This CLE webinar will provide environmental counsel with an update on the state restrictions and regulations on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination and drinking water levels. The panel will discuss how to navigate these intersecting restrictions and how companies can meet testing and notification requirements in multiple states.
Many states have expressed frustration with the lack of an enforceable federal PFAS drinking water standard and have started the process of regulating PFAS in drinking water themselves. As a result, states have adopted a patchwork of regulations and standards that present significant challenges to impacted industries.
Maximum contaminant levels (MCLs) set the maximum concentration of a given contaminant present in drinking water. Publicly owned treatment works (POTWs) and drinking water systems must ensure that drinking water distributed to the public meets these limits. To do that, POTWs and state agencies often include discharge limits in the permits of upstream dischargers to ensure that the treatment facility can comply with the MCL.
Without a federal PFAS standard, there is a large discrepancy between the regulatory standards established by the various states. For example, for PFAS substances in drinking water, the smallest concentration is 5.1 ppt (California; PFOA only), and one of the highest values is 140,000 ppt (Michigan; PFHxA only).
Businesses that currently or historically have used PFAS compounds or have reason to believe that they may be present in their wastewater effluent should evaluate: (1) whether they discharge any substances to water that are eventually used for drinking water; and (2) whether their discharge contains any of the regulated PFAS compounds. That information will allow those businesses to determine whether to modify their operations to reduce or eliminate PFAS from their waste stream in anticipation of permit conditions based on the different state PFAS regulations.
Listen as our expert panel discusses the current state of PFAS regulation in drinking water standards, the status of proposed federal regulation, and best practices of businesses that use PFAS compounds to evaluate the use of this chemical moving forward.
