Industry Coalition Works to Prevent Congress from Mandating Unfair PFAS Regulations

ILTA is working with a coalition of other trade associations, including the American Petroleum Institute, American Chemistry Counsel, American Fuel & Petrochemical Association and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to prevent Congress from mandating unfair regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

The House of Representatives recently passed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2019. This critical legislation that will authorize funds for the nation’s defense establishment contains amendments addressing the regulation of PFAS that are unrelated to the purpose of the legislation. Those amendments would short circuit existing, well-established regulatory processes and predetermine outcomes using inadequate scientific data. They would require the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to either directly or indirectly designate all PFAS as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, commonly called Superfund.

PFAS have a wide variety of physical and chemical properties, uses and toxicities. Due to the wide variation among PFAS, it is inappropriate for Congress to mandate the regulation of all PFAS chemistries with a one-size-fits-all regulatory scheme, the groups wrote in a July 24 letter to state attorneys general.

"Superfund listing decisions are not political questions that Congress is best positioned to address," the groups wrote. "We believe that the EPA should retain its traditional authority to study potentially hazardous substances and  ascertain whether they should be designated under Superfund. The Superfund program has a strong track record, and EPA’s career scientists have the requisite expertise to examine PFAS based on sound science, and actual risk to human health and the environment."

As the House and Senate begin their conference deliberations to reconcile the differences between their differing versions of the Act, ILTA will continue to work with the coalition to defend science-based regulation.

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