From Inside PFAS Policy

Senate Clears Defense Bill Echoing House Plan For Faster PFAS Cleanups

The Senate has approved its fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill with language that echoes House provisions for expediting PFAS cleanups at military sites, but lawmakers face a conference debate on Senate language that lifts a ban on Defense Department (DOD) procurement of certain items containing PFAS and repeals a temporary incineration ban for the chemicals. The Senate Oct. 9 approved S. 2296, the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in a 77-20 vote after the bill had been stalled...

EPA Adds PFHxS Salt To TRI Reporting List, Following IRIS Toxicity Value

EPA is adding another PFAS to the list of chemicals that regulated facilities must report to the agency under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, as part of an automatic update to the inventory required by law after the agency completes a toxicity value for the chemical or undertakes certain other regulatory activities. The agency’s Oct. 7 addition of sodium perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS-Na) to the TRI means regulated entities must now report 206 PFAS though facilities will not begin tracking their...

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...

D.C. Circuit To Finish Briefing In CERCLA PFAS Rule Suit By December

The D.C. Circuit has approved a jointly requested schedule to complete briefing before the end of the year in industry’s challenge of EPA’s rule designating two legacy PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” after lifting the stay after the agency decided to retain and defend the Biden-era regulation. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in an Oct. 2 order agreed to an amended briefing schedule that EPA, industry and environmentalists jointly proposed Sept. 30 in Chamber...

Industry Urges 4th Circuit To Reverse Injunction Over PFAS Discharges

Industry parties are urging the 4th Circuit to lift a trial court’s injunction restricting Chemours’ PFAS discharges into the Ohio River, arguing the decision on environmental plaintiffs’ standing and irreparable harm could impose broad impacts that would set the bar so low as to allow minor regulatory violations to trigger injunctive relief. “The district court’s standing and irreparable-harm rulings are not merely wrong; they threaten to wreak havoc in both areas of law, enabling plaintiffs to obtain injunctive relief for...

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...

EPA Eyes WTE Plants As ‘Passive Receivers’ For PFAS CERCLA Waiver

EPA is suggesting waste-to-energy (WTE) plants that receive municipal solid waste as “feedstock” could qualify as another category of “passive receivers” to earn waivers from Superfund liability for PFAS contamination, a stance that appears to broaden the scope of any waiver just as officials step up their calls for Congress to legislate on the issue. But some sources say that if EPA significantly broadens the categories of passive receivers, that could undermine the Biden-era Superfund rule that the Trump EPA...

Court Dismisses Farmers’ Suit Seeking EPA Biosolids Rules For PFAS

A federal district court has dealt a blow to Texas and Maine farmers who sought to compel EPA to regulate certain PFAS in biosolids, dismissing their lawsuit after finding the Clean Water Act (CWA) does not mandate that EPA identify and regulate sewage sludge pollutants within a prescribed timeline. “Although the plain language of the CWA imposes a non-discretionary duty on EPA to review its regulations on a biennial basis, it does not mandate that EPA also identify and...

Seeking Merits Ruling, NRDC Fights EPA Bid To Split SDWA PFAS Suit

Environmentalists who are defending the Biden-era drinking water standards for six PFAS are urging the D.C. Circuit to weigh EPA’s motion to vacate four of the limits on the merits and ultimately deny the agency’s motion because there was no procedural error in setting the novel standards for the four PFAS. “EPA’s motion should be referred to the merits panel because it requires a merits ruling and raises contested issues that are intertwined with the rest of the case,” Natural...

Longer Timelines For DOD PFAS Cleanups May Boost Transparency Bills

The Defense Department’s (DOD) quiet release of an updated schedule showing delays for PFAS cleanup work could fuel support for pending legislation included in the House version of the fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill that would require greater public transparency from the department on its PFAS cleanup efforts. Reacting to findings that DOD has extended the timeline for cleaning up PFAS contamination at numerous sites, Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet (D-MI), co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, says...

