PFAS POLICY

House Lawmakers Urge VA To Assess Cancer Links With PFAS Blood Testing

House lawmakers are advising the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to employ advanced blood testing methods to detect PFAS as part of its efforts to determine potential links between exposure to the chemicals during military service and kidney cancer, while also targeting specific funds for PFAS cleanup at BRAC bases. The advice is included in the House Appropriations Committee report , dated June 10, attached to the fiscal year 2026 military construction, veterans affairs, and related agencies appropriations bill. The...

Washington State Requires PFAS Biosolids Monitoring, Eyes More Steps

Washington state has enacted a comprehensive biosolids law requiring facilities to monitor PFAS contamination in biosolids, after which regulators will make recommendations on how the chemicals should be addressed, illustrating how states are forging ahead with tackling PFAS in biosolids despite federal inaction. The legislation, SB 5033 , takes effect July 27, after Gov. Bob Ferguson (D) signed it into law May 17. The bill unanimously passed the House April 10 on a 95-0 vote and the Senate April 17...

Federal Court Poised To Hear Challenge To Minnesota’s PFAS In Cookware Ban

A federal district court is poised to consider later this week cookware manufacturers’ challenge to Minnesota’s ban on PFAS-containing cookware, holding a hearing that will test whether the state’s comprehensive PFAS product prohibitions law -- the strictest in the country -- will survive legal action. Senior Judge John R. Tunheim of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota will hold a general hearing July 11 on Cookware Sustainability Alliance (CSA) v. Kessler , which Minnesota Pollution Control Agency...

D.C. Circuit Grants EPA Request To Again Extend Stay Of CERCLA PFAS Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has granted EPA’s unopposed motion to further stay litigation challenging the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” giving it still more time to decide on whether it will pursue changes to the rule. The D.C. Circuit July 3 granted EPA’s July 2 request to continue abeyance of the case , Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. EPA , for another...

EPA’s Proposed FY26 Budget Cuts May Stymie Range Of PFAS Goals

The Trump EPA in its fiscal year 2026 budget justification appears to be supporting a swath of initiatives to tackle PFAS contamination, including Superfund cleanups, drinking water issues and toxicity research, but the agency’s planned cuts across several programs related to PFAS are likely to undercut that commitment. EPA’s recently released FY26 budget justification repeatedly signals EPA’s intent to prioritize addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination through Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) cleanups, research into toxicity...

OMB Clears Plan To End Federal Purchase Of Paper Straws Containing PFAS

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the Trump administration’s proposed rule 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, clearing the way for its release. The rule, a proposed amendment to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), cleared OMB July 2, according to OMB’s website. The FAR is a set of regulations overseeing the federal procurement process...

EPA Seeks Fourth Extension In Case Challenging CERCLA PFAS Rule

The Trump EPA is asking the D.C. Circuit to once again delay industry litigation challenging the landmark Biden-era rule listing two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” the fourth time the agency has sought such a delay to give officials more time to decide on how or whether they will seek to revise the rule amid competing interests. EPA July 2 filed an unopposed motion asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to continue abeyance for...

Environmentalists Eye WWTPs To Curb Widespread PFAS Contamination

Environmentalists are urging the Trump EPA, Congress and state environmental agencies to take a series of regulatory, research and other steps to limit PFAS contamination from wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), pointing to a new report which found 98 percent of tested waterways across 19 states are contaminated with the toxic chemicals. “The findings confirm that PFAS contamination is both widespread and persistent, reinforcing the urgent need for stronger regulations, expanded research, increased funding, and improved treatment technologies,” the Waterkeeper Alliance...

Lawyers Warn Of Burdens On Businesses From Broad PFAS Definitions

Industry lawyers are raising concerns about the significant compliance and economic impacts that broad and varied PFAS definitions will have on businesses, criticizing federal and state regulators that employ such definitions, despite little scientific justification, while saying they should rather focus on specific chemicals that have been well-studied. “The fluorine-carbon bond is one of the strongest single bonds in chemistry, and it’s the bond that basically says to water, oil, grease and heat, ‘You can’t touch me,’” said Derek Smith,...

Pentagon Readies Another Deadline Extension For Ending PFAS-Foam Use

Pentagon officials are briefing lawmakers on their plans to exercise a second one-year waiver for the military’s upcoming deadline to end use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam, citing various difficulties including the large number of assets that need to transition, a shift in Defense Department (DOD) priorities and disposal limitations. “Although the Department has made significant progress, it needs additional time to ensure a methodical and safe transition of over 1,000 facilities and over 6,000 mobile assets,” the Office of the...

