The Biden administration and Congress are stepping up efforts to control the release and cleanup of poly and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in drinking water sources and elsewhere, joining states that have expanded scrutiny of the chemicals, which are used widely in manufacturing and are extremely persistent in the environment.
乔·拜登（Joe Biden）总统的2022财年预算和2亿美元的基础设施计划将为加速毒性研究和补救提供新的资金，而两党的房屋法案将认为这些化合物具有危险物质。新利luck但是，至少一个州的制造商正在推迟计划对限制范围的诉讼中对“永远的化学物质”的规定。
“There are about four water infrastructure bills in play now, plus Biden’s, and they all address PFAS in some fashion,” says Tommy Holmes, legislative director of the American Water Works Association, which represents water and wastewater utilities and water sector participants.
$10 Billion Cleanup Infusion
Biden’s infrastructure program designates $10 billion to monitor and remediate PFAS in drinking water and to support cleanup of rural and small water systems and household well and wastewater systems, including drainage fields.
Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) and Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on April 13 introduced a bill, with 25 co-sponsors, to require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set a national drinking water standard for two compounds—perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS, and perfluorooctanoic acid, PFOA—within two years and designate them as hazardous substances within one year.
这些化学药品已在2,000多个美国社区的饮用水中发现。PFA被怀疑破坏了人类免疫，生殖和发育系统。政府估计，多达1.1亿美国人使用PFAS污染的饮用水。
该法案还命令EPA确定是否列出了其他PFA化合物，其中有数百种在五年内有毒性，并设定了对工业发行的排放限制。它还每年提供2亿美元用于废水处理。
美国环保署署长迈克尔·里根on April 27 established an agency council to take an “whole of EPA approach” to address PFAS contamination and accelerate scientific study and regulatory action to reduce the risk caused by the chemicals. He asked the council to develop a multi-year strategy to deliver public health protections by reviewing all ongoing actions and proposing new or changed strategies within 100 days.
拜登总统的酌处预算寻求7500万美元，以加速PFAS毒性研究，以根据《安全饮用水法》法规为法规和可执行的限制提供信息。资金还将为州和地方政府提供技术援助。
EPA’s current “advisory” limit on PFAS in drinking water is 70 parts per trillion, but some states have set or proposed required levels from 6.5 to 20 ppt, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina and Vermont. A Virginia standard takes effect in 2022.
Regan recently issued an updated toxicity assessment for perfluorobutane sulfonate, or PFBS, a short-chain PFAS, and made a final determination to regulate PFOA and PFOS that would lead to national drinking water limits. The agency also proposed a rule to provide new data it says is needed to better understand how often 29 PFAS chemicals are found in U.S. drinking water systems and at what levels, an EPA spokeswoman told ENR. Research also continues into how people are exposed to the chemicals and how to remove them from drinking water.
The military will phase out use of AFFF firefighting foam, known to contain PFAS, by October 2024, but still but has more than 650 sites with known or likely contamination, reports say. At an April 21 House budget hearing, Regan told legislators he will meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss mitigation, with tougher regulaton efforts fought by DOD during the Trump administration, according to Politico.
Following the Science
EPA’s focus on the health risks of PFAS is “about following the science,” says Chris Moody, AWWA regulatory technical manager. “If the science is sound, we support it.” The group is confident PFOA, PFOS and PFBS compounds pose risks. More information on four others will be known by 2025, he says.
一个关键的问题是，在释放到环境而不是在水系统中，是否可以更有效地解决饮用水污染。EPA还专注于与制造商和下游用户及其处理的废水排放中PFA相关的数据。该机构正在评估此类排放是否需要通过国家废水限制指南进行监管。
Meanwhile, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, a statewide trade association, sued the state Dept. of Natural Resources in late March for steps being taken to develop PFOS and PFOA water quality standards, which the group claims only the Wisconsin Legislature can set because of the rules’ anticipated compliance cost for businesses and local governments. “It is uncertain if this regulation will even be allowed to move forward,” the business group said.
Manufacturers Push Back
制造商还声称，该州打算测试30多种PFA化合物，这是两种焦点，这是正在进行的州规则制定的重点，并说由于州流出的采样，发射器可能会“公开被污染为污染者”。该州同意4月1日不公开发布最废水的抽样结果。制造商说：“企业以及他们花费了数十年来开发的品牌将受到……抽样计划的污名化的损害。”
A National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) official said Wisconsin is following Michigan’s lead, which found PFAS in wastewater plant effluent.
New Jersey in 2018 was first in the U.S. to issue a statewide PFAS order, but compounds were found in fish last year, prompting a state consumption advisory on some species. The state’s 13-ppt PFAS drinking water limit “should be around five,” says Jeff Tittel, local Sierra Club director. “There was pushback from the chemical council, but treatment options were set by scientists … so we knew the level could be cleaned up.”
Tittel predicts a federal PFAS drinking water standard and hazardous substance designation will happen in 18 months. “PFAS affect many different congressional districts, whether they are represented by Democrats or Republican,” he says,
