As the year winds down, there’s still plenty of PFAS regulatory action happening, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the PFAS News and Views, we highlight a few stories of interest.

Late summer is often a slow time for regulatory agencies and state legislatures. State legislatures often take a break, and those serving in D.C. spend the weeks-long congressional recess to spend time with constituents back in their home districts. Nevertheless, a few notable PFAS actions have occurred over the last few weeks. In this month’s PFAS News and Views, we cover these important stories plus call out a couple of actions that did not make the cut in previous issues.

The U.S. EPA may be reaching the end of its four-year PFAS Strategic Roadmap, but there are still a few loose ends to tie up. This summer also brought us plenty of state-level PFAS action as at least five states enacted bans on PFAS in consumer products. In this post, we look at some recent actions and those that might be taken before the end of 2024.

To better understand how PFAS passes from industry through Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTWs), the EPA recently proposed an Information Collection Rule (ICR) focused on PFAS in wastewater influent, effluent, and biosolids. Paul Jackson, Pace® Analytical Program Manager for Environmental Compliance and Emerging Contaminants, delivered a webinar covering the basics of the proposal and its impact on our customers. In this post, I will cover some of the critical highlights. I also invite you to watch the webinar on-demand for a deeper dive.

The National Primary Drinking Water Regulations (NPDWR) for PFAS limits in drinking water have been announced. But that’s not the only action the U.S. EPA has taken in recent weeks. In this month’s PFAS News and Views, we focus on several recent developments as the agency works to finish the final mile in the PFAS Strategic Roadmap published in 2021.

On February 14^th, Nick Nigro, Pace® PFAS Product Manager, along with other leaders of ASTM subcommittee F15.81 on Per-and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, held a webinar discussing the what, why, and how of quantifying PFAS in Consumer and Related Products. Among many topics, the team addressed the challenge created by the varying definitions of PFAS used by the states when crafting legislation. This comes up frequently in conversations with our manufacturing customers, so I wanted to share some of the highlights from the webinar.

This month’s PFAS News & Views will be heavily focused on legislative efforts happening at the state level. But before we get into those actions, we will kick things off with the latest updates to the TSCA (Toxic Control Substances Act) reporting rule.

As the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seeks to deliver on the commitments remaining in the 2021-2024 PFAS Strategic Roadmap, we’re expecting to see many new proposals and tying up of loose ends. At the same time, states and other entities are also focusing on PFAS, so we expect plenty of PFAS action at that level as well. As always, in our PFAS News and Views posts, we highlight and provide our perspectives on those news stories most important to our customers. 

Happy New Year! While we’re waiting for the EPA to publish final limits on PFAS in drinking water and to designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, there’s still plenty more PFAS in the news to focus on. This month, we’ll start with actions at the state level and then highlight some legislation percolating at the federal level. 

It seems we are all waiting and watching for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to publish its final rule on PFAS in drinking water. The agency said they expected to publish in February of 2024. However, at a recent gathering in Eau Claire, WI, EPA Administrator Michael Reagan said the agency is committed to finalizing the rule before the end of the year.