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).

Freedhoff Eyes TSCA-Specific PFAS Definition, Drawing Fear Of Confusion

EPA chemicals chief Michal Freedhoff told the Senate environment panel’s top Republican at a recent hearing that the TSCA office could adopt its own definition of per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- a view already sparking concern from environmentalists who say doing so would cause confusion at the agency and states alike. During a June 22 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) hearing on implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), Freedhoff told Ranking Member Sen. Shelley Moore Capito...

Minnesota Sees Mercury Efforts Informing Landmark PFAS Air Program

Minnesota officials say their state’s landmark effort to control levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in ambient air, one of the first such programs in the country, could mirror earlier efforts to address mercury, which, like PFAS, was spread through the air and deposited onto waterbodies where it contaminated fish. “Right now, it looks almost like PFAS and air could be similar to mercury, in the sense that there's sort of a global atmospheric reservoir of mercury that kind...

EPA Says Courts Cannot Review ‘Result’ Of TSCA Petitions In PFAS Suit

EPA is asking a federal court to dismiss environmentalists’ suit challenging its nominal grant of their TSCA petition seeking toxicity tests on 54 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that sidestepped most of the new testing the groups sought, saying the law does not allow suits to force a “specific result” from the petition process. But environmentalists are warning that if courts agree with EPA, it would set a precedent allowing the agency to refuse TSCA petitions while avoiding court review...

NEJAC Raises Concerns EPA’s PFAS Strategy Ignores EJ Communities

EPA’s environmental justice (EJ) advisors are questioning whether the agency’s strategic roadmap to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) does enough to protect environmental justice (EJ) communities and provide them with funding, with some comparing the situation to the lead crisis that affects drinking water in Flint, MI. During a June 23 meeting, Sandra Whitehead of George Washington University, who chairs a PFAS workgroup on EPA’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), said the panel will be providing feedback to...

Environmentalists Urge Senate EPW To Move On Broad PFAS Legislation

Dozens of environmental groups are urging Senate environment committee leaders to approve a sweeping legislative package to require broader regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) than EPA and Congress are currently planning as efforts led by the panel’s chairman to offer a comprehensive bipartisan bill appear to have slowed. In a June 22 letter , 82 groups called on the Democratic and Republican leaders of the committee and its water subcommittee “to pass legislation to protect Americans’ drinking water...

Senate Ban On PFAS In Food Wrapping May Snag Class-Action Defense

The Senate health committee in a bipartisan vote has approved legislation that directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ban the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in food packaging, a measure that would effectively reverse a recent FDA decision on the safe use of PFAS that is being cited by fast food giant McDonald’s as a defense in a class-action lawsuit. The legislation was approved as an amendment offered by Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Lisa Murkowski...

House Panel Strengthens DOD Policies On PFAS Cleanups, Procurement

The House Armed Services Committee has approved additional restrictions on the Defense Department’s (DOD) purchasing of certain products containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), while requiring the Pentagon to comply with the most stringent state or federal levels for PFAS cleanups, as part of amendments to the fiscal year 2023 defense authorization act. During a June 22 markup, the committee approved by voice vote two PFAS-related amendments offered by Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), after overcoming objections by Rep. Mike Waltz...

States Take Wait-And-See Approach On EPA’s PFAS Health Advisories

States are taking a wait-and-see approach in response to EPA’s issuance of strict health advisory levels (HALs) for four per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water, with several key states indicating they will assess drinking water systems’ compliance with the new levels but signaling they are not likely to quickly change their regulatory standards. Only North Carolina officials, who are in the midst of writing first-time drinking water standards, say they will consider EPA’s new guidance as they proceed...

EPA asks court for more time on Washington toxics decision

EPA is agreeing to a federal court order requiring a quick decision on whether Washington state must update its water quality criteria to protect aquatic life from toxics but, together with environmentalist plaintiffs, is asking a judge to allow for an additional 60 days -- until the end of August -- before making any “necessity determination.” In a June 13 joint motion , EPA and Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA) say the parties have “now reached an agreement in principle” that...

EPA Sets New Deadlines For Key Rules As Officials Await High Court Rulings

EPA has set new deadlines for two key rulemakings -- governing greenhouse gases from power plants and the reach of the Clean Water Act -- as officials await major rulings from the Supreme Court that could force the agency to narrow any upcoming proposals, according to the Biden administration’s just-released Spring Unified Agenda. In addition, the agenda includes new rulemaking plans in several programs, including new limits on chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a new rule that...

EPA Tests Find High Destruction Levels Of PFAS Via Hydrothermal Method

WILMINGTON, NC -- Early EPA findings show that a hydrothermal treatment method destroyed more than 99 percent of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in wastewater, highlighting the potential benefits of the method, an EPA researcher says, as the agency and others grapple with a lack of destruction technologies. Max Krause, an environmental engineer in EPA’s Office of Research & Development, reviewed findings from EPA’s evaluations of supercritical oxidation (SCWO), a hydrothermal destruction method, to destroy PFAS. The agency for the...

House Panel Floats $11.5 Billion For EPA In FY23, Just Below Request

House appropriators have unveiled a bill that would fund EPA at $11.5 billion overall in fiscal year 2023, slightly lower than what the Biden administration is seeking, while boosting funding for high-profile programs including water infrastructure, regional waterbodies and Superfund. The total overall funding level in draft appropriations bill , which will be marked up June 21 by the House Appropriations Committee’s Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee, is slightly less than the $11.9 billion the agency has requested but...

Chemours Eyes Suit Targeting Science Basis For EPA’s GenX Advisory

Chemical maker Chemours is considering legal action against EPA after the agency set a tough new drinking water advisory for the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) known as GenX, which the company produces, after the agency also denied its data quality petition challenging the risk assessment on which the advisory is based. “The agency disregarded relevant data and issued a health advisory contrary to the agency's own standards and this administration’s commitment to scientific integrity,” says Chemours in a statement...

Environmentalists Laud TSCA PFAS Test Order Despite Early Doubts

Environmentalists are voicing support for EPA’s first TSCA order mandating new toxicity tests for a per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) despite past criticism of the testing plan, praising the broad scope of the order and calling for the agency to use it as a launching point for more study of a wide range of perfluorinated chemicals. “There are a couple of things that are interesting here -- one is EPA’s justification for the test order, which is potentially pretty broad,”...

EPA Downplays Fears Over PFAS Health Limits Set Below Detection Levels

WILMINGTON, NC -- EPA’s top water official is downplaying concerns that the agency’s just-announced interim drinking water health advisory levels (HALs) for the two most studied per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are set at levels below what can currently be detected, which critics say will make it difficult for utilities to demonstrate compliance. Responding to questions from reporters here, Radhika Fox, assistant administrator for EPA’s water office, stressed June 15 that HALs are not detection levels and says the agency...

Interim Level For PFOA

Interim Level For PFOS

Final Level For PFBS

Final Level for GenX



EPA Sets Strict PFAS Advisories, Citing Health Harms At Levels ‘Near Zero’

EPA has released long-awaited drinking water health advisory levels for four closely watched per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), including revised interim targets for the chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS that are much more stringent than Obama-era limits, noting that more recent research has found human health risks at concentrations “near zero.” Speaking to reporters ahead of the formal announcement, a senior administration official said EPA is setting advisory levels for PFOA of 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt) and 0.02...

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