SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2723
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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SENATE, April 16, 2024.
The committee on Environment and Natural Resources, to whom was referred the petitions (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 588) of John C. Velis and Kelly W. Pease for legislation to study the effect of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercial products, report the accompanying bill (Senate, No. 2723).
For the committee,
Rebecca L. Rausch
FILED ON: 4/8/2024
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2723
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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
(2023-2024)
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An Act studying the effect of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercial products.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:—
“Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances” or “PFAS”, a class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom.
“Agricultural products”, any vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, fish, and poultry, and agricultural inputs, such as, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, pesticides, produced and sold commercially in Massachusetts.
SECTION 2. The department of public health, in consultation with department of environmental protection and the department of agricultural resources, shall procure or otherwise employ an external research organization, which has the capacity to study per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances and the effect PFAS has on agricultural products produced and sold in the commonwealth; provided, that the research organization shall have: (1) extensive experience with a wide variety of agricultural products and environmental matrices, including, but not limited to, plants and animals; (2) a current QAPP (“Quality Assurance Project Plan”) through the United States Environmental Protection Agency; (3) current sampling and chain of custody protocols; (4) experience handling complex agricultural matrices; and (5) access to state-of-the art mass spectrometers. The study shall include findings on the levels of PFAS found in: (1) in agricultural products sold in Massachusetts stores; (2) locally sourced agricultural products; and (3) agricultural inputs including, but not limited to, feed, water, fertilizer, and pesticides. The department shall make said report publicly available with the department’s findings on the department’s website.
The commissioner shall file a progress report in writing of the findings, including food and agricultural sources of contamination, within 365 days of the passage of this act; provided, that the report shall be filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means, the joint committee on environment and natural resources, the joint committee on public health, and the joint committee on agriculture on or before August 31, 2025.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect no later than 180 days after passage of this act.