States-PFAS

States

California Eyes Drinking Water Limit For PFHxS As EPA Seeks To Drop Standard

California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is launching a drinking water public health goal (PHG) review for perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), taking a step toward crafting an enforceable standard for the substance as the Trump EPA seeks to rescind its Biden-era drinking water limit for the widely used PFAS. OEHHA announced plans for the first-time PHG in an Oct. 3 notice , which also announced plans to revise the state’s current PHG for arsenic. “PHGs are non-regulatory in...

Minnesota May Lower Fees For Manufacturers Under PFAS Reporting Rule

Minnesota environmental regulators may reduce fees that manufacturers will have to pay under the state’s proposed PFAS reporting rule after an administrative law judge (ALJ) disapproved the provision because the total fees that the state expects to receive far exceed the costs of implementing the law, conflicting with statutory requirements. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) estimates spending $6.027 million over nine years to implement Amara’s Law -- Minnesota’s comprehensive per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) mitigation law -- but expects...

Maine Board Approves Rule Exempting Two Products From PFAS Ban

The Maine Board of Environmental Protection has approved a rule exempting two cleaning-related products from the state’s upcoming ban on certain products containing PFAS, while discussing whether to ask the state’s environment department to look more closely at cookware, which is currently subject to the ban. At its Oct. 2 meeting, the board voted 6-0 to approve the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) proposed rule to exempt two products -- a cleaning product container internal cartridge valve and a...

Newsom Vetoes PFAS Mitigation Fund Bill, Citing Lack Of Funding, Need

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has vetoed a bill to create a PFAS mitigation fund allowing state water regulators to cover or reduce costs associated with treating for PFAS in drinking water, recycled water, stormwater, and wastewater, saying it would duplicate current CalEPA efforts, lacks funding, and would divert money from other areas. “While well-intentioned, this bill is unnecessary,” Newsom writes in an Oct. 1 veto message for SB 454 by Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), which lawmakers approved unanimously last...

Ahead Of Hearing, 3M Again Removes Maine PFAS Suit To Federal Court

3M is seeking to bolster its effort to secure a federal court venue for Maine’s case seeking cleanup claims against the company for PFAS contamination, removing the case a second time after finding the suit includes additional sites with contamination from the company’s military-grade firefighting foam, which it argues makes it eligible for a federal venue. The manufacturer’s second notice of removal , filed Sept. 8, comes as oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit...

3M’s Second Notice Of Removal

3M’s Supplemental Removal Notice

3M Letter Regarding Second Removal

Maine Letter Responding To Second Removal


Maine Board Slated To Weigh Rule Exempting Two Products From PFAS Ban

Maine’s environment board is slated this week to review a rule exempting two products from the state’s upcoming PFAS prohibitions, after environmental regulators made no changes to the measure despite industry criticism that they did not appropriately review the other nine exemption petitions that were denied. Maine’s Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) is scheduled to meet Oct. 2 to consider adopting the rule, although it is unclear whether the board will make a decision that same day. According to BEP’s...

3M To Appeal Federal Ruling Remanding Texas PFAS Suit To State Court

3M is planning to appeal a recent federal district court’s decision to remand to state court Texas’ litigation alleging 3M and DuPont misrepresented the safety of their PFAS-containing consumer products, disputing the district court’s finding that the case is not effectively a class action and hence should not be heard in federal court. “[T]his case presents a serious legal question about the application of [the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)] -- one the Fifth Circuit has not squarely answered, and...

3M Memorandum

3M Emergency Motion

Sept. 26 Order

Sept. 24 Order


Michigan Regulators Weigh Legal Options After PFAS Rules Struck Down

Michigan regulators are weighing their legal options after a state appeals court, on remand and in a split decision, again struck down the state’s PFAS drinking water limits and found that none of the procedural issues the Michigan Supreme Court cited to vacate an earlier decision to throw out the regulations affect the litigation’s viability. In a 2-1 decision , the Michigan Court of Appeals Sept. 19 reinstated a lower court’s order holding that Michigan’s drinking water regulations for seven...

Minnesota Finalizes Tiered PFAS Biosolids Strategy Amid Federal Inaction

Minnesota regulators have finalized a tiered biosolids strategy requiring facilities to test their biosolids for PFAS before land application and mandating different subsequent actions depending on the PFAS concentration, marking yet another example of states moving ahead with measures to limit PFAS in biosolids amid federal uncertainty. Starting Sept. 1, this year, wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) that land apply biosolids in Minnesota are required to collect “one biosolids sample per cropping year (September 1 through August 31) and analyze it...

In Test, Air Force Urges Panel To Send New Mexico State Claims To MDL

The Air Force is urging a joint judicial panel to reject New Mexico’s opposition to sending the state’s latest PFAS cleanup lawsuit to multidistrict litigation (MDL) governing firefighting foam contamination claims, arguing the new state law claims mirror federal waste law claims previously overseen and then dismissed by the MDL court. The case could test what recourse states have in pursuing their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) cleanup claims against federal facilities. The Air Force in a Sept. 10 brief...

Air Force’s Response Brief

New Mexico’s Reply Brief


Industry Groups Up Pressure On Agencies To Preempt State PFAS Rules

Industry groups are increasing pressure on the Trump administration to take actions to preempt PFAS regulations in Minnesota, Maine and other states, renewing calls for EPA to take action under TSCA as well as for the FDA to issue new guidance to reiterate preemption of state actions governing a wide range of regulated products and their packaging. Their calls come as states like Minnesota, Maine and others have been stepping up their efforts to strictly regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances...

Industry Stresses Need For Unified Federal Approach To PFAS Regulations

Industry groups are stressing the need for a unified federal approach to PFAS regulations, criticizing the patchwork of laws that has emerged as a result of states like Maine, Minnesota, New Mexico and others implementing their own PFAS prohibitions and other rules that make compliance more difficult and create uncertainty for regulated entities. “The role of the federal government is to ensure that a product that enters interstate commerce is regulated for safety in a uniform fashion,” the Sustainable PFAS...

SPAN Comments

Chamber Comments

ACC Comments

NAM Comments

PPWG Comments


New York State Drafts Limits For ‘Unintentionally’ Added PFAS In Apparel

New York state environment regulators are seeking public comment on draft limits for “unintentionally” added PFAS in apparel above which the product will be banned, targeting contamination in products that have stemmed unintentionally from the manufacturing process, which one environmentalist says could be what states focus on next. “That is my hope, that we’re mindful of the PFAS below the surface in terms of what it takes to make products, and looking at how to address that,” Bobbi Wilding, executive...

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