Joint Association Comments on TRI Addition of PFAS and Categories

On Thursday, December 5, ASDWA, the Association of Clean Water Administrators (ACWA), the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO), and the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) submitted joint comments on EPA’s proposed “Addition of Certain Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).” The comments generally support the Agency’s proposed determinations to add these 16 individually listed PFAS and 15 PFAS categories to the TRI list of toxic chemicals subject to reporting under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA).

The associations provided additional recommendations on reporting thresholds that recommended EPA undertake a consistent approach for individual PFAS compounds and categories, that it set lower than 100-pound reporting thresholds for PFAS chemicals of special concern and for PFAS with persistent and bioaccumulative properties, and use a hybrid reporting approach for listing individual PFAS (and classes of PFAS) based on specific chemical properties and risks, in addition to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020 (NDAA) event that triggers a TRI listing. The associations also generally supported EPA’s efforts to use additional databases, where appropriate, to assist TRI PFAS listing decisions, and consider and ensure consistency with different database PFAS definitions. Adding PFAS compounds and categories to the TRI list will improve understanding of chemical releases that may threaten human health and the environment, and help inform policy and regulatory decision-making at the national, state, and local levels. For more information about the proposed rule, go to the regulations.gov Docket#EPA-HQ-OPPT-2023-0538-0002. Read the associations’ comments here.