Roux Insurance Update: USEPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap

To help keep you up to date on current developments, Roux is providing this information to summarize topics pertinent to the insurance industry that you may find useful. 

On October 18, 2021, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) announced its per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Strategic Roadmap. The roadmap sets timelines by which the USEPA plans to take specific actions and commits to bolder new policies to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and hold polluters accountable. In addition, the USEPA is taking steps to address PFAS under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and strengthen the ability to clean up PFAS contamination.

Below are the key actions from the USEPA related to environmental remediation:

• USEPA to publish a national PFAS testing strategy to obtain data on PFAS through the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), which was released in October 2021.
• USEPA to establish a national primary drinking water regulation for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) that would set enforceable limits (aka Maximum Contaminant Levels [MCLs]) and require monitoring of public water supplies, while evaluating additional PFAS and groups of PFAS for regulation. Expected dates of the proposed rule and the final rule are the Fall of 2022 and the Fall of 2023, respectively. Stay tuned for more on this.
• USEPA to publish the final toxicity assessment for GenX and five additional PFAS (perfluorobutyrate [PFBA], perfluorohexanoic acid [PFHxA], perfluorohexanesulfonic acid [PFHxS], perfluorononanoic acid [PFNA], and perfluorodecanoic acid [PFDA]) to better understand their human health and environmental effects. This could lead to regulating these additional compounds on the state and federal levels. Expected date is the Fall of 2021.
• USEPA to restrict PFAS discharges from industrial sources through a multi-faceted Effluent Limitations Guidelines program. This will fall under the purview of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) program that regulates discharges to surface water bodies. Expected date is Winter of 2022.
• USEPA to designate certain PFAS as Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) hazardous substances to require reporting of PFOA and PFAS releases. Expected dates of the proposed and final rules are Spring of 2022 and Summer of 2023. Once promulgated, this rule would affect due diligence efforts, All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI), and Phase I environmental site assessments.
• USEPA to build the technical foundation to address PFAS air emissions to identify sources, develop stack emissions and ambient air monitoring requirements, and understand the fate and transport of PFAS air emissions. This could lead to regulating PFAS in air emissions. Expected date is the Fall of 2022.
• USEPA to evaluate and develop technologies for reducing PFAS in the environment to inform decisions on drinking water and wastewater treatment, contaminated site cleanup and remediation, air emission controls, and end-of-life materials management. This is an ongoing effort.
• USEPA to use enforcement tools to better identify and address PFAS releases at facilities, to require actions by responsible parties, to limit future releases, and to address existing contamination. This is an ongoing effort.

Click here to learn more about the USEPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap. For more information on how your remediation projects may be affected by the USEPA’s PFAS Strategic Roadmap, please contact us using the button below.