PFAS POLICY

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),...

EPA Support For PFAS Science May Not Save Biden-Era Water Criteria

The Trump EPA’s support for the science behind the Biden-era drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) may undercut industry calls for the agency to scrap the prior administration’s draft water quality criteria to protect human health (HHC) which are based on the same science. But one environmentalist says that even though the Trump EPA is backing the science underlying the PFOA and PFOS drinking water standards, officials may still decide to scrap or significantly...

Illinois PFAS Products Ban Exempts Internal Components, Refrigerants

Illinois lawmakers have passed a bill to ban the sale of certain PFAS-containing consumer products by Jan. 1, 2032, although the legislation notably exempts electronic or internal components and refrigerants, reflecting the continued efforts by stakeholders to secure carve-outs in state prohibitions for certain products they deem critical or hard to replace. The bill also requires the Illinois EPA to study fluoropolymers, a type of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that industry often argues are not as toxic as other...

Courts Expected To Settle CERCLA Liability Question Over Biosolids Use

As questions grow over potential Superfund liability for application of PFAS-containing biosolids, attorneys say they expect courts will be drawn into settling unresolved legal questions that are intensifying uncertainty for those seeking to dispose of biosolids, parties involved in real estate transactions at disposal sites, their consultants and others. Among other things, the attorneys expect that courts will ultimately have to decide whether such applications are covered by the exclusion under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)...

ACC Urges EPA To Ensure System Readiness For TSCA PFAS Reporting

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is supporting the Trump EPA’s interim final rule to delay the start of one-time reporting of PFAS uses under TSCA while urging the agency to ensure its online reporting system and other tools are available at least six months before the reporting period begins. ACC “supports the Agency’s continued efforts to ensure the success of this mandatory reporting activity by taking additional time to complete the development of the reporting application and associated tools, and...

Washington State Moves To Regulate PFAS-Containing Paints, Artificial Turf

Washington state is forging ahead with its plan to ban or require reporting of architectural paints and artificial turf with intentionally added PFAS despite criticism from industry that the fluoropolymers in paint do not have the same toxicity concerns. The state is also seeking public comment on its separate plan to regulate 12 other products with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including apparel, automotive washes and cleaning products. Washington’s Department of Ecology earlier this month released a final report that...

Court Allows Water System To Intervene In PFAS Permit Discharge Case

A federal district court has granted an Ohio water system’s request to intervene as a plaintiff in pending litigation against Chemours to try to enforce PFAS discharge limits at the company’s Parkersburg, WV, plant, rejecting Chemours’ opposition to the request after finding that the system has standing and meets other requirements for intervention. At issue was whether the Little Hocking Water Association (LHWA), a water system in Ohio that says its wellfield is the primary catchment reservoir for per- and...

Manufacturers, Utilities Clash On TSCA Reporting Rule Exemptions, Changes

Manufacturers and water systems are clashing on how the Trump EPA should rework the controversial Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) reporting rule for PFAS-containing products, with groups disagreeing on whether the agency should exclude articles and article importers or provide exemptions for low PFAS volumes, among other issues. “To determine the presence of even a single chemical in its supply chain, manufacturers must delve into their dense supplier network, requesting detailed information from manufacturers and distributors who then cascade the...

3M Appears Ready To Comply With Minnesota’s Strict New PFAS Permit

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has issued a final permit for 3M’s Cottage Grove facility that largely retains strict discharge limits for PFAS below detectable levels, though the permittee, which previously charged that such limits were “legally impermissible,” appears ready to comply with the low limits. “Once [the treatment system is] fully operational, 3M anticipates achieving the ultra-low compliance limits for certain PFAS that the [MPCA] included in the recently published wastewater permit,” the company said in a statement...

Environmentalists Criticize EPA Proposal To Approve PFAS Pesticide

Environmentalists are criticizing EPA’s recent proposed approval of a pesticide that they say is a PFAS for use on certain crops, contending it is the fourth such PFAS pesticide ingredient the agency has approved in the last two months and runs counter to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin’s pledge to take on PFAS contamination. “Rather than reducing America’s risks from forever chemicals, Zeldin’s EPA is fast-tracking approval of new ‘forever pesticides’ to be sprayed across hundreds of millions of U.S. acres,”...

EPA Efforts To Collect PFAS Air Data May Aid In Assessing Incineration

The Trump EPA’s plan to boost long-running efforts on crafting air measurement methods and collecting data on PFAS air emissions may aid the agency in setting parameters for thermal destruction technologies as it looks to place a greater focus on assessing destruction and disposal methods, attorneys say. Under the agency’s April 28 general outline of “major EPA actions” that the agency plans to undertake to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is a focus on air emissions data collection and...

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