PRINTER'S NO. 2092
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE RESOLUTION
No.
460
Session of
2018
INTRODUCED BY HUGHES, GREENLEAF, FARNESE, COSTA AND SCHWANK,
OCTOBER 9, 2018
REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, OCTOBER 9, 2018
A RESOLUTION
Requesting the United States Environmental Protection Agency and
the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board to adopt maximum
contaminant levels for perfluorooctanoic acid and
perfluorooctane sulfonate in accordance with the Safe
Drinking Water Act and the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water
Act.
WHEREAS, The United States military used foam containing
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate
(PFOS), unregulated contaminants, in firefighting operations at
two former bases in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Naval Air
Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove in Horsham Township,
Montgomery County, and Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster in
Warminster Township, Bucks County; and
WHEREAS, Horsham Air Guard Station, an active base of the
Pennsylvania Air National Guard, is located at the former Naval
Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove site; and
WHEREAS, Elevated levels of PFOA and PFOS have appeared in
public and private water supplies surrounding each base; and
WHEREAS, PFOA and PFOS, the most extensively produced and
studied of the perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances
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group of synthetic chemicals, are "extremely persistent in the
environment and resistant to typical environmental degradation
processes," according to the United States Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA); and
WHEREAS, The EPA has further stated: "The toxicity, mobility
and bioaccumulation potential of PFOS and PFOA pose potential
adverse effects for the environment and human health"; and
WHEREAS, A growing body of science demonstrates that PFOA and
PFOS are associated with a range of health effects, including
certain types of cancer; and
WHEREAS, The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
(ATSDR), a public health agency within the United States
Department of Health and Human Services, has released a report
recommending different minimal risk levels for PFOA and PFOS in
drinking water as compared to EPA health advisory levels; and
WHEREAS, These recommendations and increasing information on
PFOA and PFOS have generated significant public concern; and
WHEREAS, The EPA and the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality
Board are considering setting a maximum contaminant level (MCL)
for one or both of the chemicals in accordance with the Safe
Drinking Water Act and the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act;
and
WHEREAS, An MCL is the maximum permissible level of a
contaminant in water delivered to users of a public water
system; and
WHEREAS, MCLs would provide enforceable standards for PFOA
and PFOS in public water systems as opposed to the current EPA
and ATSDR recommended levels; and
WHEREAS, MCLs would provide guidance to persons whose private
water supplies have been impacted; and
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WHEREAS, MCLs would alleviate confusion as to what is, and is
not, acceptable exposure to PFOA and PFOS in drinking water; and
WHEREAS, The Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urges
the establishment of appropriate, data-based MCLs for PFOA and
PFOS; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
request the United States Environmental Protection Agency and
the Pennsylvania Environmental Quality Board to adopt maximum
contaminant levels for perfluorooctanoic acid and
perfluorooctane sulfonate in accordance with the Safe Drinking
Water Act and the Pennsylvania Safe Drinking Water Act; and be
it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
the Environmental Protection Agency, the Pennsylvania Department
of Environmental Protection and the Pennsylvania Environmental
Quality Board.
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