On July 21st, the U.S. House of Representatives passed The PFAS Action Act (H.R. 2467) with 241 votes in favor and 183 opposed.  The house bill was sent to the Senate where it was referred to the Committee on the Environment and Public Works.  The legislation directs the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate certain per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – in this case PFOA and PFOS were specified to start – as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as the Superfund law.   The PFAS Action Act directs EPA to look at other PFAS for similar designation.  The bill also requires EPA to determine whether PFAS should be designated as hazardous or toxic pollutants under other environmental laws including the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. 

A Fact Sheet from the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure in support of The PFAS Action Act specifically addresses the concern about biosolids and CERCLA/Superfund liability: “H.R. 2467 should create no additional Superfund liability associated with the use of biosolids related to the normal application of fertilizer.”

Cleaning up PFAS from the environment will be a very tough job given its presence at background levels everywhere.  Researchers continue to find PFAS in places with no sources – like rain water (US rainwater contains new and phased out PFAS (acs.org)) and on the top of Mount Everest (‘Forever chemicals,’ other pollutants found around the summit of Everest - The Washington Post).  Source reduction, like the phase out of PFOA and PFOS in the United States, has been shown to be effective.  An early release of biomonitoring data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC)’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) shows levels of PFOA and PFOS in human blood serum continue to decline: Early Release: Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Tables, NHANES 2011-2018 | CDC

On source reduction, the State of Maine has become the first state – and is believed to be the first government in the world -- to pass a ban on PFAS-containing products (LD-1503).  The law starts with requiring notification to the State by January 1st, 2023 of all products intended for sale in Maine which contain “intentionally added” PFAS.  Also effective January 1, 2023, is a ban on the sale of carpets, rugs, or fabric treatment containing PFAS.  The ban on all products containing intentionally added PFAS (unless determined to be an “unavaoidable” use) will be effective January 1, 2030.  The law also directs the Maine Department of Environmental Protection (MEDEP) to develop a PFAS source reduction program.

The new source reduction law is too late to have any major impacts on biosolids quality and management programs in Maine.  In early 2019, MEDEP set screening limits for PFAS and applied them to soil amendments, an action which has severely hamstrung water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs) with biosolids land application programs.  And unfortunately it’s quite likely the State will find other “legacy” sites where paper mill sludges and industrially-impacted biosolids containing PFAS were land applied decades ago.  Another piece of legislation passed in Maine (LD-363) allows for legal action within 6 years of the discovery of harm from PFAS contamination.  Dairy farmer Fred Stone intends to use the new law to recover damages for PFAS contamination on his farm in Arundel (see Farmer Who Lost All to PFAS Inspires Law to Get Day in Court (bloomberglaw.com)).

The Maine legislature passed a bevy of bills in the 2021 session to address PFAS contamination, including setting a drinking water limit for 6 PFAS compounds (20 parts per trillion).  Another bill, LD-1600, establishes a new Land Application Contaminant Monitoring Fund and new fees ($10 per ton on any disposal of septage, industrial sludge, municipal sludge, bioash, wood ash or other residual).  That bill, which became law in July, also requires the MEDEP to test soil and groundwater at all current and formerly permitted land application sites.  For a good summary of all PFAS legislative activity in Maine, see this article from the Portland Press Herald: Maine lawmakers enact series of bills to tackle pollution from ‘forever chemicals’ - Portland Press Herald