July 19, 2023in

PFAS Legislation: A Call for Fairness and Accountability

This week, the Advisory Board submitted comments to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on their draft PFAS legislation. PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a group of manufactured chemicals that have been used extensively in consumer products and industrial processes. However, the use of PFAS in these activities has made it an extremely persistent contaminant in the environment. It can even accumulate in the human body, leading to adverse health effects.

The committee’s draft legislation would designate two of the most studied PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law known as CERCLA. This would give EPA broad authority to hold parties responsible for PFAS contamination accountable for associated cleanup costs.

We agree with the need to address PFAS pollution, but we are concerned that the liability provisions as currently written are too broad. Publicly-owned treatment works (POTWs) like the MWRA could be held responsible for PFAS cleanup costs as “passive receivers” of these chemicals in wastewater, even though they have limited control over PFAS inputs and do not manufacture or profit from these chemicals. Imposing such costs on POTWs and their ratepayers is deeply unfair.

We call for a narrow liability exemption for passive PFAS receivers like POTWs in the legislation. This would uphold the important polluter pays principle, rightly assigning responsibility to PFAS manufacturers and major commercial users who actively produced and benefited from these problematic chemicals. An exemption would prevent unfair financial burdens on public wastewater utilities, the communities they serve, and ultimately ratepayers.

We urge the committee to address stakeholder concerns and ensure that the PFAS legislation promotes fairness and accountability. We will continue to work with our partners to protect public health and ensure that the costs of PFAS pollution are borne by those who created it.

Key points

  • PFAS are a group of manufactured chemicals that are extremely persistent in the environment and can accumulate in the human body.
  • The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has drafted legislation that would designate two of the most studied PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law.
  • We agree with the need to address PFAS pollution, but we are concerned that the liability provisions in the draft legislation are too broad.
  • We call for a narrow liability exemption for passive PFAS receivers like POTWs.
  • This would uphold the important polluter pays principle and prevent unfair financial burdens on public wastewater utilities, the communities they serve, and ultimately ratepayers.

Links

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You can find our full comments submitted to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee here.

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