2025 Water Safety Act.

GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
SESSION 2025
S 1
SENATE BILL 666

Short Title: 2025 Water Safety Act. (Public)
Sponsors: Senator Lee (Primary Sponsor).
Referred to: Rules and Operations of the Senate
March 26, 2025
*S666-v-1*
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1
AN ACT TO PROVIDE FUNDS FOR PFAS MITIGATION AND RESEARCH, TO DIRECT 2
THE COMMISSION FOR P UBLIC HEALTH TO ADOP T STANDARDS FOR PFAS IN 3
DRINKING WATER, AND TO DIRECT THE DEPART MENT TO ADOPT PFAS 4
DISCHARGE LIMITS FOR SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIAL USERS AND PUBLICLY 5
OWNED TREATMENT WORKS DISCHARGING DIRECTLY TO SURFACE WATERS. 6
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 7
8
PFAS MITIGATION GRANTS 9
SECTION 1.(a) Mitigation Grants. – Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General 10
Statutes is amended by adding a new Part to read: 11
"Part 9. PFAS Mitigation. 12
"§ 130A-310.80. Definitions. 13
In addition to the definitions in G.S. 130A-2 and G.S. 130A-290, the following definitions 14
apply in this Part: 15
(1) Distressed unit. – As defined in G.S. 159G-20. 16
(3) Fund – The PFAS Mitigation and Fund established in G.S. 130A-310.84. 17
(4) PFAS. – Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, including perfluorooctanoic 18
acid (PFOA), perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS), hexafluoropropylene oxide 19
dimer acid (HFPO-DA, also known as GenX) , perfluorohexanesulfonic acid 20
(PFHxS), and perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) , and Perfluorobutanesulfonic 21
acid (PFBS). 22
(5) SWIA. – The State Water Infrastructure Authority established in Article 5 of 23
Chapter 159G of the General Statutes. 24
"§ 130A-310.82. Purpose. 25
The purpose of this Part is to provide funding to support the mitigation of the impacts of 26
environmental contamination due to PFAS on local public water and wastewater systems. 27
"§ 130A-310.84. PFAS Mitigation Fund. 28
(a) Fund Established. – The PFAS Mitigation Fund is established within the Department. 29
The purpose of the Fund is to support statewide efforts to detect, reduce, mitigate, and prevent 30
exposure to PFAS and to support scientific research and technology development related to PFAS 31
removal, treatment, monitoring, and precursor identification. The fund consists of any funds 32
appropriated to it by the General Assembly and grants from federal agencies or other non -State 33
entities. 34
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 2 Senate Bill 666-First Edition
(b) Uses of Fund. – The Fund may only be used by SWIA to provide grants to units of 1
local government operating public water or wastewater treatment systems for any of the 2
following: 3
(1) PFAS sampling and monitoring in drinking water, wastewater, surface water, 4
and groundwater. 5
(2) Installation or upgrade of water treatment technologies for PFAS removal. 6
(3) Emergency response and remediation of PFAS contamination in soil, surface 7
water, and groundwater. 8
(c) Funding Criteria and Oversight. – SWIA shall establish criteria and application 9
procedures for local PFAS response grants , and shall prioritize grants to public water systems 10
and public wastewater systems (i) for which contamination from PFAS has caused the greatest 11
impacts on public health and the environment and (ii) that are or meet the criteria to be 12
categorized as a distressed unit. 13
(d) Report. – SWIA shall report annually as a part of the report required by G.S. 159G-72 14
regarding projects funded under this section. The report shall include the project type (sampling 15
and monitoring, treatment technologies, or emergency response ), the project recipient, a brief 16
description of project and the amount of funding provided." 17
SECTION 1.(b) Conforming Change. – G.S. 159G-71 reads as rewritten: 18
"§ 159G-71. State Water Infrastructure Authority; powers and duties. 19
The Authority has the following additional duties: 20
… 21
(13) To award grants to mitigate the impacts of environmental contamination due 22
to PFAS on local public water and wastewater systems." 23
SECTION 2. Funding. – The sum of fifty -six million dollars ($56,000,000) in 24
recurring funds for the 2025 -2026 fiscal y ear is appropriated from the General Fund to the 25
Department of Environmental Quality for the PFAS Mitigation Fund established in Part 9 of 26
Article 9 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes, as enacted by Section 1 of this act. 27
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RESEARCH GRANTS 29
SECTION 3.(a) PFAS Research Funding. – The sum of fourteen million dollars 30
($14,000,000) in recurring funds for the 2025-2026 fiscal year is appropriated from the General 31
Fund to the North Carolina Collaboratory at the University of North Carolina (Collaboratory). 32
These funds will be used to support scientific research on PFAS conducted by or in collaboration 33
with public or nonprofit academic institutions, including any of the following: 34
a. Detection methods for known and emerging PFAS and PFAS 35
precursors. 36
b. Fate and transport of PFAS and PFAS precursors in environmental 37
media. 38
c. Innovative PFAS remediation, filtration, and destruction technologies. 39
d. Public health and toxicological impact assessments of PFAS and 40
related compounds. 41
e. Evaluation of the health impacts of PFAS mixtures found in the State's 42
drinking water to more closely model real -world public health 43
scenarios. 44
SECTION 3.(b) Directive. – The Collaboratory shall consult with affected 45
stakeholders, scientific experts, and State and local officials to ensure funding is targeted to 46
research in areas of highest environmental and public health impact. 47
SECTION 3.(c) Restrictions. – The restrictions of G.S. 116-255(c) apply to funds 48
appropriated by this section. 49
