Articles Posted in PFAS Roadmap

Posted

by and

With 2024 winding down and a change of presidential administration imminent, it is worthwhile to consider the state of EPA’s efforts to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In this connection, EPA recently released its third annual Progress Report on the Agency’s 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap. This most recent report, which comes in the waning months of the Biden administration, highlights key EPA accomplishments in addressing PFAS over the past year and identifies areas for continued action in the months and years to come. However, it remains to be seen whether the second Trump administration will follow through on these action items.

Continue Reading ›

Posted

by and

As in 2023, Congress continues to focus on PFAS issues in the first months of 2024. In this 118th Congress, at least 39 bills focused on PFAS have been introduced along with several dozen additional bills that tangentially address “forever chemicals.”

Continue Reading ›

Posted

by , and

On September 28, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the long-awaited one-time reporting rule for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) that the Agency had proposed in June 2021 under Section 8(a)(7) of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The finalization of this rule is one of the regulatory milestones set forth in the Biden EPA’s 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap. This rule will require businesses to provide the EPA information regarding their manufacture or importation of subject PFAS, as well as, most importantly, articles including covered PFAS, since January 1, 2011.

Continue Reading ›

Posted

by and

On June 20, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed Significant New Use Rules (SNURs) under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) for 18 chemicals derived from the recycling of plastic wastes. 88 Fed. Reg. 39804 (2023). The chemicals were the subjects of premanufacture notifications (PMNs) submitted in 2015 and 2019 and of subsequent consent orders issued by the EPA under the authority of TSCA 5(e) and effective on August 25, 2022. The chemicals include naphtha blends and other pyrolysis oils.

Continue Reading ›

Posted

by , and

(Note: This update involves recent developments on a topic covered in a December 2021 client alert.)

As advised in part by the Biden Administration, developments in the regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) continue to unfold. Not only did the EPA release its PFAS Strategic Roadmap in October, but it has proposed a potentially significant rulemaking under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, initiated a scientific review of the adequacy of its current health advisory level for the two most studied PFAS—perfluorooctanoic (PFOA) acid and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS)—and taken steps toward establishing a technical foundation for regulating PFAS air emissions under the Clean Air Act. (Additional impetus for the last action derives from pending congressional legislation.) Additionally, a recent federal court decision in the Northern District of Georgia stands to increase the liability exposure of secondary manufacturers and processors of PFAS products in connection with toxic tort suits involving negligence claims. Meanwhile, state attorneys general are urging continued congressional effort to pass a comprehensive PFAS bill that would expedite and fund several of the PFAS regulatory actions contemplated by EPA.

Continue Reading ›

Posted

by , and

Federal efforts to regulate per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have continued in recent months. Most notably, on October 21, 2021, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or the Agency) released its PFAS Strategic Roadmap. This document promises to establish a comprehensive, whole-of-agency approach to regulating PFAS, by building off the Trump EPA’s 2019 PFAS Action Plan and related federal initiatives. The Roadmap reflects EPA’s intent to regulate a broader range of activities than those contemplated in the 2019 Action Plan, as well as to accelerate the implementation of activities identified in the earlier Agency document.

Continue Reading ›