Pfas Action Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. JOYCE of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I rise today to oppose H.R. 2467, the PFAS Action Act. This bill takes the wrong approach to dealing with these complex and complicated chemicals.

A de facto ban on all PFAS substances will do nothing but prevent secure disposal of existing chemicals and harm innovation of new, safer products.

As a physician, I have personally seen the benefits provided by these products. PFAS materials have a variety of uses in healthcare, ranging from heart valves, cardiac stents, to coatings on contact lenses.

Thanks to technology developed using PFAS materials, surgeries, such as those that are needed to repair a child's congenital heart defect, no longer require risky open-heart surgery and can simply be done through the arm.

Of course, we don't want dangerous chemicals in our water supply. But to outright ban an entire family of products is not the answer. We would not ban the entire periodic table because it includes arsenic and mercury. We need a science-grounded, risk-based approach that identifies the most harmful chemicals and treats them as such, rather than have Congress regulate the entire family as a single group.

Inclusion in the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act has the potential to slow down the cleanup process of PFAS, divert resources from current higher-priority public health issues and create another unfunded mandate for critical public utilities and local governments.

Instead of interfering, it is time to let government agencies do their work. And so I urge my colleagues, join me, vote ``no'' on H.R. 2467.

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