PFAS POLICY

New Mexico Officials Leery Of Air Force Pledge To Clean Up PFAS At Cannon

New Mexico environment officials are dubious of the Air Force’s recent qualified commitment to clean up PFAS contamination that has migrated off Cannon Air Force Base (AFB), suggesting they believe military officials are falling short in an early test of their plans to comply with EPA’s new rules regulating some of the substances. At a May 14 virtual public meeting held by Air Force officials on Cannon AFB’s investigation into per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, a top Air Force...

Support Grows For Planned Suit Seeking EPA Rules On PFAS In Biosolids

Several groups concerned about PFAS contamination of biosolids are planning to join watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) in upcoming litigation alleging EPA has failed to meet its Clean Water Act (CWA) obligations to regulate the chemicals in biosolids. For example, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) sent a May 14 notice of intent (NOI) to sue EPA where the group references PEER’s similar notice it sent to the agency earlier this year. MOFGA says in...

EPA Finalizes Addition Of Seven PFAS To Toxics Release Inventory

EPA has formally subjected seven additional PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), bringing to nearly 200 the number of perfluorinated chemicals that industry must now report annually to the agency, though reporting for the just-added substances is not due until 2025. The agency in January announced its plan to add the seven per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to TRI, and made the addition official with a final rule scheduled to be published in the May 17 Federal Register...

Congress Creates Grants For Airports To Replace PFAS-Containing Foam

Both chambers of Congress have approved a sweeping Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill that includes the creation of a new grant program to aid airports in transitioning from the use of firefighting foams containing PFAS, providing funds for disposal of PFAS foam and replacing it with fluorine-free firefighting agent. The House May 15 approved H.R. 3935 , the bipartisan FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, by a vote of 387-26, sending the bill to President Joe Biden for signature, according...

EPA Defends PFAS Drinking Water Regulation’s Dose Additivity Approach

EPA is rigorously defending a dose-additivity approach it used to derive health-protective drinking water goals that are the basis for limits for four PFAS in drinking water, pointing to support from its Science Advisory Board (SAB) as well as long-standing agency guidance on chemical mixtures and a December 2023 white paper on dose addition. The defense, contained in a written response to comments on EPA’s proposed version of its Safe Drinking Water Act rule regulating a total of six per-...

EPA Tightens Superfund Screening Levels For Two PFAS After SDWA Rule

Updated Story EPA has strengthened its Superfund regional screening levels (RSLs) for certain PFAS for tap water and soil following the agency’s finalization of Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) limits for the chemicals, setting RSLs for two PFAS based on strict cancer slope factors the Office of Water developed in support of those drinking water limits. In a notice posted on its website May 14, EPA says it has updated its tables to “reflect changes in the...

Court Grants States’ Concessions In Consolidated 3M PFAS Appeal

A federal appeals court has granted Maryland and South Carolina’s requests to maintain separate briefing in consolidated litigation over the venue for their PFAS claims against 3M, providing a procedural win for the states in their effort to keep their cases over PFAS contamination from sources other than firefighting foam in state court. 3M is appealing separate rulings from federal district courts in Maryland and South Carolina that returned to state court the states’ suits seeking damages related to contamination...

Judge Weighs Future Of PFAS Enforcement Suit After EPA Seeks Dismissal

A federal district judge is questioning the future of EPA and environmentalists’ landmark suit to enforce a 2020 rule restricting “new uses” of certain PFAS, after the agency sought to dismiss its claims following a decision in a related case narrowing the rule’s definition of “new,” though environmental intervenors have vowed to continue the litigation. While the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a notice of voluntary dismissal on May 13 in United States, et al., v. Inhance Technologies , Judge...

Lawyer Urges Strategic Approach To Address PFAS Reporting Beyond EPA

Companies preparing to comply with EPA’s one-time PFAS reporting requirement should consider developing “a very strategic framework for dealing with this issue” to help them meet not only federal requirements but also upcoming state and international mandates, says a leading chemical industry lawyer. Lynn Bergeson, the managing partner of the chemicals-focused law firm Bergeson & Campbell, shared her advice May 10 during the Household and Consumer Products Association mid-year meeting in Washington, D.C., discussing EPA’s broad but one-time reporting rule...

EPA Plans To Expand PFAS-Free Purchasing Advice By Year’s End

EPA is hoping to expand by the end of the year the types of PFAS-free products and services included in its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program, just as the Biden administration is urging federal agencies to use the tool as they implement new federal procurement rules encouraging sustainability. The agency recognizes that its “Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing,” an online database that is one of the resources for sustainable federal purchasing, does not currently cover every...

