Sponsors
The bill provides DoD-funded alternative water and clear remediation options to reduce PFAS exposure for households near bases, while tying assistance to DoD causation and remediation status—which can limit help and shift costs to localities.
Homeowners and rural communities downgradient from military bases will receive alternative drinking water (e.g., bottled water, filtration, or connection) when their private wells exceed PFOS/PFOA limits, reducing their exposure to harmful PFAS chemicals.
Homeowners and local governments gain concrete remediation options (bottled water, temporary or permanent filtration systems, or public-water connection) that can restore safe drinking water quickly for affected residents.
Local governments and regulators benefit from aligning DoD actions with CERCLA and state standards, clarifying cleanup responsibilities and providing clearer legal standards for when DoD may stop providing alternative water.
Homeowners and rural residents must demonstrate contamination was caused solely by DoD activities to receive assistance, which may delay or deny relief for many affected households.
Homeowners and local governments may lose DoD-provided alternative water if the community is connected to municipal water or if remediation meets standards, creating potential transition gaps and unequal assistance during cleanup.
Taxpayers and local governments could face costs to connect private wells to public systems or to install and maintain filtration if DoD opts out, shifting financial burden to communities.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires DoD to offer alternative drinking water to private wells downgradient from military sites contaminated by PFOS/PFOA when another household in the same community already receives DoD-provided water.
Introduced December 11, 2025 by Gary C. Peters · Last progress December 11, 2025
Requires the Department of Defense to offer alternative drinking water to households with private wells located downgradient from a military installation when those wells have ever exceeded the EPA maximum contaminant level for PFOS or PFOA and another household in the same community already receives DoD-provided alternative water for contamination from the same installation. Alternative drinking water can include bottled water, connection to a public water system, or filtration systems. Directs the DoD to coordinate with CERCLA and other environmental authorities, and allows DoD to decline to provide alternative water if the affected community has been connected to a municipal water system or if the Department has otherwise reduced drinking-water exposures (including meeting applicable federal or state drinking-water standards). The bill also defines key terms such as "alternative drinking water," "private drinking water well," and the referenced federal and state drinking-water standards.