Georgia lawmakers hear bill to shield PFAS ‘receivers’ from suits as residents and regulators warn of contamination costs

Representative Carpenter presented House Bill 2 11 to a Georgia House committee on HB 211, saying the measure aims to “focus attention on these chemical manufacturers” and to protect businesses that received PFAS-containing products from litigation so they can continue to operate.

The bill’s sponsor, Representative Carpenter, told the committee, “Ladies and gentlemen, I come before you today to present house bill 2 11.” He described the proposal as aimed at protecting workers and manufacturing jobs in northwest Georgia and across the state.

Mark Rogers, deputy general counsel for litigation at Mohawk, described the bill to the committee as a way to protect companies that received PFAS products from endless suits. He said the measure “protects people, who are in the second and third categories who received the products and have to clean it up from litigation right now, without willful misconduct.” Rogers also described Mohawk as a large regional employer and provided economic figures for plants in northwest Georgia.

The bill, described by supporters as the “PFAS receiver shield act,” would create a statutory shield for entities that received, applied or otherwise handled PFAS-containing materials, except in cases of willful misconduct as defined in the bill (the sponsor said that definition was modeled on the workers’ compensation…