State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, explains the details of his bill banning PFAS chemicals for most firefighting during the Senate floor session on Monday. The bill passed unanimously and now goes to the House for consideration. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

State Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, explains the details of his bill banning PFAS chemicals for most firefighting during the Senate floor session on Monday. The bill passed unanimously and now goes to the House for consideration. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

Kiehl’s ‘no new spills’ PFAS bill passes Senate

Unanimous vote comes after years of effort by Juneau lawmaker to limit harm of “forever chemicals”

A significant victory in a Juneau lawmaker’s multi-year effort to reduce harm caused by PFAS chemicals occurred Monday as the state Senate unanimously passed a bill banning the substance for most firefighting purposes.

Senate Bill 67 by state Sen. Jesse Kiehl, a Juneau Democrat, is what he calls a “no new spills” bill that lacks cleanup provisions of proposals from previous years that failed to pass the Legislature. In an interview after the floor session, he said he believes the cleanup issues will be addressed by the first-ever nationwide standards for what are commonly called “forever chemicals” that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to enact this year.

“I think the EPA is exactly on the right track with clean water regulations and I expect the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation will be close on their heels,” he said. “The commissioner has said that publicly.”

Kiehl’s bill bans PFAS chemicals (an abbreviation for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) for firefighting, except when used for large oil and gas industry fires until a substitute chemical able to handle such large incidents is available. It also allows the state to accept up to 40 gallons of a firefighting substance that contains PFAS chemicals from about 130 small, remote communities that use “load carts” to store firefighting chemicals.

The senator, in an overview of the bill during the floor session, noted PFAS chemicals are effective at firefighting because the compounds are highly resistant to being broken down, but that comes with a corresponding durability in areas they’re used. He said said most of the contamination at the state’s hundreds of existing sites is from federally mandated training at locations such as airports, rather than fighting actual fires, but regardless of purpose, the chemicals pose a huge range of health risks ranging from birth defects to cancer.

“These things are bad for people and they’re bad for people in incredibly small concentrations,” he said.

Safer alternative substances are now deemed acceptable for most uses, including training, in the U.S. and multiple European countries, Kiehl said.

SB67 now goes to the House, where its prospects with less than 10 days left before this year’s adjournment are uncertain, especially with large differences remaining between the two chambers on major issues such as next year’s budget. A companion House bill did receive a hearing on Friday.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com.

More in News

The Norwegian Bliss arrives in Juneau on Monday, April 14, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)
Ships in port for the week of April 20

This information comes from the Cruise Line Agencies of Alaska’s 2024 schedule.… Continue reading

A courtroom at the Juneau Courthouse. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)
Juneau man in prison on federal weapons charges gets 13 years on additional state charges

Clyde Pasterski, 44, was convicted by a jury last November for drug and assault offenses.

Protesters rally against the Trump administration’s deportation polices in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Feb. 5, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)
‘Just give us a chance’: One Juneau refugee family puts faith in God, another flees as departure orders arrive

Both families arrived legally; validity of demands by Trump administration to depart being challenged

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Wednesday, April 23, 2025

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Russell Benford, representative for Royal Caribbean Group, answers questions from Mayor Beth Weldon on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)
Assembly tries to clear the air with cruise line officials as tensions rise about future projects

City leaders seek missing details from Royal Caribbean on proposed west Douglas port.

An officer from the U.S. Border Patrol’s Blaine Sector office, which has assigned two permanent officers to Juneau as of December. (U.S. Border Patrol photo)
Higher-than-normal border crossings north of Haines last month defy national trends

The number of passengers entering the country at the Dalton Cache border… Continue reading

The chairs of the Senate Finance Committee huddle for a discussion after introducing their draft operating budget, Thursday, April 24, 2025. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Alaska Senate committee’s draft budget cuts $206 million from House plan but still has deficit

Proposal eliminates proposals for new troopers, help for education and would cut prison space.

Liz Harpold, a staff member for Sen. Donny Olson (D-Golovin)​, explains changes to a bill increasing per-student education funding and making various policy changes during a Senate Finance Committee meeting on Thursday, April 24, 2025. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Revised education bill with $700 BSA hike gets new policy measures, advances to Senate floor

Changes easing charter school rules, adding new district evaluations fall short of governor’s agenda.

Most Read