EPA Releases Preliminary Plan 16 Effluent Limitation Guidelines to Address PFAS and Other Contaminants

On December 16, EPA released its, “Preliminary Effluent Limitation Guidelines (ELG) Plan 16.” The plan includes new studies, data collection efforts, and updates on rulemakings for Clean Water Act ELGs and pretreatment standards for PFAS, nutrient pollution, and other contaminants. Plan 16 also continues to focus on and evaluate the extent and nature of PFAS discharges and assess opportunities for limiting those discharges from multiple industrial categories per EPA’s 2021 PFAS Strategic Roadmap.

The plan provides updates related to several regulatory revision actions and includes new studies for the Battery Manufacturing Category, the Centralized Waste Treatment Category, the Oil and Gas Extraction Category, and PFAS processors. EPA also intends to develop a generic Information Collection Request (ICR) for collecting effluent data from multiple industrial categories. EPA is accepting public comments on the plan for 30 days through January 17, 2025, at https://www.regulations.gov/docket/EPA-HQ-OW-2024-0158. For more information and to read the plan, visit EPA’s website.