BOSTON — The state Senate may vote on a “comprehensive PFAS firefighter-related bill” before the end of formal sessions on Wednesday, after senators on both sides of the aisle said they were disappointed that the body passed on an opportunity last week to take up legislation to address the toxic “forever chemicals.”
During a debate on a health care bill last week, Senate leadership ruled that two amendments to sunset firefighter gear that contains cancer-causing chemicals known as PFAS were outside of the scope of the hospital oversight bill on which they were voting. It was laid aside without a vote.
A number of senators rose to express their disappointment and call for action, and it appears a late-session response is forthcoming.
National and statewide firefighter organizations have been sounding the alarm for years on the high rates of cancer diagnosis and cancer-related deaths that have spiked among firefighters since the man-made toxic chemicals were first used in their gear. Currently, due to their thermal stability and water-resistant properties, only gear made with PFAS is considered up to fire safety codes.
State Sen. Michael Moore filed the same two amendments to a supplemental budget that the Senate voted this past Wednesday. One amendment would have created a PFAS Research and Development Public Safety Fund, to be funded through the state budget, to support the development, testing and purchasing of PFAS-free firefighter turnout gear that meets fire-proof safety standards without the toxic chemicals. The second would have banned the chemical’s use in firefighters’ protective gear by 2027.
The amendments had majority and bipartisan support.
Sen. Michael Rodrigues, the chair of Ways and Means, promised that the powerful committee was looking at PFAS-related legislation and would try to get it to the chamber floor before formal sessions end Wednesday.
“I would like to let the gentleman from Worcester know, and our colleagues know, that the Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which is in possession of a number of PFAS-related bills, are working very hard to try to get a comprehensive PFAS firefighter-related bill separately and on its own for this body’s consideration before the end of session,” Rodrigues said.
Moore withdrew his amendments, following the promise that the issue may be addressed in a standalone bill the following week.
Moore said the commitment “acknowledges the importance of this issue that our firefighters deal with on a daily basis, and over the years, and trying to stop any further tragedies that the families and the firefighters have to endure.”
“(I) look forward to discussing and voting on this issue next week,” Moore said, after withdrawing his amendments.
Minority Leader Sen. Bruce Tarr implored Rodrigues and his committee to move forward with the bill as quickly as possible, to allow it to be passed over to the House before the end of session.
The House will have only a few days to take action on the bill once they receive it, should they hope to get it done before July 31. The bill could only advance during the informal sessions that take place in the last five months of 2024 if all legislators present at a session agree.
“It is imperative that in the remaining days left in this formal session, we find a way forward on this issue,” Tarr said during Wednesday’s session. “My hope is that very soon, as soon as possible, we have a vehicle before us that can be given the approval of the Senate, so that we have time to be able to interact with the House productively to be able to get a bill passed in this formal legislative session.”
Sens. John Keenan, Michael Brady and Walter Timilty also rose to express their support for a firefighter PFAS bill. Timilty and Brady were among those who rose last week to support the Moore amendment that had been laid aside.
“This has been a long-standing issue and it’s long overdue,” Brady said Wednesday.