Congressman Dan Bishop Comments on PFAS Chemical Vote

WASHINGTON, DC—Rep. Dan Bishop (NC-09) released the following statement explaining his ‘no’ vote on House Resolution 535 (H.R. 535).

“The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has robust tools under existing laws to identify, regulate and abate risks from substances that pose danger to human and environmental health.  These laws have been amended over time to improve continually the science at the heart of the regulatory process.  For example, President Obama signed legislation just in 2016 to modernize and improve the Toxic Substances Control Act.  These well-developed laws rely on science to identify chemical toxicities and set priorities for abating dangers.

H.R. 535 began with reasonable adjustments to these laws to ensure focus on two specific chemical compounds of concern, PFOS and PFOA, but became a Frankenstein monster, taking a meat cleaver to the regulatory process.  It threatens to overwhelm the EPA by presumptively banning an entire class of over 7800 chemicals, known as PFAS, without any developed scientific evidence of toxicity at normal exposures.  PFAS chemicals are used in making coronary implants and other biotech devices, cell phones, tablets, solar panels, lighter aircraft, non-stick cookware, anti-stain fabric protectors — a host of useful and even critical products. 

Worst of all, the bill’s kitchen-sink approach would prevent EPA from focusing on the PFAS compounds that have become cause for concern.  In North Carolina, that’s the so-called GenX chemicals contaminating the lower Cape Fear River. 

In the General Assembly, I helped to provide new resources and tools to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) and the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority to study, detect and remove GenX from Wilmington-area drinking water and hold the Chemours Company responsible for it.  H.R. 535 would cripple EPA’s ability meaningfully to assist NCDEQ in getting a timely and complete handle on the GenX chemicals. 

Because of this fundamental defect, H.R. 535 is dead in the Senate, and President Trump has threatened to veto it if passed.  The House needs to go back to the drawing board and pass legislation to help EPA manage its regulatory task through disciplined science, in order to keep our environment safe and clean.”