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Lawmakers, Trump agencies set for clash over chemicals in water

An aggressive push by Congress to pass bipartisan legislation addressing cancer-causing chemicals that are leaching into the water supply is setting the stage for a fight with the Trump administration.

The chemicals, commonly abbreviated as PFAS, are used in items ranging from food wrappers and Teflon pans to raincoats and firefighting foam. But studies have found that as they break down and find their way into drinking water, they can cause a variety of negative health effects.

PFAS has been linked with kidney and thyroid cancer along with high cholesterol and other illnesses. Contamination has spread to 43 states, and a 2015 study found 98 percent of Americans tested now have the chemical in their blood.

But the bipartisan push to tackle the problem is setting up a clash with agencies, in particular the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Pentagon, that have been resistant to regulating the chemicals.

Members of Congress have introduced at least 20 bills this session to address PFAS in some form, a record number and a sign of the growing concern.

“It has the most bills because we are now fully aware of the risks and how extensive the contamination is,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), whose home state is believed to have the most severe PFAS contamination in the U.S. thanks to Michigan’s long manufacturing history and PFAS's use on military sites.

PFAS appears in a staggering number of products, and that production, along with heavy use of firefighting foam by the military and at airports, are the main sources for the contamination.

Stabenow has sponsored two bills on the topic this year. The broad package of bills in both chambers include measures that would require EPA to set a drinking water standard for PFAS, set deadlines for cleaning up PFAS contamination caused by the federal government, allow the use of Superfund cleanup funds to deal with PFAS contamination, establish a ban on new PFAS chemicals, and provide funding to clean up already-contaminated water. Senators have added some similar measures to this year’s defense spending bill.

Committee chairpeople in both chambers dealing with PFAS legislation have called the bills a priority.

But there remain some tough sticking points, such as whether to address all 4,700 varieties of PFAS or just the handful that have been rigorously studied. Lawmakers, particularly Republicans, are concerned Congress may overstep its authority by jumping ahead of the EPA's own scientific review. And there's also disagreement over how to hold companies and even the government liable for cleaning up contamination.

Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said he’s concerned about imposing liability on companies that used products containing PFAS for decades in good faith.

“Our nation’s airports, refineries, and others used fire-fighting foam containing PFAS in order to protect their workers and the public at large,” Barrasso said this week before reviewing several bills. “All these entities were either following regulations or the industry’s best practices.”

The chemicals industry wants the government to tackle each PFAS chemical individually.

Kimberly Wise White, senior director of chemical products and technology with the American Chemistry Council, told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee this week that some forms of PFAS are not water soluble and should not be blamed for drinking water contamination.

“You can’t treat all these PFAS chemistries the same. That’s why you can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach,” she said, citing the broad approach of some bills.

A bill from Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) would require the EPA to set a drinking water standard for all PFAS, and there’s similar legislation in the House. Others would ban new uses or development of PFAS chemicals.

https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/445514-lawmakers-trump-agencies-set-for-clash-over-chemicals-in-water