DOJ Awaits EPA Decision On PFAS Rule, Stalling Talks On CERCLA Suits

Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys are delaying settlement talks in the first set of Superfund cost recovery claims in multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam as they await the outcome of EPA’s review of the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances.” Such claims rely on EPA’s Superfund per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) rule to assert a cause of action, which means any decision by EPA to rescind the rule would likely have a significant...

North Carolina Governor Vetoes Bill Requiring Approvals For PFAS Rules

North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein (D) has vetoed recently passed legislation that would require PFAS and other rules to receive unanimous approval from the state’s environmental regulatory oversight panel before they can take effect, warning that the bill would significantly hinder effective environmental regulations. “This bill would make it harder for the state to keep people’s drinking water clean from PFAS and other dangerous chemicals, their air free from toxic pollutants, and their health care facilities providing high quality care,”...

Environmentalists Say North Carolina Bill Will Stall PFAS Water Protections

Environmentalists are raising concerns that a newly passed North Carolina bill, which mandates that the state’s environmental regulatory oversight panel vote unanimously to adopt certain rules, will give the panel yet another tool to stall PFAS protections for groundwater and surface water, both of which have been unable to advance through the panel. “This legislation gives the [Environmental Management Commission (EMC)] another avenue to delay action on PFAS rules by requiring a unanimous vote by the Commission in order for...

Resisting Zeldin, Lawmakers Offer Bill To Codify Biden’s SDWA PFAS Rule

Two House lawmakers -- one Democrat, one Republican -- are pushing a bill to codify the Biden EPA rule regulating six PFAS in drinking water, an attempt to preserve the rule in the face of efforts by Administrator Lee Zeldin to rescind and reconsider standards for four contaminants and allow more time to comply with the remaining two. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) and Debbie Dingell (D-MI), co-chairs of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, introduced H.R. 4168 , June 26,...

MDL Judge Presses For ‘Global Settlement’ In AFFF Personal Injury Cases

The judge overseeing the massive multidistrict litigation (MDL) governing PFAS contamination stemming from firefighting foam is pressing parties to try to reach a “global settlement” covering personal injury claims, suggesting the next couple months ahead of a scheduled trial on kidney cancer cases are a key window for such an agreement. “I think y’all would be extremely prudent to be flexible enough to look for a global settlement,” Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of...

Minnesota Plans To Delay PFAS Reporting But Rejects Calls For Rule Fixes

Minnesota’s environmental agency is planning to delay the Jan. 1, 2026, deadline for its sweeping PFAS products reporting program, the latest regulatory agency to postpone such mandates, though the state is rejecting industry calls to ease the program’s implementing rules, which critics have charged are overly burdensome. “The agency has decided outside of the rulemaking process to issue an extension to the initial due date to ensure program success,” the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) said in a June 23...

Bolstered By New Law, New Mexico Sues Air Force Over PFAS Releases

New Mexico is again suing the Air Force in state court over its alleged failure to control PFAS releases and mitigate off-base contamination at Cannon Air Force Base (AFB) under its hazardous waste permit, bolstered by a new state law that regulates firefighting foam containing PFAS as “hazardous waste.” The June 23 suit brings the state’s long-running fight with the Air Force over its per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) releases and cleanup demands at Cannon AFB full-circle, after originally filing in...

House Lawmakers Reintroduce Bill To Research PFAS In Agriculture

A group of House lawmakers has reintroduced legislation that would allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to fund studies on the incidence and impacts of PFAS and microplastics in biosolids on farmland, amid concerns the material is contaminating such lands, though it is unclear if or when the Trump EPA will regulate it. Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA) and Young Kim (R-CA) June 12 introduced HR 3991, or the “ Research for Healthy Soils Act ,” which authorizes USDA...

Wisconsin High Court Upholds State’s PFAS Listing Under Spills Law

A divided Wisconsin Supreme Court has upheld the state’s designation of PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the state’s Spills Law, clearing the way for regulators to require responsible parties to report their releases, restore the environment and minimize any adverse effects. In a 5-2 ruling issued on June 24, the court sides on all issues with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), rejecting an industry-backed effort that state regulators said would have blocked nearly all enforcement under the Wisconsin...

Environmentalists Push New Mexico Oil Panel To Expand PFAS Fracking Ban

Environmentalists are asking New Mexico’s oil commission to reconsider its recent decision to ban the use of PFAS only in oil and gas fracking rather than all downhole operations, arguing the panel overlooked record evidence that supports a broader ban, and that a rule limited to fracking would not deter all risks from PFAS contamination. “A PFAS prohibition that does not extend to all downhole operations is not a prohibition,” said WildEarth Guardians (WEG), along with New Energy Economy (NEE),...

Pages

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