public Health and the Environment

Washington, D.C. – Today in Carteret, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) unveiled legislation to invest in America’s infrastructure, create jobs and modernize our economy for the 21st century. Congressman Pallone’s bill provides for funding for a comprehensive 21st Century infrastructure package including key areas such as broadband, drinking water, healthcare, the electric grid, brownfield redevelopment and renewable energy. The Leading Infrastructure For Tomorrow’s America Act, or LIFT America Act, sets out five years of funding for essential infrastructure improvements, job growth, and greater protections for public health and the environment. Carteret Mayor Daniel Reiman, Kevin Duncan, Chair of the Middlesex County Building and Construction Trades Council and Doug O'Malley, Director of Environment New Jersey joined Congressman Pallone at the event.

“At a time when our nation’s infrastructure is either crumbling or in desperate need of modernization, it’s time we make real and significant investments for the future,” said Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06). “The LIFT America Act is a blueprint for critical investments in our nation’s infrastructure that will also create jobs, protect public health, and the environment. I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to advance these key investments in American infrastructure.”

The LIFT America Act includes investments in several key areas including:

· $22.56 billion for drinking water infrastructure to protect public health and create jobs, including increased investment in drinking water State Revolving Funds and additional funding to replace lead service lines, address lead in school drinking water, and prepare for the impacts of climate change;
· $2.25 billion for Brownfields redevelopment to revitalize communities and create jobs by returning valuable land to productive use;
· Over $17 billion for energy infrastructure, including $4 billion for modern, secure, efficient, and resilient electric grid infrastructure, $9 billion for resilient and renewable energy supply including methane pipeline replacement, and more than $4 billion for energy efficiency efforts and smart communities;
· More than $3 billion for healthcare infrastructure, to re vive the successful Hill-Burton hospital infrastructure program, fund medical facility infrastructure in Indian Country, support state labs fighting Zika and other infectious diseases, and support community based health care infrastructure; and
· $40 billion for the deployment of secure and resilient broadband, to expand access for communities nationwide while protecting privacy and promoting security by design;

“Investing in our nation’s infrastructure makes sense for everyone. It will provide good jobs for the skilled men and women of the unions I am proud to represent. It will improve our local economies, and keep our nation competitive in an ever globalizing economy,” said President Bill Mullen of the NJ Building & Construction Trades Council. “We need to rebuild New Jersey’s bridges and roads, but there are also opportunities to build hospitals, improve our energy grid, and turn unused contaminated sites into vibrant parts of our communities. The LIFT America Act is a chance for our elected officials in Washington to come together and put Americans to work.”

“Fixing and expanding our infrastructure should be a no-brainer for Congress," said Doug O'Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “From fixing lead pipes to strengthening our electric grid to weatherizing our schools, Rep. Pallone's LIFT Act provides a vision forward for how to strengthen our communities, our environment and economy. This should be a bipartisan push and we urge the full delegation to support this."

The LIFT America Act will invest in programs with proven records of job creation, including the drinking water State Revolving Fund and the Brownfields Redevelopment program. The legislation requires the use of American made iron and steel for drinking water projects and hospital construction and requires the payment of prevailing wages. The bill will also spur new high-paying technology jobs by supporting deployment of smart buildings, smart grid, and Smart Communities technology. The LIFT America Act also provides much-needed funding to repair and replace aging infrastructure that will have significant public health benefits, especially for children. The bill includes funding to get lead out of school drinking water, replace polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB)-laden lighting fixtures with safer and more energy efficient alternatives in schools, and reduce diesel emissions from school buses.

Pallone Announces Legislation to Repair School Water Fountains Containing Lead

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 26, 2016


NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ– Today, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ 06), Ranking Member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, announced new legislation to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act and provide assistance to schools to replace older drinking water fountains that may contain lead. The bill H.R.5886, coauthored with Congressman Bobby Rush (D-IL), would establish a grant program to provide assistance to local educational agencies for the replacement of drinking water fountains manufactured prior to 1988. Pallone made the announcement at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School in New Brunswick. Dozens of New Jersey schools, including those in New Brunswick have reported lead levels over the federal action level this year.

“Lead in school drinking water is an immediate and serious threat for children in cities across New Jersey and this nation,” said Pallone. “This important bill could quickly eliminate a main source of lead in schools, protecting countless schoolchildren. With another school year approaching, we need to take action on these issues as soon as possible.”

The proposed bill would authorize $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 through 2021 to help replace older fountains and also to supplement the costs of monitoring and reporting lead levels in the drinking water of schools of a local educational agency receiving such funds, as determined appropriate by the Administrator.

Attendees at the event voicing support for the legislation were Nina Arce, Communication Coordinator for the Housing and Community Development Network; Dena Mottola Jaborska, Associate Director of New Jersey Citizen Action; and Elyse Pivnik of the Director of Environmental Health, Isles.

Congressman Pallone has been a leader in calling for action to improve our water infrastructure and remove lead from our drinking water. In February, Pallone introduced the AQUA Act, which significantly increases water infrastructure funding authorization levels so local communities can repair and replace their aging water systems to ensure residents have access to clean and safe drinking water.

Earlier this year, Pallone led his colleagues in sending a letter to Cathleen Bennett, Acting Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health (NJDH), asking for more information on the federal funding the state receives to help detect dangerous levels of lead in communities. Pallone asked for information on exactly how these funds are used and if additional resources are needed to combat this serious public health challenge. The Christie administration has not responded to the letter.

Pallone also sent letters to the New Jersey Department of Health and New Jersey Department of Human Services raising questions about the management of a program to provide lead poisoning screenings for pregnant women, children, and uninsured adults in counties impacted by Hurricane Sandy. New Jersey earmarked $11.7 million of funding for increasing access to blood lead screening and case management to address “new environmental hazards in New Jersey Homes” created by Hurricane Sandy. Yet, it appears that the state has only tested a fraction of the 220,000 individuals that it planned to screen annually for lead poisoning. The Christie administration has not responded to the letters.