PFAS POLICY

Democrats Introduce Sweeping Bill To Phase Out Non-Essential PFAS Uses

Top congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that seek to phase out non-essential uses of PFAS under a 10-year deadline while also seeking to prevent responsible parties from skirting cleanup liability for releases through bankruptcy maneuvers or statutes of repose in the wake of EPA’s release of a Superfund rule regulating two of the chemicals. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), a top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, April 18 introduced companion versions of the...

Skirting Cost Debate, EPA Offers ‘Totality’ Analysis In CERCLA PFAS Rule

EPA’s precedent-setting rule listing two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances” skirts a contentious debate with industry over whether the agency must consider the rule’s costs, arguing the issue is moot as officials voluntarily decided to undertake a “totality-of-the circumstances” analysis that includes a formal benefit-cost analysis -- potentially buffering the rule from legal challenges. With or without cost considerations, the designation is warranted, EPA concludes, meeting criteria under section 102 of the Superfund law that the agency can make such...

EPA Will Urge Major PRPs To Waive Rights To Sue PFAS Passive Receivers

EPA is pledging to refrain from taking enforcement action against water systems and other PFAS passive receivers under its just finalized Superfund “hazardous substance” listing of two PFAS and to urge major potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who settle to waive their rights to sue passive receivers at such sites, according to the agency’s enforcement discretion policy. The agency says it is also willing to enter into settlements with passive receivers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and other similarly situated...

Capito Renews Call For PFAS Liability Fix But Carper Appears Silent

Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), the top Republican on the Senate environment committee, is renewing her call for Congress to provide Superfund liability relief for so-called passive receivers in response to EPA’s rule designating two PFAS as “hazardous substances,” but committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-DE) is silent on the issue while praising the rule. Carper, in an April 19 statement, said EPA’s decision to finalize a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) rule designating the two most- studied...

EPA Lists Two PFAS As Superfund ‘Substances', Limits Enforcement

EPA has finalized a first-of-its-kind rule designating the two most studied PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law – a move that will boost regulators’ ability to order cleanups and recover costs for PFAS but is sure to draw aggressive challenges from industry parties who fear significant costs and slower cleanups. The agency April 19 released a final rule that designates perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation &...

As EPA Eyes UCMR6, Stakeholders Spar Over PFAS Analytical Methods

As EPA prepares to propose its sixth unregulated contaminant monitoring rule (UCMR6), environmentalists and industry are making competing recommendations on whether the agency should pursue new drinking water analytical methods needed for any future monitoring that could also lead to regulation of PFAS as a class. During an April 17 EPA webinar and in recent written comments, environmentalists and California regulators have strongly backed the possibility of regulating PFAS as a class, with environmentalists also pressing EPA also to continue...

Wisconsin Governor Calls Out GOP Lawmakers Over Withheld PFAS Funds

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) is calling out state Republican legislators for their months-long refusal to approve $125 million in PFAS funding, after he vetoed a separate PFAS bill last week that would have weakened regulators’ authorities and as he pursues separate court action questioning whether legislative committees are acting within the state’s constitution. “It’s been 286 days since we approved $125 million in the budget to fight PFAS statewide . . . but these resources are still sitting in...

DOD Braces For Significant Surge In PFAS Cleanups Under EPA Water Rule

The Defense Department (DOD) plans to broaden its current cleanup investigations and treat affected off-base wells under a prioritized process in response to EPA’s landmark final rule regulating six PFAS in drinking water at levels far below the cleanup trigger the department has been using so far at hundreds of bases. While DOD and the military services are still evaluating the impacts of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) rule regulating six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which EPA finalized...

4th Circuit Dismisses Water District’s Appeal Of DuPont PFAS Settlement

A federal appeals court has granted a California water district’s request to drop its appeal of the $1.185 billion PFAS settlement between public water systems and DuPont, Chemours and Corteva, ending concerns that the appeal would delay payments to water utilities for contamination just as EPA finalized first-time drinking water standards for six PFAS. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in an April 17 order granted the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s April 16 request to...

Insurers Urge Court To Reject Tyco’s Call For PFAS Summary Judgment

Insurance companies are urging a federal judge to reject Tyco Fire Product’s request for partial summary judgment on key PFAS coverage claims, potentially undercutting the manufacturer’s claims that it has significant coverage to address the cost of a recently announced proposed settlement with drinking water providers as well as other pending claims. The companies make their arguments in a group of April 15 filings with the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, arguing the policies at issue...

