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Recent Federal WaterTaps
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Federal Water Tap, April 22: EPA Designates Two PFAS as Hazardous Substances
/in Federal Water Tap/by Brett WaltonThe Rundown
And lastly, the FBI director addresses cybersecurity threats to critical infrastructure.
By the Numbers
60 Percent: Chance that La Niña conditions will develop later this summer, according to NOAA. La Niña favors warmer and drier winters in the southern half of the U.S.
News Briefs
PFAS and Superfund
The U.S. Environmental Protection finalized another major ruling around toxic “forever chemicals,” one that enables the agency to facilitate the cleanup of contaminated sites.
The agency designated PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA, the federal law that governs Superfund sites.
The designation means the agency can force polluters – if they can be identified – to pay for remediation.
Though the EPA has a policy of “enforcement discretion” that would focus on chemical manufacturers, water utilities worry that they could be held financially responsible for cleanup.
Because they remove the chemicals from water during the treatment process, utilities become part of the chain of ownership, in a legal sense. Water utilities want Congress to exempt them from liability. See below for an attempt.
Water Bills in Congress
Congressional reps returned to D.C. with spring in their step and a bevy of water-related bills. Among them:
Studies and Reports
Global Health Security
The Biden administration released a global health security strategy that, it hopes, will guide the federal government’s attempts abroad over the next five years to reduce disease and the risk of another pandemic.
For water, the strategy emphasizes collaborating across agencies and expanding access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. That includes climate-related risks such as spread of disease after extreme weather disasters.
In context: Cholera Cases Spike Amid Extreme Weather, Conflict
PFAS at Hawaiian Military Base
The Government Accountability Office released a report on the Defense Department’s response to a spill of firefighting foam in November 2022 that contained PFAS and entered groundwater.
The spill occurred at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, a base on O’ahu where there was also a jet fuel spill from a storage facility.
On the Radar
SEC Delays Climate-Risk Disclosure
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, due to a legal challenge, will delay indefinitely its rule requiring large companies to disclose to investors risks related to water and climate.
Two hydraulic fracturing companies – Liberty Energy and Nomad Proppant Services – filed the lawsuit.
Disease Detection Conference
The CDC hosts its annual epidemiology conference April 23 to 26, and it’s free and open to the public.
The event takes place in Atlanta, but sessions will be livestreamed, too. Registration is required.
The agenda lists several water-related presentations, such as Legionnaires’ disease outbreaks and post-flooding needs assessment.
Buy Nothing – Containing PFAS
The federal agency in charge of the government’s supply shopping is considering how to reduce PFAS consumption through its procurement policies. These determine which products agencies can purchase.
The Government Services Agency is seeking public comment on how it might go about achieving this. What products should be excluded? How can it best determine PFAS-free items? What are unintended consequences?
If you have any ideas, respond by June 17. Submit comments via www.regulations.gov using docket ‘GSA PFAS Inquiry.’
Federal Water Tap is a weekly digest spotting trends in U.S. government water policy. To get more water news, follow Circle of Blue on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter.
Brett writes about agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and the politics and economics of water in the United States. He also writes the Federal Water Tap, Circle of Blue’s weekly digest of U.S. government water news. He is the winner of two Society of Environmental Journalists reporting awards, one of the top honors in American environmental journalism: first place for explanatory reporting for a series on septic system pollution in the United States(2016) and third place for beat reporting in a small market (2014). He received the Sierra Club’s Distinguished Service Award in 2018. Brett lives in Seattle, where he hikes the mountains and bakes pies. Contact Brett Walton