The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced this week that the agency is considering placing drinking water limits on the entire class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
While the EPA announcement marks the beginning of a years-long process, it’s still significant because the agency doesn’t place any limits on PFAS in drinking water and states have put limits on fewer than 10 types of individual PFAS. There are about 9000 varieties of PFAS that exist.
The EPA didn’t designate a timeline on when the new limits could be put in place.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House of Energy and Commerce advanced the PFAS Action Act of 2021 on June 23. The bill directs the EPA to quickly reduce and remediate PFAS.
Introduced by Michigan Representatives Debbie Dingell (D) and Fred Upton (R), the PFAS Action Act of 2021 would:
- Require the EPA to establish within two years a national drinking water standard for the two most notorious PFAS — PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid) and PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid)
- Designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances within one year and require the EPA to determine whether to list other PFAS within five years
- Designate PFOA and PFOS as hazardous air pollutants within 180 days and require the EPA to determine whether to list other PFAS within five years
- Require the EPA to place discharge limits on industrial releases of PFAS and provide $200 million annually for wastewater treatment
- Prohibit unsafe incineration of PFAS waste and place a moratorium on the introduction of new PFAS into commerce
- Require comprehensive PFAS health testing
- Create a voluntary label for PFAS in cookware.
Click here to read the bill.
NGWA has long been an industry leader in providing PFAS research, education, and resources to the public and scientific communities. In 2017, NGWA published Groundwater and PFAS: State of Knowledge and Practice, which was one of the first PFAS guidance documents to be released. It can be found at NGWA.org/PFAS, which is a complete resource center about the groundwater contaminants featuring a FAQs document, a top-10 facts sheet, a homeowner checklist, and more.