8/22/22

PFAS Regulatory Activities Continue Apace, Implications for Biosolids Management Unclear

In direct response to the pending implementation of legislation in Maine that prohibits the land application of biosolids and other residuals, the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) released a white paper on the critical need to maintain all biosolids management options at this time. 

According to NACWA’s press release:

“Responding to premature policy decisions such as the Maine legislature’s complete ban on sustainable land application practices, the paper makes the case that taking any single biosolids management option off the table absent scientific rigor and honest, comprehensive policy assessments will cause serious harm to local communities and could inadvertently cripple the ability of utilities to protect public health and the environment. 

The white paper is intended for NACWA members, to assist them in communicating with legislators, regulators, media and the general public about this critical issue.  NACWA members can access additional resources on PFAS here: PFAS (nacwa.org)

In an interview with the publication Inside EPA published on July 11th, NACWA’s Deputy CEO Chris Hornback called for a “collective pause” to address the broader policy and societal impacts of PFAS legislation and regulations. 

Meanwhile, Congress continues to debate several important pieces of PFAS-related legislation that would impact water utilities.  In the House, New Hampshire Representative Chris Pappas succeeded in getting an amendment to H.R. 7900, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2023, which requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop pretreatment standards for numerous industries on a strict timeline with the first set of standards for organic chemical and plastic manufacturers, and metal finishers, among others, by June 2024.  Future industrial categories for which EPA will be required to develop pretreatment standards under H.R. 7900 include landfills, textile mills, electrical component manufacturers, paint formulators, molded plastics makers, and leather tanneries. 

In other developments, back in June, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced lifetime Health Advisory Limits (HALs) for several PFAS:

Interim updated Health Advisory for PFOA = 0.004 parts per trillion (ppt)
Interim updated Health Advisory for PFOS = 0.02 ppt
Final Health Advisory for GenX chemicals = 10 ppt
Final Health Advisory for PFBS = 2,000 ppt

The standards are intended to provide guidance to states and water utilities in the interim as the Agency continues to develop primary drinking water standards for PFAS.   The HALs only apply to drinking water and will be used to develop MCLs or limits in drinking water.  The HALs do not apply in any way to biosolids but could impact whether or not sustainable land application of biosolids can continue. 

EPA’s HALs announcement has set off a flurry of activity and created a lot of anxiety for public water utilities.  Many New England water utilities were unprepared for this announcement and are unprepared to respond to customers’ inquiries.  State water environment associations are working on communications tools for their members.  The New England states drinking water associations teamed up to send a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, expressing their concerns:   

“EPA’s release of the updated HAs, while acknowledging that there are no current analytical methods to even detect the compounds at the levels set, is extremely premature.  The interim advisories for Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonic Acid (PFOS) have put water systems in the untenable position of having no acceptable way to answer customers’ questions about the levels that may be in their drinking water, even if previous results were non-detect. This uncertainty has the potential to erode the trust necessary for consumers to have confidence in the quality and safety of their tap water and their water provider.”

The Water Environment Federation hosted a webinar on June 17th on What Utilities Need to Know about EPA's PFAS Health Advisories.  The webinar featured Deborah Nagle of EPA’s Office of Science and Technology as well as several attorneys, Fred Andes and Jeff Longsworth, who represented the concerns of water utilities.  At about 52 minutes into the webinar, Ms. Nagle started to address implications for biosolids, commenting that biosolids “keep me up at night”.  The EPA’s Science Advisory Board, which will be reviewing the PFAS risk assessment methodology for biosolids, is not scheduled to get going until the Fall.