Forever Chemicals

JD Supra by Walter Wright, Jr

Washington, DC – EPA has proposed to designate certain PFAS as Comprehensive Environmental, Response, and Liability Act (“CERCLA”) hazardous substances. Designation of PFAS as a CERCLA hazardous substance would trigger corresponding requirements such as application of the potentially responsible liability categories (i.e., current owner or operator, former owner or operator [in certain circumstances], transporter [in certain circumstances], and generators) and hazardous substance release reporting requirements (if reportable quantities are released). Concerns have been expressed by various interest groups, including landfills, that they would be unfairly encompassed and subject to Superfund liability/reporting requirements. For the full text, click here.

Paint Square National

Chemical solutions company Chemours, alongside manufacturer DuPont de Nemours and agricultural chemical company Corteva, Inc., recently reached an agreement to resolve all per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances-related drinking water claims. According to the release, the companies will collectively establish and contribute a total of $1.185 billion to a settlement fund for United States water systems. The three chemical manufacturers are reportedly facing thousands of lawsuits across the country alleging that PFAS were utilized in their manufacturing processes. For the full text, click here.

Associated Press by Michael Phyllis and Brittany Peterson

US – The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to propose restrictions on harmful “forever chemicals” in drinking water after finding they are dangerous in amounts so small as to be undetectable. But experts say removing them will cost billions, a burden that will fall hardest on small communities with few resources. Concerned about the chemicals’ ability to weaken children’s immune systems, the EPA said last year that PFAS could cause harm at levels “much lower than previously understood.” For the full text, click here.

Bloomberg Law

National – Laws and regulations restricting “forever chemicals” in more than a half dozen states are entering effect in 2023, including the start of a timeline for a first-in-the-nation ban on PFAS in all products in Maine. The newly effective measures range from labeling requirements to bans of the substance in products including food packaging, firefighting foam, and personal care products. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of chemicals that don’t naturally break down, and so they accumulate in water, soil, and in the human body. Studies have shown that high levels increase the risk of cancer and other adverse health effects. For the full text, click here.

Phys.org Berkeley, CA

More than 100 scientists sent a letter to the World Health Organization today urging a complete overhaul or withdrawal of the organization’s draft drinking water guidelines for the two most well-studied per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The letter details how WHO’s draft eschews calculating health-based standards, disregarding robust evidence for the harms of PFOS and PFOA. The letter also notes the lack of transparency about the draft’s authorship. For the full text, click here.

JDSupra National

EPA announced that it is proposing to designate perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (“PFOS”) as Hazardous Substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (“CERCLA”).  This designation will affect remediation efforts, notification requirements, and due diligence activities and will have ripple effects across many state regulations that reference CERCLA Hazardous Substances. The public comment period will remain open until November 7, when EPA will issue an Advanced Notice of Public Rulemaking. For the full text and access to the Federal Register comment page, click here.

JDSupra National

In response to the growing concern regarding per – and polyfluoralkyl substances (“PFAS”), the federal government and California have taken recent actions to regulate PFAS. On October 18, 2021, EPA announced its PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which set forth EPA’s proposal to address PFAS. the California legislature passed its own PFAS legislation, AB 2247, on August 30, 2022, requiring manufacturers to collect information on and publicly disclose products or product components containing PFAS that are sold or imported into California. These actions are just the latest in the growing tide of PFAS regulation.  For the full text, click here.

CNN by Jen Christensen

Washington, DC – The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that it proposes to label certain “forever chemicals” that are found in hundreds of household items and pollute drinking water systems across the country as hazardous substances. There are thousands of per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) chemicals. Since the 1940s, manufacturers have used the chemicals to make coatings and products that can repel water, grease, heat, and oil. The chemicals break down slowly over time and leach into water and soil, and have been found in the blood of people and animals. For the full text, click here.

Bloomberg Law

Washington, DC – The EPA’s plan to designate for the first time two “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances under the powerful Superfund law has sparked fears of runaway costs associated with cleaning up contaminated sites, attorneys say. An EPA proposal to designate PFOA and PFOS would be the first time the agency has wielded the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, known as CERCLA or the Superfund law, to designate chemicals as hazardous in the 40-plus years since its passage. For the full text, click here.