U.S. EPA Proposes First Enforceable PFAS Water Contamination Levels
On March 14, 2023, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed its long-anticipated National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) to limit six common types of PFAS in drinking water. This is the first time EPA has sought to establish legally enforceable national PFAS[1] contamination levels for drinking water. This step represents the latest action under the Biden administration’s multistep plan to limit PFAS levels in the United States, building upon EPA’s October 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap and its pending proposal to designate certain PFAS as hazardous substances under CERCLA, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act.
Flint, Michigan, Water Woes Continue for Independent Engineering Company
On Monday, February 7, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan denied in part a professional engineering company’s motion for summary judgment in Walters et al. v. Flint et al., part of the ongoing Flint water litigation. Plaintiffs in the litigation sought to hold the engineering company, which has served as a water engineer for the City of Flint since at least 2011 and had been involved in discussing and planning the city’s possible switch of water source, liable for professional negligence based on the company’s failure to warn the city of its plan’s shortcomings or otherwise recommend corrective measures. (more…)
EPA Takes Two New Actions on PFAS
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took two important actions in late December 2021 related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of chemicals receiving increasing legislative and regulatory scrutiny in recent years. The two actions relate to drinking-water monitoring data and to toxicity and human-health testing data. (more…)
Massachusetts Finalizes New PFAS Drinking Water Standards and Water Systems Testing Schedules
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (“MassDEP”) has finalized its enforceable Maximum Contaminant Level (“MCL”) drinking water standards for a group of six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) after proposing similar regulatory provisions in December 2019. Under the new regulations, the MCL is set at 20 nanograms per liter (i.e., 20 parts per trillion) for the sum of the concentrations of these six distinct PFAS contaminants: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (“PFOS”); perfluorooctanoic acid (“PFOA”); perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (“PFHxS”); perfluorononanoic acid (“PFNA”); perfluoroheptanoic acid (“PFHpA”); and perfluorodecanoic acid (“PFDA”). No later than December 31, 2023, and every three years thereafter, MassDEP will review the science and state of PFAS analytical/treatment methodologies to determine whether these drinking water standards should be amended.
