PFAS POLICY

Lawmakers Renew Efforts To Offer Relief From PFAS Superfund Liability

Lawmakers are initiating renewed efforts to provide Superfund liability relief to so-called passive receivers of PFAS contamination, with House members reintroducing legislation to offer targeted protections to water utilities while Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is reiterating her concerns over liability for a variety of sectors and committing to work with the House on the issue. Lummis, who sits on the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee, recently expressed continued concerns over Superfund liability for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)...

Industry Seeks To Extend Comment Period On PFAS Human Health Criteria

Industry associations are urging the Trump EPA to extend by 60 days the public comment period on the Biden EPA’s draft human health water quality criteria for three PFAS, arguing key stakeholders need more time to study the novel criteria and the new administration needs more time to review, and potentially revisit, the Biden-era measures. Specifically, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) argues the draft criteria falls under President Donald Trump’s regulatory freeze, which bars agencies from issuing or proposing new...

MDL Judge Indicates Some PFAS Tort Claims Expected To Pass Early Hurdle

The federal judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) indicated during recent oral argument that he plans to reject the Defense Department’s (DOD) request to use a federal tort law exemption to dismiss tort claims at an Air Force base that is a test case for other DOD sites, although he signaled plaintiffs may be blocked from intervening in ongoing DOD Superfund cleanups. Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina held oral argument Feb...

Maine To Consider Bill Setting Framework For First-Time PFAS Food Limits

Maine lawmakers will consider a bill that could make Maine the first state to set PFAS limits in food, a subject particularly critical at a time when there are growing concerns around PFAS contamination in agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) appears far from establishing such limits at the federal level. The Jan. 8 bill , “An Act to Establish the PFAS Response Program and to Modify the Fund To Address PFAS Contamination,” would allow Maine’s Department of...

Connecticut Weighs Fluoropolymer Exemption In PFAS Cookware Ban

Connecticut lawmakers are weighing whether the state’s upcoming ban on PFAS-containing cookware should exempt those containing fluoropolymers, which are often used in nonstick coatings, reigniting a debate on the varying toxicities of PFAS compounds as more states are expected to consider prohibitions on PFAS in products. The issue will be at the forefront of a Feb. 19 public hearing on a draft exemption , sponsored by state Sen. Rick Lopes (D-CT) who also chairs the General Assembly’s Joint Environment Committee,...

EPA Seeks Stay Of Challenge To Landmark Superfund PFAS Rule

EPA is asking the D.C. Circuit for a 60-day stay of industry’s litigation challenging a landmark EPA rule designating the two most studied PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” with the agency contending the Trump administration needs time to review the underlying rule. In a Feb. 11 motion in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. EPA , the agency asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to hold the case...

Judge Attempts To Smooth Path For CERCLA Claims Under PFAS MDL

The federal judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) is attempting to smooth the way for plaintiffs to add Superfund law claims to their already pending cases while preventing technical issues over the cleanup process from getting in the way of making determinations on Superfund liability under those claims. Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina told plaintiffs during a Feb. 7 status conference that he is willing to sign off on an unopposed...

Minnesota Urges Court To Deny Cookware Group’s Bid To Halt PFAS Law

Minnesota regulators are urging a federal district court to deny a cookware group’s bid to temporarily halt the state’s landmark prohibition of PFAS-containing cookware, arguing the state’s law does not discriminate against out-of-state sellers, as the group alleges, and allows Minnesota to prohibit the sale of products within its borders. “Like most state policy decisions, [the law] will have some effect on how out-of-state entities do business in Minnesota (as it will for in-state entities),” lawyers for Minnesota Pollution Control...

New York, New Mexico Lawmakers Introduce Bills To Tackle PFAS Pollution

Two Democratic states have introduced bills targeting PFAS contamination, from prohibiting the chemicals in consumer products to regulating them as toxic air pollutants, highlighting how combating PFAS continues to be a priority for states, especially amid fears the Trump administration will pursue a deregulatory federal agenda. The bills also come as Safer States, an alliance of environmental organizations, in its annual policy analysis said at least 29 states are expected to consider policies in 2025 to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

Court Stays PFAS Water Rule Suit Pending Trump EPA Regulatory Review

The D.C. Circuit has granted EPA a 60-day stay of litigation challenging the agency’s PFAS drinking water rule, allowing the Trump administration time to review the landmark regulation setting stringent limits on six PFAS in drinking water and consider whether it will seek to make changes. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit late Feb. 7 entered an order granting a motion filed earlier in the day by EPA in American Water Works Association (AWWA), et...

