HB 1501: Environmental Protection Division; maintain a public website for monitoring levels of certain contaminants in public water systems

Georgia does not currently require a public website tracking PFAS (a group of manmade chemicals sometimes called 'forever chemicals') levels in drinking water systems. This bill would add a new section to Georgia law requiring the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources to build and maintain such a website, listing PFAS levels for every public water system in the state alongside the legal limits, called maximum contaminant levels (MCLs). The bill sets specific MCLs for six PFAS chemicals or chemical mixtures, measured in parts per trillion or by a combined 'hazard index.' The division must review these limits against federal Environmental Protection Agency standards every year and report findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 31. If the division finds PFAS levels exceeding the MCLs in a water system, it must notify the water utility, which must then mail notice to every affected resident, including a brochure explaining PFAS and the exact levels detected.

• Requires the Environmental Protection Division to create and maintain a public website showing PFAS levels for every public water system in Georgia.
• Sets specific maximum contaminant levels (legal limits) for six PFAS chemicals or chemical combinations, measured in parts per trillion or a hazard index.
• Requires the division to review these limits annually against federal standards and report findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 31 each year.
• Requires the division to notify a water utility when PFAS levels exceed the legal limit in its water system.
• Requires water utilities that receive such notice to mail notice to every resident served by the affected system, including a brochure and the exact PFAS levels detected.

Georgians who get water from public water systems, water utility companies that operate those systems, and the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources, which must build the website, monitor PFAS levels, and issue annual reports to the General Assembly.

Residents would gain a public online tool to check PFAS levels in their tap water and would receive mailed notice if their water exceeds safety thresholds, giving them information they currently may not have access to about chemicals linked to health risks.

• Subsection (a) defines key terms including 'PFAS,' 'hazard index,' 'maximum contaminant level,' and 'public water system.'
• Subsection (b) sets MCLs for PFOA and PFOS at 4.0 parts per trillion, PFHxS and PFNA at 10.0 parts per trillion, GenX chemicals at 10.0 parts per trillion, and a hazard index MCL of 1 for certain mixtures.
• Subsection (b) also requires the division to annually compare its MCLs to federal EPA standards and report findings and recommendations to the General Assembly by December 31.
• Subsection (c) requires the division to build a public website with a prominent link, a chart of MCL thresholds, and PFAS levels for every water system where available.
• Subsection (d) requires the division to promptly notify a water utility when PFAS levels in its system exceed the MCL.
• Subsection (e) requires the water utility to promptly notify all residents served by that system after receiving such notice.
• Subsection (f) specifies notice must be mailed via the U.S. Postal Service, include a division-created brochure explaining PFAS, and state the exact levels detected.

1. 2026-03-06House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-04House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-03-03House Hopper (House)

• Eric Gisler (D, HD-121)Primary sponsor
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Dewey McClain (D, HD-109)
• Long Tran (D, HD-080)
• Mary Oliver (D, HD-084)
• Debbie Buckner (D, HD-137)

• drinking water safety
• PFAS forever chemicals
• public water systems
• environmental regulation