Democratic State AGs Back PFAS RCRA Listing Rule, Urge Broader Effort

More than a dozen Democratic-led state attorneys general (AGs) are strongly supporting EPA’s proposed rule subjecting nine PFAS to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act’s (RCRA) corrective action program by listing them as “hazardous constituents,” pushing back on industry groups’ cost and scientific concerns. But in comments filed last month, the Democratic AGs from 14 states and the District of Columbia also urge EPA to go further and explore listing additional PFAS or even the class of chemicals as hazardous...

California PFAS-Ban Bill Faces Mounting Opposition, Fiscal Committee Test

A bill in California’s Senate that would ban the sale of most new products containing intentionally added PFAS starting in 2032 is facing mounting opposition from a growing coalition of industry groups and a difficult test in the chamber’s fiscal committee due to its substantial implementation costs on the state toxics department. “In addition to the numerous policy issues, the Senate Appropriations Committee recently identified millions of dollars in new spending that would be required,” states a May 6 memo...

Power Plant ELG Suggests States Include Site-Specific PFAS Monitoring

EPA in its recently updated effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) for coal-fired power plants is suggesting states include PFAS monitoring and possibly best management practices (BMPs) in site-specific water discharge permits for power plants, marking the first time the agency has addressed PFAS, even indirectly, in an ELG. “While the steam electric power sector was not identified as one of the top PFAS dischargers, the EPA notes that PFAS may nevertheless be present in steam electric discharges,” EPA says in its...

Tyco Cuts Deal With Insurers On PFAS Coverage, Easing Path In MDL

Tyco Fire Products has reached an agreement in principle with its major insurance companies, ending a dispute that had threatened Tyco’s ability to resolve its liability in a host of cases in multidistrict litigation over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam. The “settlement-in-principle is memorialized via a binding term sheet and will be finalized through a formal written agreement, which Tyco and the AIG Insurers expect to finalize expeditiously,” the company and its insurers say in a joint May 7 letter...

Judge Approves Path Forward For PFAS MDL Personal Injury Cases

The federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) on PFAS contamination from firefighting foam has approved a process for narrowing the pool of plaintiffs for the first bellwether trial of personal injury cases after attorneys for the plaintiffs and defendants initially struggled on how to move forward. While the May 6 case management order (CMO) does not set a trial date, it does outline how the initial pool of 25 cases will be subdivided and allows for cases involving kidney and...

Formal Publication Of CERCLA PFAS Rule Opens Door To Legal Challenges

EPA’s first-of-its-kind rule designating certain PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register May 8, starting a clock that will see the measure take effect 60 days from that date while giving industry and other parties 90 days to file legal challenges to the controversial rule. The Register will formally publish the rule that EPA first released April 19 designating perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) --...

Citing EPA Limits, North Carolina DEQ Warns Panel On PFAS Rules’ Delay

North Carolina’s environment secretary is warning a state regulatory panel that its delay in taking formal action to approve plans setting PFAS groundwater and surface water standards will undermine utilities’ compliance with EPA’s new drinking water standards after the panel delayed action in the face of industry concerns. Elizabeth Biser, secretary of North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), sent a May 1 letter to the state’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC), raising concerns that the panel will not be considering...

Airport Urges Appeals Court To Keep PFAS Enforcement Suit In Federal Court

A Michigan airport is arguing to a federal appeals court that it acted as a government contractor for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when using PFAS-containing firefighting foam, thereby meeting the requirement to keep a first-time state enforcement suit over PFAS cleanup at a commercial airport in federal court. The venue is key as it will determine whether the airport can eventually sue the federal government to recoup any cleanup costs. “In light of the district court’s implicit finding that...

Attorneys Warn New Colorado PFAS Ban May Cause Industry Complications

Industry attorneys are warning consumer product companies that they may face numerous challenges in creating, manufacturing and distributing products following Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) enactment of a law that expanded the state’s ban on the sale of specific items containing intentionally added PFAS. Polis announced May 1 that he was administratively signing SB24-081 , and the Colorado General Assembly posted the enacted law online May 2. The law sets a Jan. 1, 2026, deadline for ending the sale of...

Water Systems Fear Lack Of Clarity In EPA’s PFAS Waste Control Policies

Drinking water utilities are raising a series of concerns over EPA’s new and pending policies governing disposal and cleanup of waste containing PFAS, including the potential for increased liability despite officials’ efforts to limit it, an expected increase in disposal costs, and a lack of clarity on how to handle utility-specific wastes. During a May 1 webinar, Chris Moody, regulatory technical manager for the American Water Works Association (AWWA), listed a series of concerns with how the agency’s waste control...

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