Sponsors (8)
This bill sharply reduces acute health, emergency-response, and local environmental risks from hydrogen-fluoride use at refineries but does so at the cost of substantial retrofit expenses, potential local job and supply disruptions, and some loss of regulatory flexibility.
Refinery workers and nearby communities — especially low-income and racial/ethnic minority neighborhoods — would face substantially lower risk of catastrophic HF chemical releases and acute injuries because HF use and HF-based alkylation units would be banned or converted.
Local hospitals, emergency responders, and municipal governments would experience reduced strain and lower mass-casualty risk because fewer HF incidents would occur.
Communities near refineries (urban and rural) would likely see improved air quality and lower acute chemical exposure risk as banning HF encourages safer alkylation technologies and industry practices.
Refinery operators and consumers would face substantial retrofit or replacement capital costs to eliminate HF, which could raise fuel production costs and lead to higher gasoline prices for households.
Refinery communities and workers could experience temporary outages, construction disruptions, and in some cases closures, producing local job losses and possible short-term fuel supply interruptions during conversions.
Prohibiting EPA waivers eliminates regulatory flexibility that might be needed for extraordinary maintenance or supply emergencies, potentially complicating short-term operations or localized supply responses.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Bans HF (hydrofluoric acid) use at petroleum refineries: immediate for new refineries, five-year phase-out for existing ones; sets $37,500 penalty and prohibits EPA waivers.
Introduced February 4, 2026 by Maxine Waters · Last progress February 4, 2026
Bans the use of hydrogen fluoride (HF, also called hydrofluoric acid) to refine petroleum: new refineries are barred immediately and existing refineries must stop using HF within five years. The bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to add the prohibition, sets a fixed civil penalty of $37,500 per violation, and prevents the EPA from issuing waivers for this ban. The change aims to eliminate a chemical hazard that can cause mass casualties if released, while relying on already-commercial, safer alternatives used by many U.S. refineries; it does not provide federal funding to pay for conversions.