The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced a legislative amendment prohibiting the Department of Defense from procuring firefighting foam containing per and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS).
The revision served as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal year 2020. Toxic PFAS exposure is placing the health of people nationwide at risk.
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led the provision combating PFAS exposure, which will now be considered by the full U.S. Senate. The amendment was cosponsored by U.S. Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI).
“PFAS exposure has been linked to adverse health effects and contamination has required substantial remediation efforts in New Hampshire and across the country. The Department of Defense should be working proactively to eliminate its use in firefighting foam in order to prevent further harm,” said Sen. Shaheen, the second highest ranking Democrat on the committee. “Our service members and firefighters are occupationally more likely to come into contact with these chemicals, as are communities in the vicinity of military bases that use firefighting foam containing PFAS. Prevention needs to be part of our plan to combat PFAS exposure, which is why phasing out this type of firefighting foam is a necessary step forward.”
Sen. Gillibrand, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Subcommittee on Personnel, said, “Last year I successfully fought to end the federal requirement for commercial airports to use PFAS firefighting foam, and it’s time for the DOD to do the same and end the use of PFAS foam on military airports and bases.”
“In communities in New York and across the country, there is a clear link between the use of PFAS firefighting foam on military bases and dangerous levels of PFAS in the drinking water of surrounding communities,” Gillibrand added.
Shaheen and Gillibrand assisted in securing $10 million in federal funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to conduct a nationwide study on PFAS health impact and helped secure $20 million for PFAS cleanup in the Fiscal Year 2019 Defense-Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Act.