PFAS POLICY

PEER Threatens To Sue EPA Over Failure To Regulate PFAS In Biosolids

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), the watchdog group, and five Texas farmers are threatening to sue EPA for allegedly failing to comply with Clean Water Act (CWA) requirements to identify all PFAS that have been found in biosolids and promulgate limits for at least 12 of them. “EPA’s failure to adequately implement the law allows toxic pollutants into our environment, causing widespread and significant harm to human health and the environment,” PEER and the farmers write in a Feb...

UN Experts Press Environment Assembly To Address PFAS At Next Meeting

United Nations (UN) human rights experts are reiterating concerns over alleged EPA and industry lapses in protecting North Carolina residents from PFAS contamination, as they call on high-ranking government officials from around the world to take up PFAS issues generally during UN environmental meetings set for next week in Nairobi, Kenya. In a press statement released Feb. 21, the UN Human Rights Commission is flagging risks posed by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as an issue warranting discussion at the...

State Agriculture Group Calls For Resources, Indemnity To Address PFAS

State agricultural departments are calling on Congress to provide indemnification to farmers and ranchers affected by PFAS contamination through land application of biosolids or contaminated water, and are reiterating a push for boosting funding to states to respond to PFAS contamination impacting farms. The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) voted Feb. 7 at its winter policy conference in Washington, D.C., to approve an update to its policy on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), adding language seeking compensation...

3M Commits To Indemnify Healthcare Spin-off For Legacy PFAS Liabilities

PFAS manufacturer 3M is pledging to indemnify Solventum, a new spin-off healthcare company, for certain legacy PFAS liabilities but says the new entity could still face future liabilities if it continues to use the chemicals in products and components such as gaskets and seals past the 2025 date 3M will cease supplying it with PFAS-related components. The arrangement, spelled out in 3M’s Feb. 21 filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), contrasts with the more-limited indemnification DuPont provided when...

Industry Seeks Extension Of Comment Period For Waste Definition Rule

Major companies are asking EPA to extend the comment period on its recently proposed “hazardous waste” definition rule to align with its hazardous constituents PFAS listing rule, contending the definition rule is “novel” and could broaden the agency’s Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action program. In a Feb. 14 comment letter , law firm Morgan Lewis & Bockius, on behalf of the RCRA Corrective Action Project (RCAP), requests a four-week extension to the comment deadline for EPA’s proposed...

Suit Over Fertilizer PFAS Contamination Seen As First In ‘Tidal Wave’

Five Texas farmers are suing Synagro, the Maryland-based national biosolid fertilizer manufacturer, over alleged PFAS contamination from its product, in a suit that advocates for stricter PFAS regulations say is the first in a potential “tidal wave” of such lawsuits that they hope will help drive national regulations. The suit , filed Feb. 15 in state court in Maryland where the company is headquartered, comes as county officials in Texas have opened a criminal investigation into the events that led...

IARC’s PFAS Cancer Designations Likely To Bolster Plaintiffs’ Injury Claims

An international cancer research agency’s findings linking the two most-studied PFAS to cancer are likely to strengthen plaintiffs’ general causation arguments in personal injury claims, including in the massive multi-district litigation (MDL) focused on PFAS-containing firefighting foam claims, as well as future class action cases, says a defense-side attorney. But attorney Rob Petti says that while the recent cancer findings from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) are likely to benefit plaintiffs on general causation arguments, he does...

‘Unprecedented’ Reaction Slows Process For EU PFAS Restrictions

The timeline for a final decision from the European Commission on a proposal to broadly ban PFAS across nearly all industrial sectors remains uncertain due to the “unprecedented” volume of public comments received, which has required key advisory panels to evaluate the proposal on a sector-by-sector approach. “There’s a lot of information to work through here,” Bastian Zeiger, a risk management expert with the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), said Feb. 12 at an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)...

Environmentalists Sue EPA To Force Release Of PFAS ‘Safety’ Data

Two environmental groups are mounting a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit to compel release of what they say is key “health and safety” data on PFAS contamination in fluorinated plastic containers at the heart of a sprawling legal fight over the agency’s authority to regulate the chemicals. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and Center for Environmental Health (CEH) filed a complaint on Feb. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that EPA violated...

