States-PFAS

States

Industry Criticizes Maine’s Proposed ‘Currently Unavoidable Use’ Process

Industry groups are asking Maine regulators to rework the state’s planned process for determining PFAS uses are “currently unavoidable,” criticizing the short timelines, high application fees and narrow scope for proposed determinations while also questioning some of the state’s proposed definitions. The criticisms are contained in “informal” public comments on the Maine Department of Environmental Protection’s (MDEP) draft concept language for implementing the state’s amended per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) law that, among other things, narrowed a broad PFAS reporting...

Maryland, South Carolina Urge Court To Reject 3M’s Bid For Federal Removal

Maryland and South Carolina are urging a federal appeals court in the southeast to reject 3M’s argument that a ruling from a federal appeals court based in Illinois supports moving state litigation over PFAS to federal court, emphasizing that case law in the southeast court more strongly supports remanding their cases to state court. In a Sept. 12 letter to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, the states claim that the 7th Circuit’s ruling in People of...

North Carolina Panel Delays Some PFAS Water Standards, Advances Others

A North Carolina regulatory panel has once again delayed taking action on PFAS surface water quality standards and is now proposing a new solution to tackle contamination at the source to break the impasse, although the panel at a Sept. 12 meeting voted unanimously to advance narrowed PFAS groundwater standards for public comment. The actions are the latest in a long running debate among members of the state’s Environmental Management Commission (EMC), who have repeatedly questioned the Department of Environmental...

Wisconsin High Court Will Review Landmark Ruling Voiding PFAS Listing

The Wisconsin Supreme Court has agreed to state regulators’ request to review a landmark ruling that struck down Wisconsin’s “hazardous substance” listing for PFAS and other emerging contaminants, upending long-held legal interpretations and effectively blocking regulators from requiring cleanups of PFAS without first completing a rulemaking. The state’s high court Sept. 11 issued an order granting the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) petition for review of Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, Inc. (WMC), et al. v. Wisconsin DNR, et al....

ASTSWMO Advises Creation Of EPA Office On Emerging Contaminants

A panel of state waste regulators is advising EPA in a new report to create a standing office to take an agency-wide focus on emerging contaminants, saying regulators often face challenges when trying to address emerging contaminants such as PFAS at federal facility cleanup sites and take a “reactive approach” that leaves responsible parties confused. A subcommittee of the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO) says in the report that there has previously been confusion over...

Tennessee Resists Local Calls To Add PFAS Limits To Biosolids Permit

Officials with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) are opposing community calls to include PFAS limits in a soon-to-be-renewed general permit for the land application of biosolids, insisting they need more data on the presence and impact of the chemicals in biosolids before acting. The focus on Tennessee comes as farmers in Texas and Maine have sued EPA for failing to meet Clean Water Act requirements to identify certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as toxic pollutants present...

North Carolina Readies Interim PFAS Groundwater Limits, Skirting Key Panel

North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is planning to adopt interim maximum allowable concentrations (IMACs) for eight PFAS in groundwater later this year, a move that will allow the department to temporarily adopt standards it has previously proposed but that have been partially blocked by a state regulatory panel. The director of DEQ’s Division of Water Resources (DWR) “intends to establish IMACs for eight PFAS at the values listed above on October 15, 2024,” the division said in a...

3M Calls Draft Discharge Permit For Minnesota Facility ‘Legally Impermissible’

3M and other industry groups are challenging strict PFAS limits in a draft Minnesota discharge permit that some say could set a precedent for other facilities, warning that the proposed effluent limits are unattainable and should be revised while also targeting the state’s underlying water quality criteria (WQC) that are the basis for the permit limits. “The Draft Permit seeks to impose requirements for the operation of the advanced wastewater treatment system that are legally impermissible and unsupported by the...

Lacking Disposal Options, States Struggle To Address PFAS ‘Glitter Bomb’

NEWPORT, RI -- State environmental commissioners are struggling to address PFAS contamination in the supply chain and other settings, warning that it is difficult to remove the chemicals once they are in the environment especially given a lack of technology solutions for adequate disposal and destruction methods and a universal definition. One of the major challenges is that once per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are in the supply chain, it is like a “glitter bomb, and . . . once...

Ending Mediation, New Mexico Resumes Defense Of Air Force PFAS Permit

New Mexico has ended two years of mediation with the Air Force and will resume its court defense of first-time measures to regulate PFAS at Cannon Air Force Base (AFB) under a state waste permit, with the state seeking to uphold a district court ruling that found the military could be subject to such permits. The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) gave notice of its decision Aug. 27, sending an email to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th...

