Paul Tonko: “I thank the gentleman for yielding. Under the Clean Water Act, many industries discharge directly to municipal sewage…”

“I thank the gentleman for yielding. Under the Clean Water Act, many industries discharge directly to municipal sewage treatment plants rather than discharge directly to surface waters. To address this practice, the Clean Water Act established a pretreatment program, which allows sewage treatment plants to work with industrial discharge connections to ensure that any industrial chemicals are properly treated or that these chemicals do not disrupt the normal functioning of the sewage treatment plants. However, a pretreatment program is only effective if the sewage treatment plant knows which chemicals are being introduced into their sewage treatment systems. Yet, there is no current Clean Water Act requirement that requires industrial discharges to tell the municipality that it plans to release PFAS-related chemicals into the sewage system. This amendment offered by the gentleman from New York (Mr. Delgado) would address this current loophole. I support this amendment, and I appreciate the good work that the gentleman from New York has done not only for the residents of his congressional district but for the residents of this country. This is an important amendment. I appreciate the hard work he has done and the sensitivity he has shown.”