House Lawmakers Seek Water Utility CERCLA Waiver Ahead Of PFAS Rule

With the Senate deadlocked, two House lawmakers -- one Republican, one Democrat -- have introduced legislation to protect water utilities from Superfund liability for PFAS contamination ahead of an imminent EPA rule that is expected to list the two most-studied PFAS as “hazardous substances,” a measure that is driving calls for such liability protections. Reps. John Curtis (R-UT) and Marie Gluesenkamp-Perez (D-WA) announced April 16 they introduced H.R. 7944 , “Water Systems PFAS Liability Protections Act,” April 11. The bill...

Environmentalists Urge EPA To Broadly Apply Waste Definition To PFAS Class

Environmental groups are strongly backing EPA’s proposed “hazardous waste” definition rule, saying it would codify a longstanding interpretation of the agency’s Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action authority and bolster EPA cleanup efforts, while they are also urging EPA to broadly apply the definition to PFAS as a class. RCRA’s “language, structure, legislative history, and implementation demonstrate that the statutory -- not the narrower, qualified regulatory -- definition applies to the [corrective action] Program,” say March 26 comments...

GSA Seeks Broad Feedback On Reducing PFAS In Federal Procurement

The General Services Administration (GSA) is seeking feedback on potential opportunities to reduce PFAS exposure from products purchased by the federal government, a move that could potentially expand the universe of products barred from procurement after officials recently required PFAS-free cleaning products. According to an April 16 Federal Register notice , GSA is seeking feedback both on products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that could be phased out from procurement as well as potential unintended negative impacts from...

As PFAS CERCLA Rule Clears OMB, Attorneys Brace For Broad Application

As EPA prepares to issue its imminent final rule expected to designate the two-most studied PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, attorneys are warning the agency could broadly apply the measure to a broader suite of unlisted chemicals if officials use a new test method covering 40 of the chemicals and seek follow-up actions. The White House Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the final rule April 12, according to OMB’s website. If finalized as...

UN Investigator, Environmentalists Push EPA To Answer PFAS ‘Rights’ Inquiry

A United Nations “special rapporteur” working on the body’s novel human rights investigation of PFAS contamination in North Carolina drinking water pressed EPA to respond to his initial slate of questions on its handling of the disaster, at an event hosted by several citizen groups there that requested the inquiry and have touted its launch as a landmark. During an April 15 press briefing hosted by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Clean Cape Fear, Marcos Orellano, a UN special rapporteur...

Following EPA Rule, Tyco Reaches $750 Million Deal With Water Systems

Tyco Fire Products has reached a $750 million settlement agreement with drinking water systems in multidistrict litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam, with the announcement coming just days after EPA finalized strict first-time drinking water limits for six PFAS. Tyco -- a subsidiary of Johnson Controls that manufactured and sold aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- announced the settlement in an April 12 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Tyco expects to...

3M Appeals Maryland, South Carolina PFAS Decisions To 4th Circuit

Chemical company 3M is continuing its push to ensure states’ claims regarding PFAS contamination are heard in multidistrict litigation (MDL) governing contamination from firefighting foam, appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit recent rulings that found certain claims by Maryland and South Carolina could proceed in state court. The appeals to the 4th Circuit come as 3M has similar appeals pending in the 1st Circuit regarding cases brought by New Hampshire and Maine, and an appeal...

Environmentalists Challenge Colorado Over PFAS Water Permit For Refinery

Environmental and community groups are challenging first-time Clean Water Act (CWA) PFAS discharge limits for an oil refinery in Colorado, filing an administrative appeal that seeks to set more stringent requirements governing discharges of the persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals, including tightening the discharge levels allowed. Sierra Club, GreenLatinos and Trout Unlimited April 5 filed the administrative appeal that challenges per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) discharge limits and other portions of a March 6 permit issued to Suncor Energy, Inc. for its...

Environmentalists Say Disposal Guide Findings Reinforce Need For PFAS Ban

Environmentalists are pointing to EPA’s newly updated PFAS disposal guidance and its findings that uncertainties and data gaps remain over disposal technologies’ protectiveness to underscore their argument that EPA should ban production and use of all unnecessary PFAS uses and set strict limits on discharges to air, water and land. EPA April 9 issued its long-awaited update to its interim guidance on destruction and disposal technologies for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), highlighting methods such as interim storage, permitted hazardous...

North Carolina SAB Backs Use Of Non-IRIS Values For Water Quality Rules

North Carolina science advisors are backing the state’s use of risk values developed outside EPA’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) program, bolstering officials’ landmark effort to develop water quality standards for eight PFAS -- more than any of the other handful of states that have crafted such limits. During an April 3 meeting, the North Carolina Secretaries Science Advisory Board (SSAB) found that risk values developed by other EPA programs and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)...

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