Federal Legislation Introduced to Create PFAS Cause of Action
On December 11, 2025, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Representative Madeleine Dean (D-PA-4) introduced the PFAS Accountability Act of 2025 (S.3460/H.R.6626). The legislation would establish a federal cause of action and allow courts to award medical monitoring for persons exposed to PFAS.
In a press release announcing the bill, Senator Gillibrand stated: “For years, companies have knowingly manufactured toxic, carcinogenic chemicals that have devastated families and communities. Those companies must be held accountable for their actions.”
Versions of the PFAS Accountability Act have been introduced in every Congress since 2018. The legislation has never passed either chamber, however.
Cause of Action
If enacted, the PFAS Accountability Act would add a new section to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) titled “Individuals Exposed to Perfluoroalkyl And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances.” The amendment would allow individuals who have been “significantly exposed to PFAS,” or have “reasonable grounds” to suspect significant exposure, to bring suit individually or as a class in any district court.
Claims could be brought against any person that:
- Engaged in any portion of a manufacturing process that created the PFAS to which the individual was significantly exposed; and
- Foresaw, or reasonably should have foreseen, that the creation or use of PFAS would result in human exposure.
The bill establishes rebuttable presumptions of “significant exposure.” An individual would be presumed to have been significantly exposed if:
- The PFAS at issue was released into one or more areas where the individual would have been exposed for a cumulative period of at least one year; or
- The individual submits testing results demonstrating the presence of the PFAS in their body.
If plaintiffs do not submit test results, defendants could rebut the presumption of significant exposure by offering test results conducted by an independent testing provider.
Medical Monitoring
The legislation would authorize courts to award medical monitoring for qualifying claimants if:
- The individual’s significant PFAS exposure resulted in an increased risk of developing disease;
- That increased risk provides a reasonable basis for additional or more frequent medical examinations; and
- Those examinations are effective in detecting a disease associated with PFAS exposure.
Where insufficient toxicological data exists to determine whether exposure resulted in an increased risk of disease, courts “may lower the standard for scientific proof” until such data exists. Courts would also have authority to order studies to assess whether an increased risk of disease occurred.
Definition of PFAS
Notably, the bill defines PFAS as “a perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substance with at least 1 fully fluorinated carbon atom,” which is significantly broader than the definition used by EPA in the TSCA section 8(a)(7) PFAS reporting rule and the 2024 significant new use rule (SNUR) for inactive PFAS.
More information on the PFAS Accountability Act of 2025 can be found here.
