HB 444 – PFAS Mitigation Measures Cost Reimbursement

Primary House Sponsors: Rep. Deb Butler (D-New Hanover); Rep. Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford); Rep. William Richardson (D-Cumberland); Rep. John Autry (D-Mecklenburg)

Summary

This bill:

  • Changes the requirements related to the discharge or release of industrial waste that includes PFAS under GS 143-215.2A.
  • Authorizes the Secretary of Environmental Quality to order any person found to be responsible for the discharge or release of industrial waste that includes PFAS that results in the contamination of a water source supplying a public water system to pay any actual and necessary costs incurred by a public water system to remove, correct, or abate any adverse effects upon the water supply resulting from the contamination for which the person is responsible.
  • Requires a public water system to reimburse ratepayers through a reduction in future rates if the system has expended funds and charged ratepayers to remove, correct, or abate any adverse effects resulting from PFAS contamination which have subsequently been reimbursed by the person responsible for the contamination as the result of an order.
  • Sets out a nonexhaustive list of PFAS compounds.

Movement

Filed – 3/29/2021