NACWA sent a letter on June 14 to EPA’s newly formed EPA PFAS Council (EPC) detailing specific recommendations for EPA to consider as it develops a multi-year strategy to address PFAS. Ultimately, EPC’s leadership in articulating a vision for addressing PFAS will not only provide greater certainty to the public at large and the regulated community, but NACWA also hopes that the Agency will prioritize the most meaningful federal actions to reign in the seemingly endless use of a ubiquitous, nearly indestructible, anthropogenic suite of PFAS chemicals found in our everyday consumer products.

NACWA believes EPA can leverage existing environmental statutes and regulations to effectively protect human health and the environment while aggressively pursuing a “polluter pays” model. Due to the lack of clear federal direction, states are setting screening levels and imposing regulatory requirements – often with insufficient scientific basis or consideration of potential unintended consequences. Ensuring EPA has the tools and resources it needs to effectively eliminate these chemicals at the source is paramount to not only addressing this systemic issue but also so that state regulatory agencies and legislatures do not create a patchwork of compliance regimes that are nearly impossible to manage.

NACWA encourages EPC to consider the following recommendations from the public clean water community:

• Accelerate Federal Research on PFAS Toxicity and Risk
• Continue Evaluating and Developing Regulatory Measures for Upstream Industrial Sources of PFAS under the CWA and TRI
• Continue to Develop CWA Analytical Methods
• Accelerate EPA’s Ongoing Efforts to Complete a Biosolids Risk Assessment
• Protect “Passive Receivers” Against CERCLA Liability
• Take an Aggressive Risk Management Approach Using TSCA

NACWA will keep members up to speed on next steps and looks forward to participating in any public stakeholder opportunity to engage with the Agency on addressing PFAS in our environment.

If members have questions, please contact Emily Remmel, NACWA’s Director of Regulatory Affairs.