PFAS POLICY

Appropriators Direct GAO To Review Cost Estimates For PFAS Water Rule

As EPA prepares to finalize its drinking water rule to regulate six PFAS, House and Senate appropriators are directing the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to examine the agency’s cost estimates amid growing concerns from drinking water utilities and some municipalities that the rules will be highly costly and difficult to implement. The requirement is spelled out in an “explanatory statement” accompanying the fiscal year 2024 spending bill for EPA and other agencies as part of a “minibus” appropriations package released...

Wisconsin Dispute Over Novel PFAS Cleanup Legislation Escalates

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D) and Republican state lawmakers have escalated their dispute over how to address PFAS cleanup, with the governor vowing to veto a recently passed bill he believes would erode the state’s enforcement authorities to require responsible parties to clean up contamination they caused. Without a resolution on the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) bill, a pending $125 million earmarked for financial assistance in a “trust fund” to communities needing to test and address PFAS remains in...

EPA Extends Comment Deadline For RCRA Waste Definition Rule

EPA has extended by 15 days the comment deadline for its proposed “hazardous waste” definition rule, responding to industry requests for more time to provide feedback on revisions aimed at clarifying that PFAS and other emerging contaminants that meet the statutory definition of hazardous waste are subject to the corrective action cleanup program. EPA in a notice slated to be published in the Federal Register March 6 says it is extending the comment period for its Resource Conservation and...

Judge Cites ‘Bandwidth’ In Rejecting States’ Bid For PFAS Bellwether Trial

The federal judge overseeing massive multi-district litigation (MDL) involving claims related to PFAS contamination from firefighting foam is denying states and territories’ bid for a bellwether trial on their claims, but says he expects to revisit the issue within a year after “preliminary work” to gauge the level of PFAS in their water. “As enthusiastic as the sovereign states are now expressing, guys, there is a bandwidth problem that this Court has and I'm sure counsel have at this point,”...

Peer Reviewers Suggest Some Revisions To EPA’s PFHxS IRIS Assessment

Peer reviewers assessing EPA’s draft risk assessment for PFHxS, a PFAS widely used in a range of products, generally agreed on some revisions to EPA’s assessment -- particularly calls for incorporating papers missed by EPA into the document -- while some reviewers did not call for any revisions, signaling general approval of the assessment. One panel member -- a Texas regulator -- called into question EPA’s use of epidemiological mixture studies and its benchmark dose (BMD) modeling, but the other...

Judge Grants South Carolina’s Bid To Move PFAS Case Out Of MDL

The federal judge overseeing massive multi-district litigation (MDL) related to claims for PFAS contamination from firefighting foam has granted South Carolina’s request to remand one of its cases against PFAS manufacturers to state court, one of a handful of such cases to be removed from the MDL. In a Feb. 29 ruling , Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina agrees with the state that neither federal officer removal nor federal enclave jurisdiction...

EPA Catalogue Of Studies On 345 PFAS Identifies Significant Research Gaps

EPA and other researchers have catalogued existing research of health outcome data on 345 PFAS that could be used to inform research needs and priorities, documenting the current lack of studies for hundreds of the PFAS, especially on inhalation risk, a top EPA research official said Feb. 26. Kris Thayer, director of the Chemical & Pollutant Assessment Division (CPAD) within EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD), told a peer review panel examining the agency’s draft Integrated Risk Information System...

EPA Faces Wide-Ranging Concerns Over Lagging PFAS Testing Program

EPA’s recent meeting seeking feedback on its nascent PFAS testing program sparked a range of concerns from stakeholders, including warnings from industry of the program’s “apparent loss of focus on priority issues and exposures” while environmentalists questioned use of alternative test methods, according to slides from the event obtained by Inside PFAS Policy . EPA announced its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) national testing strategy (NTS) for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in 2021, seeking to testing “representative” PFAS in...

DOD Cites Superfund Bar In Bid To Escape Some Cases In AFFF MDL

The Defense Department (DOD) is asking a federal court to dismiss several claims from the massive multi-district litigation (MDL) over PFAS contamination from firefighting foam, arguing the court lacks jurisdiction because the claims are challenges to cleanup actions, which the Superfund law bars courts from reviewing. “This Court lacks jurisdiction over the Remedial Claims under section 113(h) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (‘CERCLA’),” which bars pre-enforcement judicial review of such actions, DOD says in a Feb...

Groups Renew Push For CERCLA Waivers As Senate Plans PFAS Hearing

Water utilities and other groups that “passively receive” PFAS are continuing to press for legislative exemptions from liability under the Superfund law, as a resolution on the issue appears to remain elusive and the Senate environment committee is prepping for a hearing on the issue next month. Sources with so-called passive receivers say groups are continuing to push their case for including targeted exemption language in a developing, bipartisan Senate bill on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). They are seeking...

