States-PFAS

States

Two Governors Urge DOD To Quickly Adopt Stricter PFAS Cleanup Levels

The governors of Michigan and New Mexico are urging the Defense Department (DOD) to quickly adopt cleanup standards to match more stringent toxicity levels adopted by EPA for certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), although they stop short of asking DOD to directly apply new EPA health guidelines as cleanup levels. EPA’s release in June of four drinking water health advisories for certain PFAS “establish[s] a significantly lower federal threshold for protecting public health than the previous EPA advisory of...

Industry Faces Procedural Hurdles In Suits Challenging States’ PFAS Rules

Global chemical company 3M is facing procedural hurdles in its aggressive litigation against states over their per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) drinking water rules, with a New York state court recently dismissing a challenge based on 3M’s lack of standing, and a Michigan state court requesting additional briefing on the company’s standing. “Petitioner’s potential tort liability and its litigation costs are not a direct injury-in-fact providing standing to challenge the MCL Rule,” the State of New York Supreme Court said...

Citing Inadequate CWA Focus, States Criticize EPA’s Draft PFAS Criteria

States are strongly criticizing EPA’s proposed water quality criteria for two well-known per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), charging that the lack of data and other problems they have identified stem in part from the agency’s long-time failure to adequately invest in relevant Clean Water Act (CWA) work while instead focusing heavily on drinking water issues. The states’ criticisms suggest broader concerns with EPA efforts to address PFAS under the CWA just as the agency is facing growing pressure to strengthen...

EPA Advisories May Subject More PFAS To Prop. 65 Warnings, Lawyers Say

EPA’s recently announced final health advisory levels (HALs) for two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may provide the basis for California’s health hazard office to list the two substances under its Proposition 65 toxic warning label rules, increasing the number of PFAS that are currently subject to the mandate, industry attorneys say. Jeffrey Parker and Louise Dyble, attorneys with Sheppard Mullin, say in a June 27 post that EPA’s final HALs for perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS) and the cluster of...

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...

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...

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