HB 611: Forever Chemicals Transparency Act; enact

PFAS, sometimes called 'forever chemicals,' are man-made compounds that persist in the environment and have been linked to health risks like certain cancers and reduced fertility. This bill responds to findings that PFAS have shown up in Georgia's surface waters and public drinking water systems, and that removing them from water systems is costly, a cost that could fall on ratepayers. The bill adds a new section to Georgia's water pollution law requiring every publicly owned treatment works (sewage treatment plant) to ask its industrial users, and especially large or high-risk 'significant industrial users,' whether they manufacture, produce, or use PFAS by December 31, 2025. Industrial users that answer yes must identify the specific chemicals and describe any steps taken to reduce PFAS discharges. Starting April 1, 2026, industrial users must report this information annually to both the treatment works and the state Environmental Protection Division, and include it in pretreatment permit applications. Submissions must be certified as truthful under penalty of law, and the Board of Natural Resources may adopt rules to carry out the law.

• Creates a new Code section requiring publicly owned treatment works to request PFAS-related information from industrial users by December 31, 2025.
• Requires industrial users who manufacture or use suspected PFAS materials to identify the specific chemicals and describe any efforts to reduce or eliminate PFAS discharges.
• Requires industrial users to send annual PFAS disclosure reports to both the treatment works and the state Environmental Protection Division starting April 1, 2026.
• Requires PFAS disclosure information to be included in pretreatment permit applications submitted on or after April 1, 2026.
• Requires all submitted PFAS information to be certified in writing under penalty of law by a responsible company official.
• Authorizes the Board of Natural Resources to write rules to implement and enforce the new reporting requirements.

Publicly owned sewage treatment plants across Georgia, industrial facilities that discharge waste water into those plants (especially large 'significant industrial users'), the state Environmental Protection Division, and indirectly the ratepayers who fund water and sewer utilities.

Georgians served by public water systems would gain more visibility into whether local industries are discharging PFAS chemicals into sewage treatment plants that feed drinking water and waterways, since removing PFAS from water is expensive and those costs can be passed to ratepayers.

• Section 1 names the law the 'Forever Chemicals Transparency Act.'
• Section 2 adds new Code section 12-5-30.5 with legislative findings on PFAS health risks and presence in Georgia's water systems.
• Subsection (b) defines key terms including PFAS, industrial user, significant industrial user, and publicly owned treatment works.
• Subsection (d) requires treatment works to request PFAS manufacturing and usage information from industrial users by December 31, 2025.
• Subsection (e) requires industrial users to submit that information annually starting April 1, 2026, with copies sent to the state's Environmental Protection Division.
• Subsection (f) ties PFAS disclosure to pretreatment permit applications and renewals beginning April 1, 2026.
• Subsection (g) requires a written certification under penalty of law affirming the accuracy of submitted PFAS information.
• Subsection (h) authorizes the Board of Natural Resources to adopt rules to implement the section.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Eddie Lumsden (R, HD-12)Primary sponsor
• Bill Hitchens (R, HD-161)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-4)
• Victor Anderson (R, HD-10)
• Buddy DeLoach (R, HD-167)
• Devan Seabaugh (R, HD-34)

• PFAS forever chemicals
• water pollution
• drinking water safety
• industrial regulation
• environmental transparency