Maine Urges 1st Circuit To Reject 3M’s Latest Bid For Federal Removal

Maine is urging a federal appeals court to reject 3M’s argument that a recent ruling involving an Illinois PFAS case backs the company’s bid to remove a Maine PFAS contamination case to federal court, arguing that both the Maine and Illinois cases exclude contamination from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) and belong in state court. “Illinois, like Maine, argued that the government contractor defense on which 3M based removal was irrelevant because the state expressly disclaimed any recovery for AFFF in...

States Petition EPA To List Four PFAS As Hazardous Air Pollutants

Three states are petitioning EPA to list four PFAS as hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) under section 112 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), a request that if granted would open the door to regulating the releases under the agency’s air toxics rules and, the petitioners say, prevent the chemicals from being shifted from one medium to another. North Carolina, New Jersey and New Mexico filed an Aug. 29 petition , asking EPA to list perflurooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid...

3M Cites 7th Circuit Ruling To Move Connecticut PFAS Suit To Federal Court

3M is for the fourth time in the past few weeks citing a recent 7th Circuit ruling in its effort to move pending state PFAS contamination claims to federal multi-district litigation (MDL) over aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), this time in a case brought by Connecticut that has yet to receive a district court ruling on the appropriate venue for the case. In an Aug. 28 letter to the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, 3M notes that the...

States’ PFAS Product Bans Grow, Heightening Implementation Concerns

More than one-quarter of U.S. states have enacted sales bans on multiple categories of products with intentionally added PFAS, but legal and other experts say the laws have created implementation challenges for industry due to misaligned prohibition dates and different product category definitions. New Hampshire became the latest state to enact such a ban earlier this month, setting a Jan. 1, 2027, deadline for companies to stop selling carpets or rugs, cosmetics, textile treatments, feminine hygiene products, food packaging and...

3M Cites 7th Circuit Ruling In Bid to Move Maine PFAS Case To Federal Court

3M is continuing to cite a recent PFAS-related ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit in similar litigation pending in other federal appeals courts, most recently arguing the decision supports the company’s effort to move litigation brought by Maine in state court to federal court. In an Aug. 22 letter to the 1st Circuit, 3M says the 7th Circuit remanded to state court People of the State of Illinois v. 3M Company -- also known...

California Bill Prohibiting Sale Of Firefighter PPE Containing PFAS Dies

California lawmakers have killed a bill that would have prohibited, beginning July 1, 2026, the sale and use of firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE) containing intentionally added PFAS, and would have required state regulators to align worker-safety rules with a future national standard for PFAS-free firefighting gear. The move comes as Massachusetts has enacted legislation to transition away from PPE containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) by prohibiting the sale of such gear beginning in 2027. California’s bill, AB 2408...

Industry Succeeds In Killing Broad New Hampshire PFAS Facility Cleanup Bill

New Hampshire businesses have succeeded in killing bipartisan legislation aimed at ensuring facilities where PFAS were used are cleaned up to federal standards, with Gov. Chris Sununu (R) vetoing the bill due in part to concerns it would be “unnecessarily burdensome,” while signing into law a separate PFAS bill that addresses facility liability and bans the sale of certain PFAS-containing products. In a statement accompanying his Aug. 2 veto of HB 1415, the governor said he was concerned by the...

Maine Floats Draft ‘Concept’ For Implementing Revised PFAS Prohibition Law

Maine regulators are taking comment on draft concept language for implementing the state’s revised PFAS law that narrowed reporting requirements to only products that state regulators determine have a “currently unavoidable use” (CUU), detailing the process for companies to seek such determinations that would also exempt them from categorical sales bans. The release of the draft concept earlier this month follows the state’s amendment of its landmark prohibition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in products and related reporting requirements...

North Carolina Seeks PFMOAA Threshold In Wake Of EPA Scientists’ Study

North Carolina officials are informally asking state science advisors to reconsider their earlier request to develop a threshold safety level for an ultra-short chain PFAS found in local waters near a Chemours production facility after EPA researchers presented findings at a meeting earlier this week showing the substance’s hazard effects. During an Aug. 7 meeting of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (NCDEQ) Science Advisory Board, EPA Office of Research and Development (ORD) biologist Justin Conley presented findings on...

Minnesota Grapples With Implementing PFAS Ban For Online Retailers

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) is continuing to grapple with how to apply an upcoming ban on the sale of products with intentionally added PFAS to products available through Amazon and other online retailers, particularly from manufacturers outside the United States. “This is a challenge, and we are aware of it,” an MPCA staff member said during a July 25 webinar on implementing the sales ban. “We don’t hold a lot of jurisdiction overseas…We do include suppliers and distributors...

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