ISSUE: Inside PFAS Policy

Consultants Grapple With ‘Due Diligence’ For Biosolids Containing PFAS

Environmental consultants are grappling with whether the application of PFAS-containing biosolids to farmland triggers “due diligence” requirements for landowners under a Phase I environmental assessment due to EPA’s Superfund PFAS rule or if those requirements can be avoided per the Superfund law’s exclusion for fertilizer application. The effects of these legal questions are potentially significant because it could create uncertainty in real estate transactions since prospective purchasers seeking protection from potential Superfund liability are required to comply with the relevant...

State Regulators Criticize Lack Of Guidance From EPA On PFAS Actions

NEW YORK -- State PFAS regulators are raising concerns about the lack of guidance and information they have received from the Trump administration on PFAS regulations, such as recent changes made to the Biden-era drinking water rule, amid continuing efforts to tackle contamination at the state level despite significant costs. “I think all of the states right now are having some challenges interacting [with EPA],” Joaquin Esquivel, board chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board, said during a...

EPA Faces Looming Deadlines To Make Key Decisions On Major PFAS Rules

EPA has outlined general policy plans for addressing PFAS contamination but it remains ambiguous on the details of just how far it will go in regulating the chemicals and how it may address competing interests, sources say, though the agency has little time to make some key decisions as it faces looming court deadlines. “You can only regulate and posture by press release for so long,” one industry attorney says, referring to press releases issued by EPA in recent weeks...

Doubting Justification, Industry Urges EPA To Cut PFAS Monitoring In MSGP

PFAS manufacturers and other groups are urging the Trump EPA to drop first-time PFAS monitoring requirements from the Biden administration’s proposed multi-sector general permit (MSGP), arguing that EPA fails to justify why such extensive and costly stormwater monitoring is necessary for 23 of 30 sectors subject to the permit’s requirements. In recent comments, several groups urged EPA to withdraw and repropose the draft permit without the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) monitoring requirements the plan currently contains. “The Agency has...

Trump EPA Still Evaluating Path Ahead For PFAS Rules, Top Official Says

NEW YORK -- The Trump EPA is still figuring out how to move ahead with PFAS regulations, such as the landmark Biden-era drinking water and Superfund rules, a top official says, as the agency seeks a range of stakeholder feedback to determine how to mitigate costs and other compliance issues. “Everything was on the table for each of the actions that we have been reviewing and [we’re] really trying to understand what is the best path forward,” Travis Voyles, EPA’s...

EPA Asks For Additional Stay In Litigation Challenging CERCLA PFAS Rule

Facing competing pressures from key groups, EPA is asking for an additional 30-day stay in pending industry litigation challenging the Biden EPA rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” the third such request officials have sought as they work to evaluate the rule and decide how to proceed in the litigation. As expected, the agency May 30 filed a motion with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to request an additional stay of 30...

EPA Faces Competing Pressures Over Plans For CERCLA PFAS Rule

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers -- 40 Democrats and 4 Republicans -- is urging EPA to retain the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances” while industry groups call for its repeal, highlighting the tricky task the agency faces as it weighs next steps in litigation over the measure. The competing pressures come as a top EPA official says the agency is likely to ask a federal appellate court for more time to decide what to do...

EPA Ends Review Of PFAS Reporting Rule Petition After Its Withdrawal

EPA has ended its review of an industry coalition’s petition seeking to narrow the Biden-era PFAS reporting rule after the petitioners withdrew their request in the wake of the agency’s recent plan to again extend the rule’s reporting deadlines and pledges to narrow its scope. In a May 22 letter , EPA says it has “closed” its consideration of the industry petition, which sought to scale back the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule requiring a range of companies to...

DOD Finds At Least 574 Sites Require RI/FS For PFAS Contamination

The Defense Department (DOD) has completed preliminary investigation work examining PFAS contamination at 99 percent of the more than 700 military bases where the defense law required such testing, finding that 574 require a remedial investigation/feasibility study (RI/FS) to determine cleanup actions while no action is required at 131 sites. As of September 2024 -- the end of last fiscal year -- DOD says it determined that 722 of its properties -- active military bases; Base Realignment and Closure, or...

4th Circuit Denies States’ Bid For En Banc Review Of PFAS Venue Ruling

The 4th Circuit has denied Maryland and South Carolina’s petition for the full court to reconsider a panel’s ruling that clears the way for 3M to remove the states’ PFAS contamination suits to federal court, where the company will be able to defend against liability claims by arguing it acted as a government contractor. In a May 28 order , the clerk said the petition was circulated to all active judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th...

