ISSUE: Inside PFAS Policy

Courts Expected To Settle CERCLA Liability Question Over Biosolids Use

As questions grow over potential Superfund liability for application of PFAS-containing biosolids, attorneys say they expect courts will be drawn into settling unresolved legal questions that are intensifying uncertainty for those seeking to dispose of biosolids, parties involved in real estate transactions at disposal sites, their consultants and others. Among other things, the attorneys expect that courts will ultimately have to decide whether such applications are covered by the exclusion under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)...

ACC Urges EPA To Ensure System Readiness For TSCA PFAS Reporting

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is supporting the Trump EPA’s interim final rule to delay the start of one-time reporting of PFAS uses under TSCA while urging the agency to ensure its online reporting system and other tools are available at least six months before the reporting period begins. ACC “supports the Agency’s continued efforts to ensure the success of this mandatory reporting activity by taking additional time to complete the development of the reporting application and associated tools, and...

Washington State Moves To Regulate PFAS-Containing Paints, Artificial Turf

Washington state is forging ahead with its plan to ban or require reporting of architectural paints and artificial turf with intentionally added PFAS despite criticism from industry that the fluoropolymers in paint do not have the same toxicity concerns. The state is also seeking public comment on its separate plan to regulate 12 other products with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including apparel, automotive washes and cleaning products. Washington’s Department of Ecology earlier this month released a final report that...

Court Allows Water System To Intervene In PFAS Permit Discharge Case

A federal district court has granted an Ohio water system’s request to intervene as a plaintiff in pending litigation against Chemours to try to enforce PFAS discharge limits at the company’s Parkersburg, WV, plant, rejecting Chemours’ opposition to the request after finding that the system has standing and meets other requirements for intervention. At issue was whether the Little Hocking Water Association (LHWA), a water system in Ohio that says its wellfield is the primary catchment reservoir for per- and...

Manufacturers, Utilities Clash On TSCA Reporting Rule Exemptions, Changes

Manufacturers and water systems are clashing on how the Trump EPA should rework the controversial Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting rule for PFAS-containing products, with groups disagreeing on whether the agency should exclude articles and article importers or provide exemptions for low PFAS volumes, among other issues. “To determine the presence of even a single chemical in its supply chain, manufacturers must delve into their dense supplier network, requesting detailed information from manufacturers and distributors who then cascade the...

3M Appears Ready To Comply With Minnesota’s Strict New PFAS Permit

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued a final permit for 3M’s Cottage Grove facility that largely retains strict discharge limits for PFAS below detectable levels, though the permittee, which previously charged that such limits were “legally impermissible,” appears ready to comply with the low limits. “Once [the treatment system is] fully operational, 3M anticipates achieving the ultra-low compliance limits for certain PFAS that the [MPCA] included in the recently published wastewater permit,” the company said in a statement...

Environmentalists Criticize EPA Proposal To Approve PFAS Pesticide

Environmentalists are criticizing EPA’s recent proposed approval of a pesticide that they say is a PFAS for use on certain crops, contending it is the fourth such PFAS pesticide ingredient the agency has approved in the last two months and runs counter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s pledge to take on PFAS contamination. “Rather than reducing America’s risks from forever chemicals, Zeldin’s EPA is fast-tracking approval of new ‘forever pesticides’ to be sprayed across hundreds of millions of U.S. acres,”...

EPA Efforts To Collect PFAS Air Data May Aid In Assessing Incineration

The Trump EPA’s plan to boost long-running efforts on crafting air measurement methods and collecting data on PFAS air emissions may aid the agency in setting parameters for thermal destruction technologies as it looks to place a greater focus on assessing destruction and disposal methods, attorneys say. Under the agency’s April 28 general outline of “major EPA actions” that the agency plans to undertake to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a focus on air emissions data collection and...

Facing Industry Criticism, Kessler Defends Minnesota’s PFAS Reporting Rule

Minnesota’s top environment official is defending the state’s rule governing its PFAS-containing product reporting and fees program in the face of significant criticism from industry groups that have charged that it is overly burdensome, especially compared to the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting requirements. Minnesota’s proposed per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) reporting rule, which would require manufacturers by Jan. 1, 2026, to report information about intentionally added PFAS in their products, previously drew attention from lawyers because it...

Scientists Push Back Against International Effort To Narrow PFAS Definition

A group of U.S. and international scientists is pushing back against growing efforts to narrow a widely recognized definition of PFAS, an issue that could determine which of the thousands of chemicals in the class are subject to evaluation and possible regulation. The group -- comprised of scientific experts on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from the United States, Europe, Canada and Japan -- is concerned that the work by an international chemical standard-setting body to redefine the term is...

