PFAS

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Complete coverage of federal, state and legal actions to address the public health and environmental risks from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

States Urge EPA To Address PFAS In Industrial Stormwater General Permit

Several states are asking EPA to add requirements to its proposed industrial stormwater general permit to limit pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through pollution prevention actions and monitoring requirements, with Colorado warning it may deny certification of the permit without the changes. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in June 1 comments asks EPA to add language addressing PFAS to the proposed multi-sector general permit (MSGP) “because PFAS in stormwater, even in very low quantities, can...

Several States, Industries Spar Over EPA’s PFAS Drinking Water Review

Several states and environmental groups are backing EPA’s preliminary work towards developing drinking water standards for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and urging an expanded effort to other chemicals in the class, sparring with industries that object to broadening the effort and even dispute the initial evaluation. EPA took comment through June 10 on its February announcement that it plans to develop a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as well as to...

Carper Seeks Timeline for PFAS Designation, Cites Apparent OMB Delay

Senate environment panel ranking member Tom Carper (D-DE) is pressing EPA to confirm whether the White House has stalled for months an agency plan to designate two key per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, seeking a definitive timeline for issuing the finding. “Is it accurate that EPA’s proposal to designate [perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS)] as hazardous substances under the Superfund law has been completed for many months, but that the White...

Water Utility Group Objects To ‘De Minimis’ Waiver For PFAS TRI Reporting

A national water utility organization is calling on EPA’s toxics office to eliminate a “ de minimis ” exemption the agency created for releases of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a rule listing 172 PFAS that must now be reported to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), arguing the exemption could result in polluted drinking water sources. “Given that the TRI is a critical component of EPA’s efforts to strategically protect drinking water sources, AWWA is concerned that the de...

Water Groups Call For Fast But ‘Robust’ EPA Evaluations Of PFAS Limits

National drinking water and groundwater groups are urging EPA to quickly move ahead with evaluating drinking water standards for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) but are calling for the agency to use “sound science and robust analyses” to inform the reviews while pushing EPA to use other legal powers to stem PFAS contamination. “We ask that EPA move expeditiously to prepare the requisite analyses critical to proposing sound drinking water standards,” nine water groups write in a June 3...

Judges Transfer New Mexico-Air Force PFAS Fight To Consolidated Case

In a loss for New Mexico, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (MDL) is transferring the state’s federal district court suit against the Air Force over per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination to a consolidated case in which the state fears its claims and preliminary injunction motion may get waylaid. But the New Mexico federal district court where the state filed its suit has so far not acted on the preliminary injunction motion filed last July, after which the...

Senate Democrats Press Wheeler For PFAS Cleanup Plans At 180 Sites

Senate Democrats are pressing EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to provide details on cleanup plans and contamination levels at the 180 Superfund sites the agency says are contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), as well as pushing for clarity on the agency’s cleanup authorities for these chemicals. Their request, in a May 21 letter the senators sent to Wheeler, puts new pressure on the Trump administration to complete its long-running inter-agency review of EPA’s proposed plan to designate perfluorooctanoic acid...

Chemical Industry Stresses 'Unique' Elements Of EPA’s SNUR For PFAS

Update Appended The chemical industry is emphasizing the “unique” and specific requirements of EPA's supplemental proposed significant new use rule (SNUR) for a group of perfluorinated compounds, despite its inclusion of potentially precedent-setting exemptions, including a controversial proposed “safe harbor” for importers and an expansion of other exemptions. “The proposed SNUR may influence future actions that apply to articles,” the American Chemistry Council (ACC) says in a statement provided to Inside EPA . “However, every SNUR is unique and...

States’ PFAS Measures Stall As Pandemic Upends Policymaking Efforts

Correction Appended States’ efforts to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to fill in gaps left by the absence of EPA regulations have ground to a halt as regulators and legislators scramble to address the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout that is resulting. “State government right now is all in on this COVID-19 crisis mode, and some of the other important work that we’re doing is just sidelined,” Janet Coit, director of Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management...

Carper Seeks CWA PFAS Deal As Amendment Fails To Win GOP Support

Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the top Democrat on the Senate environment committee, is seeking to reach a deal with his Republican counterpart on limiting discharges of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Clean Water Act after the committee advanced a water infrastructure package without the PFAS language Carper had sought. Carper told a May 6 committee meeting that he hopes the committee’s chairman, Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), will join him “in the weeks ahead in leading a determined effort...

