Bill Summary
The **PFAS Accountability Act of 2025** is legislation aimed at addressing the public health risks associated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which have been linked to various chronic diseases. The bill proposes several key measures:
1. **Federal Cause of Action**: It establishes a federal legal pathway for individuals who have been significantly exposed to PFAS to seek legal recourse. This enables affected individuals to file claims in U.S. district courts against entities involved in the manufacturing or use of PFAS.
2. **Medical Monitoring Remedy**: The act allows for medical monitoring for individuals or groups who have been significantly exposed to PFAS and face an increased risk of related diseases. Courts can mandate regular health examinations to detect potential health issues arising from PFAS exposure.
3. **Encouragement of Research**: The legislation promotes increased research into the safety of PFAS and holds manufacturers accountable for irresponsible practices. It aims to shift the financial burden of medical monitoring from individuals to the responsible parties.
4. **Legal Presumptions and Class Actions**: The act includes provisions that create legal presumptions of significant exposure under certain conditions, facilitating class action lawsuits for those with common exposure characteristics.
5. **State Law Protections**: Importantly, the act does not preempt state law claims, allowing individuals to pursue additional legal remedies at the state level.
Overall, the PFAS Accountability Act of 2025 seeks to enhance public health protections, ensure accountability for PFAS-related injuries, and drive research efforts to better understand the health effects of these substances.
Possible Impacts
Here are three examples of how the PFAS Accountability Act of 2025 could affect individuals:
1. **Legal Recourse for Exposed Individuals**: The legislation provides a federal cause of action for individuals significantly exposed to PFAS, allowing them to seek legal remedies. This means that individuals or groups who have suffered health issues due to PFAS exposure can file lawsuits against manufacturers, potentially leading to financial compensation for medical expenses, pain and suffering, and other damages. This legal avenue empowers affected individuals to hold corporations accountable for their actions.
2. **Medical Monitoring Coverage**: The Act allows courts to award medical monitoring remedies to individuals who have been significantly exposed to PFAS. If a person shows an increased risk of developing diseases associated with PFAS, they could receive funding for regular medical check-ups and tests to monitor their health. This provision could lead to early detection of health problems, improving outcomes for individuals at risk due to PFAS exposure.
3. **Incentives for Research and Safety Improvements**: The legislation encourages industries to invest in research regarding the safety of PFAS and to adopt better practices to prevent irresponsible discharges of these substances. As a result, this may lead to safer manufacturing processes and the development of alternative chemicals, ultimately reducing the risk of future exposure for the general public. Individuals may benefit from a healthier environment and reduced health risks associated with PFAS.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 6626 Introduced in House (IH)]
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119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 6626
To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to codify a Federal cause of
action and a type of remedy available for individuals significantly
exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, to encourage research
and accountability for irresponsible discharge of those substances, and
for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
December 11, 2025
Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania (for herself, Mrs. Dingell, Mr. Nadler, and
Ms. Tlaib) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on
the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to codify a Federal cause of
action and a type of remedy available for individuals significantly
exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, to encourage research
and accountability for irresponsible discharge of those substances, 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 ``PFAS Accountability Act of 2025''.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds that--
(1) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
detected numerous perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(referred to in this Act as ``PFAS'') in the blood serum of
individuals in the United States, all of which come from
manufacturing and use of PFAS by humans, as there is no natural
source of PFAS in human blood;
(2) peer-reviewed studies by other organizations have
detected PFAS in the drinking water of at least 200,000,000
individuals in the United States;
(3) PFAS are introduced into the market every year, and
little research is conducted to ensure the safety of PFAS for
individuals;
(4) as of the day before the date of enactment of this Act,
a Federal statutory cause of action does not exist for
individuals harmed by the long-term effects of PFAS exposure;
and
(5) PFAS exposure, even at low levels, has been linked to
chronic diseases, including cancer, reproductive and
developmental harms, and harms to the immune system.
SEC. 3. PURPOSES.
The purposes of this Act are--
(1) to encourage PFAS research and provide accountability
for irresponsible PFAS manufacturing and irresponsible use of
PFAS in manufacturing by codifying--
(A) a Federal cause of action for individuals
significantly exposed to PFAS; and
(B) a medical monitoring remedy for those
individuals;
(2) to help address harm to individuals significantly
exposed to PFAS by--
(A) codifying that harm as an injury at law and
equity; and
(B) shifting the costs of medical monitoring from
those individuals to the parties responsible for the
exposure; and
(3) to provide incentives for industry to fund PFAS safety
research.
SEC. 4. CAUSE OF ACTION AND REMEDIES.
(a) In General.--The Toxic Substances Control Act is amended by
inserting after section 24 (15 U.S.C. 2623) the following:
``SEC. 25. INDIVIDUALS EXPOSED TO PERFLUOROALKYL AND POLYFLUOROALKYL
SUBSTANCES.
``(a) Definition of PFAS.--In this section, the term `PFAS' means a
perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance with at least 1 fully
fluorinated carbon atom.