GAO Urges DOE To Step Up Efforts To Determine PFAS Cleanup Needs

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is pressing the Energy Department (DOE) to step up efforts -- and set a deadline -- for surveying the more than 100 sites it has yet to investigate for historical and current uses of PFAS, data GAO says will be key to prioritizing cleanups and estimating costs. GAO points out that while DOE policy memos direct all of DOE’s sites to characterize per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) use, they lack clear deadlines for completing such...

Padilla Eyes Relief For PFAS Passive Receivers As Bill Remains Uncertain

Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), a member of the Senate environment committee, is signaling he is leaving the door open to supporting a bill limiting Superfund liability for a narrow set of “passive receivers” of PFAS contamination, a sign that any effort to enact such protections could win bipartisan support though the panel has yet to advance legislation. Padilla “recognizes the importance of this issue and wants to work with other [Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW)] members to develop legislation...

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...

EPA Plans To Weigh Costs In Future CERCLA Listings, Sparking Criticism

EPA’s plan to develop a framework rule governing future designations of “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, which the agency announced it will craft after deciding to retain the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS, is raising concerns that it will adopt cost as a factor, which one environmentalist says is at odds with the law. The agency announced its plan for the framework rule alongside its surprise decision to retain the landmark rule designating two legacy per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances...

In Surprise, EPA Decides To Retain Landmark Biden-Era CERCLA PFAS Rule

In a surprise move, EPA has told a federal appellate court it is planning to retain the Biden-era rule designating two legacy PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, clearing the way for the agency to defend the measure in a pending industry suit despite recent reports that one top EPA official advocated for the agency to oppose the rule. “EPA has reviewed the underlying rule and has decided to keep the Rule in place,” the agency says in...

Blunting Industry Fear, New Jersey Finds PFAS In Soil Below Cleanup Limits

New Jersey regulators have detected various PFAS in surface soil across the state though the concentrations were found to be below interim soil cleanup standards, effectively blunting industry fears that soil remediation standards for four PFAS might be too stringent for liable parties to attain due to the ubiquity of PFAS in the environment. “Despite the widespread occurrence of many PFAS compounds, no sample had concentrations exceeding [New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP)] current interim residential or non-residential” soil...

Optimistic Industry Groups Ramp Up Advocacy For PFAS Reporting Waivers

Industry representatives are optimistic that the Trump EPA will include several exemptions requested by industry in the agency’s revised PFAS reporting rule under TSCA that would ease burdens on regulated entities, but they are nevertheless ramping up their advocacy and urging officials to adopt a host of waivers. Several industry groups are already meeting -- or preparing to meet -- with White House officials reviewing EPA’s draft Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) proposed rule. And one lawyer said he is...

Newsom Weighs PFAS-Ban Bill Amid Opposition From Cookware Industry

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is weighing whether to sign or veto a landmark bill passed by state lawmakers that would ban PFAS from five consumer product categories starting in 2028 and from cookware products beginning in 2030, amid strong opposition by numerous industry groups including the cookware manufacturing sector. If Newsom signs the legislation, California would become the largest state to ban PFAS in cookware despite arguments from manufacturers that fluoropolymers like polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commonly known as Teflon, that...

Trump EPA Asks D.C. Circuit To Vacate Four PFAS Drinking Water Limits

The Trump EPA is urging the D.C. Circuit to vacate four of six Biden-era drinking water standards for PFAS, arguing the agency did not follow mandatory procedural requirements when it promulgated them, in an effort to quickly resolve legal questions over whether officials can follow through on their plan to withdraw the landmark limits. The Biden “EPA initially attempted to defend the Rule against forceful legal challenges raised in these petitions for review,” the Trump EPA says in a Sept...

California Passes Bill For PFAS Mitigation Fund To Reduce Treatment Costs

California lawmakers have passed a bill that would, if funded in future fiscal year budgets, create a PFAS mitigation fund allowing state water regulators to cover or reduce costs associated with treating PFAS in drinking water, recycled water, stormwater, and wastewater. The bill, SB 454 by Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), this week unanimously passed the state Senate and Assembly and awaits action by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Oct. 12 is the deadline for the governor to sign or veto bills...

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