EPA Issues PFAS Groundwater Guidance for Federal Cleanup Programs

On December 19, 2019, EPA issued its “Interim Recommendations for Addressing Groundwater Contaminated with PFOA and PFOS,” which provides cleanup guidance for federal CERCLA and RCRA cleanup programs, as part of the Agency’s PFAS Action Plan commitments. The recommendations in the guidance did not change from the draft version that ASDWA provided comments on in June 2019. The guidance recommends:

• Using a screening level of 40 parts per trillion (ppt) to determine if PFOA and/or PFOS is present at a site and may warrant further attention.
• Using EPA’s PFOA and PFOS drinking water health advisory level of 70 ppt as the preliminary remediation goal (PRG) for contaminated groundwater that is a current or potential source of drinking water, where no state or tribal MCL or other applicable or relevant and appropriate requirements (ARARs) are available or sufficiently protective.

Though EPA only included PFOA and PFOS in these interim recommendations, EPA said it will consider adding recommendations for more PFAS compounds in the future as new information becomes available. EPA also noted that they, “…will follow through on the regulatory development process for listing PFOA and PFOS as hazardous substances under CERCLA.” For more information, visit EPA’s website and read the fact sheet.