In putting together our thoughts on this post, it was hard not to think about the elephant in the room (see what I did there?). The change in administration has already brought significant changes in our nation’s environmental priorities. While time will show us all of the specific ways this will play out in 2025
EPA Releases PFAS Strategic Roadmap Third Annual Report
By Megan Baroni on
Posted in Environmental Enforcement
As the Biden-Harris administration draws to a close, EPA has issued its third annual report touting the progress made under the PFAS Strategic Roadmap.
In the report, EPA notes the major legal, technical, and policy developments it has enacted since the PFAS Strategic Roadmap was adopted in 2021. Those developments include the following:
- Designation
Nine PFAS Compounds Proposed to be Hazardous Constituents Under RCRA
By Jon Schaefer on
Posted in Environmental Enforcement
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published two proposed rules in the Federal Register that would expand the EPA’s authority to address certain per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). These rules would significantly increase the EPA’s and authorized state’s authority to address the release of…
Sixth Circuit Rejects Nationwide PFAS Class
By Jim Ray on
Posted in Environmental Enforcement
This article was originally published by ACOEL on December 12.
“Seldom is so ambitious a case filed on so slight a basis.” Those are words a plaintiff’s lawyer would hate to hear, but that is exactly how the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals began its opinion rejecting an Ohio firefighter’s attempt to certify a…
PFAS Reporting Rules to Ring in the New Year
By Emilee Mooney Scott on
Posted in Environmental Compliance & Permitting
As we have previously reported, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a class of substances coming under increasing regulatory scrutiny. As manufacturers ring in the new year they should be aware of two new PFAS reporting requirements that could need careful attention in 2024.
De Minimis Exemption No Longer Available for PFAS Under EPCRA…
EPA Proposes Enforceable Drinking Water Standards For PFAS
By Emilee Mooney Scott on
Posted in Environmental Enforcement
Last week EPA released its proposal for the first set of Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) under the Clean Water Act for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In contrast to non-enforceable health advisory levels introduced in 2016 and revised in 2022, MCLs constitute enforceable drinking water standards that will impact drinking water utilities and industry nationwide. …
EPA Establishes New Health Advisories for PFAS
Earlier this month, EPA set new lifetime health advisories for four per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – in some instances at levels lower than those that can be detected through laboratory testing. The new health advisories are listed below:
| PFAS | Health Advisory (in parts per trillion) |
| PFOA (perflurooctanoic acid) | 0.004 ppt |
| PFOS (perfluorooctane sulfonic acid) |
Four PFAS May Be Designated RCRA Hazardous Wastes
By Jon Schaefer on
Posted in Environmental Compliance & Permitting
On October 26, 2021, the U.S. EPA announced it will initiate two rulemakings that will take significant steps to address PFAS contamination across the country. The first rulemaking will designate four of the so-called “forever chemicals” as hazardous wastes under RCRA. The four PFAS that will be the subject of this rulemaking are perfluorooctanoic acid…
EPA Releases PFAS Strategic Roadmap
By Jon Schaefer on
Posted in Environmental Compliance & Permitting
On October 18, 2021, EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan announced the PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA’s Commitments to Action 2021-2024 (Roadmap). The Roadmap is intended to be a comprehensive approach to confronting PFAS contamination nationwide. Among many other efforts, the Roadmap includes the following planned actions:
- Establishing a national primary drinking water regulation for PFOA and
…
EPA Expands PFAS Testing Methods: Soil, Wastewater, and Groundwater
By Jon Schaefer on
Posted in Environmental Enforcement
September 2, 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DOD), released the first EPA-validated laboratory analytical method to test for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in eight different environmental media. Method 1633, currently in draft form, is a single-laboratory validated method to test for 40 PFAS compounds in wastewater,…