Preventing Mass Casualties from Release of Hydrofluoric Acid at Refineries Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit hydrogen fluoride, also called hydrofluoric acid, in petroleum refining. New refineries may not use it after enactment. Existing refineries must stop using it five years after enactment. Violations of the existing-refinery ban carry a $37,500 civil penalty per violation, and EPA may not waive the prohibition. The findings state that about 40 U.S. refineries use hydrofluoric acid, that releases can injure or kill refinery workers and surrounding communities, that people within up to 25 miles can face mass-casualty risk, that more than 14 million people live in at-risk communities, and that safer commercially proven alternatives are available.
Who Benefits and How
Refinery workers and communities near hydrofluoric-acid refineries benefit from lower catastrophic-release risk after conversion. Environmental-justice communities near refineries benefit because the findings identify disproportionate environmental burdens. Alternative refining-technology providers benefit as existing refineries convert away from hydrofluoric acid. EPA gains a direct TSCA prohibition and civil-penalty hook.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Petroleum refineries using hydrofluoric acid must convert to safer alternatives within five years or face $37,500-per-violation civil penalties. New refineries cannot choose hydrofluoric acid at all. EPA must enforce the prohibition and cannot use TSCA waiver authority for this chemical use. Refiners and potentially gasoline consumers may bear conversion or compliance costs.
Key Provisions
- Prohibits new petroleum refineries from using hydrofluoric acid to refine petroleum after enactment.
- Requires existing petroleum refineries to stop using hydrofluoric acid within five years.
- Sets a $37,500 civil penalty for each violation of the existing-refinery prohibition.
- Bars EPA from issuing a TSCA waiver for the hydrofluoric-acid refinery prohibition.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Bans new petroleum refineries from using hydrofluoric acid and requires existing hydrofluoric-acid refineries to convert within five years, with civil penalties and no EPA waiver authority.
Key Policy Areas
Energy, Environment, Oil & Gas
Primary Purpose
Bans new petroleum refineries from using hydrofluoric acid and requires existing hydrofluoric-acid refineries to convert within five years, with civil penalties and no EPA waiver authority.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- Refinery workers
- Communities near refineries
- Environmental justice communities
- Alternative refining technology providers
- EPA
Identified Costs
- Petroleum refineries
- EPA
- Gasoline consumers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Ms. Waters (for herself, Mr. Lieu, Ms. Barragán, Mr. Garcia …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Communities near refineries, EPA
Positive-direction: Communities near refineries
Negative-direction: EPA
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "administrator"
- → EPA Administrator
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
Hydrofluoric acid used in petroleum refining to produce high-octane gasoline.
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology