---
title: SB 577. "Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act"; enact
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/sb577
cite_as: SB 577, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb577
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb577.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb577/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73615
date: 2026-02-26
status: introduced
corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13
license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md
publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 95
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb577.md?full=1
bill_number: SB 577
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: Senate
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-25
last_action: Senate Read and Referred
sponsors:
- Sam Watson
- Lee Anderson
- Chuck Payne
- Bill Cowsert
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/SB577/2025
upstream_id: 2124815
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- PFAS contamination
- drinking water safety
- local government lawsuits
- environmental law
- state litigation authority
---
# SB 577. "Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act"; enact
## Text
Senate Bill 577
By: Senators Watson of the 11th, Anderson of the 24th, Payne of the 54th, Cowsert of the
46th and Wicks of the 34th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Titles 12 and 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
conservation and natural resources and state government, respectively, so as to reserve to the
state certain PFAS claims; to provide for enforcement of such claims by the division; to
provide for definitions; to provide for statutory construction; to provide for the receipt and
administration of lawsuit and settlement proceeds by the Georgia Environmental Finance
Authority; to provide for reporting; to provide for a short title; to provide for legislative
findings and intent; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Title 12 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to conservation and natural
resources, is amended by adding a new chapter to read as follows:
"CHAPTER 18
12-18-1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act.'
12-18-2.
(a) The General Assembly finds that:
(1) The natural resources and environment of this state are of vital importance to the state
and its citizens, and the protection and preservation of natural resources and the
environment, including the waters of the state, are an essential concern and responsibility
of the government of the state;
(2) Public health and safety are of vital importance to the state and its citizens, and the
protection and preservation of public health and safety, including measures to ensure the
provision of safe drinking water to the public, are an essential concern and responsibility
of the government of the state;
(3) Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as "PFAS," have
been widely used throughout Georgia, the United States, and the world;
(4) PFAS persist and have been found in water, soil, air, and fish and wildlife throughout
Georgia, the United States, and the world;
(5) The removal and remediation of PFAS contamination, including the removal of
PFAS from the waters of the state and from county and municipal drinking water
systems, can be costly;
(6) Lawsuits have been filed in Georgia and throughout the United States by county,
municipal, and other local governments, alleging PFAS contamination of public waters,
lands, and facilities, including county and municipal drinking water systems and
waste-water treatment systems, seeking damages and other relief;
(7) However, this piecemeal litigation threatens to deplete the resources available to the
state and its political subdivisions; and
(8) Sound public policy requires a thoughtful, orderly, and coordinated effort to marshal,
conserve, and allocate resources available to the state and its political subdivisions for the
treatment, abatement, removal, and remediation of PFAS contamination of public waters,
lands, and facilities, including county and municipal drinking water systems and
waste-water treatment systems.
(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:
(1) Coordinate litigation and other efforts to marshal resources available to the state and
its political subdivisions for the treatment, abatement, removal, and remediation of PFAS
contamination of public waters, lands, and facilities; and
(2) Promote the conservation and coordinated allocation of resources available to the
state and its political subdivisions for the treatment, abatement, removal, and remediation
of PFAS contamination of public waters, lands, and facilities, so as to ensure that
resources are directed to purposes most beneficial to the citizens of the state as a whole.
12-18-3.
(a) As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) 'Division' means the Environmental Protection Division of the Department of Natural
Resources.
(2) 'Local government' means:
(A) Any county, municipality, consolidated government, or other political subdivision
or instrumentality of the state;
(B) Any agency, authority, board, commission, department, division, institution,
instrumentality, or office of any county, municipality, consolidated government, or
other political subdivision of the state;
(C) Any agency, authority, board, commission, department, division, institution,
instrumentality, office, or other organization established by intergovernmental
agreement among two or more counties, municipalities, consolidated governments, or
other political subdivisions of the state;
(D) Any other public or private entity vested with authority by any county,
municipality, consolidated government, or other political subdivision or instrumentality
of the state to perform services that might otherwise be performed by a local
government entity or political subdivision; and
(E) Any other public agency, authority, board, commission, department, division,
government, institution, instrumentality, or office created by or under the Constitution
of this state or any Act of the General Assembly, except:
(i) The state government;
(ii) The University System of Georgia or an institution or instrumentality of the
University System of Georgia; and
(iii) A county or independent school system.
(3) 'PFAS' means any perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance, any substance that
degrades to a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance, and any precursor of a
perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance.
(4) 'PFAS claim' means any claim of state government or any local government for
damages or any other legal or equitable remedy as a result of, arising from, or relating to
PFAS contamination or PFAS damage, including, but not limited to:
(A) Any claim to recover damages or other monetary relief for any damage to,
diminution in the value of, impairment of the use of, or loss of any public waters, public
lands, public facilities, or other property as a result of, arising from, or relating to PFAS
contamination or PFAS damage;
(B) Any claim for the cost or expense of treating, abating, or remediating PFAS
contamination of, or removing PFAS from, any public waters, public lands, or public
facilities, including, but not limited to, drinking water, waste water, or storm water;
(C) Any claim for the cost or expense of repairing or remediating public facilities or
any other property damaged, impaired, or lost as a result of PFAS contamination or
PFAS damage;
(D) Any claim for the cost or expense of any construction or improvement of any
public facilities or the purchase or lease of any property by state government or any
local government for the purpose of removing PFAS from any public waters, public
lands, or public facilities, including, but not limited to, drinking water, waste water, or
storm water, or otherwise remediating PFAS contamination; and
(E) Any other claim for costs, expenses, damages, or losses sustained, whether directly
or indirectly, by state government or any local government as a result of, arising from,
or relating to PFAS contamination or PFAS damage.