Lawyers Warn Of Emerging Tort Suits Against Downstream Users Of PFAS

NEW YORK -- Defense lawyers are raising concerns about an emerging “second wave” of PFAS litigation against water suppliers, grocery stores and other downstream PFAS users that are being targeted by plaintiffs despite not having produced the chemicals, underscoring the renewed call for protections against liability for such parties. “In a case where you bring a product liability action against the manufacturer, that company has created the product, designed the product, sold and profited from that product, and probably has...

States’ PFAS Work Likely To Suffer Under EPA’s FY26 Budget Cuts

EPA’s plan to slash funding for state environmental and water infrastructure programs in its fiscal year 2026 budget is expected to significantly undercut states’ abilities to finance upgrades to drinking water systems to meet upcoming PFAS requirements and may undermine state efforts to regulate PFAS on their own, utility and other sources say. “We knew the Trump administration would gut the EPA staff and funding but hoped that states would take the lead on [per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)] in...

Trump EPA Draws Industry Criticism After Backing PFOA, PFOS Science

Industry-aligned scientists are criticizing the Trump EPA for upholding the Biden-era drinking water standards for the two most-studied PFAS, arguing the science underlying the standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is flawed. The Trump EPA “missed the mark by not removing the regulations for PFOA and PFOS,” Susan Goldhaber, an environmental toxicologist, wrote in a June 2 article published by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH), a research nonprofit with a history of industry...

MDL Court Outlines Path Leading Up To First PFAS Personal Injury Trial

The federal court overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) on PFAS contamination stemming from firefighting foam has set a schedule leading up to the first trial to hear personal injury claims, with three kidney cancer cases serving as bellwethers after the judge declined to try the kidney cases with testicular cancer cases as the plaintiffs had sought. Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, who is overseeing the massive MDL governing claims related to aqueous...

California Lawmaker Scales Back Bill For Future PFAS-Product Bans

A leading California lawmaker is significantly scaling back his bill to ban a variety of products containing intentionally added PFAS by dropping prohibitions slated to take effect in 2035 and 2040, amid strong opposition by industry and business groups. “We’re still in negotiations with the industry to lock those details down,” says a spokesman for Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), author of the measure, SB 682 . “Even with those details coming into effect though, it is not misleading to...

Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill To Require VA Health Care For PFAS Exposure

A group of House lawmakers have reintroduced a bill that would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide veterans with health care and benefits to treat medical conditions associated with PFAS exposure, while also recognizing PFAS exposure, and the diseases it causes, as service-connected conditions for impacted veterans. “Our veterans have sacrificed so much in defense of our freedoms,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who introduced the bill, says in a May 29 press release . “We must honor...

Rep. Pingree Criticizes EPA For Cutting PFAS Agriculture Research Funds

Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME), a key appropriator, is criticizing the Trump EPA for cancelling grants that funded multiple research projects focused on PFAS contamination in agriculture, even as the administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report called for more research on the cumulative impacts from multiple PFAS exposures. “Numerous Maine farmers have had their livelihoods disrupted due to PFAS contamination, and while Maine has been leading the nation in combating PFAS contamination, there is still much to learn and federal...

Parties Battle Over ‘Irreparable Harm’ For Injunction In PFAS Permit Suit

Environmentalists and PFAS manufacturer Chemours are at odds over how to define “irreparable harm” to satisfy requirements for a preliminary injunction in litigation over the company’s wastewater permit violations, as a court weighs whether to act now to force the company to limit its discharges at a facility in line with an existing permit. At issue is whether a company’s continuing violations of water quality-based permit limits for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- which in the case of its...

California Advances Bills Targeting PFAS, Chemical Use In Products

California’s Senate and Assembly are advancing several bills to ban PFAS from certain products, and restrict other chemicals in food and consumer products, though the state’s $12 billion budget deficit has created a new layer of uncertainty over whether bills with significant price tags will be enacted. “These bills reflect growing momentum in California to close dangerous loopholes in chemical safety,” said Bernadette Del Chiaro, a senior vice president of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which is a cosponsor of...

D.C. Circuit Grants EPA’s Request For Another Stay In SDWA PFAS Case

The D.C. Circuit has granted EPA’s fourth request to delay litigation challenging the Biden-era drinking water rule, giving the agency until July 21 to determine next steps in the case after officials announced they would extend compliance deadlines for two of the six PFAS subject to the rule while reconsidering limits for the other four. In a June 5 order , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted EPA’s request to continue abeyance in American...

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