EPA Asks Court To Stay Litigation Challenging Drinking Water PFAS Rule

EPA is asking a federal appellate court to pause litigation brought by drinking water utilities and the chemical industry contesting the agency’s landmark PFAS drinking water rule, in order to give the Trump administration time to examine the rule -- which set strict limits on six PFAS in drinking water. In a Feb. 7 motion submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in American Water Works Association (AWWA), et al. v. EPA , the...

Minnesota Regulators Seek To Delay Ban On Product Parts Containing PFAS

Minnesota regulators are urging state lawmakers to allow products under the state’s 2025 PFAS prohibition law to continue using internal components containing PFAS until 2032, arguing manufacturers need time to develop alternatives and highlighting continued difficulties in implementing PFAS product bans. Effective Jan. 1, Minnesota prohibited the sale of products containing intentionally added per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 11 consumer product categories: carpets or rugs, cleaning products, cookware, cosmetics, dental floss, fabric treatments, juvenile products, menstruation products, textile furnishings,...

Groups Raise PFAS Concerns Amid Fears Over Chip Makers’ Pledges

Environmental, labor and community groups are raising concerns that the Trump Commerce Department will withdraw environmental and other commitments semiconductor manufacturers made during the Biden administration as part of their grants for manufacturing initiatives, including promises to improve management of PFAS waste streams. The fears stem from comments Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), chair of the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, made during a Jan. 29 confirmation hearing for Commerce Secretary-nominee Howard Lutnick. At the hearing, Cruz effectively relieved the...

Analysis Finds 29 States Expected To Address PFAS Contamination In 2025

At least 29 states are expected to consider policies in 2025 to address PFAS contamination, according to an analysis from an alliance of environmental organizations, including banning PFAS in products, identifying safer alternatives, and setting drinking water limits for PFAS, signaling continued state leadership even as federal action under the Trump EPA is uncertain. Such expectations around states addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination comes amid fears the Trump administration will roll back Biden-era regulations, including the drinking water...

NACWA Urges EPA To Walk-Back Biden-Era Call For Local PFAS Limits

A group that represents publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) is urging EPA to walk-back calls from the Biden administration urging utilities and others to launch efforts to create local pretreatment programs to address PFAS from upstream sources, at least until the agency crafts water quality policies needed for such measures. “Utilities must not be held responsible for developing local limits for pervasive chemicals such as PFAS, especially when water quality standards do not yet exist for these chemicals and POTWs...

EPA Delays Effective Date Of Rule Automatically Adding Nine PFAS To TRI

EPA is delaying the effective date of a final rule that adds nine PFAS to the list of chemicals that regulated facilities must report to the agency under the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program, stalling the effect of additions that are required by federal law to be automatically added to the TRI and potentially confusing facilities that were to start tracking the substances as of Jan. 1. In a notice published in the Federal Register Feb. 5, EPA says...

Judge Rejects Plaintiffs’ Argument On CWA Waiver Of Immunity In PFAS MDL

The federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation (MDL) addressing contamination from PFAS in firefighting foam has effectively dismissed plaintiffs’ arguments that the Clean Water Act (CWA) waives the Defense Department’s (DOD) immunity to state-law water pollution claims and Federal Tort Claims Act trespass claims. In a Jan. 30 order , Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina also effectively rejected plaintiffs’ assertion that the Federal Tort Claims Act’s (FTCA) Discretionary Function Exemption (DFE) was...

POTWs Cite EPA Assessment To Urge Dismissal Of Suit Seeking Sludge Rule

Publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) are urging a federal court to dismiss a case brought by environmentalists seeking to force EPA to set PFAS limits in sludge, pointing to the agency’s recent risk assessment of two of the chemicals in sludge to argue plaintiffs would be making EPA skip necessary rulemaking to establish such regulations. “Plaintiffs ignore the Congressionally-mandated procedures for biosolids rulemaking and seek to substitute an unorthodox process foreign to the [Clean Water Act (CWA)] -- judicial, as...

Dischargers Say Trump’s Rule Freeze Blocks Draft CWA PFAS Methods Rule

Citing the Trump administration’s regulatory freeze, industry, municipal and other dischargers are urging EPA to withdraw a Biden-era proposal establishing analytical methods for assessing PFAS under the Clean Water Act (CWA), potentially delaying the listing of the methods that, once final, are expected to drive states to require PFAS monitoring in permits. In comments filed late last month, two coalitions representing a range of industry, municipal and agricultural groups say the agency should withdraw the proposed CWA Methods Update Rule...

Texas Seeks Jury Trial After 3M Removes PFAS Suit To Federal District Court

Texas officials are asking a federal judge to have a jury hear their case alleging 3M and DuPont misrepresented the safety of their PFAS-containing consumer products after the defendants removed the case, originally filed in state court, to a federal court. In a Jan. 30 notice , Texas asked the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, for “a trial by jury on all the issues.” Unlike other states, which have sought to keep their per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

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