Bills › 90th General Assembly
Requiring testing for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in sewage sludge and other residual materials at wastewater treatment plants, and making penalties applicable
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedJanuary 30, 2023
- Stopped: SubcommitteeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: House committee
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2024 session adjourned on April 19, 2024, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary Wastewater treatment plants must test their leftover sludge for certain chemicals called PFAS before spreading it on farmland. If these chemicals are found, the sludge cannot be used on land used for crops, land with drainage tiles, or areas near water. State agencies will create new rules for how to safely get rid of this material, and people who break these rules could face fines or jail time.1
Read the official explanation
This bill requires a wastewater treatment plant to test for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in sewage sludge and other residual materials that are intended for land application. When testing conducted under the bill finds any amount of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances in sewage sludge or any other residual material, a county or a permit for the use or disposal of sewage sludge issued by the department of natural resources (DNR) shall not authorize the land application of that sewage sludge or other residual material on land used for agronomic purposes, on land on which drainage tiles have been installed, on land that drains into a water of the state, or in a five-hundred-year floodplain. The bill requires the environmental protection commission (EPC) to adopt rules providing for the safe disposal and sequestration of sewage sludge and other residual materials accumulated at a wastewater treatment plant that contain any amount of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. By operation of law, a person who violates a permit for the use or disposal of sewage sludge issued by DNR is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each day of such violation. A wastewater treatment plant that fails to test for the presence of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances in sewage sludge and any other residual materials and any person who violates rules adopted by EPC is guilty of a simple misdemeanor. A simple misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than days and a fine of at least $105 but not more than $855.