``(b) Cause of Action.--An individual who is significantly exposed
to PFAS or has reasonable grounds to suspect that the individual was
significantly exposed to PFAS may bring a claim, individually or on
behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals, in any district
court of the United States for appropriate legal and equitable relief
against any person that--
``(1) engaged in any portion of a manufacturing process
that created the PFAS to which the individual was significantly
exposed, including any telomer, fluorosurfactant, or toll
manufacturing process leading to the creation of the PFAS to
which the individual was significantly exposed; and
``(2) foresaw or reasonably should have foreseen that the
creation or use of PFAS would result in human exposure to PFAS.
``(c) Medical Monitoring.--
``(1) In general.--A court may award medical monitoring to
an individual or class of individuals bringing a claim under
subsection (b) if--
``(A) the individual or class has been
significantly exposed to PFAS;
``(B) as a result of that exposure, the individual
or class has suffered an increased risk of developing a
disease associated with exposure to PFAS;
``(C) as a result of that increased risk, there is
a reasonable basis for the individual or class to
undergo periodic diagnostic medical examinations of a
nature or frequency that is different from or
additional to what would be prescribed in the absence
of the exposure; and
``(D) those medical examinations are effective in
detecting a disease associated with exposure to PFAS.
``(2) Presumption of significant exposure.--
``(A) Individuals.--An individual plaintiff shall
be presumed to have been significantly exposed to PFAS
under paragraph (1)(A) if the individual--
``(i) demonstrates that--
``(I) the defendant engaged in any
portion of a manufacturing process that
created the PFAS to which the
individual was significantly exposed,
including any telomer,
fluorosurfactant, or toll manufacturing
process leading to the creation of the
PFAS to which the individual was
significantly exposed; and
``(II) the PFAS described in
subclause (I) were released into 1 or
more areas where the individual would
have been exposed for a cumulative
period of not less than 1 year; or
``(ii) offers testing results that
demonstrate that PFAS or metabolites of PFAS
have been or are currently detected in the body
or blood serum of the individual.
``(B) Class actions.--In a class action, a
presumption of significant exposure to PFAS under
paragraph (1)(A) shall be established for the class
by--
``(i) demonstrating that--
``(I) the defendant engaged in any
portion of a manufacturing process that
created the PFAS to which the class
members were significantly exposed,
including any telomer,
fluorosurfactant, or toll manufacturing
process leading to the creation of the
PFAS to which the class members were
significantly exposed; and
``(II) the PFAS described in
subclause (I) were released into 1 or
more areas where a representative
portion of the class members would have
been exposed for a cumulative period of
not less than 1 year; or
``(ii) offering testing results that
demonstrate that PFAS or metabolites of PFAS
have been or are currently detected in the
bodies of a representative portion of class
members that share sufficient common exposure
characteristics with the class.
``(3) Rebutting the presumption.--
``(A) In general.--A defendant may rebut a
presumption of significant exposure with respect to an
individual plaintiff or class member for which testing
results are not offered under subparagraph (A)(ii) or
(B)(ii) of paragraph (2) by offering results for that
individual or class member of testing that--
``(i) uses a generally accepted method for
detecting the particular PFAS or metabolites of
PFAS at issue;
``(ii) is performed by an independent
provider agreed on by both parties; and
``(iii) confirms that the relevant PFAS or
metabolites of PFAS likely were not present in
the body of the individual or class member at
the relevant time in a sufficient quantity to
qualify as significant exposure under paragraph
(1)(A).
``(B) Costs.--A defendant shall be responsible for
the costs of testing under subparagraph (A).
``(C) Independent provider.--If both parties cannot
agree on an independent provider under subparagraph
(A)(ii), the court shall appoint an independent
provider.
``(4) Increased risk of developing disease.--
``(A) In general.--If there is insufficient
toxicological data to reasonably determine whether an
individual or class has suffered an increased risk of
developing a disease associated with exposure to any
individual PFAS or group of PFAS under paragraph
(1)(B), a court may lower the standard for scientific
proof with regard to the increased risk of developing
that disease until independent and reliable
toxicological data is available with respect to that
individual PFAS or group of PFAS.
``(B) Ordering studies.--To make available
independent and reliable toxicological data described
in subparagraph (A) with respect to an individual PFAS
or group of PFAS, a court may order new or additional
epidemiological, toxicological, or other studies or
investigations of that individual PFAS or group of PFAS
as part of a medical monitoring remedy awarded under
paragraph (1).
``(d) Sense of Congress.--It is the sense of Congress that courts
should encourage more reliable and independent research into the latent
health effects of PFAS.
``(e) Effect on State Law Claims and Remedies.--Nothing in this
section--
``(1) preempts, alters, bars, or precludes any State law
claims or remedies, including any State law claims or remedies
for an injury addressed by this section; or
``(2) provides an exclusive claim or remedy.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents for the Toxic
Substances Control Act (Public Law 94-469; 90 Stat. 2003) is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 24 the following:
``Sec. 25. Individuals exposed to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl
substances.''.
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