EPA Holds Private Stakeholder ‘Workshop’ To Bolster PFAS Testing Efforts

EPA held a three-day private meeting earlier this month with industry representatives, state officials and other stakeholders in an apparent effort to gather input on potential changes to several aspects of its PFAS strategy, in particular a testing program that has initiated studies on just three chemicals since 2021 -- far slower than the agency’s original timeline. The “PFAS TSCA Workshop” ran Feb. 13-15 at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, according to an agenda for the event...

FDA Announces Phase-Out Of PFAS In Food Packaging In U.S. Market

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced manufacturers have phased out their use of grease-proofing materials containing PFAS in food packaging sold in the United States, such as in fast-food wrappers and take-out containers, following a voluntary commitment from manufacturers as well as a move away from such uses for business reasons. FDA Deputy Commissioner for Human Food Jim Jones Feb. 28 announced the phase-out of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from food packaging in a news release. “This means...

International Coalition Of Scientists Presses For Broad PFAS Definition

An international coalition of nearly 160 PFAS scientists has signed a petition urging “government agencies and legislatures to adopt complete PFAS definitions grounded in science without political interference,” pointing to broad definitions included in Defense Department (DOD) legislation and used by 23 states. The petition , which is still open for signatures, comes as industry and environmentalists continue to lobby EPA and other policymakers to adopt their preferred approaches for defining per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). For example, industry groups...

Indiana Senate Drops Industry-Sought Bill Seeking Narrow PFAS Definition

The chairman of the Indiana Senate’s environment panel has decided to take no action on an industry-backed bill seeking to adopt a definition of PFAS that would be the narrowest in the country following “extensive conversations” with state regulators, effectively killing the bill for this year. State Sen. Rick Niemeyer (R), chairman of the Senate Environmental Affairs Committee, explained during a Feb. 26 committee meeting where the legislation was teed up for a potential vote that while industry groups are...

OECD Says Cosmetics Have Few ‘Intentional’ PFAS But Seeks Better Data

Cosmetics with intentionally added PFAS are a small percentage of personal care products, and alternative chemicals are technically and economically feasible, a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) finds, though it calls on governments and industry to improve the transparency of ingredient lists. The Feb. 22 report is the latest in a series of studies by OECD, whose members include the United States and dozens of the world’s largest economies, examining the prevalence of per-...

EPA Proposes To Remove Teflon From List Of Pesticide Inert Ingredients

EPA is proposing to remove polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) from the current list of inert ingredients approved for use in pesticide products because the chemical, also known as Teflon, is part of the PFAS family and is no longer used in any registered pesticide product, the latest such action the agency has taken on so-called inerts. In a notice scheduled to be published in the Feb. 28 Federal Register , EPA says all pesticide products that initially used PTFE as an inert...

EPA Estimates Up To $21 Million In Costs From RCRA PFAS Listing Rule

EPA is estimating the annual indirect costs to the waste treatment and disposal sector from its proposed “hazardous constituents” listing rule for nine PFAS under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) could be up to $21 million annually, though the agency says a lack of data prevents it from precisely estimating the magnitude of the cost impacts. Similarly, the agency says uncertainties over cleanups that may be required following the listings make it impossible to estimate the precise magnitude...

California Bill Bans PFAS In Products Beginning In 2030, With Exceptions

A California lawmaker is floating legislation that would ban the sale of new products containing intentionally added PFAS in the state beginning in 2030, unless regulators have determined that such uses are unavoidable or the prohibition is preempted by federal law -- similar to approaches taken in Maine and Minnesota. “California has led the nation in addressing PFAS, including banning forever chemicals in food packaging, cosmetics, firefighting foam, children’s cribs and playpens, and other products. But PFAS still remain in...

Industry Groups Target Indiana In Push To Narrow States’ PFAS Definitions

Industry groups are urging Indiana lawmakers to adopt a definition of PFAS that would be the narrowest in the country, arguing it would bring regulatory certainty as other states have moved to broadly regulate the class of chemicals, although environmentalists and academic scientists say EPA rules would eventually preempt any state action. During a hearing earlier this week before the state Senate’s environment committee, Matthew Norris, of counsel with the law firm Krieg DeVault, testified on behalf of the American...

Industry Braces For Increased Cleanups Triggered By Superfund PFAS Rule

Industry is bracing for the expected impacts from EPA’s upcoming PFAS Superfund rule, including additional sampling being required under five-year site reviews, reopening completed cleanups for additional remediation, as well as new complications over prior cost allocations at cleanup sites. Robert Fox, a partner at the law firm Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, warned of the coming Superfund cleanup burdens to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), telling a legal forum Feb. 22 that regulators are already asking for sampling...

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