S. 5410 — Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Act of 2026

This section provides the short title of the Act as the Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Act of 2026 and sets forth the table of contents for the legislation.

This section establishes the Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Program to compensate firefighters or their estates for PFAS-related health conditions. Eligible claimants must have served at least 2 years as a firefighter and submit claims within 2 years after final regulations or the firefighter’s death. The Secretary reviews claims on a no-fault basis within 120 days and awards a base amount of $250,000 for cancer or $50,000 for non-cancer conditions, multiplied by a service modifier of 1 to 4, with appeals available to the Court of Federal Claims.

This section establishes the PFAS Trust Fund in the Treasury. It appropriates to the fund amounts equivalent to taxes received under sections 4191 and 5000E of the Internal Revenue Code plus contributions accepted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and makes those amounts available without further appropriation to the Secretary to provide compensation through the Firefighter PFAS Injury Compensation Program. The changes apply to amounts received after the date of enactment.

This section imposes a 10 percent excise tax on the sales price of PFAS products sold by the manufacturer, producer, or importer after the date of enactment. PFAS means per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and PFAS products include any product containing PFAS, such as firefighter gear.

This section imposes a 10 percent excise tax on the present value of any qualifying PFAS litigation award paid during the taxable year. A qualifying award is a payment under a final court order or settlement compensating for harm from PFAS exposure, excluding personal injury claims, and the tax applies to payments made after the date of enactment.

This section directs that the budgetary effects of this Act not be entered on either statutory PAYGO scorecard under section 4(d) of the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 or on any Senate PAYGO scorecard under section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71 (115th Congress).