States-PFAS

States

Industry, DOD Question Non-AFFF PFAS Exposures In Liability Fights

PFAS manufacturers and the Defense Department (DOD) are raising questions about whether PFAS-containing firefighting foam that contaminated drinking water sources is the cause of health issues for people who live near military bases, pointing instead to potential occupational or consumer exposures in legal and other liability fights. The answers to these questions about how and where individuals have been exposed to PFAS have significant financial liability implications for PFAS manufacturers and the military that are playing out in legal proceedings...

Minnesota Moves To Combine Related PFAS Reporting, Fees Rulemakings

Minnesota is seeking to combine two existing PFAS rulemaking efforts into a single rule to ensure requirements for reporting on PFAS in products and the required fees for such reporting are clearly integrated, noting that comments the state previously received on the separately proposed rules will still be considered in the combined rulemaking. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) earlier this month issued a request for comment (RFC) on its intention to combine the two rules proposed last year, cementing...

6th Circuit Upholds Remand Of Airport PFAS Cleanup Case To State Court

A federal appeals court has ruled that a first-in-the-nation state enforcement case against a commercial airport over the cleanup of PFAS releases should be heard in state court, rejecting the airport’s claim that it was “acting under” the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) when it used PFAS-containing firefighting foam and depriving it of a way to pursue cleanup costs from the federal government. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit ruled Nov. 22 in Michigan...

Judge Skeptical Of Connecticut’s Ability To Apportion PFAS Contamination

A federal district court judge appeared skeptical during recent oral argument that Connecticut will be able to easily apportion PFAS contamination to identify what came from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and what came from other sources, an issue that 3M has argued supports its position that the state’s cleanup litigation belongs in federal court. To date, federal judges have mainly sided with states in finding that their claims for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination stemming from non-AFFF sources should...

Minnesota Drafts PFAS Biosolids Strategy Ahead Of EPA Risk Assessment

Minnesota is proposing a tiered strategy to prevent the land application of PFAS-contaminated biosolids that mirrors efforts in other states, including Michigan, and which would remain in effect until EPA issues risk-based PFAS limits for such biosolids -- a federal action that could still be years away. The Minnesota Biosolids PFAS Strategy focuses on the two most studied per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) -- perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) -- and requires wastewater treatment facilities (WWTFs) that...

New Mexico Weighs Legal Options On PFAS If EPA Retreats On RCRA Rules

New Mexico is evaluating its legal options should the incoming Trump EPA fail to regulate PFAS under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), an action the Biden administration had promised in response to a 2021 petition from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to list all PFAS as RCRA “hazardous waste.” “We believe we have a cause of action that the law would support, and we are evaluating how we want to exercise that cause of action,” New...

North Carolina Panel Backs Surface Water PFAS Source Reduction Plan

A North Carolina regulatory oversight panel is backing a plan that would require industry to reduce industrial PFAS discharges to wastewater treatment plants and surface water as an intermediate solution to addressing PFAS in surface water as the panel continues to debate proposed PFAS surface water quality standards. Over 3 to 5 years, the PFAS Minimization Initiative, as presented by North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), would target major and minor industrial direct dischargers to surface water, as well...

New Mexico Commission Weighs Joining Colorado In PFAS Drilling Ban

New Mexico’s Oil Conservation Commission (OCC) is weighing whether to join Colorado in banning the use of PFAS in oil and gas operations, as environmentalists are pushing for and state officials generally support, although industry argues the commission lacks the authority to prohibit the chemicals’ use through regulation. At issue is an amended petition from WildEarth Guardians for OCC to adopt rules that would prohibit the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in oil and gas drilling, development and...

Michigan High Court Weighs Arguments Over State’s PFAS Water Standards

Michigan’s highest court heard oral argument Nov. 13 in a PFAS drinking water rule case that could have broad implications for how the state considers compliance costs in its rulemaking process, although questions from one justice raised the possibility the court could find this specific dispute moot. The Michigan Supreme Court’s panel of seven justices listened to oral argument in 3M Company v. Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) , where lower state courts invalidated EGLE’s drinking...

California Joins Other States In Banning PFAS In Menstrual Products

California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has enacted a new state law to ban the sale of menstrual products with regulated PFAS by July 1, 2029, after previously vetoing similar legislation due to concerns over how such a ban would be implemented, making the state one of eight that have enacted similar bans. AB 2515 prohibits any person from manufacturing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale in the state any menstrual products that contain regulated per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The...

