The Senate on Wednesday rejected Democratic legislation that would have moved up the timeline for chemical manufacturers to submit “forever chemicals” data to EPA.
The chamber voted 48-50 against S.J. Res. 187 from Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) that would have walked back EPA’s third bid delaying its PFAS reporting rule under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Maine Sen. Susan Collins was the only Republican to vote for taking up the resolution.
The reporting rule, finalized in 2023, aims to create the largest, most robust data set on the toxicity and health effects of roughly 1,000 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2020 mandates EPA collect data on the family of chemical substances dating back to 2011.
EPA has pushed back the start date of the reporting window three times — once under the Biden administration, twice under the Trump administration — because the agency’s outdated online reporting site couldn’t handle the high volume of submissions. Congress last year allocated $17 million to EPA to update the reporting system.