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Senate Bill 666-First Edition Page 3
SECTION 3.(d) Report. – The Collaboratory shall include in the report required by 1
G.S. 116-256 documentation of its use of the funds allocated by this section and updates 2
regarding the research funded by this section. 3
4
ESTABLISH PFAS STANDARDS FOR DRINKING WATER 5
SECTION 4. Article 10 of Chapter 130A of the General Statutes is amended by 6
adding a new section to read: 7
"§ 130A-315.1 Maximum contaminant levels for certain contaminants established. 8
(a) Maximum contaminant levels are established for all of the following contaminants: 9
(1) Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) at 4.0 parts per trillion (ppt). 10
(2) Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) at 4.0 ppt. 11
(3) Perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA) at 10 ppt. 12
(4) Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO -DA, also known as GenX) at 13
at 10 ppt. 14
(5) Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) at 10 ppt. 15
(6) Perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) at 10 ppt. 16
(7) Mixtures containing two or more of PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA, and PFBS at 17
1 (unitless). 18
(b) The Commission shall adopt rules to establish a compliance schedule with respect to 19
the maximum contaminants levels set forth in subsection (a) of this section for all public water 20
systems, including community water systems and transient and non -transient non-community 21
water systems that is substantially identical to the compliance schedule set forth in 40 C.F.R. Part 22
141, Subpart Z." 23
24
ESTABLISH PFAS STANDARDS FOR DIRECT DISCHARGERS AND SIGNIFICANT 25
INDUSTRIAL USERS 26
SECTION 5.(a) No later than October 1, 20 25, the Department of Environmental 27
Quality, in consultation with the North Carolina Collaboratory, shall develop: 28
(1) Science-based PFAS concentration limits for commonly detected PFAS, 29
which shall be used to establish monitoring, permitting, and pollutio n 30
reduction requirements for direct dischargers to surface waters and significant 31
industrial users ("regulated entities") as provided in subsection (c) of this 32
section. Concentrations limits for significant industrial users shall be made 33
applicable through a pretreatment permit to be issued by the applicable 34
publicly owned treatment works (POTW). 35
(2) Source reduction and treatment requirements to be imposed, including 36
requiring regulated entities to do one or more of the following, as applicable: 37
a. Conduct a PFAS source identification and minimization plan, 38
approved by the Department, to reduce PFAS inputs into their 39
wastewater streams. 40
b. Install and operate pretreatment technology to remove or reduce PFAS 41
to below concentration limits before discharge. 42
c. Submit to enhanced monitoring and reporting as required by the 43
Department. 44
d. Cease discharge of identified PFAS compounds where the Department 45
determines that feasible alternatives exist. 46
(3) A compliance schedule of up to 36 months to begin no later tha n January 1, 47
2026, for regulated entities to achieve the requirements developed pursuant to 48
subdivisions (1) and (2) of this Section. During this time, the Department shall 49
coordinate with the North Carolina Collaboratory to do all of the following: 50
a. Provide technical assistance for PFAS treatment technologies. 51
General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2025
Page 4 Senate Bill 666-First Edition
b. Assess cost-effective alternatives. 1
c. Develop sector-based PFAS guidance for best available technology 2
(BAT). 3
SECTION 5.(b) All National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 4
permits and pretreatment permits, as applicable, for regulated entities subject to this section shall 5
include enforceable limits or conditions for PFAS discharges based on the concentration limits 6
established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section and availabl e treatment options, as 7
determined by the Department. The Department may, however, exempt regulated entities from 8
the requirements of this subsection, and requirements established under subdivision (2) of 9
subsection (a) of this section, if the regulated entity demonstrates, through sampling and analysis 10
verified by the Department, that PFAS discharge concentrations are below background levels or 11
that the discharges do not contribute to PFAS exceedances downstream. 12
SECTION 5.(c) This section applies only to the following regulated entities: 13
(1) Significant industrial users, as that term is defined under 15A NCAC 02H 14
.0903, that: 15
a. Discharge wastewater containing PFAS compounds to a POTW; and 16
b. Have exceedances of PFAS concentration limits established purs uant 17
to subsection (a) of this section. 18
(2) Direct dischargers that: 19
a. Discharge wastewater containing PFAS compounds to surface waters 20
of the State under an NPDES permit; and 21
b. Have exceedances of PFAS concentration limits established pursuant 22
to subsection (a) of this section. 23
SECTION 5.(d) The Environmental Management Commission shall adopt 24
temporary and permanent rules to implement the provisions of this section. Permanent rules 25
adopted pursuant to this section are not subject to Part 3 of Article 2A of Chapter 150B of the 26
General Statutes. The Department may issue interim guidance pending rule adoption. 27
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SEVERABILITY AND EFFECTIVE DATE 29
SECTION 6. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or 30
circumstances is held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of 31
this act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and, to this end, the 32
provisions of this act are declared to be severable. 33
SECTION 7. Except as otherwise provided, this act is effective when it becomes 34
law. 35