(5) 'PFAS contamination' means the alleged introduction of PFAS to, or presence of
PFAS in, any public waters, public lands, or public facilities.
(6) 'PFAS damage' means any alleged damage to, diminution in the value of, impairment
of, or loss of any property of state government or any local government as a result of,
arising from, or relating to PFAS contamination.
(7) 'Public facilities' means any buildings or other structures erected or maintained on
any public lands by, or for the use of, the state government or any local government.
(8) 'Public lands' means any real property owned or occupied by the state government
or any local government.
(9) 'Public waters' means the waters of the state, as such term is defined in Code
Section 12-5-172, and any other waters used by any local government for the provision
of drinking water to the public.
(10) 'State government' means the executive branch of state government and any agency,
authority, board, commission, department, division, institution, instrumentality, or office
thereof.
12-18-4.
(a) On and after July 1, 2026, and subject to subsection (c) of this Code section, all PFAS
claims shall be reserved to the state and shall be brought exclusively by and through the
division pursuant to Code Section 12-18-5.
(b)(1) On and after July 1, 2026, no local government may bring or maintain an action
asserting a PFAS claim.
(2) Any civil action in which any local government asserts a PFAS claim that is pending
on July 1, 2026, shall be abated and stayed until the division appears and files a motion
to substitute the division for the local government. If the division fails to file such a
motion within 180 days after July 1, 2026, any PFAS claim asserted by the local
government shall be dismissed without prejudice, and the abatement and stay shall be
lifted.
(c) Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to any claim resulting from, arising
from, or relating to PFAS brought by a natural person or a corporation, limited liability
company, partnership, trust, or other entity that does not meet the definition of state
government or local government as set forth in Code Section 12-18-3, including, but not
limited to, a claim for:
(1) Damage to, diminution in the value of, impairment of the use and enjoyment of, or
the loss of private property or any private leasehold or other contractual interest in any
public lands or public facilities; or
(2) Personal injury or wrongful death.
12-18-5.
(a) The division shall be authorized to:
(1) Bring and maintain civil actions asserting PFAS claims on behalf of, and in the name
of, the state;
(2) Pursue execution of judgments on PFAS claims, whether by fi. fa. or otherwise; and
(3) Negotiate and enter into settlements of PFAS claims on behalf of, and in the name
of, the state.
(b) The division may institute any claim brought pursuant to paragraph (1) of
subsection (a) as:
(1) A class action to the extent permitted under Title 9, regardless of whether such PFAS
claims may concern different public waters, public lands, public facilities, or properties
of the state government or any local government; or
(2) Individual claims in different courts on behalf of different political subdivisions of
the state, and such claims shall not be barred or impaired by any doctrine preventing
claim splitting; nor shall the division be limited by any law requiring the division to assert
all related claims in a single action.
(c) The Attorney General shall provide legal services to the division in proceedings and
settlements under this Code section, and in connection therewith, Code Sections 45-15-13
through 45-15-16 shall be fully applicable.
(d) As provided in Code Section 45-15-4, the Attorney General may select and employ
private counsel to perform legal services for the division in proceedings and settlements
under this Code section; provided, however, that, by September 1, 2027, and annually
thereafter, the Attorney General shall disclose the terms and fee agreements of any such
employment in an annual report to the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of
the House of Representatives, and the chairpersons of the House Committee on
Appropriations and the Senate Appropriations Committee.
(e) In connection with the litigation or settlement of any PFAS claim concerning public
waters, public lands, public facilities, or other property of a local government:
(1) The division shall consult with the local government;
(2) The local government shall cooperate with the division; and
(3) In litigation, the local government shall be subject to discovery under Article 5 of
Chapter 11 of Title 9 as if it were a party.
(f) The proceeds of any judgment or settlement under this Code section shall be paid to the
Georgia Environmental Finance Authority for administration in accordance with Code
Section 50-23-5.
12-18-6.
Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to:
(1) Impair the obligation of any contract made prior to July 1, 2026; or
(2) Injuriously affect the vested rights of any citizen that were vested prior to
July 1, 2026."
SECTION 2.
Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia, relating to state government, is amended in
Chapter 23, relating to Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, by adding new paragraphs
to subsection (b) of Code Section 50-23-5, relating to purpose, powers, and duties, to read
as follows:
"(31.3) To receive funds in a segregated account from the proceeds of lawsuits
contemplated by Code Section 12-18-5 and disburse such funds to the Attorney General
as may be appropriate to pursue lawsuits and pay expenses brought or incurred pursuant
to Code Section 12-18-5, with any remaining proceeds to be deposited into a separate
revolving fund or a drinking water revolving fund for use to promote the purposes of
Chapter 18 of Title 12, the 'Coordinated PFAS Remediation Act.'
(31.4) To submit by September 1, 2027, and annually thereafter, to the Governor, the
Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the chairpersons
of the House Committee on Appropriations and the Senate Appropriations Committee a
report detailing all proceeds received from a judgment or settlement and any
disbursements of such funds, including the purposes of the disbursements, pursuant to
paragraph (31.3) of this subsection;"
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
## Summaries written by Georgia Commons
The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary.
Senate Bill 577 would give the state exclusive control over lawsuits seeking money for PFAS chemical contamination, taking that power away from Georgia counties and cities and centralizing settlement money through a state authority.
### Plain-language summary
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.
### What it does
- 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.
### Who it affects
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.
### Why it matters
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.
### Key provisions
- 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. ยง 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.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-25)
- Last action: Senate Read and Referred (2026-02-26)
- Sponsors: Sam Watson, Lee Anderson, Chuck Payne, Bill Cowsert
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73615
> The history, votes, and amendments (95 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/sb577.md?full=1