Republicans aim to exempt major polluters from Pfas cleanup costs

Republicans are attempting to exempt some major polluters from paying for Pfas “forever chemical” cleanup. If successful, it could mark a major setback in US effort to rein in Pfas pollution.The Republican-led House energy and commerce committee recently held a hearing at which it invited representatives from the water treatment and landfill industries, among others, to make the case about why they should be exempted from rules that hold polluters financially accountable for the cleanup of two types of dangerous Pfas.Water treatment plants and landfills are major polluters and represent critical points in the effort to curb Pfas water pollution nationwide. Utilities already have to remove hundreds of chemicals, so it is unclear why they are so opposed to removing two types of Pfas, said Scott Faber, vice-president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group non-profit.“The only real difference is Pfas are more toxic … so the fact that water utilities and landfills are being such crybabies about Pfas says something about how little regard for public health they have,” Faber said.Pfas are a class of at least 16,000 compounds often used to help products resist water, stains and heat. They are called “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down and accumulate in the environment, and they are linked to serious health problems such as cancer, kidney disease, liver problems, immune disorders and birth defects.Over industry objections, the Environmental Protection Agency in April 2024, under Joe Biden, put in place the rules when it designated PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under the nation’s Superfund law.The designation gives the EPA the option to require polluters to pay for cleanups, though it isn’t mandated, and the agency has already said it in many cases may not take enforcement action against water utilities.Still, reversing the rule has been at the top of industry’s wishlist since Trump’s election, but the EPA in September reaffirmed the rule. The hearings represent a first step toward attacking the rule from a different angle by chipping away at it, public health groups opposed to the plan say.The water utility industry, which has often strongly opposed to new clean water rules in recent decades, argues that it should not be liable for contaminated water pollution or contaminated drinking water because it is not the source of the chemicals.Industry spits virtually unchecked amounts of Pfas into the nation’s sewer system and surface water, creating a problem for the utilities.“When utilities are forced to spend limited resources on litigation or cleanup costs, ratepayer funds must be diverted from replacing ageing infrastructure, complying with Safe Drinking Water Act requirements, and performing other essential functions,” said Tracy Mehan, a lobbyist with the American Water Works Association, the trade group that represents many of the nation’s utilities.But the water utilities have a responsibility to provide clean water, advocates note. Exempting them from liability would eliminate a major incentive to take strong action to address Pfas in drinking water and wastewater, Faber said.Utilities and state agencies typically have the power to order polluters to stop discharging Pfas into the sewer system, and the process is not difficult, advocates say. In Michigan, regulators in 2018 developed a successful program to identify companies that were a major source PFOA and PFOS discharges, then require them to reduce the levels of the chemicals they spit into the sewer.“Utilities have complete control over the pipes and they don’t have to allow industry to do this,” said Emily Donovan, co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, a citizens group that formed in Wilmington, North Carolina in response to widespread Pfas pollution in the region.Industrial polluters and drinking water utilities can use granular activated carbon filters, a common technology that is not difficult to deploy, to remove PFOA and PFOS, advocates noted.Donovan questioned why water utilities are dispatching lobbyists – paid for by utility customers – to lobby against clean water actions instead of pushing for the government to provide more money to improve systems.“They weren’t [at the hearing] advocating for money – not once did they say, ‘Hey, we could use more money,’” Donovan said. “Instead they said, ‘Don’t do this, it’s too expensive.’” She added that utilities should also push for a ban on Pfas altogether to stop the problem from growing.Similarly, landfill operators say they should not be liable for their pollution because they receive and manage trash that already has the chemicals in it. PFOA and PFOS concentrate in landfills and up in the facilities’ leachate that contaminates ground and surface water.Exempting landfills from liability would eliminate industry incentive to eliminate a major nationwide source of Pfas pollution. Representatives from airports, the military and real estate industry were also at the hearing asking for exemptions, Donovan said.“Where do we stop? Everyone is going to start lining up for this,” Donovan said.