Federal:
The House Appropriations Committee is proposing to eliminate funding for the Clean Water and Drink Water State Revolving Funds by more than half in the FY24 budget. It’s critical that your Senators and Representative hears from you about the need to maintain federal funding for critical local water infrastructure investments. Use WEF Water Advocates call-to-action to send a message today!
Oregon:
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality is initiating a rulemaking to update Oregon's Aquatic Life Water Quality Criteria for Toxic Pollutants. DEQ is proposing to adopt new criteria for acrolein, aluminum, carbaryl, and diazinon and update the state's aquatic life criteria for cadmium and tributyltin based on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s most recent recommendations. DEQ plans to hold Rulemaking Advisory Committee meetings beginning in September 2023 to receive input on the fiscal and economic implications for entities affected by the proposed updates. In early 2024, DEQ will seek public comment on the proposed changes and hold a public hearing. Once DEQ receives and responds to public comment, DEQ will finalize the proposed criteria and present the rulemaking package to the Environmental Quality Commission for adoption in mid-2024. If adopted, the EPA must approve the criteria before they are effective for Clean Water Act purposes. To learn more about this rulemaking you can view the rulemaking web page at Aquatic Life Toxics Criteria 2024 web page.
PFAS:
In case you missed it! EPA has taken the following actions on PFAS in the last three months:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its framework for addressing new and new uses of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The framework outlines EPA’s planned approach when reviewing new PFAS and new uses of PFAS to ensure that, before these chemicals are allowed to enter into commerce, EPA will undertake an extensive evaluation to ensure they pose no harm to human health and the environment. The framework supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to address the impacts of these forever chemicals and advances EPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap to confront the human health and environmental risks of PFAS pollution.
EPA is seeking input on whether to propose to designate additional PFAS, including HFPO-DA, sometimes called GenX, and compounds that degrade in the environment by processes such as biodegradation, photolysis, and hydrolysis, to form certain PFAS. EPA is also seeking information on whether some PFAS compounds can or should be designated as a group or category. A Federal Register Notice has been published in the Federal Register at docket EPA-HQ-OLEM-2022-0922 and can be viewed on www.regulations.gov. The ANPRM will be open for a 60-day comment period through June 12, 2023.
In April 2023, EPA issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) asking the public for input regarding potential future hazardous substance designations of PFAS under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund. This request for input and information follows EPA’s September 2022 proposed rule to designate two PFAS — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), and their salts and structural isomers — as hazardous substances under CERCLA. Learn more about the advance notice.