EPA Floats PFAS Test Method For Plastic Containers Amid Legal Fight

EPA has released a new method it says can detect very small amounts of PFAS in plastic containers amid a closely watched legal battle over contamination in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) products -- though the agency says the test can be modified to work with a variety of solid materials, and thus see use for a wide range of industries. The method released Feb. 15 “establishes robust and validated procedures that allow reliable detection and quantification of 32” per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

Advocates Urge Tying PFAS Measures To Grants For Semiconductor Industry

A coalition of environmental, labor, social justice, civil rights and community organizations is urging the Commerce Department to ensure federal efforts to bolster domestic semiconductor manufacturing include hazardous waste regulation of PFAS releases and pretreatment of wastewater discharges containing PFAS. The coalition, as well as a long-time Silicon Valley-based environmental watchdog group, is calling for tying such environmental and safety measures to grant awards under a new federal government program aimed at providing billions of dollars to rebuild the domestic...

OECD Weighs Range Of Options For Upcoming Four-Year PFAS Work Plan

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is weighing a range of suggestions from stakeholders on PFAS-related activities it could prioritize during the next four years, including the need to further develop and disseminate standard methods for measuring the chemicals in various media and in products. OECD, whose members include the United States and dozens of the world’s largest economies, is not a regulatory body, but works to strengthen the protection of human health and the environment by improving...

OMB Reviewing Final Rule On Sustainability In Federal Purchasing

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has begun reviewing a final rule from the General Services Administration (GSA) to update the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to promote environmental sustainability in federal purchasing, although the rule falls short of restricting acquisition of PFAS-containing products where safe alternatives are available, according to environmentalists. The GSA rule, developed in concert with the Defense Department (DOD) and NASA, would amend the FAR “to restructure and update the regulations to focus on...

EPA Eyes ‘Aggregate’ Methods For Detecting PFAS In Drinking Water

EPA is seeking public input on its development of test methods that could measure a wider range of PFAS in drinking water, including an aggregate screening method, following on the agency’s move in 2022 to name the entire class of chemicals on the list of contaminants it is considering for possible regulation. A Feb. 8 Federal Register notice says EPA “is requesting public input on drinking water analytical methods for emerging contaminants in drinking water, particularly those listed on...

Accounting For PFAS Precursors Among Complexities Facing Regulators

Regulators are facing a host of as-yet unanswered questions in understanding PFAS contamination, from identification and sources of the chemicals to mitigation and “how clean is clean” questions, including how regulators should account for PFAS precursors in risk analyses and cleanups when they are not quantified in the lab, according to a top Michigan PFAS official. Michigan has been one of the leading states to tackle per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), sampling all of its public water supplies for the...

EPA Official Touts PFAS Testing Push To Aid Search For Safer Alternatives

A top EPA toxics official says data from the agency’s ongoing PFAS testing initiative will be crucial to finding alternatives to the ubiquitous chemicals and could be a model for other countries’ phase-outs, as it will help officials identify high-priority substances for replacement. “These approaches are going to be crucial, I believe” for going through the thousands of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “and identifying where we need to focus targeted data generation activities,” said EPA’s Jeff Morris at a...

Senate Panel Approves Grant Program To Aid Airports In Replacing AFFF

The Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee has approved a measure that would establish a grant program to aid airports in disposing of PFAS-containing firefighting foam and replace it with safer, fluorine-free alternatives, as part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reauthorization bill. The committee Feb. 8 passed the bipartisan S. 1939, also known as the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2023, that authorizes $107 billion in appropriations for five years for FAA. Among the various measures is a provision that...

Judge Approves DuPont’s $1.185 Billion PFAS Deal With Water Providers

Despite objections from some parties, a federal judge has officially approved a $1.185 billion class action settlement between water providers and DuPont as part of massive multi-district PFAS litigation (MDL), suggesting he is also likely to approve an even bigger proposed settlement between providers and 3M. In a Feb. 8 order , Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina said the agreement is “reasonable” and rejected objections from a handful of parties as...

Paper Sector Seeks CERCLA ‘Fertilizer’ Waiver For Residuals In PFAS Rule

The forest and paper industry is urging the Biden administration to exclude paper mill residuals used in fertilizer applications from Superfund liability under a precedent-setting final rule that will designate certain PFAS as “hazardous substances,” suggesting a move that would likely ease potential cleanup liability for the industry as well as enormous disposal costs. The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) urged EPA and other administration officials to provide the waiver during a Feb. 2 meeting with the White House...

OSHA Seeks Information On PFAS Exposure From Firefighting Gear

OSHA is seeking information about whether there is evidence that PFAS in firefighting gear is causing health issues for emergency responders as part of a proposed rule overhauling safety standards for firefighters, emergency medical personnel and search-and-rescue workers. The proposed rule published in the Feb. 5 Federal Register aims to resolve what the agency says has long been a “patchwork” of unrelated standards for emergency workers spread across several regulations along with its “fire brigade” policy, which the current...

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