Manufacturers, importers, and industrial users of PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, called “forever chemicals” because they do not break down) would have to end all nonessential uses within 10 years and stop releasing any detectable amount into the environment. Sooner deadlines hit specific consumer goods: PFAS-containing carpets, fabric treatments, food packaging, children's products, and oil-and-gas products could not be sold within 1 year, and cosmetics, furniture, handbags, and most apparel within 2 to 5 years. The EPA would decide which uses count as “essential” (critical to society with no safer substitute) based on a 10-year study by the National Academies, while companies file annual reports on their PFAS use and pay fees that default to $100,000 per report and per petition unless the EPA sets other amounts, with lower rates for small manufacturers. Water utilities, sewage plants, and composting facilities are explicitly exempted because they receive PFAS rather than make it. Reckless violations could bring fines and up to 5 years in prison, and ordinary citizens could sue violators directly. Two changes to existing cleanup law let people injured by forever chemicals sue even after state deadlines would normally expire, and stop companies from using a related bankruptcy to freeze PFAS lawsuits against parties that are not bankrupt. A new pair of research centers, funded with $25 million from Defense Department programs, would test water and develop PFAS-removal methods, offering testing to towns and individuals at reasonable cost.
Corporate Benefits
- bankruptcy automatic stay for PFAS claims — suits against nondebtor firms proceed
- state statute-of-repose defense — late PFAS injury claims allowed to proceed
- report and petition fees for small manufacturers — reduced rates allowed
Average Household Impact
- PFAS in consumer products — carpets, food packaging, cosmetics, apparel barred
- PFAS water-testing access — offered to towns and residents at reasonable cost
- PFAS compliance duties for water utilities and sewage plants — excluded as users
Criminal Justice & Due Process
- criminal penalties for PFAS violations — up to 5 years imprisonment plus fines
- criminal liability for federal officers under PFAS laws — fines or imprisonment
Environmental Concerns
- nonessential PFAS production and use — full phaseout within 10 years
- PFAS environmental releases — detectable releases prohibited after 10 years
- PFAS contamination cleanup — remediation to non-hazardous levels set as policy
- EPA imminent-hazard authority over PFAS uses — orders and suits permitted
- PFAS detection and remediation research — two federal Centers of Excellence
- federal facility PFAS cleanup duties — sovereign immunity waived
Transparency & Accountability
- manufacturer PFAS reporting — annual use, release, and disposal disclosures
- public disclosure of PFAS reports and phaseout plans — open for comment
- community notification of PFAS hazards — utilities, schools, public alerted
- congressional reporting of national-security PFAS exemptions — annual report
- public notice of agency exemptions — President may waive for national security
- sunset clause for research Centers — terminate October 1, 2034 absent extension
Congressional Summary
Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act of 2026This bill phases out the release and nonessential use of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and addresses PFAS research, remediation, regulation, and enforcement.The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must require each manufacturer and user of PFAS to submit annual reports that include specified information about the essential (e.g., critical for health or safety reasons) and nonessential uses of PFAS by such entities. Not later than 10 years after the enactment of this bill, manufacturers and users must fully phase out nonessential uses of PFAS.The bill alsoestablishes specified deadlines to phase out the sale of certain products containing PFAS;requires federal agencies, to the maximum extent practicable, to eliminate the procurement of products known to contain PFAS;imposes a 10-year phaseout of the release of PFAS above a certain threshold of detection;provides enforcement authority to the EPA regarding violations of the requirements of the bill, including through civil and criminal penalties;allows citizen suits against manufacturers and users of PFAS and the EPA; andaddresses actions under state law related to damages from exposure to hazardous substances, including with regard to statutes of repose.The bill exempts from a bankruptcy petition’s automatic stay any proceeding against a non-debtor entity (e.g., a proceeding to obtain property from a non-debtor) with respect to a PBT claim (a claim relating to persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals) against the non-debtor entity, the debtor, or the estate.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2026-03-19
- Date Added
- 2026-06-08
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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