EPA Eyes Compliance Waivers From SDWA PFAS Rule But Some See Limits

EPA is examining section 1416 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), a rarely used section of the law, to provide utilities with short-term waivers from its scaled-back PFAS standards, though sources say the authority may not be broadly applicable to bigger utilities and is rarely used by states because it is burdensome. “This may be less than it is cracked up to be,” says one water utility source. At issue are provisions in EPA’s May 14 announcement scaling back...

Lawyers Urge Parties To Weigh PFAS Liability Amid Changing Regulations

Legal and regulatory experts are urging stakeholders to be aware of their potential PFAS liability amid increasing litigation and a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape, emphasizing the importance of monitoring relevant rules and examining any PFAS-related risks in transactions that could leave them liable for contamination. “The scope of PFAS liability is vast and does not just impact PFAS manufacturers,” said Kathleen Hardway, a partner at law firm Venable, during a May 15 webinar the firm hosted, titled “From Litigation Trends...

Agencies Ramp Up Study On PFAS’ Risks To Children But Downplay Rules

EPA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) are ramping up their efforts to research the cumulative risks that PFAS and other substances pose to children, responding to findings from the Trump administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) report, which called for more study on the impacts of such exposures. The May 22 report , “Make Our Children Healthy Again: Assessment,” also touts the Trump EPA’s decision to implement part of the Biden-era drinking water standards as it reconsiders limits...

OMB Reviews Plan To End Procurement Of PFAS-Containing Paper Straws

The White House has begun reviewing a draft proposed rule that aims to end the federal procurement of PFAS-containing paper straws, a measure that makes good on an Earth Day pledge by President Donald Trump to reverse the Biden-era procurement policy, though some observers downplay its significance. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) May 21 received the proposed amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), a set of regulations overseeing the federal procurement process that is jointly...

Industry Urges CERCLA PFAS Rule Repeal After Zeldin’s Reg Support

Industry groups are urging a top White House official to rescind the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances” after EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced his support for maintaining the law’s “polluter pays” model and his plans to work with Congress on targeted liability carveouts for so-called passive receivers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and 14 other industry groups May 12 wrote White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, recommending the administration rescind the...

Maryland Adds RCRA Claims To Novel Superfund PFAS Suit Against Gore

Maryland is adding Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) claims to its pending Superfund cleanup and cost recovery suit against materials manufacturer W.L. Gore & Associates, in an effort that appears aimed at bolstering one of the first state actions seeking recoveries using EPA’s designation of certain PFAS as “hazardous substances.” The addition, contained in a May 12 amended complaint in State of Maryland v. Gore , could bolster the state’s existing Superfund cleanup and cost recovery claims at the...

EPA Faces Likely Legal Hurdles Over Efforts To Overhaul SDWA PFAS Rule

EPA faces likely legal hurdles over its plans to rescind and reconsider Biden-era drinking water limits for four PFAS and to extend by two years compliance mandates for the two remaining PFAS, though the agency and others are suggesting possible legal arguments the government may make to justify any rescission. Environmentalists and others are suggesting that any EPA effort to revise the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) rule may run up against legal hurdles such as the anti-backsliding provision and...

Bipartisan House Bill Would Fund R&D For PFAS-Free Firefighting Gear

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers -- eight Republicans and 11 Democrats -- has reintroduced a bill, backed by a firefighter association, to create a $25 million annual grant program to fund research and development (R&D) of PFAS-free turnout gear, renewing their effort to enact legislation that stalled in the last Congress. “Firefighters’ jobs are already dangerous enough without worrying about the long-term health risks of being exposed to dangerous PFAS in their turnout gear,” said Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI),...

Fearing Superfund, MS4s Urge EPA To Scrap PFAS Monitoring From MSGP

Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) are urging EPA to drop first-time PFAS monitoring mandates included in a Biden-era proposed multi-sector general permit (MSGP) for industrial stormwater, arguing stormwater systems could become liable under the Superfund law without any Congressional protections for passive receivers. “While EPA has publicly stated that their intention is to not hold MS4s and other public entities liable for PFAS transport, it was stated that EPA does not have the ability to indemnify these entities from...

Maine Authorizes Regulators To Set First-Time PFAS Limits For Food

Maine could become the first state to set PFAS limits for food after the governor signed legislation to allow agriculture regulators to establish and codify such maximum levels, shortly after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) also indicated it is considering whether to set federal thresholds in response to a citizen petition. Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed the legislation, LD 130 , May 9 after the state legislature voted “under the hammer” -- a vote that assumes approval unless...

Pages

Not a subscriber? Request 30 days free access to exclusive environmental policy reporting.