Sector weighs in on EPA’s proposed CERCLA designation for PFAS

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) filed comments this month in response to EPA’s proposed rule to designate Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), and expressed serious concerns.

NACWA says that while it supports EPA’s efforts to address PFOA and PFOS and remove them from the environment, the agency’s proposed designations fail to advance the “polluter pays” approach that EPA has espoused. Rather, NACWA says, the proposal would threaten to push huge costs and liabilities onto local communities; increase affordability concerns, particularly for disadvantaged communities; and untenably put cleanup actions ahead of critical source control and risk assessment processes. NACWA says EPA declined to consider these costs in its impact analysis, focusing narrowly on direct reporting cost while glossing over significant burdens that communities will face.