SB 577: "Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act"; enact

PFAS, sometimes called "forever chemicals," have shown up in water, soil, and wildlife across Georgia. Counties and cities have been filing their own lawsuits against manufacturers and others to recover cleanup costs. This bill, called the Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act, would take that power away from local governments starting July 1, 2026, and give the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural Resources the exclusive right to bring PFAS lawsuits on behalf of the state and its local governments. Local governments could no longer sue over PFAS contamination on their own; pending lawsuits would be paused until the division decides whether to take them over, and cases the division does not join within 180 days would be dismissed. The Attorney General would represent the division and could hire outside lawyers, with annual public reports on legal fees. Money won through judgments or settlements would go to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, which would fund the litigation and put leftover money into a drinking water revolving fund.

• Creates a new chapter of Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Title 12, Chapter 18) that reserves all PFAS contamination claims exclusively to the state starting July 1, 2026.
• Bars any county, city, or other local government from filing or continuing a PFAS lawsuit on its own after that date.
• Requires pending local government PFAS lawsuits to be paused until the Environmental Protection Division moves to take over the case, with dismissal if it does not act within 180 days.
• Lets the division sue as a class action or file separate suits in different courts without being blocked by claim-splitting rules.
• Directs judgment and settlement proceeds to the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, which pays litigation costs and puts remaining funds into a drinking water revolving fund.
• Requires the Attorney General to report legal fee arrangements and the Authority to report all proceeds and spending annually starting September 1, 2027.

Georgia counties, cities, consolidated governments, and other local government entities that have filed or might file PFAS lawsuits; the Environmental Protection Division and Attorney General, who take over that litigation; the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, which manages settlement money; and residents served by public drinking water and wastewater systems.

Local governments that have sued over PFAS contamination in their water systems would lose control of those cases, and any settlement money would flow through a state-managed fund rather than directly to the community affected, changing who decides how cleanup costs are pursued and paid for.

• Section 1 adds Code Section 12-18-4, reserving all PFAS claims to the state effective July 1, 2026, and barring local governments from bringing or maintaining such claims after that date.
• Section 1 requires pending local government PFAS suits to be stayed until the division files a substitution motion, with dismissal without prejudice if it misses the 180 day deadline.
• Section 1 (Code Section 12-18-5) authorizes the division to sue, pursue judgments, and settle PFAS claims in the state's name, using class actions or separate suits across courts.
• Section 1 requires the division to consult with affected local governments and lets those governments be subject to discovery as if they were parties.
• Section 1 (Code Section 12-18-6) excludes claims by individuals or private entities, including personal injury or wrongful death claims, and protects rights vested before July 1, 2026.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 50-23-5 so the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority receives lawsuit and settlement proceeds, funds the Attorney General's litigation costs, and deposits leftover money into a drinking water revolving fund.
• Section 2 requires annual reports starting September 1, 2027 on legal fee agreements and on all proceeds received and disbursed.

1. 2026-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2026-02-25Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)Primary sponsor
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Chuck Payne (R, SD-054)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)

• PFAS contamination
• drinking water safety
• local government lawsuits
• environmental law
• state litigation authority