PFAS

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Complete coverage of federal, state and legal actions to address the public health and environmental risks from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

EPA Floats TRI Plan To End Trump-Era De Minimis Waiver For PFAS Reports

EPA has sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for review a proposed rule to remove a Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting exemption for de minimis releases of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), advancing the rule after promises to do so in response to a lawsuit brought by environmentalists. OMB Aug. 15 received EPA’s proposed rule to change the reporting requirements for PFAS in order to eliminate a de minimis reporting exemption for PFAS, according...

EPA Poised To Propose Major Rules On PFAS CERCLA Designation, RMP

EPA is poised to propose its long-awaited rule to designate two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as Superfund “hazardous substances” as well as revisions to the Trump-era Risk Management Program (RMP) rule governing chemical facility safety after they cleared review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). OMB Aug. 12 cleared both rules, “consistent with change,” the office’s website says. The clearance comes after months of lobbying by industry and environmental groups pushing their positions on the...

Environmentalists Seek To End Industry Challenge To EPA’s GenX Advisory

Environmentalists are urging a federal appellate court to allow them to intervene on EPA’s behalf in industry litigation challenging the agency’s tough new drinking water health advisory level (HAL) for GenX chemicals, where they plan to ask the court to end the suit because the HAL is not a final action subject to judicial review. In an Aug. 12 motion , the coalition of environmental, community and environmental justice groups urges the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit...

PFAS Concerns Lead EPA To Drop Third Substance From ‘Safer Chemical’ List

Concerns about a per- and polyfluorinated substance (PFAS) is leading EPA to drop a third chemical from its Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL) within six months, even as officials are also adding 22 new chemicals to the list, the source for the batch of 20 chemicals the Trump EPA deemed to be “low priority” for TSCA evaluation. The agency announced Aug. 11 that it has begun the process of removing the chemical from its SCIL, the list of chemicals, largely...

White House Offers Research Strategy For Drinking Water Contaminants

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) has unveiled a national research initiative aimed at improving the identification, analysis, monitoring and treatment of a range of emerging contaminants in drinking water, including per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), saying an integrated federal approach is necessary to address data gaps and protect public health. “The National Emerging Contaminants Research Initiative (NECRI) establishes a national vision--access to clean and plentiful drinking water for every person in the nation--and outlines a...

New Mexico Lawmakers To Press Biden On Pentagon PFAS Cleanups

New Mexico lawmakers are planning to send President Joe Biden a letter urging him to rein in the Defense Department (DOD) in its opposition to the use of state-level standards for remediating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination, including withdrawing DOD’s lawsuit against the state over PFAS releases. The letter, which will be written by the New Mexico legislature’s hazardous waste committee with input from the state’s attorney general and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), is seeking federal compensation...

EPA Urged To Quickly Issue Plan For PFAS Superfund ‘Substance’ Listing

Dozens of House lawmakers and environmentalists are urging EPA to quickly propose two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) for listing as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, arguing the move alone would not ban the use of the toxic chemicals but would be a “first step” to holding polluters accountable. The letters are being sent after EPA again missed a self-imposed deadline to issue the proposed rule in June though a top agency official said earlier this week he expects...

House Letter

Environmentalists Letter


EPA Sees No Need For New PFAS SNUR Guidance Despite Industry Calls

Over a year after it withdrew a controversial Trump-era compliance guide for the significant new use rule (SNUR) governing several per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), EPA says it has no plans to issue new guidance or alter the rule itself, though one industry lawyer says questions linger on the issues the guide addressed. “The agency was sufficiently clear in the rule and has provided information on its web site about chemicals subject to the [long-chain perfluoroalkyl carboxylate (LCPFAC)] SNUR. EPA...

DOD Officials Decline To Adopt State PFAS Levels, Despite Senate Push

Despite pressure from a top Democratic senator, Defense Department officials are continuing to resist calls to comply with state standards for remediating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination as they await federal standards that EPA is slated to propose in the coming months. During an Aug. 1 field hearing, a senior Air Force environment official fell short of explicitly committing to comply with Michigan’s PFAS standards at a shuttered base in the state, despite pressure from Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI)...

ACC Urges Court To Vacate EPA’s Interim Health Advisories For PFOA, PFOS

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is urging a federal appellate court to vacate EPA’s strict interim health advisories for the two most-studied per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), charging they are an unlawful backdoor means of imposing tough standards without following statutory and regulatory procedures. In a July 29 petition filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the chemical industry trade group argues that EPA’s issuance of interim lifetime health advisory levels (HALs) for perfluorooctanoic...

GAO Backs EPA Test Method For PFAS In Air, Citing Incineration Fears

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is recommending that EPA issue as final a test method for measuring dozens of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in air, as part of broader efforts for addressing concerns about incinerating the persistent toxic chemicals. In a report released July 28, GAO is heavily focused on developing the analytics that EPA officials have said are needed to advance regulatory and cleanup decisions related to widespread PFAS contamination of drinking water, groundwater and soil. Such measures...

NAS Advises Blood Testing For People With Elevated PFAS Exposures

Correction Appended A National Academy of Sciences (NAS) panel is recommending that health clinicians offer patients blood testing if they are likely to have elevated exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) due to work or community exposures and advises federal agencies to launch research into PFAS in breastmilk and formula. Such recommendations are expected to bolster efforts by plaintiffs in class action cases and other venues who are seeking to require PFAS manufacturers and users of the chemicals...

PFAS research bill gains momentum following House approval

The House has approved bipartisan legislation that requires EPA to commission sweeping National Academy of Sciences (NAS) studies on the toxicity, environmental fate, and options to address resulting contamination of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), boosting the bill’s prospects after its recent introduction in the Senate. The House July 26 voted 359-62 to approve H.R. 7289, also known as the Federal PFAS Research Evaluation Act. Among other things, the measure requires EPA to contract with NAS on two studies that...

EPA Faces Multiple Hurdles On Path To Proposing CERCLA PFAS Rule

EPA is facing multiple legal and procedural hurdles in its long running efforts to propose a landmark rule that would list two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law as the agency has again missed a self-imposed deadline to issue the proposal. One industry expert says one key factor that is likely delaying the proposal is the need for the agency to produce a rigorous risk analysis, prompted by a statutory mandate. The delay in...

Industry, Environmentalists Square Off Over Maine’s Novel PFAS Rules

Maine’s rules that would implement one of the first and most-comprehensive bans on the sale of products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are sparking heated debate among industry and environmentalists, signaling that the landmark measures could serve as a bellwether for other state and federal efforts to limit the use of PFAS. In recent comments on a state proposal obtained by Inside EPA , chemical industry officials charge the rules ignore supply-chain complexities and warn they would overwhelm regulators...

Senate Defense Bill Presses DOD To Better Manage PFAS Cleanup Costs

The Senate’s defense authorization bill includes language urging the Pentagon to adopt a management system for tracking and reporting site investigations for cleaning up contamination from the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to the text of the legislation recently released in advance of a Senate floor debate. The Senate bill “encourages” the Defense Department (DOD) “to identify, evaluate, and use commercial-off-the-shelf software solutions to better manage its PFAS remediation efforts” and report back to lawmakers by March...

Environmentalists Seek Expanded Limits On PFAS Purchasing In EO Guide

Environmentalists are stepping up their push for the White House to expand limits on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in federal government procurement, urging the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to write strict requirements as it develops implementing rules for a December 2021 federal sustainability executive order (EO). The Environmental Working Group and Ecology Center met with White House staff from CEQ, Office of Management & Budget (OMB) and the Office of Science and Technology Policy July 14 over CEQ’s...

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