6 U.S.C. § 323 — Guidance on how to prevent exposure to and release of PFAS

(a) In general. By December 20, 2023 — one year after enactment — the Secretary of Homeland Security, working with the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and the heads of any other relevant agencies, had to do three things: publish guidance for firefighters and other emergency responders on training, education, and best practices; make available a curriculum designed to reduce and eliminate exposure to PFAS — chemicals sometimes called "forever chemicals" — from firefighting foam and protective gear, prevent PFAS from getting into the environment through firefighting foam, and teach responders about foams, non-foam alternatives, protective gear, and other tools that don't contain PFAS; and create an online public library, kept regularly updated, of tools and best practices for reducing, limiting, and preventing PFAS exposure and release. (b) Curriculum. To help build that curriculum, the Administrator of the U.S. Fire Administration must recommend its content to the Secretary. In making those recommendations, the Administrator must, as appropriate, consult firefighters and other emergency responders (including national fire service and response organizations), communities dealing with PFAS contamination, scientists — including public and occupational health and safety experts — who study PFAS and its alternatives, voluntary standards organizations that set rules for firefighters and their equipment, state fire training academies, state fire marshals, manufacturers of firefighting tools and equipment, and any other relevant group the Secretary and the Administrator decide to include. (c) Review. No later than three years after the guidance and curriculum are first issued, and at least once every three years after that, the Secretary — working with the same three officials named in subsection (a) — must review the guidance and curriculum and update them as needed. (d) Applicability of FACA. The Federal Advisory Committee Act, which normally governs how the government uses outside advisory committees, does not apply to this law. (e) Rule of construction. Nothing in this law requires the Secretary to write or enforce formal regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act.