From Inside PFAS Policy

Claims Court Dismisses Plaintiffs’ PFAS Takings Case Against Air Force

A federal claims court has dismissed a $400 million lawsuit against the Air Force alleging takings of private property as a result of PFAS contamination affecting farms and private property and stemming from decades of using PFAS-containing firefighting foam by a military base, with the court citing three independent reasons for dismissal. In an unpublished March 26 order , the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which oversees takings claims against the federal government, dismissed the case, Art Schaap, et al....

EPA’s CERCLA PFAS Listing May Undercut USDA’s Conservation Programs

EPA’s designation of two legacy PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances” may make it difficult for conservation programs within the Agriculture Department (USDA) to support farmers whose land has been contaminated by PFAS, driving a need for federal interaction on PFAS and likely congressional action, a top state agriculture official says. Nancy McBrady, deputy commissioner of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, told a March 20 webinar sponsored by the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) that EPA’s Superfund listing of...

Lack Of Inhalation, Emissions Data Will Stall PFAS Air Rules, Experts Say

RALEIGH -- Legal and health experts are pointing to the lack of available data on PFAS contamination in air, specifically on the health risks from its inhalation, as a barrier to regulating the chemicals in the less-studied medium, hindering efforts such as a 2024 multi-state petition to EPA to list four PFAS as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs). “I don’t really know of anybody who’s done a good inhalation study with PFAS,” Jamie DeWitt, director of the Pacific Northwest Center for...

Utilities Warn EPA’s CWA Sampling Methods For PFAS May Be Inaccurate

Wastewater and power utilities are warning that the Biden EPA’s analytical methods for assessing PFAS under the Clean Water Act (CWA) may be inaccurate, adding to technical concerns expressed by industry and others that could effectively delay states’ adoption of the methods as part of PFAS requirements in discharge permits. The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) says in March 24 comments that it “continues to have the concern that the analytical techniques, while sophisticated, are sensitive to the...

New Mexico Plans To Regulate Discarded AFFF As Hazardous Waste

The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) plans to regulate discarded firefighting foam containing PFAS as “hazardous waste” under legislation that is expected to soon be signed into law, bolstering its legal tools in its fight to require the Defense Department (DOD) to address PFAS contamination at its bases under state and federal hazardous waste authorities. The New Mexico Senate March 20 voted 35-7 to approve HB140 -- first-time state legislation that lists discarded aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) containing intentionally added...

Capito ‘Hoping’ For Bipartisan Support On PFAS Superfund Liability Waivers

Senate environment committee Chairman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) says she is “hoping” to win support from her Democratic colleagues for legislation providing Superfund liability relief for so-called passive receivers of PFAS contamination after lawmakers were unable to reach agreement on the issue last year. “I think that’s a big issue,” she told the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) spring meeting in Arlington, VA, March 24. “We couldn’t get there last year,” she said, referring to her long-running effort to...

Toxicology Group Urges EPA To Reconsider PFAS Risk Levels’ Stringency

A toxicology group led by a former Trump EPA toxics office nominee is urging Administrator Lee Zeldin to reconsider the risk levels the agency used to set strict drinking water levels for several PFAS, and plans to weigh in on a pending suit contesting the rule, pointing to some scientists’ claims that the rule is “unnecessarily restrictive” and costly. The International Society of Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology (ISRTP), a group that recently launched a new publication aimed at publishing papers...

ORD’s Planned Elimination Could Gut Key PFAS Testing, Observers Say

The Trump EPA’s plan to “eliminate” the Office of Research and Development (ORD) could devastate critical research on PFAS, environmentalists and other observers say, especially considering ORD’s efforts to test and classify the thousands of chemicals as well as determine toxicity information about unknown PFAS compounds. Betsy Southerland, a former top official in EPA’s water office who is now with the Environmental Protection Network of former officials, says critical per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) research initiatives, like the National PFAS...

Industry Wish List Asks Zeldin To Pare Back Biden-Era PFAS Policies

Industry groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are urging EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to pare back an array of Biden-era PFAS measures, including axing the rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances” and considering resetting stringent drinking water limits. In a just-released Feb. 14 letter , the groups urged the administrator to take a series of immediate policy actions, and consider some general principles, as the agency “explores potential approaches to both recognizing the critical benefits of...

Appellate Judges Press New Mexico On Venue In PFAS Waste-Permit Suit

Judges from the 10th Circuit are questioning New Mexico officials on their novel claims that an Air Force challenge to a state waste permit governing PFAS releases belongs in state court, suggesting during oral argument that the service may not be bound to proceed in state court. During March 18 oral arguments, the three-judge panel also questioned concerns raised by a lower court that allowing New Mexico’s case to proceed in federal court could result in piecemeal litigation. The judges...

