H.R. 8016 · 119th Congress

Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act of 2026

Introduced on Mar 19, 2026 by Betty McCollum (D-MN-4). 7 cosponsors, all from the sponsor's party. Latest action (Mar 20, 2026): Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Stage
Introduced
Introduced
Mar 19, 2026
Cosponsors
7
0 from the other party
Policy area
Environmental Protection
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Progress

The furthest stage the measure reached. Simple and concurrent resolutions do not go to the President.

  1. Introduced
  2. 2Reported by committee
  3. 3Passed one chamber
  4. 4Passed both chambers
  5. 5Sent to the President
  6. 6Became law

Official title

To phaseout production of nonessential uses of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, to prohibit releases of all perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances, and for other purposes.

Summary

By the Congressional Research Service (Introduced in House, Mar 19, 2026). Public domain.

Forever Chemical Regulation and Accountability Act of 2026

This bill phases out the release and nonessential use of perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and addresses PFAS research, remediation, regulation, and enforcement.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must require each manufacturer and user of PFAS to submit annual reports that include specified information about the essential (e.g., critical for health or safety reasons) and nonessential uses of PFAS by such entities. Not later than 10 years after the enactment of this bill, manufacturers and users must fully phase out nonessential uses of PFAS.

The bill also

  • establishes specified deadlines to phase out the sale of certain products containing PFAS;
  • requires federal agencies, to the maximum extent practicable, to eliminate the procurement of products known to contain PFAS;
  • imposes a 10-year phaseout of the release of PFAS above a certain threshold of detection;
  • provides enforcement authority to the EPA regarding violations of the requirements of the bill, including through civil and criminal penalties;
  • allows citizen suits against manufacturers and users of PFAS and the EPA; and
  • addresses actions under state law related to damages from exposure to hazardous substances, including with regard to statutes of repose.

The bill exempts from a bankruptcy petition’s automatic stay any proceeding against a non-debtor entity (e.g., a proceeding to obtain property from a non-debtor) with respect to a PBT claim (a claim relating to persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic chemicals) against the non-debtor entity, the debtor, or the estate.

Sponsor and cosponsors

Cosponsors by party as of the day they signed on. Original cosponsors signed on the day of introduction.

Betty McCollumD-MN-4Sponsor

Democrats · 7

Roll calls

Recorded votes on the measure. Most measures move by voice vote or unanimous consent, which record no individual positions.

No recorded roll call on this measure: it moved by voice vote or unanimous consent, or has not reached the floor.

History

Every action as published, oldest first. Roll calls link to how each member voted.

  1. Mar 19, 2026Introduced in House
  2. Mar 19, 2026Introduced in House
  3. Mar 19, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  4. Mar 19, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  5. Mar 19, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  6. Mar 19, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  7. Mar 19, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Science, Space, and Technology, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Armed Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
  8. Mar 20, 2026 · HouseReferred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

Committees

Committees and subcommittees the measure was referred to.

Agencies in its committees' jurisdiction

Analisa's mapping of committee jurisdiction to federal agencies; the bill may touch others, or none of these.

Who lobbied on it

Organizations whose lobbying reports (LD-2) name this measure. Spending is what they reported for those quarters on all issues, not on this measure alone.

  1. AIR-CONDITIONING, HEATING, AND REFRIGERATION INSTITUTE2 reports
    $553.4K reported (all issues)
  2. Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI)2 reports
    $60K reported (all issues)
  3. COVESTRO LLC1 report

Reports filed in 2026.

Sources and method

Every figure on this page traces to these records.

  • Bill status: bills and resolutions, sponsors, actions, subjects and CRS summaries (U.S. Government Publishing Office (GovInfo), from Congress.gov (Library of Congress))GovInfo Bill Status bulk data (Congress.gov; summaries by the Congressional Research Service) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Members of Congress, their terms, committees and identifiers (The @unitedstates project (from the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, the House and the Senate))unitedstates/congress-legislators: legislators, committees and current committee membership · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)
  • House roll-call votes (Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, roll-call vote records · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Senate roll-call votes and DW-NOMINATE scores (Voteview (UCLA Department of Political Science))Lewis, Jeffrey B., Keith Poole, Howard Rosenthal, Adam Boche, Aaron Rudkin, and Luke Sonnet (2026). Voteview: Congressional Roll-Call Votes Database. https://voteview.com/ · data current to Oct 3, 2026 · loaded Oct 3, 2026 · license: Free to use with the required citation
  • Lobbying disclosures (LD-1 registrations, LD-2 quarterly reports, LD-203 contribution reports) (Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives)Clerk of the House, Lobbying Disclosure Act filings (organizations only; lobbyists' names are not loaded) · data current to Oct 9, 2026 · loaded Oct 9, 2026 · license: Public domain (U.S. Government work, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
  • Positions are shown only where a roll call recorded them; voice votes and unanimous consent record none.
  • Money and votes are shown side by side; neither explains the other.