Bill > H864

This bill aims to protect North Carolina citizens from drinking water contaminated by PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) compounds. The key provisions are: 1. The Secretary of Environmental Quality can order PFAS manufacturers whose discharges have caused PFAS contamination in public water systems to pay the public water system's costs to remove, correct, or abate the PFAS contamination and bring the PFAS levels below the permissible concentration level. 2. PFAS manufacturers are jointly and severally liable for these costs, and public water systems must reimburse ratepayers if they had previously incurred these costs and included them in rates. 3. The bill appropriates $300,000 in non-recurring funds to the Department of Environmental Quality to implement the act, and the department must report on its use of the funds and abatement orders issued. 4. The section regarding PFAS contamination abatement is effective immediately and applies retroactively to costs incurred by public water systems since January 1, 2017.