DOD Crafting PFAS Guidance To Prevent MILCON Cost, Schedule Issues

The Defense Department (DOD) is developing guidance on addressing PFAS-impacted soil and water during the military construction (MILCON) project development and execution process following an audit that found the lack of such guidance contributed to cost increases and schedule delays for Navy and Marine Corps projects. In a Nov. 5 report , the DOD Office of Inspector General (OIG) found in a review of five Navy and Marine Corps MILCON projects that Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) officials faced...

Industry Asks Wisconsin High Court To Uphold Ruling Striking PFAS Listing

Industry parties are contending that Wisconsin’s highest court should uphold a landmark ruling that invalidated state regulators’ “hazardous substance” listing for PFAS and other emerging contaminants under the Wisconsin Spills Law, charging that regulators should have formally adopted rulemakings on the listing and related actions with an opportunity for public comment. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) “may not apply the [state’s] Spills Law to a vague, broad group of ‘emerging contaminants’ without using notice-and-comment rulemaking first,” says a...

3M Cites 1st Circuit Decision In Fight Over Connecticut PFAS Suit Venue

3M is continuing to cite a recent federal appellate decision rejecting Puerto Rico’s argument that a case over insulin prices should be heard in local court to bolster its stance that PFAS contamination suits from states should be heard in federal court, now targeting Connecticut’s suit that is still awaiting a district court ruling on the appropriate venue for the case. In a Nov. 5 letter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 3M argues per- and...

Michigan Suit Highlights States’ Continued Push On PFAS As Trump Returns

Michigan officials are suing a local paper company for alleged repeat violations of various state discharge standards for its PFAS and other releases, underscoring how states will continue to lead on PFAS issues even if the incoming Trump administration rolls back Biden EPA efforts as many expect. “States who have been aggressive on PFAS even without a Biden EPA backing them will continue to be just that, causing companies headaches if they are brought into enforcement actions and in navigating...

Residents Urge Maine To Continue Mitigation Of PFAS In Biosolids

Maine residents are largely praising the state agriculture department’s ongoing first-in-the-country efforts to comprehensively address PFAS contamination on farms from the land application of biosolids, urging the department to continue prohibiting the application of biosolids and to expand healthcare resources. The feedback comes in written and oral comments to Maine’s Department of Agriculture, Conservation & Forestry (DACF) on its implementation of the state’s PFAS Fund, which Gov. Janet Mills (D) established in 2022 to support farmers whose land has been...

In Test, Air Force Asks 10th Circuit To Send PFAS Permit Suit To U.S. Court

The Air Force is urging a federal appeals court to overturn a 2022 district court decision that sent its challenge of PFAS measures in a New Mexico waste permit to state court, in a case that tests whether states can regulate the chemicals in waste permits absent EPA action and where any challenges to the permits are heard. In an Oct. 28 brief in U.S. v. New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), et al. , the military service argues the lower...

Maine Urges 1st Circuit To Reject 3M’s View Of Case Backing Federal Removal

Maine is joining several other states in urging federal appellate judges to reject 3M’s latest rationale for moving state PFAS liability litigation to federal court, with Maine arguing that its “express disclaimers” for recovery related to aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) renders invalid 3M’s federal defense. The state’s arguments respond to a letter 3M wrote earlier this month to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit that pointed to its decision in Puerto Rico v. Express Scripts, Inc....

Judges Press 3M, States On Scope Of PFAS Divisibility In Venue Cases

Appellate judges repeatedly questioned counsel for Maryland, South Carolina and 3M on whether PFAS from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and non-AFFF sources can even be distinguished, as well as each side’s argument toward whether those contamination causation questions should be heard in a federal venue. A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit heard oral argument Oct. 30 in 3M’s consolidated appeal of lower court rulings that found Maryland and South Carolina’s per- and polyfluoroalkyl...

Judges Appear Skeptical Of Airport’s Arguments In PFAS Enforcement Case

Appellate judges appeared doubtful during Oct. 29 oral argument that a first-in-the-nation enforcement case brought by Michigan against a commercial airport over PFAS cleanup belongs in federal court, questioning the airport’s contention that federal grants held by the airport are sufficient to meet the requirements of the federal officer removal law. In addition, one of the judges on a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit questioned the airport’s attorney on whether the court could...

Washington State Finds No Significant Harm From AFFF Disposal Options

Washington state has finalized a novel environmental impact study that finds that none of the five evaluated disposal options for aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) would have significant adverse impacts on communities or natural resources and three of the five would also not adversely affect Native American tribal areas or treaty rights. The five options that Washington’s Department of Ecology assessed in its final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) , released Oct. 15, are holding AFFF in place until advanced treatment...

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