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Bills from the 2019–20 session

Assembly Bill 321

Setting standards for certain contaminants, providing information relating to off-site disposal of certain waste, extending the time limit for emergency rule procedures, providing an exemption from emergency rule procedures, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation. (FE)

Stopped in committee

It never got a ⁠, so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.

  1. Introduced, passed

    Jun 27, 2019

  2. Committee, stopped here

    Stopped here. No public hearing was held.

  3. Assembly vote, not reached

  4. Senate vote, not reached

  5. Governor, not reached

  6. Law, not reached

Latest entry in the official record, Apr 1, 2020: “Failed to pass pursuant to ⁠”

It never got a hearing in the Assembly Committee on Environment. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.

Read the bill

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What it would have done

Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.

This bill requires the Department of Natural Resources to establish and enforce various standards for per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The PFAS group of substances includes several thousand chemicals; two of the most well known are perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS).

The bill requires DNR to establish, by rule, acceptable levels and standards, monitoring requirements, and required response actions for any PFAS in drinking water, groundwater, surface water, air, solid waste, beds of navigable waters, and soil and sediment, if the department determines that the substance may be harmful to human health or the environment. These rules must cover, at a minimum, PFOA and PFOS, as well as perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), and perfluoroheptanoic acid (PFHpA). For air emission standards, DNR must first determine that an emission standard for a substance is needed to provide adequate protection for public health and welfare, which is also required for other hazardous air contaminants under current law. The bill also requires DNR to consider all PFAS to be air contaminants and to require reporting of any emission of PFAS.

Read the full summary

Under current law, DNR maintains a list of substances that have a reasonable probability of entering the groundwater resources of the state and that are shown to involve public health concerns. Under this bill, DNR is required to add to this list PFOA, PFOS, PFHxS, PFNA, PFBS, PFHpA, and all other PFAS that have a reasonable probability of entering the groundwater resources of the state and that are shown to involve public health concerns. Under current law, the Department of Health Services recommends enforcement standards for substances on this list, which DNR then proposes as DNR rules in its rule-making process. Until DNR establishes such rules, the bill requires DNR to apply any DHS-recommended groundwater enforcement standard for any PFAS as an interim standard for groundwater and as an interim maximum containment level for drinking water.

The bill also provides that DNR may, if it determines doing so is necessary to protect human health or the environment, require a person who possesses or controls PFAS to provide proof of financial responsibility for remediation and long-term care to address contamination by a potential discharge of PFAS or environmental pollution that may be caused by a discharge of PFAS.

In addition, the bill requires DNR to set criteria for certifying laboratories to test for PFAS, and to certify laboratories that meet these criteria. Before these criteria are set, the bill allows DNR to require testing for PFAS to be done according to nationally recognized standards.

Finally, the bill requires a person who generates solid or hazardous waste at a site or facility under investigation by DNR to provide DNR with access to information relating to any transportation to or treatment, storage, or disposal at another site, facility, or location.

Who's behind it

18 lawmakers are its ⁠. All 18 are Democrats.

15 more lawmakers ⁠.

See all 33 names

Authors (18)

Signed on in support (15)

What it would cost

State agencies filed a . Each opens as a PDF from the Legislature.

What happened

  1. Apr 1, 2020

    The session ended, and the bill died with it.

  2. Dec 5, 2019

    1 more representative signed on in support.

  3. Aug 9, 2019

    A state agency sent in its estimate of the cost.

  4. Jun 27, 2019

    Sent to the Assembly Committee on Environment.

  5. Jun 27, 2019

    Introduced in the Assembly.

See the official record, word for word
  1. Jun 27, 2019 · Assembly

    Introduced by Representatives C. Taylor, Gruszynski, Sargent, Sinicki, Anderson, Zamarripa, Stubbs, Stuck, Subeck, Ohnstad, Kolste, Emerson, Spreitzer, Billings, Considine, Hebl, Vining and Shankland; cosponsored by Senators Miller, Hansen, Risser, Larson, Wirch, Erpenbach, Ringhand, Smith, Bewley, Shilling, Carpenter, Johnson, Schachtner and L. Taylor

  2. Jun 27, 2019 · Assembly

    Read first time and referred to Committee on Environment

  3. Aug 9, 2019 · Assembly

    Fiscal estimate received

  4. Dec 5, 2019 · Assembly

    Representative Doyle added as a coauthor

  5. Apr 1, 2020 · Assembly

    Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1

Terms on this page

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate. More in the glossary

From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source

Committee

A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.

More in the glossary

Public hearing

A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.

More in the glossary

Senate Joint Resolution 1

The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.

Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1

More in the glossary

Legislative Reference Bureau

The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.

Official term: LRB analysis

More in the glossary

Author

A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.

Official term: Author, coauthor

More in the glossary

Signed on in support

Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.

Official term: Cosponsor

More in the glossary

Cost estimate

A state agency's estimate of what a bill would cost or save.

Official term: Fiscal estimate

More in the glossary