Awaiting New ‘Lead,’ Trump EPA Appears Uncertain On Regulating PFAS

The Trump EPA is waiting on its new PFAS lead official before it takes any concrete actions to address Biden-era regulations governing PFAS, signaling that the issue may continue to be an important priority even if the agency ultimately decides to roll back the landmark drinking water, Superfund and other policies the last administration adopted. A spokesperson for EPA told Inside PFAS Policy March 14 that the agency does not want to comment on how the new administration will...

States Grapple With Addressing PFAS In Biosolids, Touting Source Reduction

RALEIGH -- States are grappling with how to address PFAS contamination from the land-application of biosolids, with regulators emphasizing the importance of regional collaboration and reducing PFAS at the source before it reaches wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), but alternative disposal methods, like landfilling, are fraught with concerns too. During a March 12 panel discussion at the Air & Waste Management Association’s (A&WMA) “The Science of PFAS: Piecing Together the Puzzle” conference here, state officials and others outlined a series of...

Key Senators’ Departures May Leave Gap In DOD PFAS Cleanup Oversight

Decisions by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen’s (D-NH) and Gary Peters (D-MI) not to seek reelection next year could leave a gap in congressional oversight of the Defense Department’s (DOD) cleanup of PFAS as the two have been key leaders in Congress’ push for ensuring cleanup of PFAS contamination at military bases and transparency for the department. Shaheen March 12 announced she would not seek reelection in 2026, noting that “today after careful consideration, I’m announcing that I have made the difficult...

ORD Chief Touts Benefits Of PFAS Research But Funding Remains Uncertain

RALEIGH -- EPA’s top research official is advising Administrator Lee Zeldin on the importance of state and federal collaboration in advancing PFAS research but amid the agency’s newly announced review of its grant programs under the Trump administration, officials are still discussing funding for such efforts in the future. “This is a big topic of conversation, and I think there will be some follow-up work in this space. What that exactly will look like, I can't say at this point,”...

Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill Requiring DOD To Monitor PFAS In Runoff

A bipartisan group of lawmakers -- six Democrats and four Republicans -- has reintroduced legislation that passed the House last year that would require the Defense Department (DOD) to monitor for PFAS in stormwater runoff and adopt best management practices (BMPs) to cut discharges, a measure supporters say will help curb future cleanup costs. The bill, titled “Department of Defense PFAS Discharge Prevention Act,” would seek to stem per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in stormwater runoff from military bases by...

4th Circuit Backs 3M’s Bid To Remove States’ PFAS Suits To Federal Court

The 4th Circuit is backing 3M’s effort to remove PFAS contamination suits filed by Maryland and South Carolina to federal court, clearing the way for the company to eventually move the cases to massive multi-district litigation (MDL) over firefighting foam, where it will be able to raise the government contractor defense to defend against the claims. In a split March 7 decision , two of three judges on the appellate panel found the company plausibly argued that the states’ claims...

California Senator Pushes New Bill To Ban All But ‘Essential Uses’ Of PFAS

A California state senator is renewing efforts to ban intentionally added PFAS in all products that are not deemed to have “essential uses” and for which no other alternatives exist, touting extensive negotiations with stakeholders and state regulators that resulted in the addition of more compliance flexibilities than a similar bill that died last year. If enacted, the legislation would make California the third state -- after Minnesota and Maine -- to ban all products containing PFAS, though the measure...

Group Seeks Court Injunction To Lower Chemours’ PFAS Discharge Levels

Environmentalists are asking a federal court to issue a preliminary injunction to halt PFAS producer Chemours’ violations of wastewater discharge limits for the chemicals, arguing EPA is failing to enforce a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit and urging the court to mandate the company lower PFAS levels in wastewater discharges or dispose of it offsite. “Without an injunction, Chemours will effectively have an unlimited license to pollute the Ohio River and downstream drinking water indefinitely,” the West Virginia Rivers Coalition...

MDL Judge Upholds CERCLA Bar Against State’s RCRA PFAS Claims

The federal judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) has found New Mexico’s claims for injunctive relief under hazardous waste laws at an Air Force base are barred by the Superfund law’s prohibition on court review of ongoing Superfund cleanup actions, signaling hurdles ahead for plaintiffs seeking state-prescribed cleanups in similar cases. The decision is one of three findings Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina made in a pair of Feb. 27 orders...

Industry Criticizes EPA Proposal To Clarify PFAS Supplier Notices Under TRI

Industries representing the chemical and coatings sectors are criticizing a last-minute, Biden-era proposed rule to clarify the timing for supplier notifications of PFAS-containing products to downstream users and the Biden EPA’s decision to deem PFAS as “toxic chemicals” per their automatic additions to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). In particular, the industry groups warn that downstream users of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) will face significant compliance challenges as a result of EPA’s proposed timing of the supplier notifications, argue...

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