Environmentalists Seek To Halt DOD’s PFAS Incineration, Study Alternatives

Environmental groups are gearing up to press Congress to require the Defense Department (DOD) to halt its continuing incineration of its stockpile of legacy firefighting foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as they are frustrated with DOD’s alleged flouting of legislative restrictions on incineration passed late last year. Environmentalists are also hoping to gain support from lawmakers and the military for an effort to assess alternative destruction methods to incineration, similar to that applied to a portion of the...

Air Force PFAS Study Drives New Calls For EPA’s CERCLA Designation

The Air Force’s recent decision to steer funds for addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at a former Michigan base toward more study, rather than cleanup, is giving lawmakers further reason for pushing EPA to designate the chemicals as Superfund hazardous substances -- as it could force polluter-driven cleanups including at military sites. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI), the co-chair of a bipartisan congressional taskforce on PFAS and whose district includes the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, during an April 27...

Environmentalists Seek To Close ‘Loopholes’ In Bid To Curb New PFAS Uses

Even as they push EPA to ban new per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), environmentalists are urging the agency to close a series of “loopholes and exceptions” that they say have allowed continued widespread use of the compounds even in cases where the agency has required toxics law testing or imposed other limits. In a series of comment letters responding to premanufacture notices (PMNs) over the past few months, a host of local and national groups have urged the agency to...

EPA Under Fire For Suggesting TSCA 'Safe Harbor' In Proposed PFAS SNUR

EPA is drawing strong criticism from environmentalists and a top Democrat for suggesting it establish a regulatory threshold or other criteria under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that could provide a safe harbor from notification and review for importers whose articles contain chemicals subject to a significant new use rule (SNUR). In comments submitted to EPA late last week , the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) charged that such an unprecedented exemption marks a significant departure from the agency’s long-standing...

California’s Pending Plan To Target Carpets With PFAS Sparks Debate

California regulators are delaying plans to list carpets and rugs containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as priority products under the state’s Safer Consumer Products (SCP) green chemistry program due to the pandemic, though the pending measure is sparking a heated debate among industry groups and safer chemical advocates. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) charges that the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s (DTSC) plan fails to narrow the types of PFAS that should be targeted for potential phaseouts or bans...

EPA Declines To Extend PFAS SNUR Amid Hint Legal Deadline May Be Eased

EPA has rejected an industry request to extend by 15 days a comment deadline on a proposed significant new use rule governing perfluorinated chemicals used in coatings for consumer products, amid suggestions that the agency’s statutory deadline to make a final decision this June could be eased because of the covid-19 crisis. “While EPA understands that these are challenging times for all of us, EPA continues to believe that the current 45-day comment period is appropriate and critical to the...

EPA’s Research Office Agenda Targets Emerging Air Pollution Threats

EPA’s Office of Research & Development (ORD) is crafting an air and energy research agenda that will target threats to public health and the environment from several emerging air pollutants, such as ethylene oxide (EtO), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), and air emissions from increasingly prevalent wildfires. On an April 2 conference call, ORD staff briefed the agency’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) on its research priorities and also fielded questions on EPA’s approach to assessing the science on the...

House Lawmakers Eye Possible 5th COVID-19 Bill For Water Infrastructure

Two Democrats on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee say the next coronavirus assistance legislation is unlikely to include significant water infrastructure provisions but that a potential following bill could have a strong focus on infrastructure. Speaking to reporters April 9, Reps. Harley Rouda (D-CA) and Chris Pappas (D-NH) said House Democrats strongly support boosting water infrastructure to address not only the immediate concerns about COVID-19 but also longer-term issues such as ensuring water utilities can upgrade their facilities to...

House Lawmakers Launch Early Push For PFAS Measures In Defense Bill

House lawmakers are launching an early push to try to attach stalled policy measures to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to next year’s defense authorization bill, seeking to build on efforts late last year that added a host of PFAS measures to the fiscal year 2020 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). A bipartisan group of 22 House lawmakers led by Rep. Dan Kildee (D-MI) sent an April 2 letter to leaders of the House Armed Services Committee outlining PFAS...

Court Allows Air Force’s Landmark Challenge To New Mexico’s PFAS Permit

A federal district court has ruled the Air Force can move forward with its landmark case challenging New Mexico’s regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in a hazardous waste permit for a base, bolstering the military’s precedent-setting attempt to limit states’ PFAS authorities over cleanup of the emerging contaminants. The ruling also highlights EPA’s continuing delay in listing PFAS as a “hazardous substance” under the Superfund law, a failure that lies at the heart of the Air Force’s argument...

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